Champion Lakes - September 29th, 2006
The Champion Lakes is a great place to take a nice easy day hike that can be any where from a kilometer or 2 up to just over 10 km if you do all three lakes. The 2nd and 3rd lakes have trails all the way around them, but as far as I know the 1st lake only has a trail along the east side, so you have to double back until you get to the 2nd lake.
There is basically no elevation gain for the first two lakes, and just a bit of up and down if you go to the end of the trail. There is also a trail up to a look out from the north east side of the third lake, which is the lake that has the picnic / beach area, but I haven’t been up that trail.
Champion Lakes Topographic Map
The Lakes are actually named from north to south, the opposite order in which you encounter them. The big vistor’s parking lot for the picnic area is on the Third Lake. There is also a Provincial Campground between the Third & Second Lakes which very nice. The majority of the spots in the campground are very roomy, and there are a few spots with views of the Third lake, but most of them are tenting spots.
I met up with Mom, Katy, Toe. Betty & George in Salmo at 10:30, grabbed a veggie sub for lunch and hopped in Toe’s blazer. The trip up was quick, 19 km to Champion Lakes Road, and another 10 up to the parking lot.
Third Lake from the Picnic Area
We started at the Picnic area on the Third Lake walked around the south side of the lake along the south trail to Second Lake and up the south east side of Second Lake. We stopped at the northern tip of Second Lake for a nice lunch sitting on the two benches that someone so nicely placed there.
Eating Lunch at the north end of 2nd Lake
We watched as the fish kept jumping in the lake only meters away. I didn’t know that there were fish that large in Champion Lakes, some jumped so that their entire bodies were out of the water, and there were a few that were at least a foot long (no kidding).
On the trail to First Lake
After lunch Toe turned back and the rest of us continued up to the parking lot at the Second Lake and took the trail going east to First Lake through the trees. We reached the junction of the trail that came from the southern part of First Lake and continued north up along First Lake to the end of the trail sign at the northern most tip. We double back to the junction and took the southern path back to Second Lake and traced our trail back to Third Lake. I didn’t track this trip around with my GPS, but I would guestimate that it was about 11 km.
For more pictures from this hike check out the Champion Lakes Photo Album and some other Champion Lakes Photos from earlier in September.
Return Trip : about 11 Km
Start Time : 11:30 am
Finish Time : 2:45 pm
Distance from Junction at Highway 3b : 10 km
For more information check out my previous hike to Champion Lakes.
