Slowly, almost imperceptibly at first, it started snowing. At one point I stopped in the middle of a cluster of trees and looked up. The snow was falling, it seemed, as if in slow motion. Some of the snowflakes fell on my face, immediately melting and mildly numbing the skin. Except my group of friends there was nobody around and it was all quiet and still. It felt so peaceful. As Faiz, my friend, remarked later, its for this sense of detachment from the mundane everyday life, that makes hiking so refreshing!
We, a group of fours friends, were on the Four Lakes Trail in Squamish, BC some 75 kms from Vancouver. This hike plan was pending for a while and we were glad we were finally doing it that Saturday in March. Having looked at many beginner level hikes we zeroed in on the Four Lakes Trail.
After a quick breakfast stop we started off on our hike at around 10 30 am. Our hike was neatly divided into 2 parts. One half of it was a clear day where we could actually see the greenery around. There was snow on the ground but the tree tops were clear. After half point which was maybe an hour and a half later it started snowing. It was slow at first but picked up speed later. Soon almost all the tree tops were covered by snow. We trudged along the freshly snow covered trail with the snow falling on us. It was a beautiful, mesmerizing experience. We walked along all the four lakes which were either fully frozen or partially frozen. We stopped multiple times along the way taking lots of pics and accompanied by, of course, lots of banter. Overall it was a fun hike. To top it off, after we completed the hike and were back in Vancouver, we had some delicious Hyderabadi Lamb Biryani. A weekend hike plus biryani is a match made in heaven.
Hike Details:
Elevation Gain: 165 metres.
Distance covered: 7 kms.
Total time taken: 4 hours including breaks.
Start time: 10 30 am
End time: Around 2 30 pm.
Who: Faiz, Naweed, Saifur and myself.
