Ice cold colours of the lower Twin Lake

The Monashee's are a gem that remain pristine considering their proximinty to the Okanagan Valley. I know of 6 appealing hikes  based around Cherryville that are between 2-3 hours from Kelowna. There are more than that but some don't interest me as they are of similar distance without the reward of a sexy summit, alpine lake, or spectacular view.

Twin Lakes is the easiest of all these hikes and I think this is my fifth trip to this location. Some of the photos were pulled from other trips as the weather was better.

It's about 2:15 from Kelowna and a one way hike of 1:45. A logging road that requires a bit of clearance but not a four wheel drive takes you up to 1790m. The trail starts with a long up-hill which is always a bit of a grunt when you're not warmed up. Alongside the trail are lots of blueberries which make for satisfying rest stops. If you're fit you could likely do this whole trail without taking a break at all.

Jade Lake in Revelstoke National Park

I broke some new ground this past weekend in Revelstoke. I was invited to join some friends and their family on an alpine hike in Revelstoke Provincial Park.

This was quite different than most of my hikes in several ways. First off was the 26km paved road that gets you pretty much into the subalpine. We were on the trail head from the parking lot at 9:50am with several tour vans ahead of us. By on the trail head I mean walking the 1km paved road from the parking lot that is closed to all but the shuttle busses. As this was a day trip our packs were light and pace was fast.

We weren't entirely sure of our destination as the fitness level of the group was undetermined. After 90 minutes of hiking well worn, fat trails we came to the Miller Lake fork in the trail (the brochure labels this as a 2-3 hike). It's apparently a 10 minute hike to the lake but we opted to pass it and head for the furthest lake called Jade lake.