Mount Revelstoke Park – 2013 Road Trip Series

eh Team Basking in the Alpine Mountains

When in Revelstoke, BC, Canada you cannot help but notice nor hear about Mount Revelstoke Provincial Park.

In fact… everywhere in Revelstoke, when you look up, there are always mountains decorated in snow covered peaks and glossed over with glaciers. There are so many monolithic mountains to explore from afar and up close and personal – it is so crazy cool.

On this day we planned on hiking the summit trails of Mount Revelstoke. The challenging up-and-down mountain trails connect hikers with alpine huts, wilderness campsites and 3 alpine summit lakes – Eva, Jade and Miller Lakes.

We decided our curiosity would take us to Eva Lake. The entire hiking route measures over 12 kilometre return and it is considered a challenging route navigating narrow gravel trails from peak to peak over rock falls, along cliffs and through a mountain valley.

Most summit trails require hiking switchbacks and steep mountain terrain to reach a summit viewpoint. Not here.

Views of Nelson

On Mount Revelstoke there is a 20 kilometre hiking trail from the base of the mountain to the summit for those who make the time for it and have the determination. However… most prefer to drive the 20 km or so paved road which bypasses the trail and connects directly with the summit upper parking lot. On this day we connected with the parking lot.

From the upper parking lot is a shuttle bus which transports people to the summit trailhead. We parked and geared up our packs and headed towards the shuttle bus stop. As we approached the growing crowd at the bus stop we learnt that there was a 1 kilometre trail which we could take instead of the shuttle. No brainier. We took the trail and up we went.

From the summit trailhead we proceeded along a double wide gravel trail to a retired forest fire lookout station. From the station you could see for miles in all directions (oops I mean kilometres).

Eva Lake

We continued down the path from the fire station a few yards and hooked up to 2 lookout viewpoints. We digested the far reaching views and then we pulled each other out of the hypnotic trance induced by nature. Still stunned… we zombie-walked to the trailhead leading to Eva Lake.

On the trail we started walking through an alpine forest. It was an easy, casual walk full of chatter. That ended quickly when the trail started to go down hill at an alarming rate. By alarming we know that what goes down must come up. We were hiking down a mountain in the mountains which means, in many cases, we have to hike up again very soon. And we did hike up again and again and again.

The hike up the mountain was filled with navigating massive rock slides – big boulders and small rocks littered the trail. The steps got larger and taller and harder. We got slower and slower. Our legs got heavier and heavier. We did this over and over again – up and down we went just like a yo yo. It felt great. It felt magical. We were superman!

Hiking Up Mountain

It got hotter and hotter. We hiked from shade to shade. Later we learned it was 38 degrees Celsius.

At the top of the second summit we reached Eva Lake which sits at 1,993 metres (6,330 ft.) above sea level. They say there is trout in the lake but not for us on this day – no rods.

Not a soul was in sight. It was just us and Eva Lake with mountain ranges, singing birds and lake reflections. Further down the trail was Jade Lakes and prior to Eva Lake there is a branch trail leading to Miller Lake. Daylight was running short so we decided to head back.

At Eva Lake we posed for pictures. We modeled our KEEN Canada boots and NPA shirts. We signed the hikers guest book in the rustic alpine hut. We ate our subs and drank our water. We laughed and talked and laughed some more. We sat in silence. And we sat in silence. And we sat in silence some more. Nature was doing all the talking now.