Trip Report: Flora, Greendrop, and Lindeman Lakes Loop

This weekend I went with three friends out to Chilliwack Lake Park with the goal of doing some stargazing during the new moon. Unfortunately the clouds didn’t open enough to even see a single star all weekend, but luckily we got a great day of hiking in on Saturday.

• Route: Flora Lake, Greendrop Lake, Lindeman Lake Loop
• Direction: Counter-clockwise
• Distance: 20km (according to our GPS watch)
• Time: 8 hours (including breaks for photos and snacks)

Section 1: Trailhead to Flora Peak Junction

This section was mostly a steep but pleasant ascent through the woods to get up to Flora Pass. It was pretty tough physically but the trail was incredibly well marked and maintained. There were a few spots where the trees opened up to have a nice view of Chilliwack Lake.

Eventually we made it out into the alpine and the trees thinned out up to give a beautiful view of the valley below, despite the cloudy weather. Some flowers were just starting to bloom, like paintbrush and phlox, to give the area a bit of colour. The smell of heather was in the air and this was the highlight of the whole loop and I wish we had slowed down to savour it a bit more.

Pretty quickly we got onto the snow and had to begin routefinding since the trail was buried. We made it to the Flora Peak junction and decided to skip the summit since it was in the clouds.

Section 2: Flora Peak Junction to Flora Lake

This was the most difficult part of the hike. We descended steep snow slopes in the trees all the way down to the lake. Route finding was a little tricky because there wasn’t much of a boot pack and the trail was completely hidden under the snow, but there were enough orange markers to stay on track, especially with the help of GPS. The snow was steep enough that I wouldn’t really recommend doing this section right now without microspikes and an ice axe and the skills to use them. The snow was soft enough for us to get away with kicking steps without an axe, but there were a couple spots where a fall would have been pretty gnarly.

We made it down to the lake after an exhausting descent that pushed the comfort zone of our group, but found a nice wooden tent pad to eat lunch and watch the fish jump in the still mostly frozen lake

Section 3: Flora Lake to Greendrop Lake

The snow disappeared pretty quickly after Flora Lake, but there was a tricky boulder field right away that had some worrisome spots because of the potential to posthole through the snow. We made it through at a slow pace, and started seeing groups with overnight bags who were doing the loop clockwise and looked pretty haggard. Like us, others had clearly underestimated the toughness of this trail.

Thankfully the clouds opened up a few times on this section and we got to bask in the sunshine while we navigated a few more boulder fields. There were some decent views of the surrounding peaks here but nothing mind-blowing.

There were a few rough bits trail with downed trees, but we eventually made it to a more clear section that was a very steep descent down to Greendrop. Luckily it was snow free and we just kinda bombed down, but it would be tough going up it for those people going clockwise.

Right before the junction for Greendrop, there was a creek crossing that we were able to do by crawling across a fallen log, but fording it would have been doable. We opted to skip the spur trail to Greendrop Lake because we were all a bit tired at this point.

Section 4: Greendrop Lake to Lindeman Lake

The trail was noticeably more developed on this section, with new wooden bridges and boardwalks in some places. But there were still a few boulder fields to cross which were a bit tough, both psychologically and physically. Our group was a bit “over” this hike at this point and kinda just wanted to hoof it out of there, not clamber over boulders.

We finally made it to Lindeman Lake and there were some neat boardwalks over flooded sections of trail as we skirted around the shore. The lake was turquoise and beautiful with some decent views of the surrounding peaks. We made it to Lindeman around 7pm and there were a few groups fishing, camping, and hanging out. Not crowded but not exactly secluded. We passed a campsite with a heli-pad, several wooden tent pads, a pit toilet, and a bear hang.

Section 5: Lindeman Lake to Trailhead

We ended with a fairly easy descent down to the parking lot on a wide trail that clearly sees a lot of traffic. One of the areas had thick ropes along the edges of the trail to prevent people from cutting switchbacks and causing erosion, as they clearly had for years. We were able to bomb down here pretty fast. If we weren’t so eager to finish up, it was a really nice lush forest with some huge boulders. The trail ran along a rushing creek and there were a few great flat spots to picnic or just relax along the water.

We were pretty happy to see the parking lot because it was a long, tough day out.

Summary

This was a tough loop due to the steep snow and many boulder fields and it didn’t have a lot of rewards in terms of views. I would probably recommend that most people instead just do the out-and-back routes to Flora Pass/Peak and/or Lindeman Lake. Those hikes would give you all the best views we had on the loop, but they would be just walking with no scrambling or snow.

Having said that, loop hikes are very rewarding because you get to do all new terrain the whole way, and not deal with the mind-numbing retracing of steps back to the trailhead you get on out-and-back hikes. There aren’t too many loop hikes possible in southwestern B.C., so if you’re looking for one just for the experience, this one is decent and will give a good sense of accomplishment. It’s definitely a worthwhile outing for hikers looking for a challenge and would be quite a bit easier in late July once the snow is all melted.