When a friend of ours said her dream was to celebrate her birthday hiking to a hut with a group of friends, of course we said we’d be there. And so one weekend in July, we put on our hiking shoes and packed our backpacks for an overnight hike to Watersprite Lake.
Getting geared up for Watersprite Lake
That sounds simpler than it really was though. We had gone camping once before and got ourselves a proper tent for it, but that’s not a tent that you can carry up a mountain with 700 meters elevation. Likewise, we got one sleeping bag that was big enough to share, and a two-person air mattress – both items unsuitable for backpacking.
Thankfully, we were assigned a spot in the hut, so we didn’t need another tent. We did, however, need sleeping mats, sleeping bags, and pillows, all small enough to fit into a backpack. After visiting Mountain Warehouse, Canadian Tire, and Mountain Equipment Company, we had all the stuff we needed for this adventure.
The ride up to Watersprite Lake Trailhead
We bought a car a few months ago and chose a vehicle that would allow us to go on adventures like these. A bit older, some scratches so we’re not too worried about scratching it more, 4-wheel drive, and enough space to transport stuff like tents, paddle boards… Or in this case, a bunch of backpacks from people driving with us. Given that our car would be suitable for the bumpy drive to the trailhead, we offered to drive, so we picked up a few members of the birthday crew and made our way up to Squamish.
The Watersprite Lake Trailhead is located roughly 20 kilometers up a bunch of Forestry Service Roads. Once we got to the start of the road, our navigation said it would be a 50 minute drive to the trailhead. And what a drive it was. We were bumping and shaking to and fro in the car. Tom had his eyes peeled on the road, with full focus, while us ladies chatted to calm the nerves. We made it through steep inclines and over enormous holes in the road. We arrived safely, apart from the high heart rate and possibly some bruises from bumping our heads to the windows and doors and each other.
Birthday girl was there already, along with the peeps that were with her in Car #1. We were the second vehicle to arrive, Car #2. It wasn’t long until Car #3 arrived with familiar faces. Great, we just needed to wait for one more, and we’d be ready to go.
Car trouble
We waited. And waited. And waited some more. Until it didn’t make sense any longer – where were they? With no cell reception, there was no way of knowing the location of #4, and we could not contact them to find out if they were okay. Other cars arrived at the trailhead, so we asked them if they had seen anyone stranded on the way here. “Yes,” one driver eventually answered. “Yes, there was a car on the side of the road. Transmission problems.”
Darn it! So Car #3 went to go find them. Based on the description of where they had seen the stranded car, he set out to go find them. Meanwhile, we waited, and waited. And waited some more. Until suddenly, a random car arrived, and the folks we were waiting for got out of the car, celebrating their arrival…
Wait a minute?
Turns out, a friendly couple had offered them a ride up to the trailhead. The stranded group decided to split up: the driver would go back and take care of Car #4 – it couldn’t possible continue up the steep road, but driving down seemed okay. Unfortunately, it meant he had to skip the hike. The rest of the group accepted the friendly help and took the ride to the trailhead.
Which was great. Here they were! But… our rescuer in Car #3 didn’t know any of this, and was still out there searching for them!
We waited. And waited. Until eventually he returned, sad faced, feeling bad for not finding our remaining hiking buddies. But of course, he was relieved to find out they had found their way up after all!
Hiking to Watersprite Lake
With a 1,5-2 hour delay, we finally started to make our way up. To get to Watersprite Lake, you’re in for a 9km hike with about 700 meters of elevation. It’s quite a long one – we took about 5 hours to get up, including one lunch break and a few short breaks to drink some water and confirming we’re all still here (16-person group!).
You’ll need a good amount of bug spray (gosh bugs flying around EVERYWHERE) and you’ll work up a serious sweat… But in return, you get beautiful meadows, waterfalls, beautiful forests. There are still snowy peaks around you, you’ll see glaciers, gorgeous views over the valley and river. It was quite a warm day, so we brought lots of water. We refilled our bottles when we passed a waterfall with fresh water.
When we arrived, I was surprised to see that the hut was quite large and had a really nice deck overlooking the mountains. We explored our home for the night, then went to the lake to swim and refresh. The water was cold, but very rewarding and refreshing after the tiring journey. Half of our group had to hike a little bit further and set up their tents on the campground across the water. They took a refreshing swim, too!
AllTrails labels the hike as Hard; I’d say it’s moderate with a hard part at the end where you have to scramble a bit over 3 sections of large rockslides. After being treated to all that beauty on the way, Watersprite Lake itself is quite the climax. What a gorgeous place. I don’t know how many wonderful shades of blue my eyes have been treated to since arriving in Canada, but this lake was a magnificent addition. It was so crystal clear that it had a gorgeous reflection, great material for some impressive photos.
Wonderful evening
Time to cook! The hut was well equipped. We connected our propane tanks, and soon everyone was cooking the meals they brought. From dehydrated hiking meals to fresh veggies for couscous salads, everyone come out of the kitchen with their own creations. Tom and I brought 4 packs of Pancit Canton noodles, and managed to bring 2 fresh eggs to add on top. Thankfully they didn’t break on the way up the mountain 😉
Apart from dinner, most of our group brought some birthday surprises, including a massive 7 liter bag of red wine (imagine the weight of that in their backpack!), cupcakes and birthday candles, birthday decorations, and… a silent disco set.
Plenty of fun!
Until we went to sleep on those sleeping mats. That was less fun. But oh well, it is what it is.
The way back
The next morning, some went for another swim in the lake, and we each made breakfast, spent a bit more time enjoying the hut with the group… Then cleared out everything and packed up all our stuff to make our way back to the cars. It took us about 3 hours to venture down. The views were fantastic again, but with barely any sleep, the hike was a bit more challenging in terms of energy. The hike required a lot of attention and strong knees. Thankfully, the hardest part was right at the beginning, so after we had climbed and bouldered our way through the big rocky part, the forest paths were a lot more manageable.
Getting home
Once we finally reached the car, we were all very tired. With only breakfast and a few snacks, our fuel was low. Once we had reception, it was clear that there was quite a lot of traffic on the Sea to Sky Highway back to Vancouver. Would we suck it up and get home asap, or go into Squamish first to get a decent lunch first? We decided on the latter, and I’m so glad we did. That burger was much needed to make us feel like ourselves again, and made the way back a lot more pleasant. Tom drove us home safely.
By the time the clock hit 9 pm, my eyes hit 6 o’ clock. I slept like a heavy log in the sky-blue water of Watersprite Lake, on my deliciously thick and soft mattress and familiar pillow.
A weekend to never forget!
1 Comment
Wonderful adventure. So nice to read.
Awesome birthday present!