Blueberry Bonanza at Conflict and Ring - Tuesday September 30th 2025

Iain writes:-

Seven in two cars with an 0630 kick off from Vancouver got us on the trail for 0900, we wrapped up as evening fell and the darkness rolled in. What a beautiful hike.

This hike was originally scheduled for a few days earlier but the weather forecast was miserable, Tuesday looked promising and indeed the day started well. This was not to last.

The heavy rain of the preceding few days had turned the paths into streams and the rivers to torrents, which we heard well before we saw them. Our route to Journeymanan Lodge was mainly up the access road which gave us a faster time to arrive at Conflict Lake than by following the forest route. This hike is a bit unique, we don’t usually encounter buildings at this scale on our hikes.

After a short food break at the lodge (outside, not inside, it’s closed until winter sets in) we set off around the western edge of Conflict, with a brief diversion to get close to the kayak launch point, sightseeing purposes only. From there we continued to follow the path through the valley before bearing off to the right and starting to ascend. The meadow route was awash with blueberries and huckleberries, frequent snacking was the order of the day.

A Wild River Passed on the way up the Valley, image by Iain

We knew that we needed to cross a river to get to Ring Lake. As we continued our ascent the weather deteriorated and the temperature dropped. Despite checking three forecasts and ten weather models, this was not expected. The rain was much more intense and prolonged than forecast and while we did have rain gear, pack covers and waterproof trousers being the order of the day, it was adding up to a pretty miserable experience. We had heard from Paula and Carl that the river had been dry just a couple of weeks before, but the rain had turned it into a torrent. We all agreed that it was passable, just not today. We decided to return another day with sunshine. Although we were only about 1500m of Ring Lake to continue would have been a bit pointless.

Lunch was a hurried affair, “sheltering” in the forest while the rain poured down. We started our descent and were soon back at Journeyman Lodge, we took the forest route back to the car and this was substantially, nay enormously, more beautiful than the service road. The route ascended after leaving the meadow area before dropping down to the curious;y numbered plank bridges crossing the many streams.

Back at the car we were treated to chilli chocolate cake and strawberries, thank you Tamsin - a step up from jelly babies but we still like the jelly babies.

Tamsin’s Chocolate Cake and Strawberries, Tailgate Party Extraordinaire, image by Iain

In conclusion, this was a truly beautiful hike, we saw no other people from start to finish, some incredible fungi, beautiful lakes and ponds, signs of bears including a paw print and roaring rivers and falls. We will definitely return.