10 Epic Thru-Hikes in BC

July 31, 2024September 17, 2024 / Maria / 5 Comments

If you’re an avid backpacker already and looking for an epic adventure, there are lots of multi-day trips in British Columbia to whet your appetite. I’ve only done a small sample of what BC has to offer, but these are some of my favourite thru hikes! If you’re a beginner, check out my Guide to Backpacking and Overnight Trips for Beginners posts, as well as my safety resources.

A thru-hike is basically a trip that starts and ends at different locations, allowing you not to repeat any trail. They can be somewhat harder to coordinate and plan because 2 vehicles are often needed and the trailheads may be several hours apart from one another. I don’t recommend any of these trails for true beginners as they are all multi-night trips, several of which are in more challenging or technical terrain. But if you’re an intermediate or experienced backpacker and looking to get outside for extended periods of time, check out some of these trails!

North of Vancouver

Howe Sound Crest Trail

The Howe Sound Crest Trail (or HSCT), is the closest trail to Vancouver on this list, as well as one of the shortest. That might lead you to believe that it’s one of the easier trails, but that is not the case. I think a lot of people stumble onto this trail who are not quite prepared for the steep and technical terrain, so definitely proceed with caution. The trail is 30km long and runs from Cypress Mountain to Porteau Cove. It can be done as a 1 or 2 night hike and most people start from Cypress because then it’s a net downhill trail. There are no facilities, so be prepared to do a bear hang and dig cat holes for your waste.

I prefer to do this trail as a 2-nighter and camp at the Enchantments and Brunswick Lake, but there is no water on trail until the halfway point, so if you camp at the Enchantments, you need to do a large water carry. The trail crosses between the Lions and up and down through several small summits. The start and end to the trail are pretty straight forward, but the trail gets very technical in the middle. If you’d like to extend the trip, you can consider summiting Mount Harvey and Mount Brunswick along the way. It’s a gorgeous trail with unparalleled views of Howe Sound.

Helm Creek Trail

A hiking trail extends through the alpine of Garibaldi Provincial Park towards Helm Lake, with the forest and mountains in the background on a sunny day in British Columbia, Canada

This route doesn’t have a formal name, but extends from Rubble Creek to Cheakamus Lake in Garibaldi Provincial Park, near Whistler. If you’re on my website, most likely you’re familiar with this trail because of the popular trips to Garibaldi Lake, Black Tusk, and the iconic Panorama Ridge. Lots of people explore these trails as a day hike or a 1-nighter from Garibaldi Lake or Taylor Meadows. But I always recommend turning it into a multi-day trip by continuing on to Helm Creek. This trail is more appropriate for newer backpackers because of its substantial facilities.

This hike can be customized to whatever length you prefer. Start at Rubble Creek and spend a few nights at Taylor Meadows or Garibaldi Lake and explore Black Tusk or Mount Price. When you’re ready to go to Panorama Ridge, pack up your camp and stop at the ridge on the way to the Helm Creek Campsite, which takes you through the gorgeous Helm Lake area. From there, you hike down towards the Cheakamus Lake parking lot. If you want to extend the trip further, make a detour to Cheakamus Lake or Singing Creek campsites. This hike requires camping reservations, which release 4 months in advance of your date from camping.bcparks.ca.

East of Vancouver

HBC Heritage Trail

A photo of Palmers Pond on a summer day, with the green meadows, forest, and mountains in the background, on the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC Trail) near Hope in British Columbia, Canada.

In my opinion, this is one of the most challenging trails on the list (except for maybe the North Coast Trail). HBC stands for Hudson Bay Company and is a historic trail that was originally used by the First Nations and later by the fur trade. The trail is 74km long and extends through the mountains from Hope to Tulameen. A lot of the trail is through the forest, but it has some gorgeous campsites and views along the way. It’s not an overly popular trail and you likely won’t see many people on it if you like solitude.

What makes this trail challenging right now is the state of the trail. The trail has been revitalized in recent years and has a dedicated volunteer maintenance group, but the 2021 flood was particularly hard on this area. Volunteers have been working to clear the trail, but there is still quite a lot of blowdown in some sections and the trail does require fording at least 3 rivers. All of the campsites have nice facilities, so if you give yourself enough time to navigate the technical terrain, it is a beautiful trail.

Heather Trail

If you’re new to thru-hiking, the Heather Trail would be my recommendation. This is a relatively easy trail, with gorgeous views and brand new facilities. It’s located in E.C. Manning Park and can be done over 2-3 days. The trail starts at the top of Blackwall Road, which means most of the challenging elevation gain is done in the car. Technically, the Heather Trail is 21km, ending at Nicomen Lake and requiring an out-and-back trip. However, if you connect to the Grainger Creek and Hope Pass Trails from Nicomen Lake, you can turn this into a ~40km thru-hike, ending at Cayuse Flats.

Over 2 nights, I would camp at Kicking Horse and Nicomen Lake, or you could add a night at Buckhorn Campsite at the start of the trip and take your time. The trail is all in the trees after Nicomen Lake, and even though it’s 17km from Nicomen to Cayuse Flats, it’s a very easy trail, though there is another campsite option at Grainger Creek. You do need backcountry reservations to stay at these sites as of 2024, which can be obtained 4 months ahead of your trip at camping.bcparks.ca.

Skyline II Trail

I love Manning Park and the Skyline II Trail is one of my all time favourites. This trail is more difficult than the Heather Trail, but still a relatively easy trip. The trail is approximately 25 kilometres from Strawberry Flats in Manning Park to Whitworth Meadow in Skagit Valley Park. There is one campsite at the halfway mark, Mowich Camp.

While this hike can be done in one night, I highly recommend doing 2 nights at Mowich Camp and making a detour to hike the 15km round trip trail along Hozomeen Ridge and back. This trail will take you to the border monument and a fantastic view of Hozomeen Mountain in the US. The trail itself is easy to follow and takes you through gorgeous alpine meadows. The campsite is pretty basic and the water source can run dry later in the summer. A backcountry permit is needed and can be obtained 2 weeks prior to your trip at camping.bcparks.ca.

Vancouver Island & Sunshine Coast

Sunshine Coast Trail

This is the longest trail on my list, but is hands down my favourite thru-hike ever! The Sunshine Coast Trail (or SCT) is 180km and extends through the entire upper Sunshine Coast, from Sarah Point on the Malaspina peninsula, to Powell River, and down to the ferry at Saltery Bay. The SCT is unique because it is a hut-to-hut hiking route, which means you can do the entire trail, staying in free mountain huts along the way.

The trail can be a challenge to coordinate in terms of transportation and food carries, but it is incredibly well maintained by volunteers, with gorgeous facilities. You can do a section of the trail, or commit to the entire thing. The trail is primarily in the forest and tackles a lot of cumulative elevation gain. There are tons of lakes to enjoy a cool swim and some amazing viewpoints along the way. The trail can get busy, so if you plan to stay in the huts, you should still bring a tent with you as a back-up.

Juan de Fuca

The Juan de Fuca trail is often touted as a great beginner coastal trail. It is good in that it’s a lot easier than its more popular sister trail, the West Coast Trail, but it is still challenging in its own right. It’s a 47km trail on Vancouver Island between Port Renfrew and China Beach. There are several nice campsites located both in the forest and along the beaches, but like all the coastal trails on the island, it can be very technical and muddy.

It’s been several years since I did this trail and I have heard that some parts have received much needed maintenance since I did it, but it will still be quite muddy in early summer and there are several tidal points on the trail that require advance planning to cross. The nice thing about this trail is that there are several bailout points that connect to the highway if the trail is too challenging. Backcountry permits are required and can be obtained 2 weeks in advance from camping.bcparks.ca.

North Coast Trail

Two tents camping on a golden sand beach with drift wood and the forest and waves of the pacific ocean in the background at sunset on Irony Creek Beach in Shuttleworth Bight on the North Coast Trail on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.

The North Coast Trail (or NCT) is probably the hardest hike on this list. It’s much less popular than the West Coast Trail, but the traffic to this hike has definitely been growing. The NCT is a ~60km hike on the far north coast of Vancouver Island. It has a reputation for being extremely muddy and it doesn’t get very much maintenance. The NCT is only accessible by water taxi, so most people add on another ~25km of hiking to Cape Scott to finish this trail.

The Cape Scott Trail is accessible by dirt road and is better maintained than the NCT. The highlights of both trails are the gorgeous, remote beach campsites. There are several tidal points on the trail and you should be prepared for a very slow hiking pace through extremely technical terrain. But you’ll also likely get to view bears, eagles, and if you’re lucky, maybe even a wolf. Backcountry permits are required for this hike and can be obtained 2 weeks ahead of your trip at camping.bcparks.ca.

Rocky Mountains

Mount Assiniboine

Mount Assiniboine can be accessed as a loop trail, thru hike, or by helicopter. Of course, I did the thru hike option. Mount Assiniboine is one of BC’s premier mountain campsites and there is a lot to explore from the core area of the park. We planned for 3 nights in the Magog Lake Campground, and 1 night on either end of the trip to hike in and out. While Assiniboine Park is located in BC, the hike is accessed through Banff National Park in Alberta.

Take the gondola up to Sunshine Village and hike through the alpine meadows to Porcupine Camp on night one, then continue to Assiniboine for several days in the park. Explore Magog Lake, Cerulean lake, and Sunburst Lake, as well as the iconic hike up to the Nub for sunset. On your way out, hike through beautiful Wonder Pass and camp at Wonder Lake before ending your hike at Mount Shark. You will need to coordinate 2 vehicles and book backcountry reservations for Assiniboine 4 months in advance at camping.bcparks.ca, as well as backcountry reservations for Wonder Lake at reservation.pc.gc.ca, which release sometime in March for the entire season.

Rockwall Trail

The Rockwall on a sunny day with the mountains in the background and the forest in the foreground with blue sky in Kootenay National Park in British Columbia, Canada.

The Rockwall Trail is another extremely popular trail located in Kootenay National Park. It’s a 55km trail from Paint Pots to the trailhead for Floe Lake that is incredibly scenic. There are a number of campsites along the trail and it can be done in 3-4 nights. Floe Lake is the most popular campsite on the trail, but I also highly recommend staying at the Helmet Falls campsite. Along the way, you can stay at Tumbling Creek, Numa Creek, or both, they’re pretty similar sites.

The trail is very well maintained and has lots of facilities. Campsites release for the entire season in March at reservation.pc.gc.ca, so make sure you watch for the release date, because the sites will sell out immediately. If you’re lucky enough to score permits, enjoy this beautiful trail through the Rocky Mountains and past the iconic Rockwall.

Kootenay National Park Guide

October 18, 2023July 11, 2024 / Maria / 2 Comments

Let’s start off with a disclaimer – there’s a lot to do in Kootenay National Park – I’ve still only done a fraction of what there is in the park, but after spending a week there, I feel like I got a good idea of what a lot of the attractions are. There’s still lots for me to return and explore, but here’s some of my learnings after 1 week.

Getting There

Kootenay National Park is characterized by Highway 93. It runs through the entirety of the park and it’s from this highway that you access all the attractions. Put simply, you can either enter through BC or through Alberta. If you’re coming from Calgary (as we were), the obvious option is to drive Highway 1 through Banff and then take the exit for Highway 93. If you’re coming from BC, it’s the same distance from Golden to either park entrance, so it all depends on which direction you’d like to drive. You can access the park through Radium, which in my opinion is the nicer direction because that’s the official park entrance and you can get your park pass there. But there’s nothing wrong with entering through Banff National Park. Leave lots of time for your drive either way because there’s so much to see in the park!

Where to Stay

Where to stay depends on what kind of sleeping experience you’re looking for. If you’d like to stay in a hotel, I’d recommend Radium. It’s right on the doorstep of the park and has lots of options for cheaper accommodations. You could also stay in Lake Louise or Banff, but be prepared to shell out a lot more money for these options.

If you’d like to camp, then there will be a lot more options available to you and you’ll be able to stay directly in the park. But you have to be prepared to book sites when they release around March because all of the National Parks are popular and they book up fast. See the next sections for more information on your camping options.

Frontcountry Camping

If you’re new to camping, then frontcountry camping is what you’re looking for. These are drive in sites, so you can store lots of things in your car and they’re a bit easier to get to than backcountry sites. There are 3 frontcountry sites in Kootenay National Park – all can be booked through the Parks Canada reservation site, check early in the year for the date that sites will be released.

Redsteak Campground – This is the largest campground in the park and therefore the easiest to get into. it’s located very close to Radium. It has 242 sites and is usually open from late April to early October.

McLeod Meadows Campground – This site is located in the valley, along the banks of the river in the middle of the park. It has 88 sites and is usually open from early June to early September.

Marble Canyon Campground – Marble Canyon is a large attraction on its own and this site is located in the sub-alpine with nice mountain views. It has 60 sites and is usually open from late June to early September.

Full disclosure, I haven’t actually stayed at any of these sites, but I would like to try for McLeod or Marble one day!

Backcountry Camping

Backcountry camping is my preferred method of camping, but it is a whole different beast than frontcountry. It revolves around hiking and you have to carry everything you need on your back, so you should only attempt backcountry if you’re aiming to complete a hike.

As far as backcountry camping goes, there are limited options in Kootenay. All of these sites are on the Rockwall Trail (a 54km hiking trail), with the exception of Verdant Creek (which is now closed). Though you don’t have to commit to doing the entire Rockwall Trail if you want to visit some of these sites, many have alternative entrances.

Helmet-Ochre Junction Campground – A small campground along Helmet Creek. It’s a 6km walk to the campsite. It’s a good stopping point along the Rockwall Trail or for a 1-nighter if you just want to visit Paint Pots or Helmet Falls. It’s pretty easy hiking to this site, good for beginners.

Helmet Falls Campground – A larger campground located at the base of Helmet Falls. It’s a 14km hike to the site and is most commonly used along the Rockwall Trail, though you could stop here for 1 night if you just want to visit the Falls. Alternatively, you could camp here for 2 nights and do a day hike up through the pass to the start of the Rockwall and back.

Tumbling Creek Campground – A larger campground located where Tumbling Creek meets the Rockwall. It’s a great place to stop on a thru hike of the Rockwall Trail, or you can do a 10km hike on the Tumbling Creek Trail. It’s a fairly gentle climb up to the campground. I haven’t done the Tumbling Creek Trail, but if I was to enter the Rockwall this way, I would plan to stay for 2 nights and day hike along the Rockwall.

Numa Creek Campground – A larger campground located on Numa Creek. It’s a great place to stop on a thru hike of the Rockwall Trail, or you can do a 6.5km hike on the Numa Creek Trail. It’s an easy trail to the campsite, but Tumbling Creek is closer to the Rockwall if you’re planning on day hiking there. As a thru hike, I recommend staying at Numa, but as a day hike, I’d recommend Tumbling.

Floe Lake Campground – The most popular campsite in the park. This campground is located right on beautiful Floe Lake. It’s a 10.5km hike up to Floe Lake with considerable elevation gain. It’s the most challenging hike on the list, but the most rewarding. A perfect end if you’re doing the entire Rockwall Trail.

Verdant Creek Campground – This site was extensively damaged in the 2017 wildfires and is no longer recommended. It was previously used as an alternative access to Egypt Lake in Banff National Park.

Hiking

The Rockwall Trail – One of the biggest attractions in the park. This 54km trail is extremely popular and travels along gorgeous alpine terrain. Recommended as a 3-4 night thru hike.

Stanley Glacier – Another popular attraction in the park, this 11km trail can be done as a day hike and covers a lot of elevation gain. You can hike it on your own, or if you’re a fossil enthusiast, pay for a guided hike with Parks Canada!

Cobb Lakes Trail – A shorter trail on the west side of the park, day hike 5km and back to picturesque Cobb Lake for the day.

Dog Lake Trail – A fairly easy 7km trail that leaves from McLeod Meadows campground, with beautiful views of the surrounding valley.

Simpson River Trail – A flat and easy trail along the Simpson river, customized to your preferred length. The trail continues all the way to Mount Assiniboine if you’d like to hike 12km to Sunrise Creek Campground and continue on further.

Ball Pass Trail – I wouldn’t recommend this trail unless you’re backpacking and continuing on to Sunshine Village, in which case, this beautiful trail covers a lot of elevation gain and kilometres. Stay at the Ball Pass Campground or infamous Egypt Lake.

Arnica Lake – A very scenic trail that hikes down to Viewpoint Lake and then back up to Arnica Lake. It’s 10km in total and is very popular in the Fall when the larches turn yellow. (technically this trail is in Banff, but it’s so close to the border)

Boom Lake – Another trail in Banff, but Boom lake is a scenic 10km trail with moderate elevation gain to a gorgeous lake.

Roadside Attractions

Since I spent most of my time in Kootenay National Park on the Rockwall Trail, I was more keen to explore all the roadside attractions rather than do more hiking. We spent a full day driving the 100km of road between to the two park entrances and there were tons of attractions to keep us busy all day! Starting from Radium, here are my recommendations:

Sinclair Canyon – Towering canyon walls as you enter the park. Stop for some photos and walk along the pedestrian sidewalk through the canyon.

Radium Hot Springs – Gorgeous commercial hot spring and pool just within the park boundary. Perfect in the winter or on a cloudy day. Walkable from Redstreak Campground.

Olive Lake – Short walk to turquoise waters and a fish conservation area located in Sinclair Pass.

Kootenay Valley Viewpoint – Rest stop with panoramic views of the Kootenay Mountains and Kootenay River across the valley.

Kootenay River Day Use Area – Rest stop with a few picnic tables and an excellent view of the river.

Numa Falls – Short walk to a bridge under which the rushing Numa Falls are channeled to the Vermillion River.

Paint Pots – 1km walk each way to see the red ochre soil that makes up the traditional paint pots.

Marble Canyon – Go back in time along the 1.5km loop trail to see how Tokkum Creek has formed the canyon over thousands of years.

Continental Divide Rest Stop – Photo op where the Rockies collide, separating BC from Alberta, and the flow of water to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Vista Viewpoint – Technically in Banff National Park, but the last stop along Highway 93 with beautiful views of Arnica Lake.

National Park Pass

Before visiting, make sure you get your park pass either at the entrance in Radium, or when you drive through Banff National Park. You will need it to park everywhere inside the park. It’s $10 per person, per day, or you can get the family pass for the whole year for $145, which is applicable to all National Parks in Canada.

Rockwall Trail Backpacking Trip Part II

October 11, 2023July 11, 2024 / Maria / 2 Comments

To read Part I, start here.

Day 3 very much felt like the second half of the journey to me. The total length of the trail is 54km (though we tracked 58km in total on my GPS). By the end of day 2, we had done 34km of 54km, so we had two much easier days ahead of us. Unfortunately, the weather was supposed to deteriorate on Day 3.

I checked a ton of weather forecasts before we left and they often contradict each other, so we weren’t sure what to expect. The original forecast had said a 60% chance of showers, but when I got a weather update from my inreach, the POP had increased, but wasn’t starting until 1pm. So we got up early to try and finish the 10km hike to Floe Lake before the rain started.

It was overcast when we started hiking, but looking pretty good. It drizzled on us for a few minutes mid-morning and I put my backpack cover on, but then it didn’t bother us again for the rest of the hike. The trail from Numa Creek to Floe Lake ascends up through Numa Pass, with an elevation gain of ~800m. It was the biggest uphill of the trip, but similar to other parts of the trail, it was largely switchbacks, so it’s never overly steep. We made good time hiking up and decided to stop for a break at the top of the pass.

Coming up to the pass is very beautiful, with lots of larch trees. Before you get to the top of the pass, there’s a fantastic view looking back at the Rockwall and where you’ve come from, so that’s where we decided to stop. The downside is that it’s also the highest point of elevation across the entire trail at 2,336m, so it was quite cold up there. The rain was still holding off, but it’s very barren and nothing grows, it’s just a lot of rock, so it can get a bit windy.

We continued on to the top of the pass, which is where you get your first view of Floe Lake! If you have the time, definitely linger in the pass for a while because it is incredibly beautiful in all directions. We took some photos with Floe Lake, but then continued on in an attempt to warm up.

While my plantar fasciitis was doing quite well, I was battling a second foot problem on Day 3. I’ve been wearing trail shoes for the past 2 years (meaning they’re short and have limited ankle support), so I switched to my mid-ankle hikers for the Rockwall Trail. They were fine for my injury, but I think I’ve been overcompensating with my left foot and my ankles got used to short shoes, so I ended up with a very large bruise on my left ankle from rubbing against the shoe. It was actually quite painful and resulted in a bit of a stabbing pain with each step on the downhill sections.

It’s all downhill to Floe Lake from the Pass, which is only a few kilometres, but it was quite painful on my ankle. I was really concerned about Day 4, which is all downhill for 11km, but after a bit of workshopping, I figured out it was less painful if I didn’t tie up my boots past my ankle and rolled my socks down to create a bit of a cushion. But I dumped the mid-ankle shoes after that and switched back to my short ones for the rest of my trip.

There’s no where to swim on the Rockwall Trail aside from Floe Lake, so me and Carolyn were pretty keen to swim there. The problem is that it was quite cold and we weren’t convinced it would be warm enough to strip down to our swimsuits. Fortunately, we worked up enough of a sweat on the way down that we decided to immediately make a swim attempt. We didn’t look for a campsite, but walked directly to the lake to immediately strip down and run in the water. Unfortunately, we didn’t pick the best swim spot, because it was very muddy and we sunk ankle deep into it, but we went in anyways and had a quick refresh before going to set up camp (obviously it was freezing).

Floe Lake is by far the most popular campsite on the trail and because it’s only 11km from the trailhead, lots of people visit as a day hike. That said, it was not at all busy when we were there. It was mid week and the weather was dicey, so it was a pretty quiet. The cooking area at Floe Lake is right by the lake and really nice. There’s 2 campsites with lake views, but the rest are way up in the woods, so we spent most of our time just chilling at the lake. The layout of the campsite is a bit odd and don’t rely on the site maps provided because they aren’t accurate. The outhouses are far up in the woods and there’s a few tent pad clusters around. The campground wasn’t full when we were there, but not too many empty sites.

Because I didn’t have to carry a tent on the trip (I shared Brandon’s), I decided to bring my tarp for Floe in case it rained. We caught up with our new friend, Jason, and set it up on the beach for lunch. It did drizzle on us a few more times, but later in the afternoon it actually started to clear up and we got a few glimpses of the sun poking out from behind some clouds. So we spent the rest of the afternoon just hanging out and doing a few photo shoots.

It was by far our most relaxing time on the trail and we hung out for several hours. Floe Lake is just another extension of the Rockwall, with lots of glaciers sitting up on the rock. They’re quite active and you can regularly hear and see bits of ice falling off the glacier. It was kind of nice to listen to it while you sleep, but at one point in the middle of the night it sounded like half the mountain had fallen off into the lake!

While relaxing we did spot a black bear on the other side of the lake. He was moving pretty quickly and we think he got scared by a few hikers that decided to hike around the lake. They never ended up seeing him at all though because he took off so fast and ran the entire length of the lake. We decided to start preparing our supper around 6pm, but our timing was bad because the wind picked up at the same time. It got really windy and it felt like the weather was getting ready to shift back to rain, so we ate and tidied up everything really quickly to get back to our tents before the it started.

We decided to all hang out in Brandon’s tent for the evening and I went there while Carolyn did a quick run to the outhouse. The rain never did materialize so I started doing a bit of journaling. But I was alone for a long time and I began to wonder where Carolyn and Brandon were. Eventually, Brandon showed up at the tent laughing to himself and started to gleefully tell me that Carolyn had a REALLY good story for me. He made it sound really ominous and I was convinced that she got cornered in the outhouse by a bear or something while I was obliviously writing in my journal. Brandon said they’d be back soon and I kept waiting for them with no sign of anything.

Eventually I gave up and went looking for them. I had to walk through the entire campground before I finally found them coming back from the lake with Jason. Carolyn looked mortified. It turns out, in her quick trip to the outhouse, she made a grave mistake. She keeps all her stuff for camp in a cross-body bag, including her toilet paper, and when she leaned down to close the toilet seat lid after using it, her inreach and kindle both slipped out of her open bag and fell in the outhouse!

I have to say, the outhouse at Floe Lake was particularly disgusting. It looked older and it was really dirty on the inside. She immediately had a panic attack after they fell in because she was alone and had to address the problem immediately lest someone else come along and poop on them. To her credit, Carolyn was more worried about the Leave No Trace aspect of her electronics in the outhouse than the actual monetary value of them. The outhouse wasn’t that deep (by which I mean, the gap between the seat and the waste wasn’t that far, maybe 5-6 feet). She managed to fish out her inreach fairly easily with a stick because the inreach has a carabiner and it was sitting on top of mostly toilet paper. She obviously sanitized it, but overall it wasn’t too dirty.

The kindle was another issue. You can imagine her relief when Brandon happened to show up at the outhouse with the intention of conducting his own business. Apparently her first instinct was to tell him to go and get me immediately, but then she reconsidered and said, “wait, no, Maria can’t help me. I need help now, you’ll have to help me!” For which I am grateful!

It took 3 tries, but the two of them were able to fish out the kindle using a pair of giant stick chopsticks, but Carolyn did have to go almost shoulder deep in the outhouse to reach it. They double bagged the kindle to deal with later, but she ended up washing it (and her jacket) in the lake because at the end of the day, she cared less about whether she would still be able to use the kindle and more about just not leaving it in the outhouse, even if she ultimately disposed of it.

So yes, it was incredibly gross and I think most people’s instinct would be to just leave it in the outhouse, but I do respect her for actually going in after it. It was mostly to assuage her guilt, but as Jason pointed out, “guilt fades, shame is forever”. That said, Carolyn claims that if she could go back in time, she would probably still do the same thing, but she’ll never be making that mistake again! However, we have stumbled upon a few articles since then about other people who have fallen into outhouses and got trapped while trying to retrieve items, and S&R recommends against this risk! So you do get a pass to just leave it if this happens to you. We spent the rest of the trip sizing up the depth of every outhouse we used to assess ease of retrieval!

After that the rest of the trip was somewhat uneventful. It didn’t rain all night, but then started to pour around 6:30am on Day 4. It rained for about an hour. We waited it out and then I got up as soon as it stopped to grab our stuff for a tent breakfast, but it didn’t rain again after that. We packed down our camp and readied for our final 11km descent back to the parking lot.

It’s pretty steep for the first 3km, but there’s still lots of switchbacks and it levels out a lot after that. It’s a decently nice hike back down through the valley with views across the mountain, but it’s all one massive burn zone, which puts a bit of a damper on the hike and is fairly exposed. It would be pretty rough on a hot day hiking uphill because there’s limited shade. The burn zone is from 2003, so it actually has 20 years of growth in it, but it’s still very obviously a burn zone because it takes years for the burned tree trunks to finally fall down. Knowing that the rest of the province was burning at the same time made for a somber hike.

We only stopped once for a break on the way down and did the whole 11km in 3 hours. We loaded everything in Carolyn’s car and drove back to Paint Pots to get Brandon’s car. There’s a few picnic tables there, so Carolyn cooked us some ravioli for lunch and then we drove to our hotel in Radium to shower before going for a proper post-hike burger and ice cream in Radium.

So overall this was one of the most fun hikes I’ve been on in a long time. I don’t think it was as stunning as Mount Assiniboine, which I did in 2021, but I had a lot more fun on this trail and it is still incredibly beautiful. The Rockwall is a really unique feature and I loved hiking along it for 3 days. Even though this is a very popular hike and it’s hard to get permits, it doesn’t feel busy at all because it’s a long trail and the permit system greatly reduces the traffic on the trail. I could see it being busy at Floe Lake on a nice weekend, but mid-week really eliminates a lot of the crowds. I really think Kootenay National Park is underrated in the Rockies and we had a great time exploring the trail and the region! Definitely recommend!