An interesting point of discussion about heavily used areas brings up this little gem. Similar to what happened with Garibaldi, Joffree and Watersprite prior to involvement from any organizations this area is seeing heavy use and general increase in traffic on a year to year basis but with no course taken by the government or local groups alike. There are a couple of articles that can be found in the ether which highlight the issued faced in Semaphore and could become a good project for the BCMC group.

https://stevejoneshikes.medium.com/discussion-paper-summer-management-options-for-semaphore-lakes-953f05acc293 

Worth starting a discussion since this place has great access to subalpine meadows and a couple of easy mountain scrambles.

Yes.  This place is getting a lot of traffic. Trail infrastructure may be beneficial to stop trail degradation. But I think of most importance is outhouses for the containment of human waste!!

Hello All,

Yes, the BCMC Directors are aware of some of the challenges associated with the Semaphore Lakes area, which does indeed need a partner organization or group to take on some of the desperately needed maintenance issues up there.

The BCMC is already involved heavily in numerous other projects and areas at the moment, and at the present time we are not in the position to take on the responsibility of adopting another area.

I personally feel it is better to do a thorough job of maintaining a few trails and areas, rather than a mediocre job of a large number of areas.

Cheers,

Chris

Hi Chris,

Well said and agreed. If at some point there is interest in this area by the BCMC, even just for the outhouses I'd be more than happy to lend a helping hand :).

Cheers,

DK

Also agree this area needs some added management and outhouses would be an ideal start. I also worry about the increasing network of trails and half trails extending through the fragile meadows and the number of folks having fires up there. I wonder if it's something Pemberton Wildlife Association could extend their purview to, especially with support from some other groups.  

I have heard that the Pemberton Tourism Association has applied for funding to install an outhouse.  I'll see if I can get more information.

Tourism Pemberton got 225k of funding to install backcountry toilets in 2021.  Two of the locations are the Semaphore Lakes backcountry and the Wendy Thompson trailhead near Highway 99.  They would like our help with ongoing maintenance.  I'm just waiting to get a full list of the locations and status.

Can BCMC members take photos if they get to either of the locations?

That's great news Jay! Also a note to Ninah above, yes, the fact that many trails are developing all over the place is indeed frustrating with many not understanding the importance of staying course on an already walked path. This however is not only the case at Semaphore but also throughout the region, with trails seeing increasing demand in the last couple of years due to the growing number of local adventurers as well as the impact COVID has had on limiting travel leaving people with free time to explore their backyards. On the one hand it's great to see more people visiting these hikes but on the other it can be difficult to see the impact on the trails and wilderness. I digress but perhaps some educational signage about remaining on the paths, taking trash out, no fires etc. could be helpful throughout the popular spots to aid people in better understanding their impact on the local ecosystems.