Manic Peak
~17km, ~1300m elevation gain
Wanted to check out the Darling Lake area for possible future ski ascents.
Road is in good condition, one rougher section and a few deep potholes but no 4x4 needed, my Rav4 made it up just fine.
Beautiful area but you work for it 
The forest gets really steep once you shimmied over the log river crossing.
We kept on the ridge to get to Manic Peak. Two of our 3 person group decided to stop at a subpeak so I went to the peak by myself. Views were amazing, although it is quite hazy right now. I then retraced my steps back to my group and we decided to decend a gully towards the lake.
Down at the lake you have the most picturesque view of Darling lake and Garibaldi, just stunning.
The steep slog down in the forest was kinda slow but overall not as slippery as we feared.
All in all a great day. Met no one on our way up and 3 groups on our descent. Dark clouds rolled in when we reached the car so we were happy we made it down in time.
Parking lot was busy when we got back to the car, Watersprite lake clearly is a busy place so Iām glad we escaped the crowds by going the other way.