Gen & Ania in the Tetrahedron

Us girls headed into the Tetrahedron Provincial Park for a few days of hiking in the great outdoors. The "Tet" is a 6000 hectare protected area on the Sunshine Coast that includes mountain peaks, lakes, wetlands and four rustic cabins.

We decided to enter the park through the "back door", to access McNair Lake Cabin and the most untouched part of the park. We got a bouncy ride up the access road from my Dad, sighting two young black bears on the way up. The logging road ended at a washout, where we began our ascent up the abandoned logging road leading to the rugged McNair Creek trail. Many thanks to our trusty Guide and his machete, we managed to find the trail.

The trail was overgrown, but we made our way up without incedent (ie: no bear encounters, brushes with death). We scrambled over and under fallen trees, between massive boulders, and through undergrowth that looked like surviving remnants from the time of the dinosaurs. Finally we crossed McNair Creek, and squelched our way past McNair Lake and over the plateau to the cabin.

We were relieved to arrive at McNair cabin, our "home away from home" right as the sun was going down. We had the place to ourselves. We lit our candles, unpacked our things, and played some cards before heading into the loft to go to sleep.

We awoke to a foggy but beautiful morning. Our plan to climb Panther Peak was foiled by the low cloudcover, so we decided to do a less rigorous hike to Edwards Lake instead. After breakfast and tea we left our gear behind and headed out with cameras in tow. The trail was very well maintained and easy to follow (unlike the little-used trail we had hiked the day before), and we took our time and enjoyed the varied landscapes along the way.

We took lots of pictures, gorged ourselves on wild blueberries (yum!), avoided any bear sightings (yay!) and just took our time. There was so much to take in: meandering creeks, wildflowers, gnarled and stunted alpine trees, tiny ponds and their ecosystems, lakes, pockets of forest, and stunning views of mountain peaks and valleys.

We ate a quick lunch at Edwards Lake cabin. Food somehow tastes better in the alpine air! After lunch we hiked a bit closer to the lake for a look, then turned around to head back. We ran into our first group of people at Chapman Creek: George Smith (a local conservationist) and a young couple he was guiding through the area. We chatted and exchanged stories, then continued on.

One thing that really struck us both was the variety of plants and trees on the Tetrahedron Plateau. We would marvel at one pocket of plantlife, walk 20 feet and be in a competely different micro-ecosystem. We kept discovering new plants that we had never seen before... some existed only in tiny parcels, and some covered vast areas: like the countless meadows of white cottony flowers gone to seed. We spied tiny green tree frogs, silver trees twisted like unicorn's horns, endless patches of ripe blueberries, tiny stunted "bonsai" trees, pond weeds that looked like spaghetti, alpine water lilies, and strangely enough, bare footprints (who walks barefoot in the backcountry, anyway!?).

The cabin was blanketed in fog when we returned. We realised there were packs and gear on the porch (not ours!)... Luckily the 6 new bunk-mates we had aquired were very nice, and more than entertaining. They invited us to join them for a game of charades-- Through the luck of the draw, I had to act out "Octopussy" (thanks Ania). We also played a game involving simeltaneuos singing and hand-eye coordination. Not exactly my forte.

Day 3 brought sunshine. Our cabin-mates left to climb Panther Peak, and we stowed our gear and headed out for a scramble up a nearby hill. It proved to be wetter than expected, so we abandoned our quest to be Forest Ninjas and explored the banks of McNair Lake instead.

Pretty soon the time came to strap our packs on and head back down the trail... I think we both would have been happy to stay a few more days, but hot coffee and hot food beckoned us homeward. We met up with our trusty Guide and his fearless Assistant (Dad & Loragene) near the bottom of the trail, and were transported back to the civilized world.

Thanks Ania for a fun time, Dad & Loragene for helping with supplies and logistics, and Mom for filling us up with healthy and delicious food back at "base camp".

-Gen-