Trip Summary

Winter backpacking can be hit or miss when it comes to sunshine. I’ve spent a few trips under white skies, but this March weekend at Joffre Lakes turned out to be exceptionally sunny! I enjoyed easy hiking, good views, and exploring the area. 

Trip Breakdown

Saturday
Arrive at Joffre Lakes Trailhead by 10:30am
Get to Holloway Falls by 12pm (4.1km and approx. 300m elevation gain)
Arrive at Upper Joffre Lake by 12:15pm (4.5km)
Set-up tents and enjoy the sunshine until 2pm
Hike to the other side of the lake, climb up to a low glacier, and explore the area (+3km and a bit of elevation) 2-4pm
Return to camp and cook dinner 5pm
Stargazing! 8:30-9pm

Sunday
Up for sunrise 7:30am (daylight savings kicked in)
Breakfast and pack up camp 8-9am
Hike to the other side of the lake again, climb the ridge for the views 10am
Sunny walk back to the trailhead (with a stop at lower Joffre Lake!), back by 12:30pm

Trip Details

Leaving Vancouver Saturday morning, I had two options in mind: check the Keith’s Hut parking to see if it was busy, and if it was, then head over to Joffre Lakes trailhead and camp in tents instead. Keith’s Hut is non-reservable, first-come-first-serve, and only sleeps 14. When we got to the parking lot, there were over a dozen cars already there. Deciding to leave the comfort of the hut to the backcountry skiers, we backtracked 2km to start at Joffre Lakes Trailhead around 10:15 am. We hit the trail shortly after. 

We arrived at Holloway Falls around 12pm, and took a moment to rest and admire the falls. Then, we made it to Upper Joffre Lakes 15 minutes later. Here, we found a sheltered place to set up our tents. About an hour later, the sun peaked through the clouds! I felt like a child on Christmas morning. I raced to put on my rain gear and sunglasses, then I lay down in the middle of the lake to soak in the sunshine. 

Next, we traversed the lake on snowshoes to explore. We climbed over a small island, scrambled up to a low glacier and found the snow-buried outhouse belonging to the summer campground. Finally, we returned to our makeshift camp and cooked dinner. Later in the evening, we stood out on the edge of the lake and watched the stars. Conditions were great: the clouds cleared, we were far from a city, and the wind had died down.  

The next morning, we got up for sunrise (after some confusion when alarms went off at 5:30 am – none of us knew daylight savings was kicking in that weekend). Under pink clouds, I made my usual breakfast of oatmeal. After packing up tents and stoves, we went back over to the other side of the lake and climbed up the ridge. From there, we had a great view of the lake and the mountains. It was beautifully sunny and made me wish we had an extra weekend day to enjoy the weather. Eventually, we headed back down the trailhead toward the parking lot and arrived at the car for lunch. 

Key Points

• The parking lot is a good gauge of how busy the trail (or hut) will be.
• Enjoy the sun while it’s there!
• Take the short hike: backpacking isn’t always about high-stats trips.