Joffre Lakes Backpacking Trip

Upper Joffre Lake (Photo Credit: Johnson Liu)

Ah, the Joffre lakes backpacking trip. Waiting over a month before working on this trip report, you’d think the memories of what occured on the trip would have been more hazy. Thanks to Lucy Luo and Josh Thorsteinson (the wonderful trip organizers), along with the beginner backpackers that came, the overnighting at Joffre was nothing short of memorable. While the hike itself was not nearly as long as I was expecting (only about 2 hours to the campground), the trail had small sections that got a bit intense due to our heavy packs. Although a good pair of trail runners would have also sufficed, wearing hiking boots came in handy for the rockier sections of the trail.

About 3/4 of our way to the campground (Photo Credit: Johnson Liu)

After passing many hikers on the busy trail, we eventually made it to the second lake for a quick lunch break. At the turquoise lake, we enjoyed our first meal before heading off to the next lake. On the way there, we saw swarms of hikers along with the surrounding views of snow covered mountains in the distance. As soon as we got to the campsite, we quickly located the best spots to pitch our tents before others could get to them. Setting up our tents proved to be difficult due to the large and bumpy rocks. However, after a bit of tussle with Mother Nature we managed to get our tents set up beautifully by the water.

Photo Credit: Johnson Liu

After having set up camp, we set out to take a dip in Upper Joffre Lake. Due to the insanely cold water, it was only possible to stay submerged in the water for a minute or two before feeling a prickly sensation. Soumya took excellent advantage of the cool glacial water to chill her “Canada day” themed wine cans while the others used this water to wash off their sweat. Soon after dinner, some of us scrambled a bit up the mountains near Upper Lake to watch the sunset. Watching the sun rays fall on the mountains was exquisite.

Post dinner group picture (Photo Credit: Soumya Routery)

After a bit of scrambling by the campground (Photo Credit: Josh Thorsteinson)

The view after scrambling (Photo Credit: Josh Thorsteinson)

Little did we know that we were going to get an even more outstanding view later that night. We stayed up to chat and watch the stars begin to flood the skies as it became darker. As this was my first time seeing stars outside of the city, I was in pure awe.

Photo Credit: Khushi Nilesh Patil

The next morning, we woke up to one group member feeling sick. She along with the two others in her car group quickly packed up and rushed down to get her to the nearest hospital while the rest of us slowly got up. After everyone got up, we packed up, had breakfast, and then began our trek back down. At this point we had decided to split into a few separate groups to accommodate people wanting to hike at different speeds. Once we arrived at the Middle Joffre Lake, my group decided to take our final dip in the water together by jumping from the Instagram famous log. Lucy and Josh also recreated the classic “Log Photo” (pictured below).

Lucy and Josh recreating the classic “log photo” (Photo Credit: Soumya Routery)

Nicely soaked and refreshed, we completed the final leg of the hike back down to the trailhead. After the car ride back to Vancouver, I was more than ready to pass out and spend the rest of my time daydreaming about all the good times we had. Although a bit tiring, I can confidently say that this trip was an excellent catalyst to the many backpacking adventures to come.