Mountain Footsteps: Hikes in the East Kootenay of Southwestern British Columbia—Third Edition, UPDATED

MOUNTAIN FOOTSTEPS

HIKES IN THE EAST KOOTENAY OF SOUTHEASTERN BRITISH COLUMBIA

JANICE STRONG

THIRD EDITION

When you wander through the majestic wild places, take time

to explore the little things of nature’s rewards. Hike through a mossy

old growth

forest and feel the timeless energy of the powerful trees. Feel

the freedom and peace as you stand atop a high summit or watch a mountain sunset. Savour

the slow

pace of mountain hiking and let the spirit of

the land touch you.

—Janice Strong

Contents

Acknowledgements

Southeastern BC East Kootenay Road Map

Introduction

Map Legend

How To Use this Guidebook

1 Northern Purcell Mountains

#2 McMurdo Cabin

Bugaboos

Bugaboo Provincial Park

#3 Cobalt Lake in Bugaboo Provincial Park

#5 Silver Basin

#6 Bugaboo Pass

#8 Lower Bugaboo Falls

#9 Templeton Lake

#10 Tiger Pass to Shangri-la (Upper Dunbar Lakes)

Forster Creek, Horsethief River

Forster Creek for Thunderwater Lake and Welsh Lakes

Horsethief Creek FS Road for Lake of the Hanging Glacier

#11 Welsh Lakes

#12 Thunderwater Lake – Whirlpool Lake

#13 Lake of the Hanging Glacier

Jumbo, Brewer and Doctor Creeks and Columbia Valley Wetlands

#16 Findlay Falls

#17 Doctor Lakes

#18 Columbia Valley Wetlands

2 Southern Purcell Mountains

St. Mary River

Purcell Wilderness Conservancy

#19 Dewar Creek Hot Springs

St. Mary’s Alpine Provincial Park

#20 Hikes in St. Mary’s Alpine Provincial Park

Meachen Creek and Perry Creek

#21 Meachen Creek Falls

#22 White Boar Lake

#23 Hourglass Lake

#24 Haystack Lake and Upper Haystack Lake

Road Directions to Perry Creek FS Road

#25 Perry Creek Falls

#26 VOR Tower

#27 Richmond Lake

#28 Gold Run Lake

#29 Richmond Lake to Gold Run Traverse

Moyie River and Creston

#30 Cooper Lake – Moyie River

#31 Mount Thompson Rim Trail

#32 Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area

Cranbrook and Kimberley

#33 Cranbrook Mountain

Cranbrook/Kimberley Short and Easy Hikes

#34A Cranbrook Community Forest

#34B Windy Bluff and Kettle Lake in the Cranbrook Community Forest: Northern Hiking/Biking Access

#34C Sylvan Lake, Grassland and Biking Trails in the Cranbrook Community Forest: Southern Hiking/Biking Access

#34D Eager Hills in the Cranbrook Community Forest: Across Highway 3/95 Hiking/Biking Access

#34E South Star Cross-country Ski Trails (Also Hiking, Biking Trails in Other Seasons)

#34F Mother’s Day Hill

#34G Wycliffe Walk, Near the Airport

#34H Moe’s Canyon in Kimberley Cross-country Ski Trails

#34I Kimberley Nature Park – Sunflower Hill

#34J Marysville Waterfalls

#34K Mark Creek Fitness Trail

3 Southern Rockies

Mause, Sunken Creeks and Tanglefoot Lake

Wardner/Fort Steele Road: A Scenic Paved Backroad

#35 Mount Fisher (Fisher Peak)

#36 Mause Creek Tarns

#38 Sunken Creek

#39 Five Passes Trail

Wild Horse River

#40 Lakit Lookout

#42 Fay’s Lake

#43 Nine Basins – Wild Horse Creek Headwaters

Bull River

#44 Pickering Hills

#45 Cliff Lake

#46 Summer Lake Trails

Teepee, Premier Lake, Top of the World and Whiteswan Lake

#47 Teepee Mountain and Mount Stevens Pass

#48 Marmalade Basin to Shark’s Tooth Mountain

#49 Premier Ridge from Wasa Lake or from Premier Lake

#50 Yankee, Canuck and Turtle Lakes Loop – Premier Lake Provincial Park

#51 Saddleback Ridge

#52 Top of the World Provincial Park: Lussier River to Fish Lake

#53 Ptarmigan Lake

Fernie

#54 Fernie Alpine Resort – Skyline Ridgewalk

#55 Fernie Bike and Hike Trails and Elk River Walk

#56 Fairy Creek Falls

Hartley Lake and Dicken Road

#57 Ghost Rider on Mount Hosmer

#59 Mountain Lakes Trail – Traverse from Three Sisters Pass to Island Lake Resort

#60 Cabin Ridge

#61 Spineback Trail at Island Lake Resort

#62 Baldy Loop on Island Lake Resort Trails

#63 Old Growth Trail at Island Lake Resort

Elko

#64 Silver Spring Lakes

#65 Silver Spring Rim Overlook on the Cliff Rim above Silver Spring Lakes

#66 Wigwam Flats – Mount Broadwood Heritage Conservation Area

#67 Sheep Mountain – Elko

#68 Baldy Lake

Akamina-Kishinena Provincial Park

#69 Wall and Forum Lakes in Akamina-Kishinena Provincial Park

#70 Akamina Ridge via Wall Lake

4 Northern Rockies

Northern Rockies – West Side

#72 Swansea Lookout Trail

#73 Columbia Lake – by Canal Flats, East Side

#74 Diana Lake

#75 Nipika Mountain Resort – Natural Bridge Trails

Height of the Rockies Provincial Park

#76 Ralph Lake – Height of the Rockies Provincial Park

#77 Sylvan Pass to Limestone Lakes

Elk Lakes Provincial Park

#78 Elk Lakes Provincial Park – Overview of Hikes in the Park

Contact Information and References

Organizations

References

Useful Information

Index

About the Author

FOOTSTEPS

Where will all the miles I’ve travelled Be taken when I’m gone? Perhaps they’ll be shelved on a mountaintop For others to chance upon?

And of those tracts A lifetime deep Will they be filled soon after I sleep?

Will my passing Be shortly missed? Will the things I began still persist?

Think me not A dying ember, For when I’m gone The children will remember.

—David Levine

Acknowledgements

Thank you, dear reader, for picking up this third edition of Mountain Footsteps. I know you’ll enjoy the great hiking of southeastern British Columbia.

I would also like to thank all the volunteers who maintain many of the trails in the East Kootenay. Without their physical labour, these trails wouldn’t be as satisfying to hike and this book wouldn’t be as valuable.

Writing these acknowledgements, I fondly remember all the fun times on the trails and am grateful to all my hiking friends. Their support made this book project a far greater accomplishment than I alone could have produced. They stopped their vehicles so I could take another measurement or jot down another detail. They joined me on hikes in sunshine and in rain, through mud and in snow, and their moral support and patience helped me focus on the accuracy of my research.

Many other people helped complete this project by supplying GPS tracks, trail notes or road updates. They are: Gretchen Whetham (Mount Fisher, Cranbrook Mountain and Three Sisters), Doug Hogg (Fernie Ridgewalk and Mountain Lakes Trails), Hasi Oates (various trail information) and Mike McNeil (Teepee Mountain – Mount Stevens).

Pat Gilmar of the Fernie Trails & Ski Touring Club provided trail notes and GPS data on the biking and hiking trails at Fernie. Thanks to Steve Kuijt of Island Lake Resort for providing information about the trails around this private lodge. Bob Livsey offered information about Fernie contacts, as well as data on the new trails. I also thank the many people who contributed research for the first and second editions; their reference material is still much appreciated in this third edition. David Levine wrote the Footsteps poem at the beginning of the book.

Many photographers also stepped in and offered fabulous images. They are: Jim Campbell, Ann Coulter, Patrick Gilmar, Brian Hay, Istvan Hernadi, Doug Hogg, John Lyon, Dan Mills, and Gretchen and Bob Whetham.

Several BC government departments and their staffs contributed updates and notes on the trails. The BC Forest Service assisted with road information. The Rocky Mountain District Ministry of Tourism, Culture & the Arts manages many of the crown land trails in the East Kootenay region. BC Environment provided details of the Wildlife Management Areas. BC Parks supplied website information, and Parks staff assisted with updating some hiking info.

I give a special thank you to my husband, Jamie Levine, who created most of the maps in this edition and who has offered his tireless support for all the Mountain Footsteps hiking books. During the final months before my manuscript deadline, Jamie and I worked intensely on this project. To help us out, many special friends and my mom brought over food so we didn’t have to cook, and that thoughtfulness was greatly appreciated.

And finally, a thank you to Rocky Mountain Books for having worked with me on three distinct editions of this book since 1991, and for caring so much about the quality and accuracy of their publications.

Southeastern BC East Kootenay Road Map

Introduction

Welcome to the third edition of Mountain Footsteps: Selected Hikes in the East Kootenay of Southeastern British Columbia.

The third edition is a complete upgrade featuring many new hikes and better trail descriptions for all the hikes. Full-colour maps are much easier to follow, and the new images highlight the fabulous scenery we enjoy in the area.

My hiking guides have evolved to share knowledge of exploring the East Kootenay mountains and to promote a greater caring for the land. When many people cherish the same place, it gives that little part of wilderness a voice. That collective voice magnifies and grows our culture’s outdoor appreciation. Caring about special places can only be felt by being there!

Hiking is gaining in popularity. It is personally rewarding, inexpensive and provides both unique social connections and a feeling of being away from our everyday buzz. Unfortunately, government funding for road maintenance, bridges and trail repairs is declining. The public, in response, are taking to managing their own favourites. Some trails are left to deteriorate, but just as often, all the blowdowns may be cut out and the access might even be flagged or signed. Bridges are often created on the site, using unpeeled logs fallen across creeks as sturdy bridges. The crossings generally function well for many years. Thanks to all the trail crews and volunteers who repair the trails.

Map Legend

It is necessary to protect some rugged wild places, but promoting our unique backcountry recreation is also important. As a society we need to maintain the infrastructure of the roads, bridges and trails. Without maintaining our backcountry infrastructure, we cannot attract people to experience this region of BC, either as visitors or as residents.

East Kootenay Region of Southeastern British Columbia

Most of the trails in this book are not indicated on topographical maps or in tourism literature.

East Kootenay scenery and landscapes are comparable in grandeur to any of its more famous neighbours, such as Banff, Yoho and Kootenay national parks, Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park in BC or the Kananaskis Country of Peter Lougheed Provincial Park in Alberta.

Next to these famous parks, the East Kootenay region offers equally scenic locations, but our region doesn’t have the number of visitors. It also doesn’t have signs at every fork in the road or at every trail junction. Groomed trails are not common in the East Kootenay. Hikers in southeastern British Columbia need to be self-reliant. The rugged nature of the hikes in this book may intimidate some,, but an increasing number of people treasure the experience of hiking in the wild places of the East Kootenay.

The Hiking Trails in the East Kootenay

The trails in Mountain Footsteps offer a gentle approach to hiking for all skill levels. Some hikes listed are easy strolls, while other trips are several-day backpacking adventures to remote mountainous areas.

Writing a hiking guide involves a lot more than hiking the trails every day and writing stories. The most demanding part is giving accurate and detailed descriptions. My husband Jamie and I have checked and rechecked the directions for accuracy. The directions are concise and will lead you from the highways and up lonely gravel roads to many remote and often unsigned hiking destinations.

This book is really Selected hikes in the East Kootenay, featuring only the best hikes in the East Kootenay. After hiking the trails in the area for 20 years, I have included in this edition only the hikes I consider to be the best of the region.

Whether you are an armchair adventurer or an avid hiker, I hope you will enjoy reading this third edition of Mountain Footsteps. Treasure your outdoor adventures and use this book as your guide.

How To Use this Guidebook

Favourite and special places: 5-star and 4-star hikes

In this edition I have noted a few of my favourite and special hikes as 5-star and 4-star ratings. The 5-star hikes are especially scenic, with diverse topography to hike through and decent (enough) road access but may require a high-clearance vehicle. 5-star hikes are my personal favourites. The 4-star hikes are almost as good but may lack something, such as decent road access or distinct trail in places, but the scenery is great. Rather than extend this star rating system to the many routes covered in this book, however, I have instead adopted a more objective rating system as explained next, since other hikers’ favourites may well be different from my own.

Hike ratings

Each hike rating is based on comparisons to other hikes in this book. I have rated the hikes for their general level of difficulty. Some short sections may be steeper or rougher than the rating may suggest.

Easy Hikes are mostly established trails with up to 300 m (1,000 ft.) elevation gain. They may have short steep sections or easy routefinding. The easy hikes are often shorter hikes.

Moderate Hikes: expect 300 to 900 m (1,000 to 3,000 ft.) elevation gain. Most routes follow established trails, but bushwhacking, some moderate rock scrambling on talus slopes or mountain routefinding may be required. Most moderate trips are full-day hikes or backpacking excursions. Topographical maps are advised.

Difficult Hikes have significant elevation gain, over 900 m (3,000 ft.), sustained steep routes or large creek crossings. They are usually extended trips or long day hikes. Topographical maps and or a GPS unit are advised, and hikers should have the skills to use these tools.

Distances

These are one-way hiking distances from the trailhead to the destination. Road and trail distances vary significantly from one vehicle odometer to another and from one GPS to another. Some distances were measured from topographical maps, the BC Forest Service and BC Parks information. Distances are as specific as possible, but expect variation.

Elevation gain

This is the hiking elevation gained from the trailhead to the destination.

Trail

A brief description of trail quality, routefinding terrain and topography is a quick reference to the rest of the hike details.

Time

I generalize a short day hike, long day hike or backpacking number of days. These times include the drive from the nearest highway to the trailhead, which may often be two hours one way. The long day hike designation, for example, includes the driving time and a general hiking time. I did not include many actual hiking times.

Access roads

The kilometres keep accumulating as you travel.

Road descriptions and information are as current and specific as possible. Logging roads frequently change, owing to erosion, industrial activity and route changes.

The Forest Service maintains most of these roads, but some have almost no maintenance. Be aware that if you drive up an unmaintained backroad, you may have to back down if the route becomes impassable.

Note on changing road conditions

Increasing frequency and intensity of summer storms, erratic spring run-off and various mudslides or rockslides may destroy the backroads at any time.

Sometimes roads may be blocked suddenly in the backcountry, leaving hikers stranded, and their only option may be walking out of the bush.

Cell phones generally do not work in the remote areas of our region, so calling for assistance may not be possible. You may want to have extra gear in your vehicle if travelling into the remote areas of the East Kootenay.

The Forest Service roads are generally rough, rocky, gravel logging roads, and they may be narrow and steep with blind corners. Road crews may also slash waterbars across the road grade for drainage, which makes driving them slow and challenging.

During hot, dry periods, gravel roads are very dusty and often have sections of washboard ruts.

Industrial logging traffic on FS roads

Many of these haul roads are built for heavy industrial logging-truck traffic, but the public may use them. Logging trucks use the roads anytime, including Sundays, and they have the right-of-way. Pull off the travelled part of the road and stop! Stay to the correct side of the road, especially around blind corners. Driving these gravel roads requires some practice, as narrow curves on steep hillsides can be unnerving to some drivers.

Animals on the Road

Elk or deer are abundant and may leap onto the roadways suddenly. The most common time for large animals to be on the roads is near dawn or dusk, but watch for them anytime. Also watch for them on East Kootenay highways, especially at night.

Parking

When parking along a roadway, park off to the side to allow others who may want to drive farther than you to pass. Before you park, always turn the vehicle around to head out of the backcountry.

Porcupine damage to vehicles

Porcupines are an amusing nuisance around camp, as they will eat almost anything left outside on the ground, including hiking boots, axe handles and backpacking stoves. They love to eat plywood and cardboard and are especially a disturbance to parked vehicles.

Brazenly destructive porcupines pose a potential hazard to vehicles that are parked overnight. Even during the day, porcupines (the lunatic rodents) have swaggered up to vehicles and started chomping. They eat rubber, aluminum or anything else that may be covered with salt from winter driving, such as gas lines, radiator hoses and brake lines. This damage has left many hikers I know stranded in the bush, as they could not drive their vehicle without such things as brake fluid, engine coolant, transmission oil and other vehicle oils in rubber hoses.

I have heard of only one incident in the past decade where a vehicle was damaged and undrivable due to porcupines. BC/Alberta vehicles used to suffer extensive porcupine chewing, but this has changed. I think the vehicle damage has lessened because in BC/Alberta the road maintenance currently uses a different kind of road salt.

Be prepared anyway, especially in the northern Purcells trailheads, such as the Bugaboos, Silent Pass, McMurdo Cabin and Frances Creek.

Most hikers carry a roll of chicken wire to wrap around the vehicle. Make sure the bottom touches the ground all the way around, and securely fasten the ends together. Use rocks to press the wire to the ground.

It’s also advisable to have more than one vehicle on a remote trip, in case one vehicle breaks down or suffers the wrath of porcupines.

Vehicle ratings

Any vehicle Most normal cars will have little difficulty reaching the trailhead. The lowest part of the underside of the vehicle is between 15 and 20 cm above the ground. Larger rocks often protrude up from the surface of the road. Drive slowly around them. The roads are mostly gravel and narrow. The low-slung sport cars and motorhome RVs should not drive these roads rated any vehicle, unless my description indicates that trailhead access is from pavement or very good gravel road.

High-clearance This designation requires a typical pickup truck or sport-utility vehicle (SUV) with clearance of more than 20 cm. The roads have large rocks, rocky, uneven surfaces and uneven roadbeds with rough sections and may have waterbars (drainage ditches cut across the road surface). A two-wheel-drive vehicle is fine, as the grades are not excessive.

4x4 This designation requires the extra traction of a four-wheel-drive and a high-clearance vehicle for the access, which is usually very rough, steep, rocky or has very slippery, muddy sections. The under-vehicle clearance is that of a normal pickup truck or SUV.

ATV track ATVs, or quads, are not all destructive. We have used them on roads that are deteriorating but still are roads. They are lightweight compared to a truck and do not crush the ground or create ruts as much. ATVs use far less gas than big, 4x4 high-clearance vehicles that may be required on some of the roads. As far as safety goes, some of the roads are so narrow and sloping down the sidehill that an ATV, being narrow and light, may climb the road easier and with much less driver stress. The new ATVs are far better at travelling old roads than any truck. They drive slower, safer and do not cause as much road damage. Wear a helmet and stay on the roads.

Maps

The topographical maps referred to throughout this book are full-colour 1:50,000 scales from the Kootenay Land District, featuring 100-ft. contour intervals. The maps give elevations in feet and the maps have a 1-km grid on them.

GPS

Digital maps are available on CD from many GPS suppliers. Most GPS software has a map configuration that goes with it. The map datum can really throw you off. The datum varies with the map sheet. The older maps use a North America Datum 27 (NAD27) datum, while newer ones use NAD83. Both datums are useful for the GPS notations in this book. If the other datum is used, it can throw the accuracy out when you enter waypoints into the GPS. That level of inaccuracy is fine for most outdoor activities, but I have included the datum for greater accuracy.

To convert from NAD27 to NAD83 (and WGS 84), add 214 m northing and subtract 78 m easting. Most GPS units default to WGS 84.

The GPS numbers in this guide were produced when I put the GPS tracks into a digital map software. The maps are based on MGRS – UTM grid, and this region of the world is 11U. To find a location on a map, use the 1:50,000 maps; each 2-cm square is 1 square kilometre.

When using UTM units, the software will generate northing seven-digit code and easting seven-digit code. (The first two digits of the seven-digit UTM data puts you within a 100-km range. This is too coarse for most navigation in a hiking guide.)

To reduce the numbers, MGRS is used. When the unit choices are set to MGRS, it will generate the same last five digits of both numbers, but will eliminate the first two digits.

I wrote the coordinates in this fashion, using MGRS: N45678-E12345.

N is the northing – the vertical north/south grid lines. E is the easting – the horizontal east/west line. The first two numbers of both N and E match the printed grid lines on the maps along the edge of the mapsheet, or throughout the page. That will locate your coordinates to a square kilometre.

To further refine your placement, the third number of the GPS data is to a 100-metre range. Obtain 100 m by dividing the 2-cm square into tenths (visually). The final two numbers refine your search to 10 m, and these are useful for locations requiring more precise positioning (I rounded off many of these last two numbers to the nearest 100 m).

I hope that by including the GPS coordinates in this book, you will then be able to type the numbers into your GPS unit as waypoints and use the go-to function on your GPS to get you there. If you have mapping software, type the numbers into the waypoints software and upload that data to your GPS.

Important reference book for anyone driving the Kootenay backroads: The Kootenay Rockies BC Backroad Mapbooks are useful for finding your way in the maze of mostly unsigned backroads of this area. The books feature 200-metre contour intervals and details of most of the logging roads.

Available from Mussio Ventures Ltd.

604-438-3474

info@backroadmapbooks.com

www.backroadmapbooks.com

Mountains

The East Kootenay encompasses two major mountain ranges – the Rocky Mountains and the Purcell Mountains. These ranges extend north and south throughout the region. Separating these mountains is the low-elevation Rocky Mountain Trench, where most of the cities and towns sprawl. The Rocky Mountain Trench is also habitat for much of the region’s wildlife, in grassland and forest ecosystems.

The Purcell Mountains are part of the Columbia Mountains, which also include the Monashee, Cariboo and the Selkirk mountain ranges.

Southeastern BC shares the Rocky Mountain Continental Divide with Alberta. The height of land of the Purcell Mountains edges the western slopes of the region, and the border with United States, Montana and Idaho rims the southern limit of the East Kootenay.

Rivers

The Columbia River flows north from its source in glacier-fed Columbia Lake. The Columbia Valley Wetlands is a wide, naturally flowing marsh that meanders for 180 km from Windermere Lake of the Columbia river.

The Kootenay River begins its long journey only 50 km from the source of the Columbia River. The two big rivers almost converge at Canal Flats, where they flow in opposite directions, only 15 km apart.

The headwaters of three major North American rivers all diverge from the very southeastern tip of BC. The Columbia, Saskatchewan and Mississippi rivers all start in The Crown of the Continent and each flows into a different ocean. The Crown of the Continent refers to the area between Waterton National Park in Alberta, Akamina–Kishinena Provincial Park in BC and Glacier National Park in Montana.

Place names

Most of the names of specific places in this book are the official names and many are listed on maps. Several names are the widely accepted local versions. Yet some place names were made up by me or my hiking partners. I apologize if the names we use are not the common names that you use. We did this to describe a specific tarn or a ridge, for example.

Mountain weather and safety

Mountain weather is erratic even during the summer. It may be warm and sunny in the morning, but by afternoon snow squalls or thunderstorms can pound in with amazing speed. Microclimates in the mountains are highly variable, so be prepared for anything and bring gear that may help sustain you unexpectedly overnight if necessary. Read the Tiger Pass Shangri-la hike for a summer snowstorm story.

Short summers:

In the high country, 2100 m (7,000 ft.) or higher, summers last from July to the middle of September.

In the middle elevations, from 1200 to 2100 m (4,000 to 7,000 ft.) summers are a little longer, from about June to September.

In the low elevations of the Rocky Mountain Trench, below 1200 m (4,000 ft.), spring, summer and autumn extend from April through October.

Rescue

Do not hike alone. When travelling into remote areas, tell someone of your destination and your expected time of return. You are responsible for your own safety! Rescue is not readily available in the remote mountains. Cell phone service is almost non-existent in the backcountry mountains of this region. Sometimes on a high peak you may be able to get sporadic cell phone service.

Learn wilderness skills before you venture into the bush, including first aid, wilderness survival practice, navigation using maps and compass, and mountain routefinding.

What to do if you get lost

Hopefully you will have this book with you and now you have time to read it. The first thing to do is not panic. Put on your jacket; you will get chilled if you are sitting outside. Find a big tree or a tightly protected rocky spot and huddle there until you are calm.

Most people assume it can never happen to me! It only takes a few minutes of misjudgment to start hiking in the