Lac du Bois to Tranquille
This one-way route has much merit, but requires a little more field work to find the best route. It is possible to go over Wheeler Mountain, but we wanted to find a more level route. We started at Lac du Bois, went around the lake, then down Hanging Valley. A few aspen groves flank the trail.
From the end of the gently-sloping valley, an old side track crosses onto Wheeler Mountain, but it petered out after a kilometre. We want to go back and look for lower or higher routes across the flank of Mount Wheeler. We contoured across the steep sidehill before finding another track to bring us back to Pruden Pass, between Mara and Wheeler.
Coming around the southwest corner of Wheeler is a rocky ridge that juts out, making a fine viewpoint. This photo shows the spot, looking backward to Wheeler.
Below us, in the cut that separates Wheeler and Mara is a deep gully with several eskers, following the lines of meltwaters from the ice age.
We hiked down the old cart-track to Tranquille, descending down to the river. The route was 14.6 km with a net elevation drop of 529m (1735 feet). We like this route and will return to find a good route across the 1.5km flank of Mt. Wheeler.