Have you ever stepped into a perfectly stunning and beautiful landscape and simply been speechless? My wife and I would discover the Cathedral Lakes will leave you breathless, in more ways than one.

When we set out on our three day excursion, we didn't know what we were getting into. We were unaware that this hiking trip would be the adventure all future adventures would be compared to.

The Setup

We were planning on staying at a campground near Cathedral Lake. In the summer, there is also a lodge that you can stay at - aptly named "Cathedral Lake Lodge".

The campground (and lodge) is located 16 kilometres up a gruelling hike. Most of it remains in the trees with a few glimpses of glory as you hike up. Campers have the option to have the lodge drive you up to the campsite - skipping the hike-in for $100. With our limited time in the area, we decided to opt-out of the initial hike in, and caught a ride with the lodge. As a hiking purist, it was not the easiest decision for me, but after spending a couple minutes on the road up - I knew we made the right choice. Save your legs for good stuff and skip the hike in.

The pick-up point for the ride up is about 20 minutes west of Keremeos. Half of that is on a dirt-road, but you can easily drive it in your car - no 4x4 needed. It took us around 2 hours to drive to the pick-up area from Kelowna.

After 1 hour on the road, you will pull into the lodge. Depending on your camping style, the lodge might be a great choice for you! There are number of different accommodation options available that range from shared to private areas. The biggest perk of staying at the lodge is the hot breakfast, and dinner, you also get bagged lunches to take on day hikes.

The campground that we were staying at is about a 5 minute walk from the lodge. So if you are camping, be aware that you will be carrying your equipment and food to your campsite.

As we approached the campsite we got our first taste of the beauty of Cathedral Lakes. The campsite is located 2100 meters above the valley and is surrounded by a pristine lake. This was nothing in comparison to the views we would experience later.

We wandered down to the camping area from the drop-off point and picked our tent-pad. We arrived at 11am on a Thursday morning, so we had our pick of the litter. A couple days later, the pickings were slim. There are absolutely some campsites that are better than others. We picked an amazing spot next to the lake.

With our campsite setup, and half a day to kill, we thought we would venture out for a quick hike. We decided on checking out the "Diamond Trail". The trail loops around the backside of Scout Mountain (2369m) and back down through Scout Lake. We were told it takes around 4 hours.

The hike is fairly easy. It starts heading north on a gentle sloping trail that is surrounded by trees and wildflowers before it opens up to large grass meadows and wraps around the backside of Scout Mountain.

After a couple hours on the trail, we hit the point where we had an option to head down towards Scout Lake, or veer off and summit Red Mountain. We felt like we were making good time - so we decided to abandon the rest of the Diamond Trail and extend our hike.

So much for a warm-up hike.

It's been a while since I had been hiking at higher elevations, and my "winter body" was paying the price for those cold months of hibernation. Time to suck it up and double our planned hike for the day.





The hike up and over Red Mountain was a nice treat. There were scattered boulders and rocks everywhere, so it is best to put the hiking poles away. I find they become more of a nuisance when you are popping from rock to rock.

At 2369 metres, the view was pretty spectacular, but it is dwarfed by some of the other taller ridges and peaks that surround it - teasing you with what the next day of hiking might bring.

We headed south from the summit and hoped we would be able to sneak between Red Mountain and Quinsicoe Mountain (2551m) down to our campsite at Quiniscoe Lake. However, the path looked pretty sketchy to navigate, and we decided to push up and over Quinsicoe Mountain, and then down the watershed into Glacier Lake.

If you are familiar with reading topographic maps, you can see that it is a pretty steep decline from the ridge south of the Quiniscoe Mountain Summit, and then again down from Glacier Lake. We tromped back into the camp site with sore toes and knees at around 4:00pm, 4.5 hours, and 15 kilometres after we set-off for our warm up.

It was time for some homemade spaghetti and a glass of red wine.

Day 2

Devil's Woodpile, Stone City, and Smokey the Bear

We had ambitious plans for day 2. After a mediocre night of sleep, a cup of coffee, and some snacks, we hit the trail again. Today we were going to head back up to the ridge we just came down the previous evening, and then continue south. Wanting to avoid doing too much of the trail over again (and remembering how steep it was between Glacier lake and Quinsicoe lake), we decided to head towards Pyramid Lake, then back up the ridge Between Quiniscoe Mountain and The Devil's Woodpile.

The trail from Quiniscoe Lake towards Pyramid was mostly downhill. As we headed west and went past Glacier Lake, we headed straight back up towards the ridge we just descended from 15 hours earlier. At least going up was easier on the knees. The only thing missing from our trip up were the goats that we saw the day before - it seems they moved onto greener pastures.

Once we hit the ridgeline, we started heading south again and up to the Devil's Woodpile. An impressive piece of rock formation that drops off drastically to the east and gives a breath-taking view of the beautiful Lady Slipper lake. It also gives you a bit of a sneak-peak at the the rest of your day, as you can see some of the ridges you will be on, as well as the meandering trail that brings your back down into the valley.

After Devil's Woodpile, the majority of the hard "up" hiking was done. There were slight elevation changes as we moved to Stone City (the name is accurate), and to "Smokey the Bear" - a large rock face that has a panoramic view of the entire park.

We initially planned to hike past 'Smokey' and towards another notable feature, the 'Giant Cleft'. However, as we left 'Smokey', we started to notice some pretty nasty clouds coming in. As we pushed on the rain started, and then thunder began to echo throughout the mountains.

Mother Nature was putting on a show, and it was time we started paying attention. We turned around and started back towards 'Smokey', and down towards Lady slipper lake.

If you're ever caught in The Alpines amidst a storm, it's time to take things seriously. Situations can escalate quickly. Fortunately for us, it was rather mild until we went lower and entered the forest.

That being said, hiking down from 'Smokey', surrounded by dark clouds, towering cliffs, pouring rain and with the rolling sounds of thunder all around you - it feels good. It is one of those moments where we can pause and absorb, appreciate and admire the power and scale of the world around you.

"It is one of those moments where you can stop and absolutely appreciate the power and scale of the world around you."

We made our way down to Lady slipper Lake (pictured in the last slide above). If it were not for the rain at that point, I would have absolutely been stripping down and going for a dip. The lake was shallow, warm, and crystal clear.

The trail traces about 20% of Lady slipper Lake. As we made our way around the lake, we were greeted with 100's of fish jumping out of the water for their afternoon snack. The rain calmed down by this point, so we took a seat and joined them for lunch. My wife and I had an apple and some cheese and watched the fish pop in and out of the water for 15 minutes before we made our last push to Quinsicoe Lake.

6 hours after heading out, and approximately 15 kilometres, we made it back to our campsite for the day. It was now Friday afternoon and the campsite had gotten considerably busier. Fortunately, the sites are spread out enough to still give each group their own privacy. We had a family with a newborn baby right next to us (good on them for getting this deep outdoors, it couldn't have been easy), and we barely heard a peep all night.

We cooked dinner and ate on a little rock that was a few feet out on the lake.

Perfect.

Day 3

The Lakeview Trail and the Downpour

We didn't know it yet. But it was going to be a wet day.

Today's adventure was to attack the Goat Lake Trail and Lakeview Mountain (2628m). We expected this to be the longest hike we attempted while staying at Cathedral Lakes. If we are being completely honest, I could have easily stayed in the tent and read my book all day. But the will to punish my legs outweighed my will to stay comfy.

First we had to hike back out the same way we did for Day 2, but then kept heading south east at the junction where you can head to Glacier Lake. This eventually led us to the Goat Lake Trail.

This trail followed along a meadow creek right up to Goat Lake.

Once you hit Goat Lake, take a left, and enter hell.

Once we hit Goat Lake, it was time to head east again, and up 580m towards the summit Lakeview Mountain (2628m).

The first half of the climb is forested. It rained hard the night before so it was mucky and slippery. By the time we emerged from the trees, the mud, water on the brush, the humidity, in addition to sweating our butts off resulted us being soggy. Then it started to rain...

We hid under a tree for 20 minutes and waited for the rain to pass before we pushed up to the ridge-line that connects Lakeview Mountain, and the Boxcar. The Boxcar is an impressive rock face that stands out over the valley. Our earlier intentions were to summit it as a quick detour before heading to Lakeview. But the splash of rain that just occurred, in addition to Boxcar looking like it was in a storm cloud, made us decide to skip it (a small regret of mine), and head up to the top of Lakeview.

That being said, the view sitting between Lakeview and Boxcar was stunning.

By the time we topped out on Lakeview Mountain, visibility was limited, wind was blowing hard, and the rain kept teasing us.

We hid behind a small man-made rock shelter to warm up and get out of the wind. After a couple snacks and goofy pictures, we started to head back down.

The trail from the summit of Lakeview back down to Pyramid lake is long, and takes you along a vast and open field of hills. It felt like strolling along the Scottish countryside.

We wandered back into camp around 6 hours and 15 kilometres after we set out.

About 30 minutes after making back into camp, our luck changed.

Our last night at Cathedral Lakes Park was spent in the tent after scarfing down our rehydrated food bags. They are tastier than they sound - I promise. I had "Pasta with Italian Meat Sauce", and my wife had "Curry Chicken with Rice". I always find the pastas a safe choice. Though I don't think my wife ever wants to spend that much time in a tent with me again after eating something labeled "Italian Meat Sauce"...

One of my favourite parts about hiking is that I finally get to catch-up on my reading list. There are no distractions when you get back to camp. No televisions. No iPhones. No Wi-fi (though some provincial parks are now offering it!) Maybe that is one of the allures of the outdoors - it's good for the soul.

Maybe that is one of the allures of the outdoors - it's good for the soul.

And that's where our trip ends. Falling asleep to the pitter-patter of rain drops on the fly of the tent. Of course we are still camping when we wake up the next morning, but you can already feel the real world creeping back into your life.

As we drove away from the park in the morning, there were small hints that reminded us we were coming back into civilization. First the radio picks up a frequency. Then a car passing you in the other direction. Eventually the dirt road ends as we enter city limits. Then the phones kick in and I hear the beeps and feel the vibrations in my pocket.

Time to plan the next adventure.

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