High above Duncan Lake sits another icefield, the 4 Squatters Glacier, with several peaks poking up above the ice and snow. It was visible several times from our Macbeth Icefield trip last month and there was obvious interest in learning a bit more about it, so.....Last Saturday, Dan, Robert and I drove the 40-odd km along Duncan Lake, itself about an hour from home, then up a very old logging road, now mostly gone to grass, hiked up a mining track and then onto a trail. This trail has been cleared and improved recently by a couple of dedicated souls, but it's still pretty steep, as the photo shows. Views out over Duncan Lake and the surrounding mountains was quite fantastic. In less than 2 hours of hiking, we arrived at the alpine meadows with increasingly good views of the 4 Squatters Glacier. We wandered in the general direction of the glacier to see where there might be good access, evaluated possible camping locations and generally enjoyed the views in all directions. This was just a short recon trip so after soaking up the scenery, we descended, headed back to the Lake, had a swim and drove home.
Although the trail is locally known as the "Oma Trail" (I think), no such name exists on any map. Possibly the correct name should be "Gravelslide Trail" or the "Squatters Trail". Not that names matter much. It's just another backcountry route that isn't in any trail book and one that wouldn't be easy or perhaps possible to find without directions. Nothing like a bit of local beta.
3 comments:
I hiked this trail today and there was a ribbon labelled Omo Trail at the beginning, and apparently an alternate name for Gravelslide Creek (the creek to the south) is Omo Creek. Drove the road fairly high, then walked about 45 min to the trail. Trail was in great shape.
Did you ever go back and make it to the glacier? I ve heard there is a cabin up there?
No, I never went back. About a cabin? Haven't heard of any, but that doesn't mean there couldn't be one. I've never heard anyone mention one there. I keep thinking of going back, but with so many other places to go and things to do....
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