EXTENDED BACKPACKING TRIPS

(Use your browser's BACK button to return to this page)

The author's preference for a means of navigation in these mostly untracked areas is a printed topographical map at 1:50,00 scale and a good GPS. For the type of exploration described below, I recommend developing the habit of maintaining a mental picture of the terrain based on a hierarchy of water drainage areas - Rivers, streams, tributaries and their tributaries etc. The terminology used to describe routes in this guide is largely based on this method.

I carry a compass but rarely find occasion to use it.

A GPS is useful, particularly if your map has the blue UTM grid of one-kilometer squares printed on it. Use the GPS in conjunction with your topo map. If the map lacks the blue UTM squares, it will be necessary to find a straightedge to project the map-edge latitude and longitude markings across the map. Set the GPS to the co-ordinates being used - either the blue UTM squares or latitude and longitude.

Valemount to Red Pass or Mount Robson across the Selwyn Range (Partially within Mt. Robson Park)

Swift Creek Circle (Partially within Mt. Robson Park)

Backpacking in Mount Robson Park

Check the various park brochures available. For more detailed information, the Mt. Robson Park Visitor Centre at Mt. Robson can provide information sheets for most major trails in the park.

Visit http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/mt_robson/

A Little Further Afield

Most hiking guidebooks for the Canadian Rockies to date use the Berg Lake Trail, Mount Robson and Jasper's North Boundary Trail as the northern limit of their coverage. But what secrets the old-time guides and outfitters knew about the regions beyond! North from Mount Robson stretches a vast sweep of the Continental Divide where traditional outfitting trails have changed little in the past century. Here lies history, adventure, and the grandeur of the Canadian Rockies little touched by man - yet. With little public knowledge of these areas, there is little political pressure to protect them, though governments have provided some protection against large-scale human modifications to certain areas such as Willmore, Kakwa and Monkman parks. Willmore has been a unique case in that it has been more or less protected from industrial development while allowing such activities as hunting. The region is currently under pressure from both sides of the equation with some long-time users imagining a future in which they might, for example, be fined for picking berries - next to some enormous open-pit mine.

It is suggested that users of these age-old trails respect the way of life of those who built them - if there is mud, or horse droppings, or if the trail crosses and recrosses a stream with no footbridges in sight - that's all part of this region.

As with all outdoor activities, don't litter!