Backpacking at Frosty Mountain-Manning Park

What a fabulous weekend!  This is my new favourite hike even though it was very cold. 
We arrived at the day use area at Lightning Lake at about 5pm and started to layer up as the wind was blowing pretty  hard and the temperature had dipped to about 5 degrees. 

As we headed up, the first 4 kms were pretty steep, we gained lots of elevation but the trail is well maintained and very narrow.  I wouldn't want to have to pass many other hikers on this one.  After about 4 kms though, the trail levels out and the hiking gets a whole lot easier.  And before you know it we arrived at the sign indicating the campsite was up ahead. 

View from trail

Just before arriving at the Frosty Creek campsite we saw an outhouse and food cache which we didn't know were there and we were really happy to see the metal food cache.  Looks like two large metal lockers.  We had brought up rope to hang our food in case. 

The area around the campground is pretty slopey but we found a spot that wasn't too bad right beside the firepit which was another surprise.  Although campfires aren't allowed up there it was tempting with the weather being so cold.  As we began to set up our tent it started gently snowing.  We checked out the creek before it got too dark and there are lots of spots to get water from even being a small creek.  We got our camp set up and then started boiling water to make a quick dinner before climbing into our sleeping bags to

stay warm.  What was really cool was that we were the only ones on the mountain that night.  It was also a tiny bit unnerving.  Needless to say we didn't sleep much that night, partly because we were cold.  The next morning was tough to crawl out of our bags into the cold but the coffee helped!  And knowing we were heading up to the summit was enough to head out, dress warmly and get our oatmeal eaten.  The sun was out and we began our hike.  There are such beautiful meadows, many purple lupines were still flowering, the larches hadn't changed colour yet which means we'll have to go up again.  The views were stunning and this is one hike that I know I'll want to do over and over.  The trail itself is narrow but well maintained, steep in parts and fairly easy walking in others.  There are km markers along the path if you look up at the right time, we didn't notice them on the way up.  At about the 9 km mark it starts getting steep again and pretty rocky for the rest of the hike to the summit.  You'll come to the junction for Windy Joe here too.

The climb from here is pretty scraggly, if you've still got your heavy pack on then take it easy to keep your balance.  I will admit that we had just acquired trekking poles and were using them for the first time on this trip and we love them!  It does take some of the weight off your legs and really helps your balance and I highly recommend poles to everyone.

The rocks are a bit loose along here, watch your footing, it's hard not to stare out at the vistas that completely surround you.  We were expecting to hike through snow but never had to.  There were large snow packs around us, but not on the trail itself yet. 

Look at this gorgeous vista!  Lightning Lake is below in this photo.  A lovely surprise at the top is the creation of a small semi shelter with a fairly flat bottom of rocks that has been used for tenting by some brave hikers but also made for a lovely spot to enjoy our lunch and escape the cold wind. 

Upon our return to Frosty campsite, we met up with lots of other hikers who were spending the night and it is so much fun meeting fellow hikers.  There are lots of stumps in the campsite  which were used by all of us for sitting, tabletops and anything else we needed them for which was a treat over just cooking and putting everything on the ground. 

Frosty Mountain is a gorgeous, beautiful and terrific hike.  One well worth adding to anyone's list of hikes to do.  Although we did this one without our children we know that we'll be back next year attempting it again with at least two of them who we think can do it fairly easily.  Breaking the hike up the way we did with two nights at the campsite made it almost leisurely and very do-able for younger hikers or those wishing to make it a bit easier.