A route exists from the south at Hodr Creek and Drinnon/Gwillim lakes that continues north along the spine of the Valhallas. Several exit routes exist to the east down to Slocan Lake. The only exits to the west are out Caribou Creek from Wee Sandy Lake.
Each person should have an ice ax and know how to use it, and the party should carry a light rope in case of bad choice of route. Despite the low altitude, the terrain is very rugged and traverses through the Valhallas (especially the north part of the route) are not easy. Other than the north and south end points at Shannon and Drinnon lakes that have road access, all other access points are by boat from Slocan Lake.
This day-by-day itinerary is only one suggestion. Do the “Ultimate Valhallas” – start at Mulvey Basin and finish at Shannon Lakes.
Day 1. Drive up Hodr Creek and park at the Drinnon Lakes TH, the main southern start point/terminus of all traverses.
Walk past Drinnon Lakes to Gwillim Lakes basin. Pass through the Black Prince/Lucifer col. Watch for ice on the descent from the col. An axe is necessary and late in the season, crampons could be handy. Descend to Rocky Lakes, a pretty place to camp.
Exit #1 Evans Lake. I knew people who did this. They even made it out alive. And unbelievably, they went back and did it again. They were truly mad. The bushwhack down to Evans Lake and around the lake is prodigious. The group actually constructed a raft and sailed down Evans Lake. From the end of Evans Lake, trend NE towards the east end of Beatrice Lake and the trail over truly awful terrain. None of this is recommended.
However it might be the only way to see the Evans Lake cabin without flying in.
Day 2. Continue north walking between the two Hird Lakes and contour north and east to Urd Peak. Either traverse it descending the N ridge, Class 2-3; or possibly better, use the col east of Urd Peak (steep snow, perhaps ice). Descend to Upper Demers Lakes, the site of the 1978 KMC Hiking Camp.
Exit #2 Demers Lakes to Beatrice Lake and Evans Creek Trail. When I did the traverse, we camped between Demers Lake 2 and 3 and exited out Beatrice Lake. It was a very long day getting to the end of Beatrice Lake.
There are two steep descents between Demers Lake 3 and 4 and again after Demers Lake 5 down to the end of Beatrice. Walking the shore of Beatrice Lake is truly the worst bushwhack I have ever done. It was so bad that we actually tried walking in the woods – that was worse. There is an amazing amount of wood on the shore and it gets exhausting walking over and under the logs with a heavy pack. We all arrived at the campsite at the east end of Beatrice after dark and a 12-hour day. It was then an easy fourth day walking out the Evans Creek Trail to Slocan Lake. We had arranged a boat pickup. One could also walk out to Slocan City on the Slocan Lake Trail. Total 4 days, 32 kms long and passes 16 lakes.
Day 3. If continuing the traverse, north of Demers Peak, walk on the divide itself. Access it from the NW corner of Upper Demers Lake. Stay on the divide until approximately 493-276 and descend off the ridge to the Avis Lakes basin (headwaters of Beatrice Creek). This is another possible Day 2 campsite.
At Avis Lakes, traverse east on the divide to a col (Snow Creek-Beatrice Creek 534-293) 2450 meters (8050 feet). Here the divide is too rugged and one must travel on either the east or west side of the divide. On the east, access ledges 150-210 metres below the east side of the ridge.
End this section on the east side at Nemo Lakes. If day 2 campsite was at Avis Lakes, Nemo Lakes is a likely day 3 campsite.
Day 4. From Nemo Lakes, go over the col into Caribou Creek, or better, traverse east on the south side of the divide to the col north (or northwest) of Mount Meers at 583-331. Climb Mount Meers and descend its east side to the north end of Upper Wee Sandy Lakes. This was the location of the 1979 KMC Hiking Camp. Or descend to camp at the north end of Wee Sandy Lake.
Exit #3. Mount Denver and Sharp Creek Trail. Access the ridge due east of Mt Meers that continues onto Mt Denver. Descend the glacier and follow the ribboned route to the Sharp Creek Trail that leads down to Slocan Lake. A boat pickup would be required.
Exit #4. Caribou Creek via Mt Meers. From the col west of Mt Meers, go left (west) to access Caribou Creek and after a long day of bushwhacking, reach a logging road (and hopefully a vehicle) that continues to Shannon Lake FSR (see post “Shannon Creek to Wee Sandy Lakes” for route and driving instructions).
Day 5. To continue the traverse, it would be easiest, more scenic and avoid most bushwhacking by not descending to Wee Sandy Lake by an unpleasant bushwhack. Then pass Wee Sandy Lake on either side – there is no trail.
The best choice is to traverse under the east side of the Meers-Niord ridge, regaining the divide, ascend the south ridge of Mount Niord, traverse Niord and camp by Grizzly Lakes.
One would only descend to Wee Sandy Lake (descend the east ridge to north of Wee Sandy Lake by another bushwhack), if plans were to end the trip by exiting out the Wee Sandy Lake Trail. Then camp at one of the Wee Sandy Lakes – upper, main or lower. They are all below tree line, there are no views and there are no redeeming features.
Exit #5. Wee Sandy Lake Trail. This is the most common terminus of most traverses. It is 14.4kms and one day on a reasonable trail down to Slocan Lake (going up is usually done in two days). The Iron Creek Cabin (previously the Holt Cabin) is approximately 4kms from Wee Sandy Lake. A boat pickup is again required. Wee Sandy Beach is directly across from New Denver, and is arguably the nicest campsite on the lake.
500m or 15 minutes from the lake, an old wagon road heads south to Sharp Creek along the lake. This is one of the many remnants from old logging.
Exit #6. Caribou Creek via Grizzly Lakes. There are two routes down. This is the most southerly of them: Grizzly Lakes are the two lakes north and northwest of Wee Sandy Lake. Stay high to the west above the large Grizzly Lake and contour to avoid bushwhacking. Ascend the very steep grassy slopes (use an ice axe for safety) to the pass (one of two; 584-387) just south of Un. 2640m at the Un. 2640m-Niord col and west-northwest of Grizzly Lakes. From the pass, descent to the NW (bear trails through grass) to find a road (high clearance, four wheel drive, low range) above tree line where the valley is flat. Follow the road for 2kms to the junction with the Caribou Creek FSR where it makes a big indentation (about 550-417). From here it is 7km to the summit of the pass leading down to Shannon Creek. Refer to the post “Shannon Creek to Wee Sandy Lakes” for details of both these routes.
If continuing north, it would be best to traverse Mt Niord, come off the north ridge and contour around the basin to cross the ridge separating the Wee Sandy and Wragge Creek watersheds.
Descend to the two small Upper Wragge Lakes. If descending out Wragge Lake (not recommended), turn right (east) and try to find the best way down to the lake.
Exit #7. Wragge Lake and Creek. This descent has been done but has horrendous bushwhacking. It is a 2000 foot descent from the two small upper Wragge Lakes to Wragge Lake through terrain so steep that one feels like they are free-falling down the mountainside barely averting disaster by grappling onto the alder bushes. It doesn’t improve at Wragge Lake where the bush is so thick around the lake that it is faster to just wade through the waist-deep water along the shoreline. An old overgrown trail exists along Wragge Creek (initially on south side of the creek) that descends 5kms to Wragge Creek FSR.
A better way may be to backpack over Un. 2638m (“Wragge Peak”), directly south of Wragge Lake, and descend this mountain’s north side to the lake, trail and road.
Day 6. If you have decided to not take the easiest exit from the traverse at Wee Sandy Trail, ending at Shannon Lakes is much easier than going down Wragge Creek. If you have decided to do the entire south/north traverse of the Valhallas following the watershed, then you would want to finish at Shannon Lakes anyway.
From the upper Wragge Lakes, contour into the valley with two small lakes northwest of Wragge Lake. This could be a last campsite – they are reputably beautiful. Or camp at the upper Wragge Lakes in the NW basin; or camp at Shannon Lake.
The five kilometre ridge line above Wragge lakes is supposedly spectacular.
Access Shannon Lakes via One Goat Pass to the west of Mount Vingolf. Descend to the west side of upper Shannon Lake and then down the boulder fields to the south end of the Shannon Lake and the trail along the west shore.
It is the 1.6km down Huss Creek to the parking area on Shannon Creek FSR.
Refer to the post on Shannon Lakes for road access to Highway 6 and Hills.
Valhalla Traverse, September 2002
September 2002, with dry days, cool nights and marvelous colours was a perfect time for a long walk in the hills. The Valhalla Traverse seemed an excellent choice. Mulvey Basin and Gwillim Lakes at the south end of it are popular and easily accessible and there is a trail to Shannon Lake at the northern end but the middle section of this route is less frequently visited. With some food and fuel cached near the halfway point, (accessible from Caribou Creek) we would have relatively light packs.
Conceptually the trip is quite straightforward. Just stay on the high ridge paralleling the west shore of Slocan Lake through Valhalla Park. In reality the ridge is not continuous, is very broken in some parts and impassable in others. Numerous basins drain eastward into Slocan Lake and much of the route drops down through these basins and climbs across the ridges that separate them from each other.
Although Peter had done the route some years before we still made use of our accumulated mountaineering and route finding skills. We moved along steadily but slowly, crossing basins and ridges, over numerous boulder fields, some slabs with verglas, and a few unstable gullies from Mulvey Basin in the south to the Shannon Lake trailhead at the north end.
Mindful that our average age was near gold card status we were cautious and this paid off, as we had no injuries or accidents. We also had time to stop for photos, lunch in the sun and to choose the perfect campsite each afternoon.
On the afternoon of the second day we were caught in the rain and made a damp camp in the trees beside Valhalla Lake. But the views in the morning of the Devil’s Range dusted with snow made up for it. The last night at the edge of one of the upper Wragge Creek lakes was also a bit damp but one of the most beautiful campsites. Other nights were spent in rock-ringed alpine meadows near small mountain lakes or streams, the flowers now gone but the golden grasses and crimson blueberry leaves glowing in the low angle sun.
With the exception of some timber to pass through at the lowest elevations every day was spent high in the cirques or on the ridges. As the weather was pretty clear we had long views in every direction. We all thought that it would be faster in winter to make the descents on skis but that the avalanche hazard would be nerve-wracking.
During the 10 days that we spent en route we ascended and descended 7,500 m. and covered 55 km. before reaching our vehicle at the Shannon Lake trailhead.
We were: Ken Holmes, Brian Wood, Peter Wood, and Bert Port.