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.

Did the universe send us a symbolic gift of encouragement? We were certain of it when, years ago, we received an Alberta license plate bearing the letters CFA. We recognized it as an acronym: Camp Free Always.

"B.C." stands for "Best Camping"

Camping free has long been our creed. We wrote a book about it: Camp Free in B.C. But sometimes camping free-of-charge isn’t feasible, as on our recent drive through British Columbia. It was late. We considered pushing deeper into the night. We knew of a free campground ahead in the foothills. But another long drive the next day was necessary for us to catch the boat on Lake Chelan, in Washington, where we intended to backpack. (We’ll describe that magnificent trail in our next post.) We didn’t want to be exhausted when we began hiking. So we caved to convenience and pulled into Okanagan Lake Provincial Park.

We’re ashamed to admit we spent $30 to pitch our tent there. The campground was meticulously maintained. The endlessly hot shower was soothing. But $30? Too much. Especially given the campground location: immediately below the highway. We couldn’t listen to the water lapping at the lakeshore. We had to wear earplugs to drown out the vehicle noise so we could get the sleep we’d invested in.

The experience reminded us that Camp Free in B.C. is an important, valuable resource. Yes, some provincial-park campgrounds (smaller ones in less desirable locations, with limited facilities and no showers) charge only about $22 per campsite per night. But many campgrounds in B.C. remain free of charge or truly cheap: just $12 per site, per night. And because these are mostly beyond paved roads, they feel wilder than provincial parks and are often much quieter. You want to find them? Pick up a copy of Camp Free in B.C.

Camp Free gives you detailed descriptions of, and complete driving directions to, 350 free-of-charge campgrounds (plus 80 low-fee ones) throughout southern and central British Columbia, including Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, the Okanagan, the Shuswap Highlands, the Rocky Mountain Trench, the Cariboo Mountains, and the Chilcotin Plateau.

You’ll find Camp Free for sale at all Indigo-Chapters bookstores, and in the book sections at Mountain Equipment Co-op stores. You can also purchase Camp Free directly off our website. Or from Amazon.com.

To jumpstart your free-camping adventures this summer, here are some of our favourite, free-of-charge, B.C. campgrounds. We rate each of these “destination,” meaning they’re worthy of a multi-day stay, not just a utilitarian, overnight stop.

Toquart Bay, page 53, SE of Tofino, on Vancouver Island

Nimpkish Lake, page 72, S of Port McNeil, N end of Vancouver Island  (ideal for kite-boarding & windsurfing)

Cal-Cheak, page 122, at the confluence of Callaghan Creek and Cheakamus River, SW of Whistler

Lillooet Lake and Duffey Lake, page 130, in the Coast Mountains, NE of Pemberton

Seton Dam, page 135, W of Lillooet, in the Coast Mountains

Ashnola River, page 168, near Keremeos, close to Cathedral Provicial Park

Harmon Lake, page 183, near Merritt

Wragge Beach, page 272, near New Denver, in the West Kootenay

Little Slocan Lake, page 280, NW of Nelson, near Valhalla Provincial Park, in the West Kootenay

Glacier Creek and Howser Glayco, page 292, N of Kaslo, in the West Kootenay

Mitten Lake, page 306, between Golden and Radium Hot Springs

Quesnel Lake, Crooked Lake (and 30 other free campgrounds in the vicinity), page 433, in the East Cariboo, W of Wells Gray Park

Owen Lake, page 474, SE of Smithers

Beaver River, page 495, NW of Robson Provincial Park

Hamill Creek / Earl Grey Pass (Trip 5, page 59, Where Locals Hike in the West Kootenay) is in prime condition. Though a wildfire ravaged the lower reaches of Hamill Creek Valley in 2007, the entire trail is now open: starting near Argenta (northeast shore of Kootenay), following Hamill Creek upstream, crossing the Purcell Mountains at Earl Grey Pass, then descending along Toby Creek on the east side of the range.

All the cable-car crossings of Hamill Creek are again in good working order. The campsites are intact. The grove of giant cedars was untouched by the fire. And the trail has recently been cleared of brush and deadfall. You will enter a burned forest soon after departing the west (Argenta) trailhead, but persevere. That’s not the state of the forest the entire way.

This is the premier long-distance trail in the West Kootenay. We encourage you to hike it now, while conditions are optimal.

While you’re in the vicinity, we also enthusiastically recommend dayhiking Fry Creek (Trip 42). This short but spectacular trail starts in the nearby settlement of Johnsons Landing.

We just returned from a week-long backcountry research trip in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia, where we were checking access roads, hiking trails, and campgrounds.

As for campgrounds, B.C. is rife with very inviting options—from Vancouver Island to the Coast Mountains, throughout the Okanagan, across the Chilcotin Plateau, and along the west side of the Rockies.

We visited numerous West Kootenay campgrounds and stayed at several.

Provincial Parks are beautiful, but we think they’re expensive. For example, you’ll pay $18 per site/per night at Davis Creek, and $28 per site/per night at Kokanee Creek. Both these provincial-park campgrounds are on Kootenay Lake. They’re beautiful and well maintained. But $28 a night? Ouch.

Our book, Camp Free in B.C. (http://www.hikingcamping.com/camp-free-bc.php), gives directions to 350 free-of-charge campgrounds throughout B.C. It also describes 80 campgrounds where you’ll pay only $10 to $12 per site/per night. We think this is a reasonable price for these more popular campgrounds because they require significant upkeep.

On our drive through the Rocky Mountain Trench (Radium south to Cranbrook), we were happy to find a free-of-charge site at Johnston Lake campground on the Friday of Canada Day weekend. We had the beach all to ourselves.

On Saturday—the busiest camping day of the year in Canada—we found a free-of-charge site at Little Slocan Lake campground.

On Sunday, we found a site at Wragge Beach, on Slocan Lake. It cost $12, but it’s worth it. While there, we met the camp caretaker: Kim Roshinsky. He’s a long-time West Kootenay resident and an avid traveler. His enthusiasm for camping, hiking and fishing is infectious. His curiosity and sense of humour are refreshing. And he does a superb job of making people feel welcome and comfortable yet ensuring they respect the campground and their fellow campers.

We hope you’ll go camping in B.C. this summer. Not just once, but several times. Free campgrounds are numerous. And camping can be deeply revitalizing. You’ll return home soothed by the serenity of nature.