So Many Waterfalls

In my last post about our camping trip to Strathcona Park, I mentioned that Rob and I saw several waterfalls. But first, I'm going to start by showing you a photo of a waterfall close to home. 

Cedar Creek

 I've mentioned before that I live in a semi-rural area. There is a large network of trails right outside my door, and I walk on them several times a week. This image above is of a waterfall created by a small seasonal creek on "my" network of trails. I'm cheating a bit here, because I took this photo a couple of months ago when the weather was rainy. I hiked along Cedar Creek recently, and the waterfall has disappeared until the next rainy season. 

No Name Waterfall

 This dramatic waterfall is not really named "No Name Waterfall." I'm calling it that because neither Google Maps nor my Backroads map book supply a name for it. (I need to invest in a better map.) This waterfall can viewed from historical site and rest stop along Highway 28 between Upper Campbell Lake and Gold River. The photo you see is the portion of the waterfall above the highway. It crosses under the road and continues to plunge another 1,000 feet to the Heber River below. 

The Heber River passes through a narrow canyon at this point. Although it is hard to get a good view from above, there are some impressive rapids and waterfalls on the Heber River as well.

Rob at Lady Falls

Jude at Lady Falls

 These photographs do not do justice to this impressive waterfall. Lady Falls is much larger than it looks in the photos. Although it was a sunny afternoon, the area all around the falls was misty and wet from the force of the plunging water. 

What you also can't see is that the viewing platform is cantilevered out over the lower section of the falls. Rob is standing there bravely with his hands in his pockets, whereas I didn't quite bring myself to let go of the slippery guard rails. 

This trail is accessed off Highway 28, near the top of Upper Campbell Lake. It is a beautiful trail through big trees, Douglas Fir and Hemlock. I believe it was about 3 kilometers round trip, although we did gain quite a bit of elevation switch-backing up to Lady Falls.

Lower Myra Falls, Looking Up

Lower Myra Falls, Looking Down

Lower Myra Falls was, in my opinion, the most spectacular waterfall that we saw on this camping trip. It is a short drive away from one of the big provincial campgrounds on Buttle Lake. The easy, well-maintained trail is about a 1.5 kilometer loop. However, the disadvantage of Lower Myra Falls is that because it is so accessible, there were a lot of people there on this beautiful sunny summer day. It wasn't easy to get photos without people in them!

We left Lower Myra Falls and decided to do a second hike to Upper Myra Falls. In order to get there, we had to drive through a large, active mine. Myra Mine, which extracts zinc, copper, and gold, was fascinating, but I forgot to take a single picture of it. We signed in and parked within the mine area in order to access the trail head. This area in the heart of Strathcona Park is presently designated as a mixed use area, and there is a plan in place to eventually shut the mine down and have it revert to parkland. 

Our map book described Upper Myra Falls as an easy 3 kilometer hike. It was neither easy nor 3 kilometers. My fitness device recorded the distance we walked to and from Upper Myra Falls as 9 kilometers. 

As it turned out, the trail head was a one kilometer walk from the trail parking lot. We wasted a lot of steps walking in circles looking for the trail head. A diamond driller who worked at the mine and who was out for an afternoon stroll finally pointed us in the right direction. The 3 km referred to the distance one-way from the trail head to the falls. We gained a lot elevation on a narrow rooty trail to get to the falls, so I would describe the trail as moderate rather than easy. Nevertheless, it was a nice hike through the forest.

Upper Myra Falls

Upper Myra Falls was not as pretty as Lower Myra Falls but it had quite a drop. Those two brown sticks that look like toothpicks beside it are actually full-sized logs, so that gives you an idea of the height of the falls. 

We were tired, but happy that we'd explored another interesting part of Strathcona Park.