Beaver, First & Second Summit, Jacques Lakes and dining with a moose

After yesterday's steep climb up to Opal Hills we decided on what Tim calls "a truly unique" trail, "ideal for those of you seeking to avoid strenuous hikes with major elevation gain." Well, it may not have had major elevation gain, but we still achieved 118 floors (Edith Cavell- 202 floors; Opal Hills- 183 floors) and the distance to Jaques Lake was long, 16 miles, and it took us 7 hours! We did achieve over 40,000 steps today.

The elevation chart looks dramatic, but if you look closely you will see that the distance between the lines is only 100 meters.

Near the beginning of the trail. Beaver Lake, which you might be able to see through the trees, is only   1 mile from the trailhead.

Two more views of Beaver Lake - this one looking south and...

this one looking north. That is the Queen Elizabeth Range.

First Summit Lake, 3 miles from the trailhead. Visible up-valley is Colin Range.

Second Summit Lake, 3 1/2 miles from trailhead.

Frederick in a cloud of horsetails on the way from Second Summit Lake to Jaques Lake. 

Traveling down the west side of Jaques Lake we spied a moose near the north end of the lake.

He didn't seem...

to be bothered much...

 by an audience.

North end of Jacques Lake with the Jacques Range visible over the trees.

We sat and ate our lunch at the bridge over the north end of the lake and watched the moose enjoy his meal, too.