Hiking Jasper: Valley of the Five Lakes

Valley of the Fire Lakes. Who wouldn’t want to hike a trail with that name? As we drove down the one-lane highway in Jasper, CA, I saw the trailhead and my mind immediately went to a “Hunger Games-esque” wilderness. “Valley of the Fire Lakes,” I said to my mom. “Let’s do that hike!”

Turns out, the valley has no fire, nor lakes of fire (Which a Biblical reality I really wasn’t down for, anyways). It did, however, have six lakes. Only five were worth naming though, because the dinky little-brother-of-a-lake was more of a glorified swamp. Poor sixth lake.

The trail itself was an easy one– perfect to do on a day with multiple hikes on the agenda. The trailhead was a mere five minutes from our cabin, so we got there fairly early (which I highly recommend). All in all, it took us less than two hours to complete the hike. But oh what a glorious two hours it was.

But I’ll let the lakes speak for themselves:

 

It was a gorgeous day for the hike, but the trail wasn’t too crowded with people– although we did get passed by a few mountain bikes. While I would categorize “The Five Lakes” as an easy hike, it certainly wasn’t flat. I can’t imagine mountain biking up and down some of those hills!

After we reveled in the beauty of the five lakes– and scoffed at lake six– we completed the loop back to the first lake. That’s the neat thing about this trail: You can do the loop multiple ways, making a longer or shorter trek for yourself. You can even walk four miles or so into downtown Jasper, if you’re really feeling it. The trail system there was extensive, and very runner friendly, which I’m going to address in my next post.

Until then: I wish you nothing but adventure and everything but the mountain of work that I am currently buried under.  🙂

Love,

Hannah

Want to read more about my Canadian adventure? Click HERE!