© Richard HuangJoffre Lakes Provincial Park is a three-hour drive from Vancouver. This magnificent landscape of layered peaks, icefields and glaciers, rushing streams, and turquoise lakes was established as a recreation area in 1988 and designated a Class A provincial park in 1996.
© Richard HuangThe park’s great attraction is the turquoise water of Lower, Middle, and Upper Joffre Lakes. All three lie along the trail, and each is more breathtaking than the last. Their striking, saturated blue comes from “rock flour”—fine glacial silt suspended in the water that reflects green and blue wavelengths. The provincial park offers opportunities for hiking, camping, mountaineering, wildlife viewing, and fishing.
© Richard HuangVisitors must first make a free reservation online. Staff check reservations at the entrance parking lot before allowing hikers into the park.
© Richard HuangLower Joffre Lake, the first of the three, is an easy 500-metre walk from the parking lot.
© Richard HuangFrom here, glacier-covered peaks come into view.
© Richard HuangBeyond Lower Joffre Lake, the trail to the middle and upper lakes becomes steeper and more challenging.
© Richard HuangTowering trees line the way. (For more views from the trail, click on myImpressions of Joffre Lakes, 2021）
© Richard HuangEnormous boulders are everywhere too. Graffiti on rocks like this is uncommon, however; visitors here generally have a strong sense of environmental responsibility. (For more on graffiti carved into stone, click on Richard’s Image Fragments: A Tale of Stones）
© Richard HuangThis stretch of the trail is long and steep. Whenever I felt I could go no farther, I would ask hikers coming down how much farther there was to go. The answer was always the same: “You’re almost there. The view above is worth pressing on for.” Fortunately, the rushing streams kept me company along the way. Whenever I tired, I could turn around and see Lower Joffre Lake, like a jewel set amid the forest—a sight that instantly lifted my spirits.
© Richard HuangA mountain hike like this draws all kinds of people.
© Richard HuangThere were plenty of young children too.
© Richard HuangTheir quickness and seemingly boundless energy were truly astonishing.
© Richard HuangAfter nearly two hours of climbing, I finally reached Middle Joffre Lake.
© Richard Huang
© Richard HuangAfter such an arduous climb, I had to sit down for a proper rest and take in the view.
© Richard HuangI was curious about this young woman’s tattoo. As she observed the trees, flowers, and birds, she kept making notes. When another hiker took out some pumpkin seeds to feed the birds, I asked him for a few so that I could feed them too. The young woman spoke up: “You shouldn’t feed wild animals. What are you giving them?” When she learned that they were pumpkin seeds, she said, “Those are natural, so they’re all right. But you must never give them processed food, such as bread.” Clearly, she was someone who cared deeply about nature.
© Richard HuangOnce I had received “permission,” I opened the hand holding the pumpkin seeds. After a short wait, a bird flew down onto my palm and hopped about, eating every last seed. Later, a knowledgeable person who saw the photograph told me that it was a Canada jay, Canada’s national bird.
© Richard HuangFeeding the little bird left me feeling wonderfully refreshed. I gathered my things and set off once more, bound for the third lake: Upper Joffre Lake.
© Richard HuangThirty minutes later, I reached the final lake, Upper Joffre Lake.
© Richard HuangUpper Joffre Lake lies closest to the snowcapped mountains, with the glaciers and icefields clearly visible.
© Richard Huang
© Richard HuangAt last, the five-hour journey was complete. My body was exhausted, but nature had cleansed my spirit, and I felt deeply content.