We have been trying to get here for the last month but with Tyson’s work schedule it just hasn’t happened. Today was going to be the day. The weather looked the best and off we went along with our friend Bruce. Bruce has now become a regular with our family adventures, joining us on a hike to Pinnacles Lake, Bluenose Mountain, The Rimrocks and a 4 day bike trip on the Kettle Valley Railway.

We knew there was going to be some snow but we were hoping with a bit of sun in the forecast it would be minimal. Turns out there was anywhere between 4 and 30 cm of the white stuff depending on where we walked. We dressed according to the weather and brought many other layers just incase. On our feet we had on our regular Gore-tex hiking boots with the addition of gaiters to keep the snow out. The girls were layered up and had their Mountain Warehouse drift junior hiking boots on too. But once they started off on foot, for the first 100 metres, the snow was too deep for their little boots and into the Trail Magik‘s they went. The first part of the trail was entirely uphill as we followed the tracks of previous hikers. It starts off quite intense and then kind of plateaus off in an open meadow before another short incline then a final decent to the twin lakes themselves.

The weather was a mixed bag of a bit of everything. From fog to snow to a bit of wind to a small break of sunshine. We weren’t in a rush and found ourselves stopping to take in the beauty of the surrounding mountains, well, what we could see when the wind gusts blew the low clouds away. The girls were complaining their feet were cold so we switched out Lidija’s hiking boots for the MEC Toaster booties with hot pockets inside. Bexley didn’t like this idea so she powered through in her hikers.

We passed a group of 4 that had camped the night there prior. Chatted for a few minutes before pushing on to the lakes. We had high hopes the sun would make an appearance but all we got was some snow.

We arrived at the lakes and found a good spot, kind of out of the wind, and pulled out our MEC seat cushions and tried to get snacks out as fast as we could.

Both girls were crying that they wanted to go back to the truck cause they were cold. We put hot pockets in their mitts as well as pulled out a thermos of steaming hot chocolate. That helped for about 10 minutes and then they were at it again for us to get on the move. I didn’t even have a chance to sit down with trying to find snacks, calm the girls and then of course Lidija needing to go pee. This was not an easy task. She was wearing multiple layers as well as a one piece fleece suit. so we needed to get most of that off without her freezing her little butt off. If anyone knows a better setup for toddlers in the backcountry we are definitely open to suggestions. Bexley was glued to Tyson’s lap and he was trying to help as much as he could too. Then the snow started coming down pretty good so we quickly piled everything back into our packs, loaded the girls up in the Trail Magik‘s and headed out.

Up we climbed to the ridge and back down towards where the truck was parked. This return trip seemed a lot quicker as the girls were napping, the snow stopping falling and most of the trail being downhill.

Just as we reached the truck the sun came out and the girls woke up. They were excited to be able to refuel as well as snuggle their awaiting blankets and favourite stuffies that were waiting in the truck.

We definitely found winter up at this elevation, but within a few kilometres we were back to the fall weather waiting for us. The total hike for us was just under 8 km round trip with an elevation gain of around 500 metres. It took us 2.5 hours to get to the lakes and 1.5 hours back to the truck.

For information on this spectacular hike in the summer time, be sure to check out our previous post from a couple seasons back.