Mount Bowman

The Marble Range has a number of first-class hikes that are not well-known. They are accessed off the Jesmond Road, a two hour+ drive from Kamloops. We return to hike there in June-September each year, but we often choose an earlier date because the snow clears earlier there than in other ranges, even at the 7000 foot elevation. Our favorite hike in the range is Mt. Bowman (link to a more detailed article on this trail).

From the unmarked trailhead off unmarked sideroads, the hike is 12.5km out and back, climbing 848m (2782 feet). The trail starts as a double track going into a valley between Mt. Bowman and Mad Dog Mountain, but soon turns to a single track that stays on the forested hillside above the creek. The trail winds along the southern flank of Bowman to a stream valley coming down from the north. There are blazes on the trees here. A "B" marks the fork up the side valley. The route follows a small stream up to a wet meadow, then above to alpine meadows below the summit. The final section winds up between limestone outcrops, requiring some light scrambling. The peak sits at 2243m (7359 feet).

The trail is a satisfying gentle climb through the forest, followed by a steeper climb to the alpine, and finally a steeper yet scramble, but the views improve with each step. Wide views are the reward on top. The rugged wilderness of the Marble Range fills the landscape in three directions. Wild Horse Ridge invites us to explore a more remote sector of the range.

The upper ridge of Mt. Bowman has a number of limestone horns, a few caves, some snow pockets in sheltered alcoves, and a few plants that can survive in this exposed summit ridge for a couple of months in the growing season.

Wildflowers line the trail for the whole route with paintbrush, arnica, false solomons seal, fairyslippers, columbine, penstemon, pussytoes, twinflower, and yarrow at the lower elevations and jacob's ladder, cut-leaf anemone, moss phlox, forget-me-nots, and paysons draba (a rarer sighting) at the upper elevations.