Vicar Lake & Mount Bishop (via LSCR)

June 23-24, 2023

Vicar Lake is a small lake located just below the mountain range that makes up the western border of Mount Seymour Provincial Park. It is not technically in the park. It is considered part of the Seymour watershed.

There are two ways to get to this lake: via a short steep climb starting from the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve or via a long winding climb starting from the base of Mount Seymour. This time I attempted the shorter journey.

The trailhead is located along the Spur 4 road in the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve. To get to it, you need to cycle (or walk) 12.5km up the Seymour Valley Trailway and then over to Spur 4. Clearly, having a bike is a huge advantage for this hike. I do not have a bike, however, I am an employee for the area so I happen to have certain.... privileges. This allowed me to skip the first part of the journey which is getting to the trailhead.

From the trailhead, it's a steep climb through the forest to reach Vicar Lake. This portion took me 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Vicar Lake with Mount Bishop in the background

After setting up my tent at the lake, I started on my way to Mount Bishop. It's a fairly steep trail through forest and then into exposed ridge. It ends with a scramble to the top. The snow line started at 1200m elevation, which was a few hundred metres from the top.

The views were stunning. Mount Bishop is the highest peak on this particular ridgeline at 1401m.

Vicar Lake from Mount Bishop

The Seymour Reservoir (both bodies of water)

Presbyter Peak (left) and Deacon Peak (right)

The Indian Arm

Elsay Lake. Mount Elsay sits above it on the left

I had wanted to continue along the ridgeline to Deacon Peak and Presbyter Peak but there was a decent amount of snow and I didn't think I had enough time to continue on. I'll finish the ridge off another time.

After the peak, I made my way back to Vicar Lake and spent the night there. I didn't see a single other person at the lake, which is always my favourite.

The next day, after descending from Vicar Lake to the trailhead, I didn't have the luxury of getting a ride back to the parking lot. I therefore had to walk back via the Seymour Valley Trailway. This took quite awhile (2.5 hours). It was definitely worth it though.