Rainbow Lake is a great Whistler hike, with the more common trailhead lying on Alta Lake Road. From there, you travel between Mt Sproatt and Rainbow Mountain, ascending via Twentyone Mile Creek, passing Rainbow Falls along the way to reach the beautiful Rainbow Lake. This particular day, however, my friend Taylor and I decided to achieve the same destination via a road less travelled, the Madeley Trail. This route begins in the Callaghan Valley, right beside Madeley Lake. The trail is not very well maintained, and involves a little bit of bushwhacking and route finding, bringing you up to Hanging Lake and then Rainbow Lake. A great way to execute this journey (and our original intention) would be as a one-way venture from Madeley back to Alta Lake Road, but it requires 2 vehicles with good clearance and 4 wheel drive, as we soon found out. Realizing that Taylor's car wouldn't have been able to get back to my truck, we were forced to return the way we came, which was still quite enjoyable.[gallery link="file"]
Dayhike