The words “ice caves” are a little misleading. These cracks, holes, and small canyons on the edge of he bluff receive melting snows and ice collects below in the lower areas on the north-facing slopes above Bridge Lake. The folklore is that First Nations and pioneers went to the caves to collect ice in the summer. Ice will stay in … Continue reading…
In my opinion, this is the finest trail in the province. The trail starts at the south end of the Glacier House National Heritage site and turns west up the hill. The trail is well-designed, switchbacking through the cedar-hemlock old growth forest. After 2 km, it arrives at Marion Lake, a small tarn under cliffs, surrouned by trees, a good … Continue reading…
The Hermit Trail starts at a pull-off on the Trans Canada Highway in Rogers Pass and climbs to a high meadows at the foot of the Hermit Range. When we drive to Glacier, we have often chosen this hike because it is shorter and can be done with a later start. The trail climbs through cedar-hemlock forest steeply. In fact, … Continue reading…
The trail from Pratt Lake to Blackwell Lake is shown on recreational maps and is listed in the Vernon Outdoor Club’s book so it was added to our list of hikes-to-be-done. It is a long drive to the trailhead so we waited for a sunny summer day so we could hike in the forest at a higher altitude, away from … Continue reading…
Raft Mountain stands above Clearwater, a pyramid-shaped peak when seen from the valley. We have hiked this 8000 foot mountain a few times, but this last time, we came to traverse the 5 peaks. To get to the trailhead to Raft Mountain, continue past Clearwater on Highway 5 North for 4 km pst the Visitors Center. Turn left onto … Continue reading…
Most visitors to Mt. Revelstoke National Park drive the 25 km to the top of the mountain, then hike one of the trails in the sub-alpine meadows. This 100 year-old park (in 2014) also has a number of fine trails on the lower part of the mountain. The two most accessible trails are the Soren Sorenson Trail and the Inspiration … Continue reading…
The northern end of the Marble Range has a number of fine hiking opportunities. The best hike is Mt. Bowman, but there are also routes up Pocupine Creek, Lime Ridge, Mad Dog Mountain, Wild Horse Ridge and Mount Kerr. Most of the trailheads are found off the Jesmond Road between Kelly Lake and the Big Bar ferry. After my last … Continue reading…
The Illecillewaet Glacier covered 9.3 square kilometres in 1850. By 1978, it was reduced to 6.8 sq. km. It is still shrinking and most of the loss is in the tongues of ice that stretch from the neve on top down into the valleys. When the railway was completed in 1885, tourists and climbers came to Rogers Pass to see … Continue reading…
The Bonaparte Plateau is not an easy place to explore. The backroads to 5000 feet are long and not well marked. The trailheads are difficult to find. Except for the Skoatl Point trail, most trails are hard to follow, overgrown, covered in fallen trees, and short on views. We head up there every summer to explore in spite of these … Continue reading…
Yak Peak is the rockslab-faced peak directly oerlooking the Coquihalla. It has been a climber's destination for some time, but the climbers also had a down-hike trail and this route has been upgraded to a good trail for hikers too. We parked at the Zopkios Ridge rest stop and hiked back along the highway to find the trailhead. The guidebook … Continue reading…
A historic trail in the Rogers Pass area is worth an hour of easy hiking. The Loop Brook trailhead is next to the Trans Canada Highway a few kilometres west of the pass. To avoid avalanche slopes, engineers brought the railroad into the Loop Brook Valley in a double loop (figure 8) shape. The wooden trestles were replaced with concrete … Continue reading…
The Tranquille Slot Canyons have been one of our favorite areas to explore for a few years. We usually go down to the slots each year, but often in different seasons. Summer is a favorite because once the water levels go down and the water temperature goes up, we can traverse the north slot and scramble the south slot. Previous … Continue reading…
The 500th article was published to this site. At the same time, about 920 000 separate visits were logged. Then the database was inadvertently wrecked and the site went down for two days. I wasn't sure it could be recovered, but I got some technical help and once I could get into the backend, I have been doing some additional … Continue reading…
We try to take the chair up Tod Mountain each July to hike the trails and see the wildlfower display. We chose Twoonie Tuesday this year, which is scheduled before the main flower display. In some years there is snow and mud at the start of July, but this year the trails were mostly dry and free of snow. Our … Continue reading…
Although we have visited the Guardsmen many times, we often take different routes in and out. Details on how to get to the area are already documented on this site (type Guardsmen into the Search box). On this trip, we followed a track and game trail into the vale between Wheeler Mountain and the Mara hills. Eskers from the last … Continue reading…
We try to visit Painted Bluffs every year. It can be done by driving the Sabiston Creek Road and then down to Copper Creek. but this is a long and awkward route. Our preference is to paddle over from Savona, a 6.5 km route (each way) with a 1.5 km lake crossing. There is a beach below the park suitable … Continue reading…
