GROUNDHOG LAKE

June 29, 2018 2:47 pm Published by Alexander Davis 1 Comment

Throughout the first six weeks of work at West Fraser, much chatter amongst the summer students has revolved around potential camping and backpacking trips in the surrounding Cariboo Mountains and beyond; however, due to everyone’s unpredictable and busy schedules, the logistics of such an excursion have proved easier said than done. During the second weekend of June, myself and four other summer students, along with Tater the dog finally became acquainted with the beautiful Cariboo mountains.

We set out from Quesnel towards Barkerville on a stunning, cloudless Saturday morning. Our plan was to hike the 8.5 kilometer trek up to Groundhog Lake, make ourselves at home in a backcountry cabin maintained for winter recreational use, and lastly make our way to the summit of Agnes peak to indulge in a 360-degree panoramic view of the Cariboo mountains.

To reach the trailhead, we were first required to walk through the historic, goldmining town of Barkerville which has been transformed into a popular tourist attraction. At the receptionist’s office, I nonchalantly mentioned that we had a dog that would be accompanying us up the mountain which seemed to light a fire under the soles of the receptionist’s feet. Apparently, they take dog proximity to horses in Barkerville very seriously. She spent about five minutes lecturing us in regard to the best means of avoiding any contact with the horses which was capped off by, what we all hoped to be a sarcastic comment claiming, “the stable guy likes dogs and would shoot us first.”

We made it through Barkerville unscathed and began up the Wagon road that was a part of the original gold rush trail that was built in the mid 1800’s. Much to our delight, the swarms of mosquitos that had been pestering us to the verge of insanity at our worksites during the previous week were practically non-existent in this area. We met a fit-looking elderly couple near the base of the trail and asked if they were heading up Mt Agnes. They responded in a casual manner, “yeah we’re going to run up.” We all glanced at each other in awe and slight resentment and proceeded to bid them good luck.

The Wagon road itself consisted primarily of level and moderately sloped terrain which made for easy hiking despite our heavy packs. Patches of snow and saturated, soggy soil substrate became increasingly more common as we gained elevation towards Groundhog lake. The final assent proved to be the most challenging as slope gradients rose sharply following alongside a roaring stream that, at times, had all but wiped out the banks on which the trail used to reside. The slow trudge came to an abrupt halt as we reached level ground and were greeted with a dazzling view of the surrounding area.

Rays of sunshine casted down upon the still partially frozen, dark blue and green hues of Groundhog Lake. The impressive figure of Agnes mountain protruded upwards at the far end of the lake, riddled with large patches of snow and sparsely vegetated, rocky alpine terrain. To our left stood a well-maintained, cozy looking cabin.

The cabin did not disappoint. The lower area was stocked to the brim with firewood and a fire pit was set up in front of the cabin. The upper levels were well maintained and consisted of a large picnic table, a wood stove, and a ladder leading up to a sleeping loft. A blue and white door less outhouse that, from a far, looked similar to a medieval castle turret was situated behind the cabin.

We puttered around the cabin and unpacked our belongings for about an hour before we commenced the final assent of the journey. The trail to the summit was entirely covered by snow along the main avalanche chute. As a result, we were forced to scramble up an adjacent side chute, often clinging for dear life at any soundly-rooted vegetation we could grasp. We finally made it to the ridge atop the avalanche chutes and followed it upwards for about 500 meters to the summit of Agnes mountain.

The peak was marked with an old fire pit and a few past their prime golf clubs. The view from the summit was nothing short of spectacular. A panoramic view of Groundhog lake and the Cariboo mountain range stretched in every direction as far as the eye could see. The mountains were covered with dense subalpine forests appearing as hues of green slowly fading to blue towards the edge of the horizon. We spent about half an hour at the summit taking pictures, hitting rocks off the edge of the cliff with golf clubs, and simply basking and indulging in the views and sunlight of the surrounding area before we started heading back down to the cabin.

As one would presume, the descent was a lot quicker than the assent, but was made even more so by the aforementioned snow-covered avalanche chute. What appeared as an obstacle to be avoided on the way up, turned into the greatest bum sliding run of all time on the way down. Doug led the way and proceeded to sprint as fast as he could through the snow before gracefully wiping out and sliding nearly the entire way down. The rest of us followed, cautiously at first, quickly gaining confidence and speed before we too, tripped and fell to wind up sliding our way down.

Spirits were high as we arrived back at the cabin in record time. We set up our beds and made our various dinners ranging from cold pepperoni sticks to Annies mac and cheese. After dinner, we started a fire and hummed and hawed for nearly an hour before finally deciding to take the icy plunge into the still partially frozen waters of Groundhog lake. I went first, running towards the lake when I slipped on some moss and tumbled headlong into the lake. I let out a high-pitched squeal as the icy water engulfed me and I rapidly made my way back onto shore. The others reluctantly followed, still laughing at my majestic lake entry.

Most of us went to bed shortly after and fell into a sound sleep, exhausted after a long day of hiking. For those who remained awake, any stargazing attempts were thwarted by the ever-dwindling summer light that failed to leave the sky throughout the entire night.

We set out early the next morning after a meager breakfast with the motivation of a meal at the Jack O’ Clubs in Wells, which had conceived the brilliant marketing scheme of leaving a menu in the cabin, engraved in our minds. The journey down was relatively uneventful and we arrived back in Barkerville around noon. We unloaded our gear into the truck and drove the short drive to Wells where our meals very much lived up to our highly touted expectations.

We arrived back in Quesnel around 2 in the afternoon, all of us beaming after an absolutely epic weekend of adventures, soon to be transformed into a case of the Monday blues.

That’s all for now. I hope you all enjoyed my rendition of our Groundhog lake excursion. For my next blog post I plan on making a “day in the life” video of a day of work at West Fraser. Thanks for the read!

Alexander Davis