Since returning from the “Long Walk”, I’ve been lucky to get outside in the East Kootenays for some day or overnight hikes. Here are some highlights …
Manson Pass area – Aug 25
This hike starts from the Dewar FS road and climbs steeply into a cirque below Manson Pass. Continuing past our turnaround would require off trail scrambling.
The Mt Patrick hut sits about half way up. It’s for winter use only; might be a good idea sometime to rent it!
Overall this was a 13km hike, gaining 840m, starting at 1120m and turning around just below 2000m elevation.
Tanglefoot Lake – Aug 29
We were able to get some neighbours together for this hike that is the declared “favourite” of many experienced hikers around here!
Driving north and then east for about 75min, we reached the trailhead off Maus Creek FS road. Definitely a rough drive, as promised!
The hike starts with a gentle climb to an alpine meadow, with 3-4 small lakes on a flat plateau. Water is never an issue here!
Then you climb a steep scree slope, go over Tanglefoot Pass (V point in the picture above), and drop down on the other side to Tanglefoot Lake.
Overall it’s about 4.5km one way but can take 3 hours due to the terrain.
I logged an 860m ascent but that was slightly thrown off by the fact that I did multiple sections multiple times after we also lost one of our hikers. It’s a long story but she lost the trail in some trees on the scree slope and went up to a technical climb section.
We searched for a while and finally reunited after two of us went back to the truck and found her there. Happy that nothing serious happened!
It was a gorgeous day and a great hike with good friends!
White Boar Lake Overnighter – Aug 31
I’m still looking for my go-to destination for a quick overnighter with little hiking but a nice spot for camping and no access by car.
As soon as cars can drive there, you get people, noise, sometimes disruptive behaviour etc. Not what I’m looking for.
So we drove up Meachen Road to the turnoff for White Boar, about an hour from Kimberley. We hiked the 3km uphill to the lake on a rough road that is drivable. The last 200m to the lake are not drivable (many come up there to paddle and they have to carry their kayaks down to the lake).
Sadly, the large campsite with 2 picnic tables was occupied by a large group of 8 adolescents … who not only had left their campfire and food unattended when we arrived but proceeded to play loud music into the night, shot off some fireworks and left trash and food (including meat) outside after their night of drinking.
That was very upsetting to see and hear. Because this not only creates risk for them and other users, it endangers wildlife, attracts bears and leads to bears getting habituated and then killed when they become problems. This upset us enough to report them to the conservation officers (we asked them 3 times to turn the music down, and fireworks are illegal).
Besides that the lake is beautiful, just too busy. The large group had 10-12 big bins, a huge gas grill, tons of beer and Gatorade and lots of food. Not in line with my idea of backpacking and not something I want to be near! So the search continues …