Fri, Sep 2 2005 - Galatea Creek (View Original Event Details)
|  |
When I mentioned that I was interested in coordinating activities, I never thought that I would get the opportunity so quickly, it turned out to be a real pleasure and I look forward to doing it again. To all of you who came out, thanks for making this a very pleasant experience. Special thanks to Barry for staying with the slower group and keeping everyone safe, next time you can go with the faster group on the way up!
We started off right on time, had a pit stop for coffee and then met up at the Galatea parking lot. Having Bear (a labradoodle cross – if I recall correctly) along on the hike made me feel much more secure, with the exception of the initial reaction to hearing someone yell out ‘bear’… this was solved quickly by an agreement to use the word ‘run’ in the case of a real bear encounter.
The morning was cool and made for a wonderful hike through the gentle inclines along Galatea creek. Trying to keep the group together became progressively harder as the terrain and incline changed so we decided to split into two groups and meet up at Lillian Lake. The ‘fast’ group seemed to have an aversion to stopping and made incredible time up to the lake. Well the official part of the trail was done, and I was ready for a well deserved rest after the ‘very steep sections starting at km 4.5’. The fast group decided to continue up to Galatea lake, I succumbed to peer pressure, and am I ever glad.
The trail was quite steep and Chris constantly told us that the lake was just behind the next group of trees, after a while I started to doubt the existence of the lake, but was eventually rewarded with a spectacular view and a terrific place to have lunch. I think most of us were envious of Sadie (the Border Collie) that got a chicken wrap for lunch – it’s a dog’s life.
On the way down we paused at Lillian lake for a group photo, I wanted proof that I didn’t lose anyone on the hike! From this point we split into two groups again and I think that the fast group came down the trail almost 30 minutes ahead of those of us trudging along at the back.
-- Michael