After two May Long weekend trips to Lindeman Lake, we decided to try Cheakamus Lake in 2019. Our group continued to grow and this time we had 11 people join us for the adventure!

The one challenge with going to Cheakamus Lake is that it’s in Garibaldi Park, which means you have to reserve the campsites in advance. There are two sites to choose from, the bigger Cheakamus Lake Campsite at the head of the lake, or the smaller Singing Creek Campsite in the middle of the lake. Both campgrounds are really nice. The sites at Cheakamus Lake are more isolated and are spread out along the lakefront, so if you’re only booking one site, I’d recommend here as it’s a lot more private. At Singing Creek, there’s a lovely beach on which to hang out, but the sites are all clustered together in the woods, so it was prefect for as a large group! Several groups day hiked into the beach throughout the weekend, but otherwise we were the only ones who camped there overnight.

We met at the trailhead on Saturday morning and started hiking together, though with so many of us, we quickly became scattered along the trail. It’s 4km to the first site and then another 4km to the second site. It’s mostly flat along the trail, so it’s a great hike for early in the season, and for beginners. Since it was an easier trail, I finally convinced Seth to join us for the weekend and Megan third wheeled with us in the tent.

We took a short break at the first site, but otherwise had a steady pace to the end of the trail. I think it took us about 2.5 hours to make the trek. We set up tents among the trees and spent the rest of the day lounging on the beach. The weather forecast had been a bit mixed and the first day was supposed to be the best, so we decided to make a go for our annual May swim in the lake! Me and Carolyn were the first to make a quick dive in and out of the water and about half of the group joined us. Steve made a half hearted run up to his knees and then turned immediately turned back without regret, whereas Seth’s approach was to prolong the agony with a slow wade in. Me and Emily went for a second swim the following day, but no one was quite so dedicated to swimming as Lien. He must have been in and out of the frigid water at least 3-4 times throughout the weekend!

Cheakamus Lake was a cool place, but the downside is that once you get to Singing Creek, there’s not really anywhere else to explore. We had a whole day to kill on Sunday, so most of us slept in, although some more than others (looking at you Meg). Carolyn and Tiiu took us by surprise by deciding to get up and go trail running up towards Helm Creek after breakfast. Carolyn came over to give me her trip plan in case they didn’t return (to which Steve was a little offended, but eventually agreed he’d rather not assume any responsibility in Carolyn’s rescue if things went awry).

But I had to laugh at Carolyn when she told me they were going to go up towards Helm Creek and Black Tusk. Before leaving she asked me whether I thought there would be snow on the trail, to which I needed only to point across the lake to where you could clearly see the snow atop the mountain to answer the question. She looked a little abashed and just agreed they’d turn around when they hit the snow.

I was a little disappointed not to have been invited on this outing (I mean, why would I, I’m not a trail runner), so I decided to rally the troops for a little bushwacking. It did look as if the trail continued further up the lake into the woods, so we decided to follow it. The trail deteriorated pretty fast and while it was in no way a reliable or groomed trail, it was still there, so we continued on up the lake through the trees. It did involve a bit of wayfinding, but we just made sure to stick close to the shoreline and track our progress on my GPS.

From our beach, you can see another bigger beach at the end of the lake, and I was determined to get there. The closer we got to the end of the lake, the trail turned into more of an animal path before finally disappearing altogether. We continued on for a bit, but eventually had to conclude that there was a marsh standing between us at the beach at the foot of the lake. We did make it all the way to the end of the lake, but there was simply no way (that we could find) across the bog, so we decided to turn back.

Meg slept through this little adventure and Brandon made the trek all the way back to his car in search of warmer bedding (apparently it’d been a cold night). We returned sometime after lunch and Carolyn and Tiiu reappeared mid afternoon. We went for another swim and then played a few games of crib (of course Steve had brought a travel size board in his bag of wonders).

We’d been expecting rain, but it continued to hold off. We set up a few tarps in the woods just in case, which was an even more effective way to keep the rain away because after that it never materialized at all! We enjoyed a smorgasbord of dinners over the two days. I teamed up with Brandon and he made us thai chicken curry the first night, followed by my potato chili and apple crumble the second night. Emily had spaghetti, which involved an entire can of tomato sauce (so heavy!) and Carolyn, Tiiu, Meg, and Steve teamed up to make a pretty fancy looking charcuterie board.

Our May Long weekend trip is always centered on sharing and comradery, so I loved just hanging out on the beach and taking it easy with my friends, something that seems even more special after a year of Covid isolation. I spent a lot of time chilling in the hammock and felt especially lucky to be accompanied by both Seth and Emily on this trip. We were treated to a particularly lovely sunset over the lake on the first evening and then hit the sack early after that.

On Monday we packed up and headed back out the trail. It rained on me, Seth, and Lien for no more than 10 minutes, and it seemed to have been pretty localized as no one else reported seeing rain at all. so overall it was another successful trip and I’d definitely recommend it as a great backpacking trip for beginners!