After a hot yoga class together one July evening, Amanda and I sat together at her kitchen island, enjoying lentil curry and chatting backcountry adventures. We realized we both had the same weekdays off in a couple weeks’ time, and came up with a quick plan to tackle Elfin Lakes as an overnighter. Both raised in Squamish, neither one of us had camped up at the top, although Amanda had done the hike before.

We began the hike up around 11:00AM, and the trail was already sun-drenched. We were reaching for our water bottles consistently as we hiked, and opted to stop for some snacks and shade once we reached the Red Heather Hut.

Upon reaching the lakes, we picked out our tent pad and set up our home base before going off to explore our surroundings. The campsite was remarkably busy for a weeknight, and we chatted with neighbouring campers, including one family who had hiked up with a blow-up boat! With four small children in tow, the father explained that they had quite naively assumed the hike to the lake was a short walk and not a 22km round trip journey with 600 metres elevation gain. “You can’t argue with this view though” we agreed. Although busy, the campsite at Elfin Lakes is spectacular.

Even more spectacular was the sunset.

Morning arrived with weather just as glorious as the day before, and we ate breakfast before packing up and heading out.