I wanted to spend some quality time with myself and I decided to have a long weekend far away from Vancouver.  I haven't been into the Kootenays for a while and I decided to give it a try for the long weekend.

After spending the night in Merritt I headed to Revelstoke.  After crossing the town of Revelstoke I drive up the 26 km long Meadows-in-the-Sky roadway. 

Columbia River and Revelstoke town

Then I parked on Balsam Lake where a Parks Canada Shuttle Bus took me to the summit.  I was very lazy to walk the last km.

Actually, If you are a cheap person and don't want to pay the $5 fee, you can do the Summit Trail from the base to the summit area of Mount Revelstoke.  Be prepared to walk 10 km (one way) and spend 4 to 5 hours.

I don't know when I will be visiting this place again, so I decided to do Jade Lakes Trail.  

There are some places where local conditions inhibit the tree growth, in those parts you can cross meadows carpeted in subalpine wild flowers during late July and August.

Many years ago, Mount Revelstoke's ski jump was one of the first in Canada and was internationally renowned as one of the finest natural jumps in the world. Several world ski jumping records were set here

Back to my hike, I crossed some slide areas and after descending in some kind of bowl I started to go uphill.

I arrived to one junction where I followed the signs towards Jade Lakes.

Very soon I left the interior subalpine forest and started to reach the treeless alpine tundra.

From the steep trail I had beautiful views of Lower Jade Lake and Miller Lake. 

Lower Jade (left) and Miller Lake (right)

But more surprises were waiting for me towards the steep ridge separating Lower Jade and Miller Lake from Upper Jade Lake

Driving Distance from Vancouver: 592 km (370 m)

Costs - Day 1
Toll Booth = $10,00
Gas = $47,00
Food  = $7,98
Motel = $52,65
TOTAL = $117,63