Mt Loki - Just a Little Bit Closer

Had an opportunity today to be part of a trail crew working on a new route towards Mt Loki, a prominent peak just across the Lake from us and one I've mentioned before as being high on the "to do" list.

In typical West Kootenay style, the group drove by our road just before 6 am this morning, we caught the 6:30 ferry to the other side of the Lake, drove up a Forest Service Road on the east side of the Lake and climbed to the top of a "hill" on the Portman Creek FSR. The "new" trail to Mt Loki started there.

For several hours, we trimmed branches, hacked and dug rocks and generally made a trail where only a flagged animal path had been before. I took about 45 minutes before our hike out to hoof it up to "the Notch" where I was rewarded with a great view of the final route up Mt Loki. Probably another 3 hours of climbing, by some accounts. Now that I know the route, it's even higher on my summer "to do" list.

Then it was back down the new trail, down the hill, across the ferry again and back home in time for a badly needed shower, a brew and some food. Another day in the Koots.

Exploring the Koots - the Valhallas - Gwillim Lakes

A couple of weeks ago, Catherine decided that we had time between my mountaineering trips to manage a quick backpacking excursion in to Gwillim Lakes in the southern part of Valhalla Provincial Park. She managed to coax a few friends along too, so on Monday, we set off.

In typical Kootenays style, we drove over to the next valley west of us, where Slocan Lake lives, followed a couple of Forest Service Roads about 40 km from the highway and arrived at the trailhead a short time before lunch.

After packing up and having a mid-day snack, we set off. The hike in was fairly steep, but very scenic, up to Drinnon Lake on the Park boundary, up to Drinnon Pass, down into a deep valley and finishing off with a steep climb in to the large cirque that contains the Gwillim Lakes.

The lakes are almost more like apline tarns with the "campground" consisting of a few tent pads scattered around in the meadows and boulders surrounding the lakes.

The next day we decided to scramble up to higher ground surrounding the Lakes and follow along below Lucifer Peak and a few other hills in the Devil's Range. Great views down into the Gwillim Basin and to peaks beyond our location. Back to the campground for a snack and a snooze. The weather was signalling change, so we had our supper, packed up and headed back to the trailhead, taking just over 2 hours to return. A leisurely drive back home with a brief introduction to another small gem in our hiking area.

Pictures can be seen at: http://picasaweb.google.ca/dave.mcc51/ValhallaProvincialPark

Another Great Mountaineering Trip

Just returned from a few days attending the Saskatchewan Section's Mountaineering Camp in the Little Yoho Valley of Yoho National Park. This year we had the Stanley Mitchell Hut which certainly made for more comfortable accommodations.

In this picture is the route up the President Glacier to the "col" and then up the right-hand ridge to the summit. This year, the snow conditions presented a few challenges. For one thing, the final approach to the col now consists of a fairly steep, somewhat exposed, thinning snow bridge between a yawning crevasse (the bergschrund) on the left and another developing chasm on the right. The situation certainly focussed the attention!

The days on the camp were spent instructing beginners to this form of recreation - things like crevasse rescue, self-arrest, kicking steps up snow slopes, knots, roped travel over glaciers and scrambling up rocky ridges. Our weather for the camp was pretty much what you see in the photo - clear, blue skies and increasingly warmer temperatures as the week developed.

It was a great week. I'm back home for a few days of rest before further mountain adventures.

Exploring the Koots 0713 - True Blue

The Sunday hike this past weekend (I use the term "hike" loosely) was to the summit of True Blue Mtn. True Blue is the very prominent mountain behind Kaslo and, given it's prominence, you'd expect a good trail to the top. Such was NOT the case, however. The day was 10 hours long, involved about 1700 m of elevation gain (only a bit of it on a logging road), substantial bushwacking, some route-finding and some pretty serious uphill.

The group for the day was a good size - I didn't really count, but there were probably 15 or more of us who started out at 8 am. The start was in traditional West Kootenay style - 4x4 logging road uphill for about 4 or 5 km. After that, it switched to a very old mining trail, then to a faint trail that headed straight uphill - not a switchback in sight! Add substantial deadfall and alder thickets to the mix.

The rewards at the summit (after several false summits) were worthwhile with great views up and down the Lake, Howser Spire (in the Bugaboos) in the far distance and many other peaks in the near vicinity. That said, I don't think many of us would jump at the chance to go up there again. The way down was almost as hard, although we did try a "shortcut" down through an old logged-over area which was probably a bit quicker and easier. Beer and a shower at home was much appreciated after the day.