DRINNON/GWILLIM LAKES to SHANNON CREEK 

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 exits to the west are out of Ice Creek and Caribou Creek from Wee Sandy Lake. 

Each person should have an ice axe and know how to use it, and the party should carry a light rope in case of a bad choice of route. Despite the low altitude, the terrain is very rugged, and the Valhallas (especially the north part of the route) are not easy to traverse.

Other than the road accesses at the north end at Shannon Lake, the south end at Drinnon Lakes, and the trail from Evans Creek, all other access points are by boat from Slocan Lake.

The following description starts at the south end of the traverse at Drinnon Lakes. This day-by-day itinerary is only a suggestion. 

Day 1. Arrange shuttles – either by boat from several locations on the lake, depending on the exit point, or a vehicle at either end, at Shannon Lake TH or Drinnon TH (Note that the last 2 kilometres of the road into the Drinnon trailhead are very rough and overgrown).
Drive up Hoder Creek and park at the Drinnon Lakes TH, the main southern start point/terminus of all traverses.

On the excellent trail to Gwillim Lakes, walk past Drinnon Lakes to the 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 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 from Beatrice down to Slocan Lake over truly awful terrain. I don’t think 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 contouring 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).
Camp at 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 genuinely the worst bushwhack I have ever done. It was so bad that we tried walking in the woods, which was even worse. There is a fantastic amount of timber on the shore of Beatrice, 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 in the dark after 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 km long and passes 16 lakes.

Exit #3 Ice Creek. To the west of Upper Demers Lake, it is a short hike on a trail down to Ice Creek Lodge. It is then a walk on a road 3-4 hours down to Snow Creek FSR, Burton, Nakusp and Highway 6 back home. 

Δ Unnamed 2480 & Unnamed 2610
Δ Mt Dorval

Δ Urd Peak
Δ Demers Peak

Day 3
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). Camp Avis Lakes

Day 4
From Avis Lakes, traverse east on the divide to a col (Snow Creek-Beatrice Creek col 534-293) 2450 meters (8050 feet). Getting around Hela Peaks involves at least four summits on a long 3.5 km ridge (with the most westerly on the watershed) is usually done by descending to the west and traversing around this rugged ridgeline (Peaks Hela NW3 and Hela NW4). On the east, access ledges are 150-210 metres below the east side of the ridge.
End this section on the east side at Nemo Lakes. Camp Nemo Lakes

Day 5
From Nemo Lakes, traverse east on the south side of the divide to the col northwest of Mount Meers at 583-331.

Exit #4. Caribou Creek (on the west side of the divide). 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 “Shannon Creek to Wee Sandy Lakes” for route and driving instructions).

Beware. If doing the traverse from north to south, don’t climb Mt Meers, unless for the view—the entire north ridge of Mt Meers cliffs out on its west side. Attempting to descend the cliffs requires rappels.
This is what happened to Felix Belcyzk, Peter Oostlander and Doug Clark. We understood the route was to follow the summit ridge to the north, but significant rock climbing walls and our heavy packs made that path impractical. With time and light starting to fade, we chose to drop off the west side onto steep scree. Partly down the scree, we cliff out, and after examining a couple of other routes, decide to rappel. Using “old school” techniques, we pull the rope down through our crotch, up our back and over our shoulder and rappel the 4 or 5 meters. This consumed a lot of time, and we were still very high on the slope of Meers at dusk. In near darkness, we managed the next sketchy, steep, slippery scree until reaching a snow patch that was flat enough for two of us to set up camp. A  third tent was used on a nearby small grassy knoll.

From the col, there are two immediate choices.
1. Descend the east side of Mount Meers to the north end of Upper Wee Sandy Lakes and camp. This was the location of the 1979 KMC Hiking Camp.
2. Climb Mount Meers to take the exit to Mount Denver.

Exit #5. 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 route/trail to the Sharp Creek trail that descends to Slocan Lake. A boat pickup would be required.

To continue the traverse, there are two choices from here. Each determines where you will camp. From worst to best:
1.
Descend to Upper Wee Sandy Lake and continue down to Wee Sandy Lake. Unless one were exiting the traverse at Wee Sandy Lake Trail, there is no reason to descend to Wee Sandy Lake – most likely by an unpleasant bushwhack. The lake is below the tree line and has no redeeming features. If at the lake, pass it on either side – there is no trail, only bush.

Exit #6. Wee Sandy Lake Trail. This was a common terminus of some traverses, but has lost favour as the trail is not maintained, and a boat is needed to cross the lake. It is 14.4 km 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 4 km 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.

2. To continue the traverse, the best route is to avoid Upper Wee Sandy Lakes and Wee Sandy Lake entirely, and traverse above the trees under the east side of the Meers-Niord ridge, regain the divide, and ascend the south ridge of Mount Niord.
A better alternate route to Wee Sandy Lake traverses down the east ridge of Niord to the north of Wee Sandy Lake by another bushwhack. Surprisingly, almost all summer trips camp at Wee Sandy Lake, which is not a good choice.
If continuing the traverse north, it is best to traverse Mt Niord, come off the north ridge and contour around the basin above Grizzly Lakes. Camp at Grizzly Lakes 

Exit #7. 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-Niord col and west-northwest of Grizzly Lakes. From the pass, descend 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 2 km to the junction with the Caribou Creek FSR, where it makes a significant indentation (about 550-417). From here, it is 7 km to the summit of the pass leading to Shannon Lake FSR (see “Shannon Creek to Wee Sandy Lakes” for route and driving instructions). 

Day 6
Ending at Shannon Lakes is much easier than either descending Wee Sandy Creek or Wragge Creek. To do the entire south/north traverse of the Valhallas following the watershed, you would want to finish at Shannon Lakes and Huss Creek anyway. The key to the end of the traverse is to walk atmospheric Skadie Ridge, staying well above all the Wragge Lakes.

There are three choices to deal with Wragge Lakes. The first two involve descending to near Upper Wragge Lakes.
1. If not following the ridge (the watershed), cross the ridge separating the Wee Sandy and Wragge Creek watersheds (Skadie Ridge), and descend to the two small Upper Wragge Lakes. From the upper Wragge Lakes, contour into the valley with two small lakes northwest of Wragge Lake. This is the standard campsite on almost all trips. 
2. Descend from Upper Wragge Lakes to Wragge Lake. The only reason to descend this far is if you were exiting the traverse down Wragge Creek. I don’t think this is recommended.

Exit #8. Wragge Lake and Creek. This descent has been done, but it 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 wade through the waist-deep water along the shoreline. A sometimes overgrown ATV trail exists along Wragge Creek (initially on the south side of the creek) that descends 5 km to Wragge Creek FSR.
A better way would be to climb over UN 2638m (“Wragge Peak”), directly south of Wragge Lake, and descend this mountain’s north side to the lake, trail and road.


3. F
ollow the watershed between Wee Sandy and Shannon basins by accessing Skadie Ridge from the col to the north of UN 2640 (Skadie W2). The peak on the south end of the ridge is Skadie Peak, 8600′. Skadie Ridge is described by all who do it as spectacular. Five kilometres long, it is narrow, has minor scrambling, undulates gently and gives excellent 360° views both ways. Vingolf SW2 is two/thirds of the way along the ridge.
At the north end of the ridge, it is a 600m steep, narrow traverse east to a gully and the Vingolf col (One Goat Pass).

Access to Skadie Ridge from the north (Vingolf). When almost at the Vingolf col, turn right up another gully to ascend the S-facing slopes at 7800′, then a steep traverse goes west 600m to the N-S trending ridge, Skadie Ridge.

Access Shannon Lakes via One Goat Pass to the west of Mount Vingolf. You can describe the west side of Upper Shannon Lake, and then down the boulder fields to the north end of Upper Shannon Lake, and the trail along the west shore.
The Shannon Creek trail is 1.6 km down Huss Creek to the parking area on Shannon Creek FSR. Take the road to Highway 6 and Hills.

SUMMARY. Suggested campsites for the complete Traverse of the Valhallas. The goal is to walk the watershed ridge whenever possible. Bypassing the ridge is necessary between Snow Creek/Beatrice col and Nemo Lakes, and the ridge between Mt Meers and Mt Niord. Bypassing high above Wee Sandy Lakes and Wragge Lakes (the latter by Skadie Ridge) avoids two big descents and ascents. 
1. Start at the Gimli Trailhead. Descend into Mulvey Basin, climb Asgard, and camp. 2. Exit Mulvey via the Midgard/Nifleheim col and camp at Valhalla Lakes. 3. Pass through the Lucifer/Black Prince col and camp at Rocky Lakes. This is the first campsite if starting from the Drinnon/Gwillim trailhead. 4. Traverse Mount Urd and camp at Upper Demers Lake. 5. Follow the ridge and camp at Avis Lakes. 6. Stay on the ridge to the Snow Creek/Beatrice col and bypass the ridge on the east. Camp at Nemo Lakes. 7. Access the col NW of Mt Meers, traverse under the cliffs, regain the divide and climb Mt Niord. Camp at Grizzley Lakes. 8. Walk Skadie Ridge to the Vingolf col and Shannon Lakes.

VALHALLA TRAVERSE Mulvey Basin to Shannon Creek September 2002
by Ken Holmes
Participants: Ken Holmes, Brian Wood, Peter Wood, and Bert Port.
10 days, vertical loss/gain 7,500 m, 55 km

With dry days, cool nights and marvellous colours, it 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 are popular and easily accessible. 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 relatively straightforward. You can 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.
Except that some timber had to pass through at the lowest elevations, every day was spent high in the cirques or on the ridges. As the weather was 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.

THE VALHALLA LAKES ROUTE Evans Creek to Drinnon Late September 1978 by Julie Norton
Eric and I traversed a portion of the Valhalla mountains via Beatrice Lake and the Demers, Hird, Gwillim and Drinnon Lakes. In a distance of approximately 30 miles, we passed 16 lakes; thus, we christened the hike the Valhalla Lakes Route.
We started at the shore of Slocan Lake at 1900 feet, crossed two passes of 8400 feet and finished at the head of Hoder Creek. It took us seven days to complete the trip, travelling not more than 6 hours a day with two rest days at the Millennium Lakes. We spent each night camping at one of the groups of lakes. This interesting route has much to offer in the ruggedly beautiful terrain it covers.
Day 1. We started our trip by leaving a car at the head of Hoder Creek and hiring a boat to ferry us up Slocan Lake to the mouth of Evans Creek. From the shore of the lake, a well-defined trail leads six miles to the east coast of Beatrice Lake, passing Little Cahill and Cahill Lakes along the way. 3etween Cahill and Beatrice Lakes, the trail meanders on a mossy bed through a stand of virgin cedar, never logged. Good campsites have been cleared at the east end of Beatrice Lake where the trail ends. The lake is about 3 miles long with steep banks of slide alder, slabs and bush on either side.
Day 2. After spending a night at the east end, we continued along the lake following the right (north) shoreline. Despite some driftwood on the beach, it was an enjoyable hike, much better than fighting the bush up on the banks. 3eatrice Creek cascades into the lake as a picturesque waterfall close to the west end. A short detour into the bush was necessary to cross the creek. Tents can be pitched on the Lakeshore just past the creek mouth, and a new log cabin is hidden in the trees just off the beach. The fishing here was excellent, and a rod was well worth packing along. The climb from Beatrice Lake to the lowest Demers Lake is the most frustrating section of the hike, as the bush is dense and the slope is steep. This could have been a horrendous bushwhack earlier in the year, but fortunately, before we arrived, heavy frosts had taken down the tall ferns and small undergrowth. There is quite a bit of Devil’s Club here. The lowest of the Demers Lakes is nestled at the top of this headwall and is easily skirted. The route to the second lake is a pleasant stroll through open forest. The west end of this lake presents another obstacle in the form of steep slabs. The creek from the upper Demers Lakes cascades down the wall, and a thin line of trees clings to it just beside the waterfalls. We ascended through the trees on the left of the stream and at 6600 feet emerged in the lovely, though snow-covered, alpine meadows of the three upper Demers Lakes. We spent a very comfortable night at the west end of the middle lake.
Day 3. To reach the Hird Lakes from the Demers Lakes, we chose to go over the pass on the left (east) side of Urd peak, although it is higher than the pass on the west (7700 ‘). From this pass, a 500-foot scramble took us to the summit, where we were treated to a fantastic view of the Devil’s group and Hird Lakes, our next stop. We descended the east ridge of Urd Peak via a steep, narrow gully that had filled with snow, which slowed our descent as we slid down it. Crossing the open slopes along the beck of Urd to the long ridge running south from the peak, we found a cairn, presumably left by the summer hiking camp, marking a step in the ridge at 7900 feet. From here, it was an easy walk down to the Hird Lakes at 6900 feet, where we enjoyed another night camping beside a lake.
Our route from the Hird Lakes to Gwillim Lakes consisted of hiking past Mt. 3or and over Gwillim pass. We were able to avoid the ice-covered slabs of Gwillim pass by staying to the left near the walls of Rosemary’s Baby, Trident and Lucifer, but we could not prevent the ice at the top of the pass and had to chop steps for the top couple hundred feet. The Gwillim Lakes were visible from the top of the pass, approximately 3400 feet. Arriving at the meadows surrounding the Gwillim Lakes was pure delight as they were warm and bare of snow.
Days 4, 5 and 6. Unfortunately, the snow arrived shortly after, and when we left two days later, there was nearly a foot of snow on the ground. We arrived at our car at the head of Hoder Creek with a cold rain falling, seven days after leaving the shores of Slocan Lake. Although the weather had not been perfect, we had thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and considered it a worthwhile trip. We can recommend the route to anyone looking for an enjoyable but challenging journey. Some previous mountaineering experience would be helpful, as the conditions in the passes and route finding could present a problem in foul weather.

TRAVERSING THE NORTHERN VALALLAS Caribou Creek to Evans Creek
Late September 1983 by John Carter 
Ever since I had begun hiking in the West Kootenay, I had been interested in seeing more of the country to the west of Slocan Lake. Various day hikes into the Valhallas with the K.M.C. and on my own had enabled me to sample some of the exciting areas that beckoned the hiker and climber. Of course, fishing is popular in the Evans-Beatrice and Wee Sandy Lake drainages.
Day 1. So in late September of 1983, I was fortunate to join Dave Smith for 5 days and hike the ridges and basins of the Valhallas. We began our trip by driving up the Slocan to New Denver, where we met Wayne McCrory and drove up to the Hills. There, we turned off Highway 6 and drove up the Shannon Creek logging road until we reached the pass into Caribou Creek. Turning south, we travelled another 3 to 4 miles along the steep valley. Within a couple of hours, we reached the pass that gained us access down to Grizzly Lakes. The route down the pass was very steep and quite slippery. The last 800 feet were particularly challenging, with grass and herbaceous plants abounding. We travelled around the lakes on the south side and were lucky to see a sow grizzly and two cubs swimming and playing at the edge of the larger lake. They were too far away to photograph. We continued along the south side of the valley and descended to the north end of Wee Sandy Lake. We found excellent campsites partway along the west shore where fresh water, sandy beach and flat ground enabled us to pitch our tent as light rain showers began. We even caught some fish for dinner!
Day 2. The following day, we continued along the shoreline and up the valley, passing through a massive (15-acre) area destroyed by an avalanche off Mt. Meers. Hundreds of trees, some 21″ in diameter, had been mowed down and tossed around like toothpicks. We ascended the steep talus slope slightly to the west of Mt. Meet’s and gingerly picked our way up to the ridge top. The last 300 feet of rock were snow-covered, icy, and steep. It had now begun to snow! • The descent to a relatively flat ridge top was done in whiteout conditions. We would have descended into Caribou Creek had it not been for our compass and map. Visibility improved, fortunately, as we slowly traversed the height of land between Net-n o and Catibou Creeks. We spotted several goats and golden eagles. By mid-afternoon, we were overlooking Nemo Lakes and soon descended to them to set up our tent. We found the area surrounding the lakes charming and spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the lake trying to stay warm. The storm had passed, and temperatures were dropping.
Day 3. Our third day dawned clear and cold—ice on all the lakes and creeks. After lots of hot tea and granola, we were on our way south along an obvious ledge route 500 to 700 feet below the ridge and peak tops. It proved to be an excellent morning with clear skies, dry rock, small tarns set amongst granite slabs and small meadows. Shortly before lunch, we again finger-nailed our way up a very steep and dirty pass to reach the height of land between Nemo and Beatrice Creek. What a view! The Devils Range and the sharp spires and sheer faces of the peaks between Demers Lakes and Evans Lake. After a leisurely lunch at 8000ft, we turned southwest and descended slowly into a lovely pass between a tributary of Snow and Beatrice Creek. What wonderful ski touring country! We ascended the pass to the west and scrambled along the skyline for several hours until we were near Avis Lakes. The sun was gradually setting over the Monashees as we descended 1000ft to Avis Lakes and our campsite. A beautiful setting amongst fall-coloured meadows and crystal clear lakes.
Day 4. Again, a freezing night! But a clear morning, anti-excitement building as we anticipated an enjoyable scramble to reach Demers Lakes. A hot breakfast, a few more photographs, and we were off up the basin. Gradually, we gained the rock ridge extending off the main ridge in a northerly direction. With luck, we found a route down and onto a ramp leading up to the main ridge overlooking Ice Creek. From here, we chose to follow the broken, sharp ridge, which gave us some exciting moves and adrenaline pumps. We could have dropped down the south side of the ridge, but that would have meant losing some 500 to 800 hours. Now we were on the summit of a small peak, gazing down at Demers Lakes.
What spectacular scenery! Down the ridge to the first Demers Lake. A lovely spot. We found evidence of large camps using the area, and unfortunately, several large areas were ruined. Too many people at one time and poor cleanup. At any rate, we enjoyed our lunch break beside the sparkling waters. Turning east, we slowly descended the picturesque valley, passing three more dazzling lakes. Just before the third lake, we negotiated a steep headwall, which fortunately had vegetation on it. Not a pleasing route to come up. Below the third lake, we wandered through a flat wet area before reaching another small lake almost hidden among the trees, moss, and fallen logs. Below this lake, we negotiated the headwall, easier this time because it was less steep. At last, we reached Beatrice Lake just as the sun was leaving the end of the lake. We travelled along the shoreline to Beatrice Creek, where we set up camp: a lovely sandy beach and some good fishing. We cleaned up and filled several bags of garbage left by other campers and generally improved the area. In the evening, we noticed smoke and fire at the eastern end of the lake.
Day 5. Another gorgeous morning, but this time, instead of up on top of a mountain, we are enjoying a large lake and sandy beach! After a leisurely breakfast, we headed down the Like’s northern shore. We met several groups of Selkirk College students on the stairs of their field exercise. It was their smoke we had seen. Near the end of the lake, I managed to fall. Fortunately, I did not injure myself seriously, but my knees were painful for a month after! We followed the trail down the valley, passing Cahill Lake, and at lunch reached Little Cahill Lake. We thoroughly enjoyed the walk down the trail because the fall colours were at their best. Rich, deep, reds and yellows throughout the valley reflected off streams, lakes and granite slabs. By late afternoon, we were near Slocan Lake and the end of our trip. Beautiful weather on most of our journey and fabulous scenery made this one of my favourite tours. Our boat was waiting for us, courtesy of Wayne McCrory, and before long, we were in New Denver picking up our vehicles. An excellent trip, definitely not for inexperienced travellers or for winter tourers!
Map Reference 82k/4, 821’/I3, 821″/13E

THE VALHALLA LAKES ROUTE Drinnon to Evans Creek Labour Day Weekend 1996 by Ron Perrier 
Participants: Ron Perrier, Leon Arishenkov, Eric Ackerman, Doug Brown
Day 1. Drinnon to Rocky Lakes, a beautiful campsite.  
Day 2. Rocky Lakes to Demers Lakes. We had no problem traversing Urd. I think it will be a good idea to the right. We camped between Demers Lakes 2 and 3. 
Day 3. There are two steep descents, the first between Demers Lake 3 and 4, and again after Demers Lake 5 down to the end of Beatrice Lake. Walking the shore of Beatrice Lake is genuinely the worst bushwhack I have ever done. There is a fantastic amount of timber on the shore of Beatrice, and it gets exhausting walking over and under the logs with a heavy pack. It was so bad that we tried walking in the woods, which was even worse. We all arrived at the campsite at the east end of Beatrice in the dark after a 12-hour day.
Day 4. It was then an easy fourth day walking out the Evans Creek Trail to Slocan Lake. We had arranged a boat pickup with Dean Carter. One could also walk out to Slocan City on the Slocan Lake Trail.
Total 4 days, 32 km, three passes, 16 lakes.

“NO EASY DAYS in the VALHALLAS”
SOUTH VALHALLA TRAVERSE Drinnon to Demers Col Return Aug 5-8, 2020
by Doug Clark
Participants: Peter Oostlander, Felix Belcyzk, Doug Clark 

August 4, 2020 – Peter and I do a car drop at Shannon Lake trailhead for our anticipated exit at the north end of the  Valhalla Traverse route in 5-6 days. I had been trying to do the traverse since 2017, but have been continually thwarted by weather conditions, fires caused by excessive summer heat, week-long rain and lightning storms, or early fall snow.. I had hoped to do an Ironman race in August, but Covid cancelled it. On the bright side, this opened up August for another attempt at the traverse. The weather was promising, with only a possibility of showers in the 5-day forecast.
Day 1. August 5, 2020. The south end of the Valhalla traverse starts at the Hoder Creek trailhead (elevation 1400 m). We started from the lower parking area rather than having the vehicle scratched up by driving the additional 2 km to the main parking lot.

It turned out to be a very hot day, but we made good progress continuing past Gwillim Lakes (elev. 2150 m), over the Lucifer/Black Prince col (elev. 2550m).
The Valhalla Park terrain is beautiful throughout, and the camp spot at Hird Lakes is particularly scenic. There was one tent set up by a family of 4 with two dogs near the lake. So, we moved to a nearby higher location. (Sadly, there are more and more dogs brought into the park, even though it’s posted  ‘no dogs allowed’.) Camp at Hird Lakes (2100m).
Day 1 was
about 8.5 hours to travel 16 km (as the crow flies), and the climb was approximately 1,250m.
Day 2. August 6, 2020. The family broke camp early, and we watched them move efficiently over the west shoulder of Urd (2420m) and out of the Ice Creek valley. The weather had turned, and the low-lying clouds were obscuring the ridges. I had previously climbed Urd, so our route was familiar as far as the base of Urd’s summit ridge. From there, we went around the south side of Urd looking for a route over Urd’s east shoulder (2500m). The terrain in this area is complex, and unfortunately, the weather has deteriorated. Low clouds and fog made route finding difficult, with visibility at times down to under 100 feet, and occasionally 50 feet. We opted not to cross a steep snow slope that appeared to have been struck before. But with the low temperature, it was pretty hard.  Instead, we descended to a small pond, before ascending via steep snow slopes and scree to the east shoulder of Urd (2500 m). Our intended route was to be an obvious couloir further east, which appeared to us to be too steep and at which an overhanging cornice had stopped a group a couple of weeks earlier. 

From the top of Urd’s shoulder, we followed what we thought was a ridge leading into Demers valley, but which ended up cliffing out. It was difficult to see a good route down in the fog, which created some sketchy moments until we traversed back to the left, where we gained access to a moderate snow slope. We then slid down the snow onto gentle meadows surrounding Upper  Demers Lake; from there, we worked our way down to the west end of the lake, which is close to the Park boundary.  
(The following month, Felix and I did a reconnaissance of the Demers lakes and ridge access from Ice Creek. After  assessing the north side of Urd from Ice Lake, we agreed that getting around Urd via Urd’s west col and then along its north side to  Demers Lakes looked to be a better choice.) 
We set up camp two on the east end of Upper Demers Lake at 5 pm (2,180 m). It was a hard effort all day, and we did not travel far because clouds and fog made route finding difficult.
It had drizzled off and on most of the day, but cleared up as we arrived at camp, allowing us to dry out and make supper partly. Then we watched with alarm as a large mushroom-shaped black cloud rose out of the Ice Creek valley and made its way across the lake toward our camp. Soon, we were engulfed in a heavy downpour accompanied by thunder and lightning. We quickly cached our food on the waterside of a large rock next to the lake and dove into the tents. It rained hard throughout the night and into the next morning.
Note to self: 30 percent forecast of showers in the valley means 100% heavy rain with possible snow in the mountains. 
Day 2 took about 7 hours to travel only 7 km (as the crow flies); the climb was 550 m.
Day 3.
August 7, 2020 -The rain pounded down all night and into the next morning. So much for the forecast of “possible  showers.” About mid-morning, the rain abated, but the heavy, low clouds persisted, and we could see new snow on the ridges. We decided to retreat due to poor visibility, coupled with steep slippery terrain, which is a hazardous combination.
We retraced our route up to Urd’s east ridge and still had some difficulty finding a path through the cliffs. Once on the ridge, we opted to cross the steep snow slope to maintain elevation around Urd. This was the same route that we had decided not to cross the day before. It was only about 60m wide, but with the cold temperature, the snow was quite complex, and there were serious consequences if someone had an uncontrolled slide. Felix led the way, cutting steps with his ice axe. I followed last in line. The other two reached the far side safely. I slipped and slid a short distance on the snow but self-arrested quickly with my ice axe. Once across, it was an easy hike down to Hird Lakes, where we set up the tents in our camp spot from two days ago.
Day 4. August 8, 2020 – The sky was again overcast when we woke up. We left camp, hiking the same route past Rocky Lakes  (2120m) and made our way up towards Lucifer col. For some reason, the snow slope below the col attracts one to the east side on the ascent. Whereas, one is drawn to the west side of the hill on the descent from the col. We made good progress ascending the east side on the snow until the snow ended. Here, one has to be careful, as remaining snow is hollowed out by water beneath it and stepping onto the wet glaciated granite could result in a long slide on the slippery slope. However, we reached the col without a serious incident.

From there, it was an uneventful hike back to the car at Hoder Creek and then retrieving the vehicle, which was dropped at  Shannon Lake.
In light of the conditions, the group felt it had made the right choice to retreat and agreed that “There are no easy  days in the Valhallas.” Depending on conditions, the length of time to do the intended N/S traverse could vary from 4 days with walkable snow slopes to 7 days on bare ground. It would surely have taken 7 days to do this trip, even with better weather.
On our hike out of the park, we observed that Gwillim Lakes camp spots were full, and still, many hikers were trekking up the trail intending to camp there. The parking areas were full, and still, cars were arriving. If anyone did trail counts in 2020, they would have clear evidence of COVID’s impact on increased outdoor recreation.  

NORTH VALHALLA TRAVERSE Shannon Creek to Demers Col September 6 to 11, 2021 by Felix Belczyk
Participants: Doug Clark, Bruce Reeder, Felix Belczyk

Since Doug and I had done the Hoder Creek/Gwillim Lakes/Demers Lakes trek in 2020, we had previously decided to exit this trip at Ice Creek rather than retrace the 2020 route south to Hoder Creek.
Day 1. September 6. Sunny and feels like 20°C

6:30 a.m.: Depart from Castlegar with Doug and meet Bruce at Playmor Junction. With two vehicles, we caravanned to Burton and up the Snow Creek FSR. Dropping Bruce’s vehicle at the Ice Creek Lodge parking lot and backtracking to the Slocan Valley and Shannon  Creek FSR.  
1500 m- 13:00 – Depart trail head at Shannon Creek parking lot, where the trail starts steep and in good shape. In the first hour, Doug steps on a ground wasps’ nest and receives about seven stings—an auspicious start to our adventure.  
2050 m- Shannon Lake is beautiful, and a couple of fishermen are cooking their catch on an open fire. Around the end of the lake, our trail dies out, and we are on our own for the next 5 days. We climb out of the vegetation past a small lake and up a steep scree slope to a col so tight we must squeeze through.
2288 m- 17:15 – Vingolf col. Forty-five minutes later, down a steep shrubby slope, we reach our first campsite at Vingolf cirque, beside a small tarn. Camp 1 (UTM:588/431) – 2100 m – 18:00
Day 2. September 7. Blue skies, feels like 20c 

9:00 We begin along the lake shore to a natural ridge which we climb to its crest and are rewarded with lovely views over Slocan Lake, and if you continue along the ridge, you can see Wragge Lake. 
2415 m – 10:I5 – We travel south on the ridge, dropping slightly, and begin climbing again on a wide grassy ramp (ridge). Near the top of the ramp, we angle into the basin leading to the Nerthus/Skadie W2 col. This section seems sketchy; we would have been better off climbing higher on the ridge before descending. From the basin, it’s a short climb to the col.  
2380M – 13:30 – Nerthus/Skadie W2 Col. A bright yellow helicopter began circling our location, and my heart sank. As I  suspected, my SPOT had sent a false SOS, and now three women in red shirts were hiking up from the helicopter to meet us. The good-naturedness of the SAR team luckily mitigated this very embarrassing moment. They commented that it made their day to land high in the Valhallas instead of attending the usual car accident.  
Below us were two tarns (Grizzly Lakes). We navigated around the lower of the two on the NE side and then traversed into the Wee Sandy drainage. Bushwhacking was heavy until we reached a little meadow at the North end of Wee Sandy Lake, where we gratefully set up camp amid a heavily laden blueberry patch. We expressed some concern about the bear habitat.
Camp 2 (UTM: 600/378) – 1950 m – 17:45
Day 3. September 8 High overcast, feels like 20 °C  

9:30 North end of Wee Sandy Lake. Following roughly the west side of the lake, a fishing/animal trail quickly deteriorated into steep bushwhacking. We had to gain and lose elevation to maintain direction.
11:00 We reached a small (Wee) sandy beach. It took 1.5 hours to make it to this beautiful beach, but we had travelled only one quarter of the distance to the lake. I was already concerned about having enough time to get over Mt Meers. Mainly using the foreshore, we travel efficiently and reach the south end of the  Lake in just another hour.  
Noon – South end, Wee Sandy Lake. We start gaining elevation through pleasant open alpine forest, following roughly the creek drainages.
13:00 – Out of the forest, we now see the immense size of Mt. Meers. We start straight up the headwall and traverse left onto a slight ramp, reaching the NE ridge.  
2050 m – 13:30 – Following the NE ridge, we ascend over mellow incline scree, and sometimes green grassy smoothness.  
2600 m – 14:00 – We move south and left onto a wide ramp and then straight up an east-facing steep scree slope to the summit ridge of Meers.  
2740 m – 17:00 – South summit of Mt Meers. We understood the route was to follow the summit ridge to the north, but the significant rock climbing walls and our heavy packs dissuaded us from that path. With time and light starting to fade, we chose to drop off the west side onto steep scree. Partly down the screed we cliff out, and after examining a couple of other routes, decide to rappel. Using “old school” techniques, we pull the rope down through our crotch, up our back and over our shoulder and rappel the 4 or 5 meters.  This consumed a lot of time, and we were still very high on the slope of Meers as dusk was fully engaged. In near darkness, we managed the next sketchy, steep, slippery scree until reaching a snow patch that was flat enough for two of us to set up camp. A  third tent was used on a nearby small grassy knoll. Camp 3 (UTM: 579/337) – 2330 m – 19:30
Day 4. September 9. Cloudless skies, temp feels perfect  

8:45 – Looking below into the beautiful Nemo valley and lakes, we decided to traverse the hillside to the right, because from our vantage point, it looked easier and faster. A better decision would have been to drop straight down into the valley bottom and avoid the side slope stepping.  
2050 m – 11:30 – Beautiful meadows on low-angle terrain, blue skies and warm temperatures make this area extraordinarily enjoyable. I plan to return here with Rhonda by approaching from Caribou Creek.  
2080 m – 12:30 – Lower Nemo Lake. The combination of fatigue from yesterday, the sunny warmth of today, and the stunningly beautiful Nemo lakes almost prompted an early stop and camp. However, the need to get more “miles under our belt”  pushed us on.  
2150 m – 13:20 – Upper Nemo Lake: 150 meters up steep grippy grass and dirt got us to the Nemo col.  
2300 m – 14:00 – Nemo Pass. Even at this elevation, the windless air and warm temps accentuated the beauty of the Nemo Valley behind us. Ahead of us to the west, we dropped into a rough, steep scree slope with the objective being a tarn 300 meters below us. The three of us fractured into individual routes but found the best down climbing on the right side, as the left side cliffed out. The last 100 meters were in dense forest, and then we descended onto land slightly elevated above the little lake, where we set up camp.  The shallowness of the tarn made the water warm enough to bathe, and a chance to put on clean clothing!
Camp 4  (UTM: 541/323) – 2000 m – 16:00
Day 5. September 10. Perfect weather and temperature, but the InReach showed a rain forecast for late afternoon.

8:45 I have slept poorly each night and decided last night to forgo the tent fly, so at least I could enjoy the night stars as  I lay awake. Leaving camp, we dropped down but trended south more or less. Extremely steep treed slopes greeted us, and we faced horrendous bushwhacking to the creek/valley bottom.  
1750 m – 10:00 – Heading up the valley, the incline was gentle, but crossing deadfall, rocks, and tall weedy avalanche paths made travel slow.  
1820 m – 10:40 – Still ascending. 
1850 m – 11:25 – We followed a steep but well-defined animal path into an open forest, which was lovely walking in comparison to the terrain below us.  
2000 m – 12:45 – The terrain opens into beautiful meadows, and we reach a low pass for lunch. Another spot that Rhonda would love.  
2100 m – 13:15 – Climbing steadily, we crest the Avis ridge and then traverse along the south side of a small height of land,  reaching the col below Avis Peak. A pleasant ridge walk on road-like slabs of rock gets us to the summit of Avis.  
2426 m – 15:30 – Avis Peak. Our objective is the lowest of the three Avis Lakes, and the clouds are rolling in. Scree, alpine shrubbery and avalanche paths make up our terrain as we descend. The rain starts, and the final stretch to the lake is very slippery.  Dealing with the rain while hiking made us realize how necessary it is to have good weather on this adventure.
Camp 5 (UTM: 510/292) – 1970 m – 17:30
Day 6. September 11. Overcast, feels like 20 °C. 9:00 – Big day in front of us to reach the truck, and our food supply is nearly exhausted. Although the rain has stopped, the bush is still wet, and the ground is slippery. Our trip motto, “There are no easy days in the Valhallas,” rings true. 

1890 m – 9:40 – Super steep terrain, big trees with mixed in scree make moving slow. 
1750 m – 11:05 – At our low point, we have our first sight of Demers Peak and our col a long way above us. The open forest,  creek, and meadows are a joy to travel in, and the sun is starting to break through.  
1830 m – noon – We are out of the forest and looking at 600 meters of vertical scree to the col. Three and a half hours later,  up some of the steepest and least stable rock inclines of the trip, we crest Demers col.  
2420 m – 15:30 – Demers Col is the point Doug and I had reached the year before on a scouting trip. The elation of reaching this point, combined with the intense effort to get here, softens the realization that the vehicle is still many kilometres below us.  “The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music” may have burst from our lungs as we enjoyed the gorgeous country and alpine meadows on our way west past the north side of Demers Lakes and then onto a real trail down to Ice Creek lodge.
Since Doug and I  had done the Hoder Creek/Gwillim Lakes/Demers Lakes trek in 2020, we had previously decided to exit this trip at Ice Creek rather than retrace the 2020 route south to Hoder Creek. 
1850 m – 17:30 – Ice Creek Lodge. We visit for one-half hour with the two female hosts of Ice Creek Lodge. They offer to let us camp at the lodge, but tell us we will reach the truck in 2.5 to 3 hours. However, the descent takes us over 4 hours, and the last 2  1/2 are with headlamps in the dark. Undoubtedly, the last few hours were the least enjoyable part of the trip, but the beer in the truck and the lack of food in our packs were strong motivators.  
1086 m – 10:15 – Snow Creek FSR and Bruce’s truck. We were over 13 hours on Day 6, but we made it! Well done, boys. It was an epic trip!
But the adventure was not over: a flat tire and a seized wheel on the drum at Summit Lake at midnight and in the rain meant pulling out wet tents in the dark. We set up in the day-use only area under the “no camping sign” and I slept like a baby,  awakening only to the eerie call of a loon at 6:30 a.m.

The cavalry arrived at 11 a.m. the next day in the form of a BCAA tow truck,  plus Sheila (Bruce’s wife) and her son with coffee and breakfast. The sun came out, and all was good. After retrieving Doug’s vehicle from Shannon Creek, Bruce and Sheila returned to Nelson and Doug and I reached Castlegar in the early afternoon.
PS-Many thanks to Ken Holmes, who provided his time and experience in helping us with the route planning.

 

 

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I would like to think of myself as a full time traveler. I have been retired since 2006 and in that time have traveled every winter for four to seven months. The months that I am "home", are often also spent on the road, hiking or kayaking. I hope to present a website that describes my travel along with my hiking and sea kayaking experiences.
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