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 the feature.
There is a benchland above the river which extends from the gully flanking the Slot Canyons down to the Pimple. The trail follows the edge of the grasslands benchlands, with fine views into the canyon, but also the hills, cliffs, gullies and surrounding mountains.
Most of the trail is moderate in difficulty and the end of the trail is a spot above the canyon, looking down at the Guardsmen.
We chose to scramble down the steep slopes to the Guardsman. There were some bighorn sheep in the area and I followed one of their narrow tracks along the slopes. The scramble down and back up is not a route for most hikers. The footing is on loose material and there is no trail.
From the end point, we had fine views of the canyon, with Tranquille River flowing south to Kamloops Lake.
This is an out-and-back trail to a wild and rugged spot, a 5 km hike, another jewel in the Kamloops area for intrepid hikers.
