This was has been on the bucket list for quite some time. And it did not disappoint.

Using the long labour-day weekend and with the good weather continuing to hold out, excitement was at an all time high. Particularly given we’d be taking some rather extra-ordinary modes of transport on this adventure.

Lake Lovely Water is nestled high in the Tantalus Range slightly North West of Squamish, BC. The trailhead is located on the west side of the Squamish River, which means you’ll need to find your way across: many favour the low-cost option of using a canoe (putting in slightly upstream of the river inspection towers and cable that spans the river), while others fancy a more elaborate approach using climbing gear to pull themselves across on the cable itself. We, on the other hand, took an all together more leisurely (?) approach and chartered a jetboat from Squamish Riverjet, which I couldn’t recommend enough. The boat is a minimum of $150 one-way and holds at least 6 people plus kit. Once the waivers were signed we hit the river and it took approximately 25-30 mins to get from the Watershed Grill to the trailhead, which allowed time to let the rafting groups drift by and for a few 360s.

A jetboat driver kindly rammed the boat up onto the west riverbank at the point at which the river inspection cable disappears into the trees – signalling the start of the trail. From here, at pretty-much sea level, the trail disappears into the trees and follows the creek for about 10km as it climbs up to the lake, just below 1200m. A mix of root-riddled switchbacks and various steep rocky sections, the hike up to the lake was luckily in the trees all the way, which kept the sun off our backs.

After about 3.5 hours, we reached the small cable bridge over the creek at the head of the lake, meaning we’d finally arrived.

We checked out the various camping spots around the main Alpine Club of Canada hut, but as they were all shrouded in trees, we decided instead to camp on a small beach located on the Southern shoreline of the lake, just below the Mount Niobe basin. Luckily, we arrived on a week day so we were ahead of the crowds and had the entire beach to ourselves.

With a full Saturday to explore the area, we decided to circumnavigate the lake and follow the trail up to the Russian army campsite that sits just below the glacier on Serratus Mountain.

While circling around Lake Lovely Water we were able to get views of numerous objectives for future trips, including Alpha, Serratus, Iota and Omega Mountain as well as Mount Niobe and The Red Tusk.

Once around Lake Lovely Water and opposite the Niobe basin, the trail disappears into the trees and begins to climb steeply up to the hidden Lambda Lake that sits below the mighty Alpha Mountain.

The wet meadows that surround Lambda lake and squelch underfoot are home to a rainbow of wild flowers that feel as though you’ve dropped back down into the treeline rather than ascended higher into the alpine.

After another short steep section of dusty switchbacks the trail soon emerges in the basin below Alpha and Serratus Mountain, which used to be home to a Russian army camp.

With no Russian army in sight we continued on towards what is left of the glacier that sits in the basin.

In order to get a decent view back down the valley and over Lake Lovely Water we had to circle (anti-clockwise) around the perimeter of the basin and cross the glacier itself to avoid the fast-flowing rivers that ran from underneath it. Scrambling up the ridge of The Red Tusk finally meant we could see Lake Lovely Water which sat below and Garibaldi Provincial Park on the horizon.

After a couple of hours exploring the basin below Mount Serratus we headed back to camp to swim and make the most of our second evening on the beach, seeing out the final night by taking a canoe out at midnight to float around and star gaze.

After two nights at Lake Lovely Water it was time to head home and there was only one way to do it…