Ancient Cedars & Showh Lakes
None of them compare, however, to the Ancient Cedars hike. They are extraordinarily huge and some are estimated to be a thousand years old. Most of these giants stretch toward the sky, but some lay along the forest floor giving you an even closer grasp of their size. If you bring kids along, they will disappear into the endless, natural playground. The trailhead to Ancient Cedars is just a short drive north of Whistler. Just past Green Lake on Highway 99, you turn left on Cougar Mountain Rd and drive 4.5k up a bumpy logging road. As logging roads go it is not bad. If you are driving a car you should be OK as long as you take it slow.
The whole trail takes you through the tranquil and remote forest that hides up on the far side of Cougar Mountain. Cougar Mountain is home to TAG and Superfly Ziplines. The rows of atv's you will pass while driving up the Cougar Mountain Forest Service Road will belong to TAG. Superfly Ziplines is worth a look here too as they boast the "Longest, highest, fastest ziplines in Canada." The whole 5k Ancient Cedars roundtrip should take you less than two hours. Unlike most other Whistler hiking trails, Ancient Cedars is dog friendly. Unfortunately snow makes the road undrivable much of the year, so you can only reliably get up there around mid June to early to mid November. The main attraction to the Ancient Cedars trail is of course the monster cedars at the end of the trail. The trail itself is scenic and at least a couple times the forest opens up to some great views of the Soo Valley and snow capped mountains beyond. With the trail improvements in late 2013, you will now find more trail signs and kilometre markers. Some interpretive information about the beautiful forest around and above you, as well as some strategically placed benches to sit and appreciate the grandeur of the trees.
The trail runs along the left side of the larger lake on your right and then veers left, crosses a creek and circles around the smaller lake on your left where it connects with the logging road and Showh Lakes parking area. You can either follow the road back to your car at the Ancient Cedars trailhead or continue rounding this smaller Showh Lake and rejoin the main trail you came in on and hike back to your car.
History of Ancient Cedars
Back in the late 1980's workers building a bike trail on the lower part of Cougar Mountain discovered a small grove of stunningly enormous Western Red Cedars. Several noted at the time were over 10 feet in diameter. Core samples were taken and indicated that the trees were likely close to 1000 years old. The Douglas Firs in the grove were similarly ancient and estimated to be no less than 650 years old. Suddenly it became evident that word of these monsters would reach the logging companies and the magnificent ancient grove would be turned into lumber. On March 25th, 1988 a meeting was held in Squamish between the Forest Service(logging interests) and the Pocket Wilderness Coalition(a group dedicated to preserving this ancient forest). The PWC came with two requests: to protect the Cougar Mountain and Rainbow Mountain areas and prevent logging activity, road building and other development on these two mountains. Predictably the local Forest Service Operations Manager, Don Kinnear refused. Kinnear went on to inform the PWC that logging permits have already been issued for Cougar Mountain and logging would commence as soon as weather permits. Worried that Mr Kinnear would speed up logging in the area in order to destroy the ancient forest and therefore avoid further opposition, the PWC asked to be notified when new logging plans were submitted to the Forest Service. Kinnear refused, and some argued that this went against his professed goal of keeping the public involved. We can be grateful to the PWC's relentless effort. Against all odds it seems, they prevailed. Cougar Mountain, with Ancient Cedars nestled high up in the beautiful wilderness, remains today. The victory was partly owing to public perceptions of usefulness and profitability from tourism from natural wonders, such as this forest. Locals in Whistler recount the steady growth of tourism operators around Whistler's third mountain. So much so, that today the area is home to Ziplines, tree-top adventures, ATVing, snowmobiling, as well as criss-crossed by dozens of hiking and biking trails. All this development and Ancient Cedars has survivived. The bewilderingly huge ancient cedars are protected and we can watch these monsters continue to grow for generations to come. Geology of Ancient Cedars
What would eventually be known as Cougar Mountain was consumed by ice as two kilometre thick glaciers filled Whistler valley during the last great Ice Age, roughly 10000 years ago. Just the upper reaches of the mountain would have been above the glacier for hundreds of years as the glacier pulverized the valley and carved the terrain all the way to Porteau Cove, down past Squamish! You can stand anywhere in Whistler with a view over the valley and imagine the depth of the glacier that once filled the valley. The alpine mountain peaks, visible by their treeless terrain, are a good marker of where the glacier once rose to. Another indication is the shape of the mountains. Rounded mountain peaks were likely glacier covered, whereas jagged peaks, such as Wedge, Blackcomb, and Whistler were not. Looking around at Whistler's mountains give you a vivid look into the look of the valley thousands of years ago. Trailhead & Parking Directions for Ancient Cedars
There is another parking area at Showh Lakes just a couple hundred metres further up, but if you are hiking to Ancient Cedars this is the best one to use. Also, getting to Showh Lakes requires driving a very bad 4x4 only section. Steep, windy and will big loose boulders. Most decent 4x4's should make it, however, not without some boulder banging underneath. By way of comparison a Jeep Grand Cherokee can get there will little difficulty. Camping & Bivouacking at Ancient Cedars
Facilities at Ancient Cedars
Restrictions at Ancient Cedars
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To get there you must buy a lift pass and ride the Whistler Gondola for 22 minutes up to the Roundhouse Lodge on Whistler Mountain, then hike for about 8 minutes to the Peak Express. Ride this beautiful and alarmingly steep chairlift up to Whistler's Peak where the High Note Trail begins.
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