Trail Brew

Munro Lake – Pinecone Burke Provincial Park

On Tour Crimson Ale – Torchlight Brewing

On Saturday June 23rd I headed out for a hike. The weather was overcast so the idea of hiking to a peak was out of the question. Because of this I decided to hit up a mountain lake in Munro Lake. The trail head for Munro Lake is located near Minnekhada Regional Park in Coquitlam. If you use your GPS to find Minnekhada that is the best way to find your way to the trail head. Instead of turning into Minnekhada keep straight on the road and it will turn into a gravel road named Quarry Road. Take this for 3.5km and the trail head will be on the left hand side. There are no signs for the trail so when you see a widening and most likely some cars on the side of the road you are at the right place.

The hike up to Munro Lake is 10km round trip and has an elevation gain of 885m. The trail climbs fairly quickly through brush, forest with portions a bit grown over. This hike you stay on trail bed and rock and do not need to walk on a ton of boardwalks or bridges. It makes for a nice day in the woods where you can lose yourself in nature. make sure to pay attention to the odd sign and the flagging on the trail as portions of the trail are not as obvious as they once were.

When looking at maps of Munro Lake it looks far bigger than it currently is. It actually seems to be two separate lakes now. Munro lake originally had a dam that produced power for a rock quarry but the dam was removed in the fall of 1981. This lake is a good spot to have bug spray as there are many marshy sections and large mud puddles. I sat to have a beer on the shore and some lunch and only got half of my beer down before I gave up and made my move to get back on the trail. The section between the two bodies of water is now a nice marshy meadow with some flowers.

While this hike is only 10km long the elevation gain makes for some good exercise and a great day on the trail.

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I think the only way to actually sit down at the lake currently without bug spray is to have a beer. For this very buggy lunch I had the On Tour Crimson Ale from Torchlight Brewing in Nelson BC.

The beer pours into my B Cup a deep reddish copper colour with a tan head. The aroma consists of caramel, malty with some sweetness. The flavour is of bready malts, caramel, sweetness, mild earth and a low bitterness. The alcohol content comes in at 5.5% with an IBU of 35. This Red Ale is a malt bomb all the way through and I would have liked a little more hop presence.

Safety note. This Burke Mountain area has a large bear population and you should take cation to ensure you are safe. At the time of writing this there was also a ton of berries along the trail and the bears will be hunting for these.

Disclaimer: Drinking while excising and hiking can be dangerous and can put you in serious danger or lead to your death. These posts do not recommend that you drink while you hike but if you decide too make sure to be a responsible adult.