Hike to Blue Lakes

Thursday I got up early for summer vacation.  Anytime I am not working, I try to avoid getting up before 7am, but sometimes I make exceptions.

Mom, dad, and I drove to Janine's friend's house to meet up with Janine and some of her friend's family to go hiking to Blue Lakes.  While we were waiting for them, I took a picture of the view from the front of their house.  This was the first of three (or maybe four if you count the smaller separate piece on its own) glaciers I saw that day.

Twin Falls Glacier on Hudson Bay Mountain

We had about a 45 min drive to get to the bottom of the trail, during which we passed another glacier.  We parked the van and all piled into the other family's new vehicle because it has 4 wheel drive.  After a few more kilometers of unmaintained road, we reached the final parking lot.  From there we had a nice hike to the lakes.  The hike itself was not too steep, there were a few steep sections, but the trail had a few downhill sections as well.  There was a combination of hiking in the trees and open areas.  The views were beautiful.

The lower Blue Lake

There were two Blue Lakes.  The first one was well below our trail and had a waterfall pouring into it.  The second lake was higher up, and we got to go right up to this lake.  We ate lunch beside this higher lake.  The lakes come from glacier melt, so the water is very cold and also very blue.  The glacier is well above the higher lake, which then drains - by way of the waterfall - into the lower lake.

The higher Blue Lake - our lunch spot

After some time walking around barefoot in the marshy area near the lake we ventured into the water.  Although I was not as enthusiastic as my sister, I did get far enough out into the water to touch the 'blue'.  The blue water also marks the drop-off under water.  I approached it cautiously because I did not want to get completely wet by going over the edge.  Janine did far better and actually ended up getting mostly wet and getting fully into the 'blue'.  We were trying to guess the water temperature, and decided it was maybe a degree above freezing.

Going out to touch the 'blue'

Some time later we headed back down the trail.  One aspect of hiking in the north is that when I ran out of water, I just had to fill my water bottle up at the next stream we crossed.  Or, if my water was getting warm and I wanted fresher cold water, I could refill my water bottle.  The stream water tastes better than tap water and is cold enough to make my hands go numb after a few minutes.

Filling my water bottle

The beauty and diversity of the hike continually pointed to the creativity and greatness of God.  From the huge mountains to the tiny flowers, God made them all and continues to take care of them.
"O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!"