Lake of the Hanging Glacier
One of the more awe inspiring destinations in the interior of BC has to be Lake of the Hanging Glacier located in the Purcell Mountain Range 52km west of Invermere. As the name implies this is an alpine lake surrounded by handing glaciers. The lake is peppered with floating ‘bergy bits’ as the many glaciers calf off into the lake. Since the lake sits at 7000ft and little sunshine reaches most slopes, the glaciers are quite large and provide good scenery for hours of just sitting watching and listening.
(click the images for a larger view)
If you are up for an adventure you can scramble 2.5km along the eastern shore to the lakes terminus through boulder fields and larch trees where you will find the tongue of the Jumbo Glacier as it lethargically flows into the Lake of the Hanging Glacier. The shot below is what you'd see.
There are two camp sites located in the sub alpine just below the lake complete with an outhouse and level tent locations. Camping on the shore of the lake, while tempting is not permitted and not recommended do to the unrelenting winds.
While the water temperature in the lake is barely 2°C it is highly recommended that you take the plunge. Its a great way to cool off and what other opportunity would you have to swim with ‘bergy bits’. Just be sure to avoid hypothermia as it will set in quickly.
Hike details:
The hike starts at the end of Horsethief creek road and takes approximately 3 hours (one way). It is a 10km hike with just over 650m/2100’ of elevation gain. The trail starts out level along an old road and once you cross Horsethief Creek it quickly climbs and gets much steeper with many switchbacks along the route.
If you are interested in GPS coordinates of the route to and from Lake of the Hanging Glacier along with times, distances and elevations have a look at our Garmin Express page over here and here. All of this data was collected by the Garmin Fenix 3 GPS Watch (which won our Gear of the Year Award this summer).
How to get there:
The Lake of the Hanging Glacier trailhead is accessed via Horsethief Creek Forest Service Road which is a well graded dirt road suitable for 2WD vehicles. From Invermere drive towards Panorama Ski Resort and turn off to the small town of Wilmer. Drive north along the Westside Road passing over Horsethief and Forster creeks. After 10 km of driving on the dirt you will arrive at a 4-way intersection; turn left onto Horsethief FSR. At the 13 km marker, stay left, continuing to follow the main road. The trailhead parking is just after the 49 km mark. Drive time from Invermere is approximately 1¼ hours and is you are looking for an overnight camping spot along the way, there is one available at the Stockdale Creek FS Recreation Site at km 39.
