Hike to Blue Gentian Lake
Trip report by leader, Lyn Grants
On Saturday August 18, 2018, eighteen participants enjoyed a leisurely walk to Blue Gentian Lake on Hollyburn Mountain. This was a joint trip with Nature Vancouver and Friends of Cypress Provincial Park.
Goal of the trip was to observe the gentians at Blue Gentian Lake, but amazingly over the last few years the gentians have been spreading. We saw them at the verge of trails leading to the lake.
Along the way we saw bunch berries beginning to form the red berries, fern leaf and cutleaf goldthread, at the Lake sundew and of course gentians and a host of other plants no longer in bloom. We were not an accomplished bird group but Linda Koch identified a few birds by sound. We used the Burfield trail as our entry point to the trails leading to Blue Gentian Lake. From there we went to West Lake and back to the parking lot via the Hollyburn Lodge, where many stopped to enjoy ice cream, coffee or beer.
