August 16-18, 2019
~ submitted by Rick King
Friday, Aug 16: At 8 am, nine of us met at the resort at Great Central Lake to catch the Della Falls water taxi. Due to our numbers Doug, owner of the water taxi, had arranged for two boats so we could all arrive at the same time.
We could not have asked for a better day for a boat ride, the lake was flat calm and clear. We cast off at about 8:15 and arrived at the trailhead at about 9AM. After a short pit stop, we were on our way. The first 10 or so kilometres were fairly flat and easy going, the one creek I thought we might have to wade was quite low so were able to rock hop across. At about 10k we reached the cable car, I have used quite a few cable cars but none has been as hard as this one to pull! We had quite a workout by the time we had pulled it both ways 5 times to get everyone across!
The trail started to go up and down here, with an interesting section through some very big jagged boulders, at the end of the boulders was a very small campsite on the river and if you knew where to stand, one very COLD spot as the coolness came out from under the rocks. We arrived in camp at about 4PM and found a spot we could all set up together. The camping area was quite busy with 8-10 other tents, but we were separated from them by some forest and we hardly knew they were there. After setting up camp we walked the last 1/2k to the falls, unfortunately the water level was quite low and the falls were not as spectacular as I saw last time! Back to camp and diner, lots of gear discussion and early to bed.
Saturday, Aug 17: Day hike to Love Lake – this is a short but fairly tough day with 3km of switchbacks and rough trail up to the lake, but it had spectacular views looking down the valley to Great Central lake, across the valley to Della falls and Della lake. The lake itself is nestled in at the base of Mt Septimus and is a cold looking pea green. We had lunch here before returning to camp. I think the downhill was just as hard on my legs as the uphill! Round trip 6k and 5.5 hours. Supper at camp and discussions on food type and preparation and another early night to bed (9pm)
Sunday, Aug 18: We headed out at about 9am for a fairly leisurely hike out with lots of berry picking on the way. The group arrived at the trailhead at about 3pm. Some people went swimming, some had tea, some napped while waiting for our boat at 4:30pm. The ride back to wharf was a little rougher as there was a slight breeze blowing. At the wharf, we split up some going home and some going for fish and chips.
Great trip, Thank you everyone for the good time!