The forecast was rain, rain and more rain but thankfully the forecast was wrong! We drove to Deep Cove, dropped off the car and caught the 10 am bus through to Phibbs Exchange, changing to the 210 which took us to within a block of the trailhead. The trail descended from the road to run alongside Lynn Creek, and made for a pleasant start to the hike. Within a short time we reached Lynn Canyon and climbed the steps to the suspension bridge. For once the bridge was quiet and we were able to pause long enough to get a couple of nice photos of the canyon and creek below.
Once across the bridge we turned right towards Twin Falls. A decent-sized tree had fallen across the boardwalk, smashing it and leaving a big tree trunk to step over. The tree had shattered on impact, and the top half was in a couple of pieces. We’d recently had some very windy weather and the fall looked quite fresh so we wondered if it had only happened in the last few days. It wasn’t long before we reached Twin Falls and we stopped for a good look and picture taking. We picked our way down the steep rooty slope to get the best view.
Continuing on, the sun began to peek through the clouds and lit up the surrounding rainforest, highlighting all the draped mosses. The overwhelming sense of green was quite amazing and it felt good to be simply hiking through the trees. We encountered a few people, but it was by no means busy. A stretch of boardwalk close to the creek was surrounded by salmonberry coming into flower, and the occasional hummingbird buzzed here and there. To complete the fill of our senses, we passed a large area of new skunk cabbage :-) Aaahhh….
The trail turned left again uphill and became gravelly, soon reaching the Old Lillooet Road which leads up the Seymour Valley. We crossed the road and joined the trail again, following an old pipeline for a couple of hundred metres or so before passing under power lines. We descended again to cross the Seymour River, which was impossible to photograph thanks to the high fence along the bridge, presumably to stop people jumping into the river. Once over the river we came to the back of some houses. The trail turned away from them for a short distance but we soon emerged onto another road, which we crossed back into the trees. I almost felt like a forest inhabitant, stumbling upon the human dwellings and seeking a safe place to cross the road to regain the safety of the woods :-)
It felt good to be back in the forest. I had read that this trail encountered roads and suburbs, and didn’t think that it would bother me, but to my surprise it really did feel good to get back into the forest and leave the buildings and cars behind. We ambled along under the trees and eventually decided on a lunch spot and dropped our packs for a rest. We ate lunch in a pleasantly green area of second-growth.
Feeling suitably refreshed, we pushed on. The trail was now a combined hiking-biking trail though we didn’t encounter any bikers until we crossed a small swampy area on narrow boardwalk and joined another trail. We turned right onto a bouldery section of trail, which I remembered from the time we hiked to the Historic Mushroom. Thankfully it didn’t last too long (and it was downhill at least) and our next landmark was when we reached the road heading up to Mt Seymour. Now we knew we weren’t too far away. The trail continued mostly downhill and about 20 minutes later we emerged under more powerlines, where we spotted a hummingbird as it flew up from a salmonberry bush to perch on one of the wires overhead.
A minute later we realized that our quiet time was well and truly over. We came to the grey rock overlooking Deep Cove and were greeted by more than a dozen people (and associated dogs). We stopped long enough to sip some water and take in the view, but not a moment longer. We set off again and sped along the last leg of the hike, a 40 minute stretch to land in Deep Cove at 4 pm, six hours after we’d caught the bus. Only one thing left to do: queue up at Honey’s for the obligatory doughnut :-)
All in all, a really nice day of hiking, though I have to admit it was mostly motivated by the prospect of one of those doughnuts… :-)
Distance: 13.5 km
Elevation gain: about 450 m
Photos on Flickr
Being. Outdoors. 