Lakes and Overlooks in Manning Park

Hi Blog!

On Friday, June 16, 2017, we spent some time exploring the ponds and lakes of E.C. Manning Provincial Park. We started by driving over to the beaver pond. A short hiking trail takes you to the edge of the pond. We did see the beaver lodge, but it didn't look occupied. However, the neighborhood was very scenic.

Our next stop was the Lightning Lake Day Use Area. We were scouting out a place to launch our kayaks.

After finding the boat launch, we stopped at Twenty Minute Lake. True to its name, it took about 20 minutes to walk around this small lake.

Here is Kathy checking out a small stream that feeds Twenty Minute Lake.

The lake was very still this morning making for some interesting reflective photos.

Here Dave is checking out the outflow of the lake.

On the way back to camp, we were stopped by this very curious young deer.

Across the highway from our campground, is a scenic drive to an overlook. Tony and Dee Dee offered to take us for a drive up the mountain. We stopped at the Cascades Overlook for a picnic lunch and to view the expansive scenery.  Here we look down on the Manning Park Resort (Lightning Lake is in the background):

Here is a close up of Lightning Lake. Our rigs are down there somewhere.

We spent several minutes trying to identify all the peaks in the Cascades.

E.C. Manning Park is the end of the Pacific Crest Trail. Somewhere out there hundreds of hikers are making their way to Canada!

From this height, we could actually look into the United States!

After lunch, we drove as far as the scenic drive would take us, but the road was closed just a few miles further up because of the heavy snowfall this year. We did end up walking up the closed road for a mile or so to get some more views. However, our afternoon activities were calling, so we hurried home to Lightning Lake Campground.