Completely revised 3rd edition due out next summer. Exciting new trails will include several originating at Sol Mountain Lodge and Mount Carlyle Backcountry Lodge

It’s been more than a month since our last post. If you were following our blog until then, we apologize for our lengthy disappearance. We spent most of that time hiking in the Selkirks, Purcells and Monashees, working on the next edition of our West Kootenay guidebook.

Constantly driving long, rough, steep, unpaved access roads to and from trailheads, and hiking daily—from mid-morning nearly til sunset—doesn’t leave time or energy for much else, certainly not blogging. Getting dinner together each night, and getting ourselves going early each morning was all we could manage.

With winter descending on western Canada, we returned to our home in the Canadian Rockies. We’re now devoting our days to mentally re-hiking all that West Kootenay terrain, condensing what we learned onto the page. The unfortunate truth: we spend twice as much time at our computers as we do on the trail. But blogging is once again possible.

So here we are. Thanks for checking in. We’ll do our best to resume posting regularly.

Though exhausting, our recent West Kootenay sojourn was a rich experience. We used to live on Kootenay Lake. After scouring the mountains surrounding our home, we wrote Where Locals Hike in the West Kootenay, The Premier Trails in Southwest B.C. near Kaslo & Nelson. Though we eventually moved to Canmore, Alberta, we returned to the West Kootenay every year for backcountry research. This last stint there was the most intensive, as well as the most fruitful. The new trails and destinations we discovered are even more rewarding than those we must drop from the book due to trailhead access problems.

The upcoming 3rd edition of our Locals West Kootenay book will offer several exciting options you’ve likely never heard of. Some begin above Arrow Lake, at Sol Mountain Lodge (solmountain.com), and above the former mining boomtown of Sandon, at Mount Carlyle Backcountry Lodge (skihikebc.com). Both lodges are well known among avid, backcountry skiers. If you’re a skier who’s yet to visit Sol or Carlyle, we urge you to check these lodges out now, before they’re fully booked this winter.

But neither Sol nor Carlyle enjoy wide recognition among hikers—yet. We believe that will begin to change once we publish the 3rd edition of Where Locals Hike in the West Kootenay, which will offer complete directions for three premier hikes emanating from each lodge.

For now, here are some photos from our explorations near Sol and Carlyle. We hope they inspire you to watch for the upcoming 3rd edition of Where Locals Hike in the West Kootenay, The Premier Trails in Southwest B.C. near Kaslo & Nelson. It’s due out next summer.

The Opinionated Hikers on Patrol for You

Though the Canadian Rockies have received significant snowfalls recently (late April and late May), and the high ridges and passes—even in the front range—remain white, several hiking trails in southern Kananaskis Country are now snow-free. Raspberry Ridge, for example, is topped with an active fire lookout from which you can marvel at a 50-km (32-mi) chunk of the Great Divide—a continuous wall of peaks comprising the backbone of the Rockies. We hiked there just a few days ago.

From Highwood Junction, where Highways 940 and 541 intersect, the Raspberry Ridge trailhead is just 11 km (6.8 mi) south on unpaved Highway 940. It’s a 9-km (5.6-mi) round-trip hike to the ridgecrest. The 653-m (2142-ft) ascent is comfortably gradual much of the way, then steepens sharply for the final approach. Still, it’s a relatively easy hike, ideal for your first mountain venture of the season as long as you’re reasonably fit. From Calgary, the Raspberry Ridge trailhead is a mere 1.5-hour drive.

For a full description of the Raspberry Ridge hike, as well as all the other premier trails in Kananaskis Country, purchase our guidebook Where Locals Hike in the Canadian Rockies (http://www.hikingcamping.com/hike-locals-rockies.php). It includes several early-season hikes near Raspberry Ridge, such as Mt. Burke, Junction Hill, Grass Pass / Bull Creek Hills, Hailstone Butte, and Windy Peak Hills. The trail to the defunct fire lookout atop Mt. Burke will soon be snow-free if it’s not already.

Until June 15, Highway 40 is closed to vehicles between Highwood Junction in the south and King Creek (Smith-Dorrien Hwy 546). So, to access the early-season hikes listed above, you must drive Hwy 22 to Longview, then proceed northwest on 541 to Highwood Junction.

This annual highway closure, though annoying if you want quick access to early-season hikes in southern K-Country, presents an exciting opportunity if you’re a cyclist. That’s because Highway 40 is snow-free well before vehicle traffic resumes, which essentially makes it—if only for a few weeks—a paved cycle-path traversing a huge swath of spectacular, mountain wilderness.

The ascent to Highwood Pass (the climax between the two gates blocking vehicle traffic) is longer and more gradual from Highwood Junction. On this leg, the Highwood River is often nearby, and you’ll pass several picnic areas. The advantage of starting at King Creek is that after completing a shorter, more grueling ascent, you’re rewarded with a sustained, exhilarating descent. Bear in mind: We’ve encountered grizzlies while cycling on both sides of Highwood Pass, so bring a cannister of pepper spray and keep it within quick, easy reach on your bike.

To learn more about the Highway 40 cycling trip, purchase our guidebook Done in a Day Calgary—The Ten Premier Road Rides (http://www.hikingcamping.com/cycle-rockies.php). It will also point you to other, magnificently scenic stretches of pavement including those near Waterton, Red Deer, Drumheller, Canmore, and Banff.

Ideally, load your daypack and your bicycle into your car, along with your tent and sleeping bag. Then drive into southern K-Country for the weekend. Hike Raspberry Ridge on Saturday. That evening, pitch your tent nearby at Cataract Creek campground. On Sunday, drive back to Highwood Junction, get on your bike, then ride to and from Highwood Pass. Sitting down at your desk on Monday morning will then be a welcome experience. Plus you’ll have something genuinely interesting and impressive to tell your officemates when they pose the inevitable question, “How was your weekend?”

Cataract Creek Campground has more than 100 sites. Our favourites are the first six or so on loop A, where the creek is clearly audible. These sites also afford views beyond the lodgepole pines, across a nearby meadow, to the mountains beyond.

The Opinionated Hikers on Patrol for You

The Hole-in-the-Rock Road (HITRR) departs Highway 12 near Escalante, Utah. Running southeast into the desert, below and parallel to the Kaiparowits Plateau, it slices through Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument and probes Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

Where the HITRR departs pavement, it looks like any of the hundreds of humble dirt roads in Utah. But for canyon-country hikers, this is THE road, because it leads to trailheads for numerous premier hikes. Along the way, it provides access to lots of unofficial but superb campsites.

In May, while on a backcountry-research trip to update our book Hiking from Here to WOW: Utah Canyon Country, we once again drove down the HITRR. We re-hiked…

Trip 23  Peek-a-boo, Spooky, & Brimstone Gulches
Trip 26  Willow & Fortymile Gulches
Trip 27  Davis Gulch

We also re-hiked the actual Hole in the Rock: from road’s end, down to the shore of Lake Powell. It’s a hike that, for various reasons, we did not include in Hiking from Here to WOW: Utah Canyon Country. Now we can supplement the book with this up-to-the-minute field report.

As of last week, a low-clearance 2WD vehicle can negotiate the HITRR to Dance Hall Rock at 36 mi (58 km). In a few places, you’ll have to cautiously work around minor obstacles, or keep your speed up through sand. Beyond Dance Hall, you need a high clearance vehicle. Beyond Davis Gulch, 4WD is advisable.

We comfortably drove our Toyota RAV4 (7.5 inches of clearance) to about 51 mi (82 km), just past Davis Gulch. A steep slickrock ramp discouraged us from driving farther. We parked, resumed on foot, and soon encountered a patch of deeply corrugated slickrock we definitely would not have driven. It didn’t matter. We enjoyed hiking the final 4.5 mi (7.2 km) through desolate high-desert.

The panorama was engaging. Fiftymile and Navajo mountains are the dominant sights. Still draped with snow, Navajo was especially dramatic. Not a single vehicle passed us. We saw no other hikers. The solitude was delicious.

The road is obvious, and there are no forks, so navigation is not an issue. Just keep walking, or driving, to road’s end: 55.5 mi (89.2 km). Immediately ahead is a prominent cleft in the sandstone cliffs. Hike into it. This is where Mormon pilgrims in the Hole-in-the-Rock Expedition built a “hanging road” and safely, miraculously, lowered all their wagons and stock to the Escalante River.

Read a description of the expedition (pages 140 through 143 in Hiking from Here to WOW: Utah Canyon Country), and you’re in awe of their superhuman feat. Stand here, and see how impossibly vertical, rough, and forbidding their ascent route actually was, and your response soars beyond awe into speechlessness. This is where Mormon missionaries, keen to up their success rate, should bring their conversion prospects.

It’s a moderate scramble (no exposure, but frequent hands-on moves) most of the way down to Lake Powell. The final descent to the lake is on a steep, sandy trail strewn with loose rock. Distance from the top of the “hole” to the lakeshore: 1 mi (1.6 km). Elevation loss: 800 ft (244 m). Even in May, it’s hot, thirsty work. Carry at least three quarts (liters) of water per person.

Lake Powell remains cold until June. We “swam” for all of about three minutes. But after May, the weather can be too hot (90° F / 32° C) for hiking. So it’s best to wait until late September to hike here. The weather will be cooler, the lake warmer.