A favorite hiking destination is the Stein River Valley. We have backpacked the trail and we have day-hiked the trails from the Fraser River end. Although it can be a popular hiking trail, it feels like a remote wilderness area. Wildfires have hit the area so it will be time for a return visit to see its current state.
In Cathedral Park, we can hike from Quiniscoe Lake up to the Rim Trail. On the south end of the rim is an area called Stone City. Many quarts monozite boulders are piled onto the ridge. This is part of a longer loop hike along the top of the ridges that include a series of open, rounded mountaintops.
From the end of the Great Glacier Trail in Glacier National Park, it is all rock above to get to the toe of the Illecillewaet Glacier. In the previous century the ice came right down the valley, close to the end of the trail. to get up to the glacier, we have to scramble up steep rock, climbing for 1.5 km. The granite of the rock shelves has only been ice-free for a century so it is scraped and striated. Mosses, lichens and ferns have established a foothold in this barren terrain. This photo was taken about halfway up to the ice.
We stayed at Tyax Lodge on Tyaughton Lake and hiked trails in the South Chilcotin Ranges. One of our hikes was up Taylor Basin into the El Dorado – Taylor Peak – Cinnamon Peak Pass. This old cabin hails back to days when the Lucky Strike Mine was worked in these mountains. Today it is by the trail as we hike up into this colorful area of South Chilcotin Mountains Provincial Park.
To get to Wave Crest Peak, we have to drive to Blue River, then go up into the mountains on the Murtle Lake Forest Service Road. From the trailhead to Murtle Lake, we have to portage our boat and gear for 2.5 km to the lagoon launch. The canoe or kayak has to be loaded and it is a two hour paddle up to the Strait Creek Marine Campsite. the trailhead to Wave Crest Peak is across the creek. We were able to ford the creek. At high water, you can paddle up the lake and land on the shore at the trailhead. After securing the boat it is about a 3 hour hike to this point, overlooking a tarn in the Wavy Range. This is a remote and rugged spot, one I hope to return to hike again.
This photo was taken from the south end of Adler Lake on the Bonaparte Plateau. After the massive wildfire that burned the forest over large areas on the Bonaparte Plateau, the trail to Skoatl Lake was closed. In the year following we drove past Windy Lake to the edge of the black forest. We were able to find our way to Skoatl Point, winding around black trees, then lots of windfall by Adler Lake, all the way to Skoatl Point, up the rock, and back. This photo was taken at the edge of the burn. Skoatl Point is a favorite hike and we will be back to do it again (hopefully this year).
| Camera – Samsung SM | Location – Adler Lake (N51 08.09 W120 26.20) | Date – 2022-09-07 |
We have hiked almost all of the trails on the Island of Kauai. Koke’e State Park has some of the best trails. It is located on top of the mountain with many of the trails in the caldera of the extinct volcano (Wai’aleale). The area inside the caldera is jungle, swamp and a few ridges. The Alakai’i trail drops into the swamp and uses a series of boardwalks to traverse over to the rim on the east side. After hiking through the swampy jungle, we arrive on a mountaintop marsh. The trail ends at a viewpoint overlooking the Napali Coast with Hanalei in the distance. The open marsh boardwalk is a favorite spot, one we have hiked a few times and we hope to go back to do it again.
| Camera – Canon R70 | Location – Island of Kauai | Date – April, 2014 |
This photo was taken on hike on a grey late-winter’s day in the estuary area for the South Thompson River near Kamloops Lake. The area floods during freshet so all plants have to tolerate higher salt concentrations and poor soil. Below the grasses we can see the black roots of scouring rush in the silt banks. The wind was strong, blowing the grasses right to left. Standing above and in the distance was Mount Mara, dark and looking like the prow of a battleship. I chose not to brighten the background, the foreboding dark shapes contrast with the foreground shapes and colours.
I also captured some video of the grasses in the wind and it will be included as a clip in a video to be published soon.
| Camera – Galaxy S22 | Location – near Tranquille | Date – March 8th, 2024 |