From a BC Interior guy:

Bald Mountain/Caribou Pass/McMurdo Cabin area of the northern Purcells, just east of Glacier.

I want to see the lake at
n49 26.108
w121 14.286
and start from the highway

other than that just find new trails
and new vistas.


Nutpants
Im easy

My big trip this year will be paddling on the east coast. It'll be in Quebec on the north coast of the fleuve starting from where the road ends north of Sept Iles and going east towards Labrador.

Closer to home, for a 'must do' hiking trip, I want to get out and explore around Falk Lake.

I don't now if time will cooperate. If I have a choice, these would be a priority over local usual backpacking trips:

Cape Scott
West Coast Trail
Nootka Island

I am also trying to set-up a Stein River Valley traverse for late summer. This one requires a bit more preparation. I won't go solo. Part of it, no problem. There is always someone to chat with along a trail.

Ed: If you make it to Elton Lake, please do a trip report. It has been on our wish list for a while but after the road washout and me being pregnant last year it got missed. We've done as far as Tundra Lake but not beyond am I'm really intrigued by this destination. I can't seem to find much info about the route (or lack thereof). I would love to know specifics (hiking times, is it a total bushwack etc). If anyone else has been to Elton Lake, I'd love to hear about it, please e-mail us with details/photos.

Back to the question at hand...

With a new baby in the house our options are much more limited than usual this season. We will mostly do small day hikes with a possible trip car camping to the Rockies in the summer. The main item on our wish list would be at least one trip in our lifetime to the Rockies with sunshine! Maybe Parker Ridge or Wilcox pass in sun (been there, done it in cloud & rain & snow).

We're heading back to my home Nova Scotia in the summer as well, so hopefully we can day hike around Fundy somewhere.

One outing with the little one will be something like Skyline Divide/Mt Baker (if they fix the road) - a very baby-friendly day hike.

Rainier is always high on our list as well, maybe Pinnicle Saddle.

Everything depends on the baby and how she takes to hiking. We've seen many a happy baby out on the trails with mom & dad, but if she has the temperment of her cousin, mom will be sitting at home all summer while daddy is out peak bagging on his own! (his sights are set on Princess Louise Inlet, Depot Falls, Thunder Glacier (Heliotrope Ridge - right fork, Mt. Price (Garibaldi),Brandywine Mountain (in good weather), Windy Ridge visitor center on MSH, Cream Lake on the island and many more).

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http://groups.msn.com/DavidKarensHikingPage

Well I want to explore the monashee mountains ,as well as a canoe trip into clearwatter/azure area in wells gray (I have never hiked the skyline in Manning so its on the list) .Mabie the WCT if I have time ,I sooo want to do the Stine traverse but dont think I will get to it this year . Hopefully this year I will have the chance to run into some fellow CTrs if I am lucky as well,

[]Sure are a lot of CT'ers who want to experience an adventure on the Stein, me included.

I'd like to accomplish the Stein and one of the coastal trails. Cape Scott is my top choice since it has been a 'to do' for so long. I'm pretty sure this is the year I can make it happen. There are lots of other trails that I'm hoping to experience, but those two are my biggies for 2005.

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"Diplomacy is the art of letting someone have your way." ~~Daniele Vare~~

Well I hiked it with a wonky knee about 10 years ago, but that doesn't mean I am advising you to do it. It depends what is wrong with your knee and how badly. Go have it looked at - - you don't want to permanently damage your knees as you will regret it later.

I have my eye on the Chilkoot Trail, big time, but getting into the States might be a problem. My wallet was stolen a while back with my Canadian citizenship card in it. It will apparently take 8 months to replace it. I can't apply for a passport until I get that. I may be screwed. Birth certificate is British. But the Chilkoot trail has lately been foremost in my mind as a "must do" hike. When I get my mind set on a particular hike, I HAVE to do it.

(Note to others: clean out your wallets and don't carry important ID with you unless absolutely necessary. My attention lapsed only for a moment and it was gone).

If I can't leave Canada, I'd love to do the West Coast Trail again. It's been too long.

Thanks, Hiker. No suggestions for SEDONA, sorry. Great place to visit. Too bad Coyote Buttes, "The WAVE" near Kanab, Utah, only one hour from north rim of Grand Canyon has no permits avail. then.
YOu said extra time in Sedona, if you have transportation from north rim of GC, drive an hour or so to Zion Natl Park. Also, hit the sand dunes. Lots and lots of flowers blooming in May at Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park just outside of Kanab, Utah.

When heading to Sedona, I like the drive down the canyon instead of the main roads.

Rim to rim.... I'm jealous! Have fun!

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May your trails be crooked, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing views ! Edward Abbey

i don't think there is much that is "technical" along this route, but the two halves you describe don't really seem to add up? it seems like you are thinking of doing the owl lakes to tenquille pass divide (easy, 2 or 3 days) and then going north along the tenquille to mcgillivray traverse as far as the tolkein gp but bailing out down phelix creek before you finish the second traverse? this second half would be more like 4 days so you are looking at a 6 to 7 day trip. none of it will be as difficult as your route up currie.

however, I'd suggest splitting this into two separate trips. the owl to tenquille as one trip (and come out via hurley road), you can extend this up to noel pk if you want to make it longer... and the full mcgillivray pass to tenquille as the second trip. the lakes around taillefer are awesome, don't miss them out by bailing down phelix a day and a half short of finishing the second trip, if you can possibly include them.

I found Owl Lakes to be a nasty mosquito-infested swamp with a seemingly endless slog through mud and over and around avy blowdowns. There was also quite a bit of refuse at the lake from old camp sites. I came out covered in mud and blood (from slapped mosquitoes) to meet the only people I saw, an English couple dressed in immaculate clothing including full mosquito mesh face masks and gloves. The man said "look darling, I told you there would be locals to direct us!" They were driving a giant Unimog which was parked at the trail end. What they were doing in there I have no idea...I drove a VW Van to close to the same spot but it is a rough road.

yes but when you get out in the alpine near seven oclock mountain it's beautiful!

Dru, you're awesome You've got me scrambling through my maps to see what you are saying.

I value your suggestions, and you've given me some food for thought. Having only been here a year and a half, I admit I'd never heard of the McGillvray pass. It looks good!

I haven't yet determined the route, mostly the plan is that I get out on a solo trip, and also explore my back yard so I can be informed like you.

I like the Tenquille to Noel. I think I'll try that first as a test to see how I do, here to Tenquille will be easy, but Tenquille to Noel will test my routefinding skills, unless there's a trail. If I do well on that, then I can move on to bigger and better[]

Again, thanks. I'll keep you posted. And if we don't get much more snow, this may happen sooner than I could have dreamed! Maybe late April/early May.....

Here's 7 O'clock to Tenquille Lk from Sun God.