July 28-30, 2005.
Day 1 (Thursday)
On the way to Manning Park, we stopped at the
Othello Tunnels in the Coquihalla Gorge. A pleasant 3Km (RT) walk along the Coquihalla River. The tunnels were built around 1914 for the Canadian Pacific Railway. However, no rails to be found now.
Direction: Exit 173 of Hwy 3. Turn left towards the town of Hope (the movie First Blood was shot here). Turn right on 7th Ave before entering Hope, right again on Kawkawa Lake Rd. Cross a bridge, continue for a couple of Kms, right again on Othello Rd for another couple of Kms until a sign. Turn sharp right to the park.
This is a trail for family (even wheel chair accessible). Kids enjoy the dripping from the tunnel ceiling and pebbles at the river bank. The view of the gorge from the first bridge in between the tunnels is awesome.
From Hope it's 45 minutes to the only hotel in Manning Park. We spent a lazy afternoon at the Lightening Lake, where we encountered this curious duck, who pecked my foot.
Day 2 (Friday)
Heather Trail.
Our first stop is at the end of the 8Km paved road: Cascade Lookout.
 |  |  |
Continue on the gravel road (in good shape) for 7Km is the trail head (Blackwall Parking lot, elevation ~2000m). The trail is flat, slightly descending. First a couple of Kms are along the lupine filled path along the western slope of a ridge, with a view across the valley towards our destination. Then it goes into the forest, and the kids started to get bored. At 5Km, we lunched near the Buckhorn Wilderness Camp. Gray Jays also stopped on our picnic table stealing food. Now trail started upslope. It's not until another 1.5 Km or so, we emerged to the the first stretch of meadows. Flowers filled every inch, Cascade Mountains looming far to the south. The view is expansive and grand.
 |
 |
 |
Among the flowers we saw are:
The kids turned back at the junction to the Bonnevire trail (6.5Km). My father and I continued for another 45 minutes towards the First Brother Mt. By the time we got back to the car, everyone was exhausted. They all went to the hot tub to soak the tired legs after dinner.
Day 3 (Saturday)
We spent the morning hiking the Three Falls trail. It was not a good choice, as it's too long (9Km RT) after the big hike the previous day. The first 2Km is flat in an area called Strawberry Flat. We reached the first Shadow Falls at 3.1Km, didn't see the 2nd Nepopekum Falls at 3.2Km. The last falls is bigger at 4.5Km. Some blueberries are out already. No bugs.
After a quick bathroom stop at the Resort, we headed home. It was getting very warm and sleepy.
Some of us finished the day by going to the annual fireworks show at the English Bay. As always, it's full of excitement, color, people and sand. This night was by Sweden. Music by ABBA.
