Deeks Lake Or The Ball Incident

Twas the day before the Garibaldi trip and too nice a day to not be out somewhere in the mountains. I took the dog with me on a stroll to Deeks Lake. Yeah, a stroll that gains 1000 metres, but, compared to backcountry skiing, it felt like a stroll.

The trail is signed off the highway and there is a big parking lot with a track sign. Then, inexplicably, but in true BC Parks fashion, you have to somehow know that you walk past not one but two large locked yellow gates amply festooned with NO TRESPASSING, INTRUDERS WILL BE SHOT - THIS MEANS YOU, PRIVATE PROPERTY, RANDOM IED'S IN USE, signs and follow an old logging road across a bridge to, after about 3 kilometres, arrive at a steep foot pad through rainforest.

Somehow, the dog and I managed this. The footpad rises steeply and is marked with orange triangles. I believe this track is actually part of the Howe Sound Crest trail that runs over a series of sub-alpine summits from Cypress Provincial Park down to Porteau Cove. We walked uphill. The dog found a tennis ball somewhere and carried it a long way up the trail but lost the ball somewhere when a sniff of a squirrel was more interesting.

Kallahne Creek

Near Deeks Lake, the track runs uphill beside Phi Alpha Falls on Deeks Creek. In spring, the water is thundering down these falls and the air temperature is easily 10 degrees colder. The walls of the waterfall are black, wet and actually pretty ominous looking. A short distance further on and the track arrives at Deeks Lake.

Phi Alpha Falls

The lake is in a tight cirque of minor mountains with a passage to the upper lake beckoning to the south. Around the lake, the snow was still lying a metre deep and the lake was frozen. The dog and I found a dry rock for lunch, but it was surprisingly cool 1000 metres up from the valley.

Deeks Lake

It was too chilly to stay too long, so we walked down, passing a few people on the way up. About half way down the track, there is a rock bluff with a view over Howe Sound. The dog had by now found the tennis ball again, and was carrying it down the track. I had half a thermos of tea and some lunch left so I strolled out onto the rock bluff to sit in the sun with a view to enjoy the afternoon.

Mount Sedgewick from Deeks Trail

And then the dog dropped the ball. Down the mossy bluff and far out of sight. The only thing you could hear was the rush of that creek swollen with spring run-off, somewhere dark below. The dog is highly ball motivated and was off running down mossy ramps. This is not a dog that responds with alacrity to the "come" command, especially when there is a ball involved.

Deeks View

I sidled down mossy ledges with some dog treats in my hand. Three times the dog came bounding up ledges, but never close enough to grasp. This is a dog that responds to reverse psychology, so I steeled myself to wait with dog treats in hand as if I had no care. The fourth or maybe the fifth time bounding up the slabs and I lunged, grabbed the collar, and dominion was mine.

I hooked the dog to a sturdy tree and enjoyed that cup of tea.