Owl to Tenquille Hiking Traverse

This past year I have not been on many trips in the mountains. So this Spring when I heard about a teen hiking trip in the summer I was excited, I haven’t been on many trips with teenagers. The hiking trip would be led by a local hiking and ski guide who grew up in Pemberton, Sam McKoy. It would take place from July 16 to 22 and we would be doing the Owl to Tenquille Traverse. I was super happy about where we would be going. We would be hiking through mountains I could see from my house and connecting two valleys through the hills. I couldn’t wait to explore some mountains so close to home. The group ended up being small, only two other teens. I found this very surprising because it was such an incredible opportunity and the price was so cheap.  The four of us met up the evening before our departure to sign waivers and go over gear. I ended up bringing just what I needed because I wanted to use my 32 litre pack that I really like. It is so crazy how little we actually need to have a great week. We met up at 7 am at the base of the Owl Creek forestry service logging road to begin our trip. Starting up the road we found a mountain biking trail within a half an hour. The trail was fairly steep, but it brought us to the ridge and led us in the right direction. It was quite hot from the get go along with some bugs and a lot of dust.

It was really neat seeing the Pemberton and Birken Valleys as well as Mt. Currie. The perspective was one I had never had before and it showed how everything is connected. While stopping for a breather we noticed a black bear sitting about 15 metres away from us eating some berries, he stayed there watching us and snacking for a few minutes and then sauntered off. While leaving our first break spot I got stung five times by wasps. It definitely surprised me and stung, became itchy in the following days, but could mostly be ignored. About 3 hours in we headed off the biking trail, crossed another logging road and kept going up the ridge. Some of the walking was in the semi open trees and extremely hot, while the rest was in dense, steep bush which was only very slightly cooler. We (the teenagers) would be alternating route finding throughout the duration of the trip and this was not an easy start. The steep, dense bush seemed to take years and we eventually ran out of water. Having slowed down quite a bit, we stopped to admire the view a lot. We reached a bench on which we traversed and then found water. Shortly after this we stopped to eat a late lunch. From there it looked like we should be close to the lakes we planned to stay by that night. We continued up the slope we were on for maybe 20 minutes and then the water came into view. Walking down towards our campsite was so relieving. The first day had been harder than I had expected and I hoped they wouldn’t all be so hot and with so much bush whacking. Reaching our chosen sight, we stripped down and walked into the turquoise lake. It was much warmer than all of the alpine lakes I had swam in before and was so amazingly refreshing. I swam around for probably 20 minutes, one of the best swims of my life.

After this we all dosed on the heather after fishing out our bug nets which ended up being the MVP of the week (though I wish I had one that covered my entire body). Relaxing was amazing and we all rejuvenated a bit. We set up a cook tarp, played cards, talked and then ate dinner. The meal was way better than the freeze dried food I’m used to in the backcountry, we had cheesy pasta. Setting up our tent fly, as we had left the main tent to save weight, the bugs became worse. A few weeks prior to this I had done a day trip in the area and was shocked by how bad the bugs were, they were driving me crazy and I was only stationary for an hour. They were annoying, but I didn’t think too much of it the first day, I figured they would go way as we went higher.

The next morning I awoke from a surprisingly bad sleep. I had brought my nice, fat,horr inflatable sleeping mat as well as a foam Z-rest. I had been very hot and not in my sleeping bag, so I wasn’t protected from the bugs. That morning the bugs were insane, so much worse than I had ever seen them. We had to cook in the tent just to try to get away from them. Even then they would fly under the edge of the fly and come up from the grass. Breakfast was delicious though, some of the best oatmeal I’ve had. There was nuts, dried fruits and some Werthers in it.  From that camp I led the group downhill for an hour. It was steep bushwhacking but we went fast to try and evade the bugs. The battle was horrible, it was super hot so weren’t wearing much and the bugs stuck to every open inch of skin even when we were moving. At the bottom of the slope we went swimming in the middle of the Chain Lakes. That felt so nice, the cool of the water as well as getting a break from the bugs. After a short break I kept leading around the lake, this section was actually harder than coming down had been. Once past the first lake we went in between the first and middle to find the trail. It felt so nice hitting the trail, the walking was easy, we didn’t have to think about where to put our feet or if which way we should go around every tree. We saw signs leading to a nice picnic spot at the first lake. Then, we had reached where most people start the traverse. After swimming in that lake and eating a bar we headed up the trail to Fowl Lakes.

We went fast up this section, but then it flattened out and that part seemed like a long while. Starting to pass small pounds I imagined that the lake would be around the corner, but from that point it was over another half an hour of walking until the biggest and last lake. Arriving there we jumped in the lake and looked up at where our route led. We could see the col we would be passing through the next day. This lake was quite a bit colder, so we didn’t linger in it. We at lunch before continuing up to the last lake of the day, a lake brimmed with ice. Hiking up to our campsite was hard, the route finding wasn’t obvious and I was getting tired.

I was hot and the bugs became so insanely annoying, I couldn’t let them rest on me and was whacking them off every few seconds. Finally we came to the lake where we would stay the night. Finding a little peninsula we set our packs down and dove in the freezing water. We got out as fast as we could, but it was very refreshing. The site was super beautiful, we were at the end of a bowl with mountains in front of us, the lake was blue and the ice gave the feeling of really being out there. It was crazy to see how far we had come. Dinner that night was incredible, a sort of pizza, definitely one of the best meals I’ve had on a trip. The stars that night were also so awesome.

After a breakfast of hash browns and meat we looked at our route on the map and in front of us. Heading off the bugs were bad again as we walked around the lake. Getting to the base of the steep and loose looking slope, we started up thinking it would take a good few hours. It ended up being way faster than we expected. The views kept getting better and it was fun doing something a bit harder. The trees were below us and a breeze came that blew the bugs away. Reaching the a lateral moraine we saw snow. We boot skied down it and it made me excited for the winter and skiing. At the col we had a break and did some work with a map, compass and GPS. We decided that we wouldn’t go as far as we had planned, but kept on moving. I was route finding at this section and it was kind of difficult. There were lots of benches with fairly steep scree between them. I was super happy to be in the alpine, away from the bugs and where it was cooler, the views also improved my mood a lot. Traversing the rocky slope we came to a small pass and stopped to look at the map. We ate lunch and decided we would drop our packs and go to the top of Mt. Ronayne. Going up that peak was super fun. I felt so amazingly light without my pack and once we reached the summit ridge I was so thrilled to be in the open air. The summit view was awesome and it really put some things in perspective about the mountains, valleys and towns around my home.

We stayed on the top of over an hour and it was lovely, again with the temperature and no bugs. We found a much faster way back down and started to set up our camp. The bugs were lesser at that point, but still around as we played ninja. Eating gourmet ramen for dinner we waited up for the sunset. It was so colourful and captivating. I was psyched that it was cold enough to wear my tuque, something I dearly miss in the summer.

The next morning we ate a tasty crumble, again surprising me by how good food can be in the backcountry. Packing up camp I left something behind that caused me worry the following days. We descended a bit before following a gentle bench to a notch that we found a large patch of snow on the other side of. Boot skiing down this was very fun but at the bottom we reached rocks that were slow to cross.

Reaching Ogre Lake it was too cool to swim. Going around this we headed towards some avalanche paths that we would ascend. This part was physically hard, it was very steep and we were going straight up. We saw signs of a grizzly but nothing more. After traversing across the tops of more of these avalanche paths we reached another small lake where we ate lunch. Looking at the map again we decided to keep going around Mt. Barbour, which I had skied on 2 winters ago, it had been awesome. The next section was the crux of our route which was very different from the usual route. Starting up again we walked up a fairly steep section of rocks and moss. We got a new view of the Pemberton valley and we started to wrap around the slope of scree. This part looked way different in real life than it had on the map.

Referring to the map, it didn’t seem very steep, but in reality it was steep but had benches. Ascending this took some time, but we eventually rounded the mountain and could see our destination below. It didn’t seem as though there was a safe way to descend, but we found a route that went down the side of a rock face and then transferred over to the snow. At this point I was really wishing that I had skis with me, it would have been so much easier and fun-filled. Making our way to our camp, we had an amazing view of Gingerbread lake and the surrounding mountains. We ate a huge dinner of curry that left us all stuffed.

We weren’t sure what we would do the next day, maybe go bag some surrounding peaks. Sleeping in as late as we wanted, the tent eventually became too hot and we emerged to a few clouds. After eating some hash browns and sausages we started playing cards. Somehow, that turned int our day, sitting under the tarp and playing cards. I learnt some new games, which I was terrible at, but they were really fun. At one point in the day we got the only precipitation of the trip, hail, though it didn’t last long.

We walked around Gingerbread lake which was about 20 metres directly below our camp. The view of the Pemberton Valley is insane from there, and watching the sunset was truly unbelievable. We could see the Ipsoot glacier and the Pemberton Icecap and the sun lit up the ice and the clouds. Our day wasn’t eventful, but it was relaxing and far better than lounging around inside in front of a TV.

The following morning we ate a super delicious oatmeal, honestly the best oatmeal I’ve ever had. While we were packing up we saw heli-bikers being dropped off on the rise we would soon ascend. Talking about the effects of heli-biking on nature, we discussed our opinions and the new tenure that was being processed for making the surrounding area available for more drops. To us it seemed strange because we had been walking for four days to reach the location, and then these people just showed up for a morning ride. Similar to heli-skiing, the people doing it love it, but the people who work to get where they are don’t. However, we talked about how the environment isn’t nearly as affected by heli-skiing because all off the vegetation is already covered in snow and animals are scarce. It was an interesting conversation and one I enjoyed being apart of because it was relevant and the topic was meaningful, much unlike the conversations I usually have with other teenagers. I led up a bunch of short hills on the way to the Tenquille cabin. It was fast going and fun because the terrain was changing quickly. We soon came to a place where there was the possibility to drop down (earlier than we had expected from looking at the maps) and decided to take it. There was some more amusing boot skiing that led us to a small lake. Making our way back into the green, we unexpectedly found a trail. Hitting this we knew we could cruise all the way down. Though most of us had been to the Tenquille hut before, none of us had used the tail we were on, which was on the opposite side of the usual trail (going right around the lake from the hut). Playing twenty questions, some of us stopped paying attention to our surroundings due to the easy walking. Coming to hut, which is still very much still in the backcountry, it felt like reaching civilisation. We would have cover from the bugs, dishes we could use and most importantly an outhouse! Having reached the cabin at around 1pm we made a warm lunch and unpacked some of our things. We saw 3 other groups shortly after getting there, one with a very small, cute dachshund.

After playing cards for multiple hours, we walked around the lake. The location is so perfect, the lake is incredibly beautiful, snow capped mountains can be seen year round, many peaks are accessible within a few hours and the main trails are short and easy. Once we were back at the start of the loop we went swimming in the lake. It was wonderfully refreshing, and made me feel clean, though I still likely smelt horrendous. Reading the entries in the guest book we laughed a lot at people’s stories, whether they were true or not. That evening we had another amazing meal, burritos. We had the cabin to ourselves, but we talked to a couple who were tenting who had some funny tales they told us. I slept so well on the mattresses they have in the loft, not hearing my alarm going off for a while in the morning.

Another great meal, that time of pancakes, started our last day in the hills. Packing up our gear one last time we set out and found the upper part of the trail had been redone since any of us had last been there. It was probably moved to keep it dryer. We were descending into the Pemberton Valley and the trail splits less than an hour from the hut, one going to the forestry service road and the other all the way down to the valley bottom. Sam had left his car at the start of the logging road, so we walked all the way down. It became extremely hot, but we didn’t want to stop because we just wanted to get it over with. We did take a few breaks and ate the remainder of our burritos, which there had been a lot of the previous night. My knees ached and my legs shook a little with every step. I was so grateful for a hiking pole. The heat was just insane and made me thankful for the little time I had had in the cool alpine. It also became dusty and there wasn’t much shade.

The farms in the valley came closer and closer to us and the Lilooet river also came into view. After trudging along for about 4 hours we reached the car. At the bottom of the trail we saw a map of the Owl-Tenquille Traverse and saw where we should have gone around Mt. Barbor. It was really cool seeing where we had come. There were chips and pop waiting for us in the car, but we were all pretty full. Sitting down on the soft seat of the car was such a relief, but I was happy to have had a much needed break from the suffocating heat of the Pemberton valley.

Huge thanks to Sam McKoy for this amazing experience and all of the photos in this post.

Here are links to many more of the amazing photos from this trip.

https://www.ipsoot.ca/blog/2018/7/30/owl-tenquille-traverse-july-2018