Mountain Lakes Trail - Heiko's Trail - Three Sisters Mountain Summer Hike

We are in Fernie, British Columbia and decided to do the Mountain Lakes Trail, also known as the Heiko's Trail. This is a 20 Kilometer through hike from Hartley Lake Road to Island Lake. We chose to hike from the Hartley Lake Road up to Three Sisters Pass and back to Hartley Lake Road. This was a 12.5 mile round trip hike with 3,000 ft of elevation gain. We drove to the first clearing on the spur road off of the Hartley Lake Road, choosing to walk the 1.6 miles to the trail head, rather than risking damage to our car. It was a pleasant walk along a dirt road with lots of wildflowers in bloom.

 From the parking area at the end of this spur road, we had a great view of Mount Bisaro.

 The "official" Mountain Lakes Trail trailhead. We are headed to the highest point along this trail to Three Sisters Pass at 7,500 ft. [There is also a spur trail from the pass to the top of Three Sisters Mountain.]

The next section of the trail was through the forest and up a headwall, climbing up many interesting steps and ladders and wooden bridges. A big thanks to all the volunteers who created and maintain this trail!

We had views of "Laughing Waters",

with a close up from the side near the top of the falls,

and "Watergate" where the creek comes out of the side of the headwall.

 This was a steep, but fun section of the trail,

 continuing to climb,

 with peaks of Mount Bisaro through the trees,

 we enjoyed eating ripe berries, and going through downed trees,

 sometimes traveling very close to the edge of the headwall.

A little over 3 miles from where we started, we passed Bisaro Cave.

 After climbing up and over a hill, we crossed two rock filled bridges over a creek,

















with beautiful cascades,

 running down Bisaro Canyon,

 the second rock filled bridge, with Mount Bisaro in the background.

 We found a nice rocky ledge where we took a break, and enjoyed the views and the wildflowers.

 We entered a section of the trail called "Shady Lane", where the trail began to climb again, and we passed through many different wildflower meadows.
















This was a beautiful hike with a wide variety of wildflowers in bloom.

We took our time along the trail,  there was so much beauty every way we turned.

 My camera can not capture the vivid and diverse colors, if I could sing, I would have broken out in song: "The hills are alive with the sound of music……"

Nearing Three Sisters Pass, even among the scree, we found lots of wildflowers.

Us Three Sisters in front of Three Sisters Mountain at Three Sisters Pass.

At Three Sisters Pass, Three Sisters Mountain in the background.

 Panorama from the pass looking toward Mount Bisaro, the valley we hiked up the the edge of Three Sisters Mountain.

The hike down, was as enjoyable as the hike up. The views opened before us, and there were even more flowers in bloom.

Some of the many wildflowers and plants we saw along the trail today: