Hiking to Semaphore Lakes, Face Mountain above Pemberton Meadows

The following photos were taken during a hike with Judy Bonn to Semaphore Lakes/Face Mountain/Train Glacier,
in the Pemberton Meadows area on Sept. 24, 2006. The access is from the Hurley Pass road.
There is a small parking area at about the 1360 m level, 50 35 29 N, 123 01 04 W.

The hike took us 6 hours, 30 minutes at a leisurely pace, including lunch.
The elevation gain is quite modest at 450 m.
The "top" is a small knoll north of Secret lake.
The hike is very rewarding as you are only in the trees for the first 45 minutes,
and you are walking through flower-filled alpine meadows the rest of the way.

Please scroll down to see the photos.

Google Earth tour of the hike       Open the .kmz tour with Google Earth (a free program).
Double click on Face_Mtn_Hike.kmz, under "Temporary Places" near the bottom of the left-hand "Places" panel.
Select point to start (e.g., Face_Mtn_Hike), Play Tour (F10).

Photo         Time     Comment
Face Mtn.     9:30   The Hurley Pass/Railroad Grade Road from Google Earth.

#6664     10:17     Judy Bonn in the first meadows, which we reached after a steep 45 minute climb.

#6665     10:51     Climbing through the meadows meadows.

#6671     11:20     Getting near the tree line (looking NW).

#6672     11:26     Ian walking up to the second meadows. Locomotive Peak in the background.

#6674     11:30     Our first look at Face Mountain - where are the eyes?

#6677     11:56     Locomotive Peak (left) with the Train Glacier, from the first (and biggest) Semaphore lake.

#6679     12:00     Looking northwest from the biggest of the Semaphore Lakes.

#6683     12:29     Colourful fall grasses.

#6686     12:42     Looking south over the Pemberton Valley and the mountains beyond.

#6689     12:42     Arriving at the highest lake, Secret Lake (looking north).

#6691     12:43     Locomotive Mountain from Secret Lake.

#6693     1:01     Time for lunch at Secret Lake.

#6696     1:38     Curious avalanche tracks in the valley to the south of Secret Lake.

#6697     1:40     Even the Partridgefoot gets fall colours.

#6701     1:42     The "beach" at Secret Lake (at least we dipped our toes in).

#6704     1:50     Looking NE to the high ridge to the east of the Hurley Road. Is there an easy way up there?

#6705     1:53     Judy at the top (looking at Face Mtn. from a bit above Secret Lake).

#6707     1:56     Train Glacier and Face Mountain from near the top.

#6708     2:20     Looking down towards the meadows from near the top.

#6710     2:24     A small tarn near the top

#6711     2:30     More fall colours.

#6714     2:38     On the way down to the big Semaphore Lake.

#6716     2:42     Looking north from the big lake.

#6719     2:50     Fall colours on the big lake.

#6724     3:03     On the way back through the first meadows.

#6725     3:19     Cottongrass in the first meadow.

#6727     3:21     Bee on a mountain aster.

We hope you enjoyed the Face Mountain hike!