On a sunny early March day, the Smelly Richard Trail was the snowy hike, using traction devices on hiking boots.     the trailhead to the Triple Lumen Trail is just off the Lac le Jeune Road.    The junction to Smelly Richard is about 1 km up the trail.  

Much of the trail had been hiked by one or two people, but it was slow-going as the trail wound through the open forest, above the Trans Mountain Pipeline property and then up the hill alongside the pipeline.    The footprints disappeared and trail-breaking was needed on the upper slopes.    Along the loop route, there were some viewpoints looking northeast, an old homestead/mining shack, and lots of evidence of deer and squirrel activity.  

All photos by the author.    Click an image for a lightbox view and a caption. 

a hike into the Ironmask Hills

diverging growth

ponderosa pine snag

open fir forest on the Ironmask Hills slopes

an old homestead or mining shack

TransMountain Pipeline

on a connector trail

sun through the firs

Triple Lumen Trail

The return route was down the Triple Lumen Trail which had been stomped in by many hikers.    There are some good viewpoints just off the east side of the trail.  

The hike took about 2 hours which included some exploration time off-trail.   It was a mild, sunny winter day, a good one for hiking in the Ironmask Hills. 

A YouTube video features some video clips and some drone footage of the hike in the hills: