Joffre Lakes - Into the Winter Land

Forget the turquoise water! It's the winter vibes that you are hardly to get from somewhere else.

Distance: 10km (round trip)
Elevation gain: 370m
Hiking time: 3-5 hours (break included)
Pace: Intermediate

Hikers are crossing the frozen third Joffre lake

Joffre lakes are located in Pemberton, BC. It usually takes 3 hour drive one way from Vancouver but definitely can do for a day trip.

These lakes are known for their turquoise water which is caused by "rockflour" reflecting green and blue wavelengths of sunlight, according to BC Parks.

In summer, this destination attracts more than 100,00 thousand visitors. It's not too hard to bump into 40 hikers/tourists entering the trail at the same time.

In order to beat the crowd and get a parking spot, you may try to stay over night somewhere nearby and start it early. Flocks of people from Vancouver often arrive at the trailhead at 10AM no matter what they transport.

What about winter, then?  Is it still busy without the view of turquoise water?

Definitely! but of course it's not as busy as it is in summer!

In winter, only the upper parking lot is plowed so parking space is limited, still.

On the way to Joffre lakes

It was pretty cloudy when we passed Pemberton. Now that we saw how much now there was here, we were really excited to have to snow at the lakes.

It was getting more sunlight when we arrived at the parking lot at 9:30 AM. The parking was half-occupied.

Upper parking lot at 9:30AM

The Joffre lakes were also busy for the past few weeks so the snow was really compacted. We decided not to use snowshoes and stayed on the trail and we were doing fine.

Crossing the first frozen lake

We were blessed to have a bit of sunshine when crossing the first lake.

After hiking for 45', we started climbing uphill, passing a downhill slope that skiers sometimes test their backcountry skiing skills.

Arrived at the second lake

And the third lake, which was also the destination. Beyond this point, any attempt to cross the frozen lake should be done with snowshoes. Some of us didn't bring snowshoes so we just kept going with our microspikes.  We sunk a bit in the snow but slowly, we made it to the other side of the lake. It was worth it <

Crossing the third Joffre lake

Looking back from the other side of the third lake

On the way back, we stopped by Green Lake for the sunset

Sunset at Green Lake

Joffre lakes are a must-see destination. Even though we could'n see the turquoise water, the vibes they made us feel were relaxing and enormous.