Author Archives: dsmith

Crowfoot Mountain

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In past summers, I drove from the Magna Bay area on Shuswap Lake up steep backroads, then parked,  and continued to hike up trails to the top of Crowfoot Mountain.    The tracks going up Crowfoot and over to Mobley Mountain are used more by dirt bikes, quads, snowmobiles, and now mountain bikes, but only a few hikers get to the top of Crowfoot Mountain.

The highlight of the hike is the alpine meadows in summer and long views when the weather is clear.

Looking east past Angle Mountain are the Monashee Mountains.

The track over to Mobley Mountain goes through open meadows.    It is a long hike out and back, so a mountain bike outing might be best.

More information on this hike can be found at the following links:

 

Juniper Ridge Park Grasslands Hike

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On a grey day at the end of September I drove up Rose Hill Road to Scott Road, then I hiked along the double track route across the grassland slopes of Rose Hill to the end of the track and back.   In 2025, 570 acres of this land was purchased by the BC Parks Foundation as a nature preserve – link to more information.   At this time the status of the park is that is still in planning stages. After a hot and dry summer, the grass was longer, but no longer green.    Rabbitbrush was just finishing its flowering cycle.    The route goes through a grasslands zone, but there are also some ponderosa pines, some junipers, a few … Continue reading →

West Guardsman Hike

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In early fall we drove up the Tranquille Criss Creek Road to a pullout near a gully which descends into the Tranquille River Canyon.    We followed a well-marked trail (thanks to Al Budreau) along a single track along the rim of the canyon to a steep area where the river canyon is narrow and is flanked by several large rocky hoodoos (The Guardsmen).    We have hiked on the other side of the river, following the Wheeler Mountain Road toward Pruden Pass, then turned down to the river on faint trails to a spot below the Guardsmen.    The trail to the West Guardsman is on the west side and ends at a point above the steep drop to … Continue reading →

Hiking the Lower Rose Trails

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At the end of summer I hiked a loop route on grasslands benchlands near Rose Hill.    This area was once under a glacial lake.    The silts, sands, and clay deposits were laid down over several ice ages.    Then as the ice retreated, gullies were cut by continuous meltwaters creating drainage channels for the melting snow and ice higher in the hills.    the gullies have continued to be eroded by spring melt each year.    Hiking in the Lower Rose area requires going down and back up some of the gullies and trails have developed following some of the easier routes.    Double tracks connected power lines and access for ranchers.    Single tracks were added by … Continue reading →

Bearcat Caves Exploration

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We had heard about the Bearcat Caves located in the Monte Hills and we decided to try to find the caves then explore them.    We returned several times, each time exploring farther along the caves and fissures and trying new routes where there was safe access.   To get to the Bearcat Caves, we go to Monte Lake and at the north end of the lake, we take the Monte Hills FSR.     The area has been logged many times and there are lots of side roads.    We had coordinates for the caves area so we followed backroads that took us to the trailhead.    A geocache listing provided lots of useful information – Bearcat Caves. There are no … Continue reading →

North Batchelor Range Hike

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The north end of the Batchelor Range can be reached from the Deep Lake area by hiking the Grasslands Community Trail in the Lac du Bois Grasslands Protected Area, then going cross-country up the ridge from the north end.   From the trailhead for the Deep Lake Trail to the top of the ridge is a climb of about 581 m (1900 ft).   There are series of hilltops in the Batchelor Range, so we can go up and down several before looping back.    The loop route back for us was off-trail and steep.   The total distance was over 12 km. There is little shade on this route so it is a better hike for late spring or alternately, in early … Continue reading →

Sylvia and Goodwin Falls Hike

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The Clearwater River Road ran from Clearwater for 38.5 km up the west side of the Clearwater River to the Mahood River confluence.   Before 1975, there was a bridge across the Mahood River and a forest service road ran for another 27 km to the Flourmill Volcanoes area (we forded the river and hiked all the way to the lava flow and cinder cones in the late 1970s).    The Clearwater River Road has faced a few washouts but was repaired.    It was a long and bumpy backroad all the way to the Mahood River.   In recent years a more catastrophic washout and landslide occurred, closing the road at the 11 km mark.    It appears the road will … Continue reading →

Skoatl Point Hike

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We drove for many kilometers on backroads to get to Bonaparte Plateau Provincial Park.    For 28 km we drove up the Jamieson Creek Forest Service Road, then turned onto the Windy Lake FSR for 15 km.  We passed the Rec Site on Windy Lake, and followed a narrow, bumpy road to the Skoatl Point trailhead.   We hiked to the base of the volcanic spire and scrambled to the top. The trail winds through burned forest down to Adler Lake.    The wetter area by the lake was not burned.     After going around the west side of the lake, we started to climb through burned forest, winding up to the southeast corner of Skoatl Point. The route up is … Continue reading →

A Hike Around Face Lake

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On a sunny summer day I drove up the Paska Lake Road and continued toward Mile High Resort.    I parked outside the resort property, and then walked to the camping area and past to the trailhead for the around-the-lake trail.   The trail is lightly marked, but at a couple of junctions, I took the one closest to the lake and continued all along the east side of Face Lake. The area around Face Lake has lodgepole pine and douglas fir forests, with mixed forests in low or wet areas.   Some of the trees have been thinned lower down.    Higher on the slopes of Chuwhels Mountain the slopes have been logged and replanted. At the north end of the … Continue reading →

Rattler Viewpoint Hike

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On previous hikes this summer I hiked over two of the Stake Lake Hills.     First, the Lac le Jeune Lookout (Vista Trail) was hiked from Lac le Jeune.     In the middle of summer, it was a loop route over McConnell Hill.     On this recent day, the hike was through different cross-country and snowshoe trails to the top of the hill Rattler Viewpoint.   The fastest route up was around the west side of Stake Lake (Cartwheel Trail), then up Hold Up.   A sign shows the way to a snowshoe trail which winds through the forest and up the hill. Most of the area around Rattler Viewpoint is douglas fir forest. From the viewpoint there are views to the … Continue reading →