Watersprite Lake

July 12-13, 2024

Distance: 17km round-trip

Elevation gain: 704m

Time required: 6-7 hours total

Watersprite Lake is a beautiful alpine lake below Garibaldi Provincial Park.

I strongly recommend a 4WD vehicle to get to the trailhead. You must go 13km up Mamquam River FSR and then 7km up Skookum Creek FSR. The latter FSR is gnarly, steep, and not to be underestimated. I drove my Nissan Versa up there and would not do it again. I was very lucky I didn't get stuck. I was the only car in sea of SUVs and trucks at the trailhead.

The trail itself is not super challenging. The first couple of hours features minimal to no elevation gain. The trail opens up to stunning views as you follow along the side of a ridge.

Views of Atwell Peak and Mount Garibaldi from the trail

Eventually the trail passes through a couple of talus slopes as you begin gaining elevation. It then heads into the forest to climb its way up to Watersprite Lake. It took me 3 hours to get to the lake with my backpacking bag.

The gorgeous Watersprite Lake, with Watersprite Tower looming up in the back

The reservable cabin and on-site host are on the west side of the lake, right as you crest the ridge from the forest. To get to the camping area, you must walk across a large boulder field that goes around the right side of the lake. The way through is marked. There was only a small bit of snow when I did this. I managed to avoid all snow by walking around it via the rocks.

The campsite features a pit toilet, tent pads, and bear caches. There are 10 tent pads and 10 tent sites (flat spots in the dirt). There are a couple of picnic tables in the tent sites area. I had reserved a tent site. I was the only person at the lake when I arrived. I was lucky to get the entire space to myself for about 45 minutes until a couple arrived.

I originally had the idea in mind to to try and climb Watersprite Tower. However, upon closer inspection, I realized that this would likely not be possible. There are huge steep gullies surrounding the tower, with plenty of loose rock. Instead, I settled on scrambling up a rock outcrop that sat above the campsite.

Watersprite tower from my rock perch

View of Gibson Peak, siting just to the left of the sun line

Looking down on Watersprite Lake from my rock perch

After exploring the area, I decided it was time for a swim in the lake. Being a glacier lake, it is quite cold. However on a hot day, it is incredibly refreshing. It was just what I needed to try and cool myself down.

One thing about Watersprite is that it is entirely exposed. There is no shade. That meant there was no way to escape the sun or heat. After swimming in the lake, I resorted to various methods to try and escape the sun, each more ridiculous then the last. Eventually I ended up laying underneath the picnic table with my book. It probably looked quite silly but thankfully I was the only one in area (the couple had a tent pad a short distance away from me).

Another thing about Watersprite is it is incredibly buggy. The mosquitoes are relentless from morning to night. I wore my mosquito net and applied bug spray but it seemingly made no difference. They bit me through my clothes. I came away with about 60 mosquito bites, most of them on my shoulders and back. Trying to keep mosquitoes out of my tent also proved to be a challenge.

There are several water sources at the lake. There is a large river that runs into Watersprite Lake from the alpine and several small streams to be found around the campsite.

The host stays in a tent beside the cabin on the weekends. He showed up around 7:30pm to check my reservation (it was Friday evening). I had moved my tent several times to find a more ideal spot and he didn't seem to care, given that I was one of only three people staying at the lake. We chatted about the trail and he told me about how he had flagged trails to Gibson Peak and Martin Peak and was currently working on a trail to Dreadnought Peak.

The sun seemed to take forever to set that night. I waited hours for there to be shade. I kept moving around the area, following the shadows. I went to bed pretty early as I was quite tired. It was only after I went to bed that I heard group after group arrive at the lake. Thankfully, all of them set up at various tent pads and left me alone in the flat tent spot area. Whether that was intentional or just pure luck, I'm not sure, but I was thankful all the same.

The next morning dawned early. It was already warm by the time I woke up at 5:30am. I had been expecting moisture to be found on the vegetation and my tent but it was too hot and dry for that. I packed up and left a bit before 6:30am.

I was expecting to be the only person on the trail this early in the morning but I was very wrong. I passed many groups on my way back heading up to the lake. I also had an encounter with a bear that spooked both of us. I was moving pretty fast and as I rounded a corner, a black bear suddenly comes running towards me and then down the mountain into the bushes. It was interesting to observe my involuntary reaction. As the bear came running towards me, I shouted out "No!" and started to reach for my bear spray. It was, of course, unnecessary and the bear was only running towards me to get to the gap in the bushes so he could dart away.

It took me 2 hours and 15 minutes to get back to the trailhead. The FSR was very busy with vehicles headed up and I was constantly pulling over or stopping. But eventually I made it back down in one piece.