Robina Lakes and Monashee Divide

Description:

A beautiful alpine area accessible from the "Keyhole" road south of Valemount or from YORA's Clemina Cabin. For booking info & directions to the cabin, contact YORA or inquire locally to find out where to register.

If starting from the Keyhole area, find a quad trail along a re-landscaped logging road right-of-way near the upper right hand corner of the Keyhole logging road network. Where this road makes a switchback to the left, look for a "de facto" footpath and some flagging on the bank above the switchback. This marks the start of your route through relatively open forest to the treeline not far above. Traverse to the right to some degree as you climb and study the topography on a map.

From the Y.O.R.A. Clemina Cabin, take the water-source trail behind the cabin. Cross two footbridges within 150m of the cabin to a fork in the rough trail. The right fork ascends the water supply stream. It has received little maintenance and may be hard to find in a few places. It generally follows the stream above the cabin and is the recommended route to the treeline. The left fork passes through a brushy, rapidly regenerating logged area and ascends the next stream beyond. This trail could possibly be re-routed across a convenient bench above the logged area in future, since the portion beyond the logging is still in fair condition, but the traverse north from the cabin may be difficult.

Still further to the north, beyond Robina Creek, is the "Keyhole" route described above. If planning a loop hike, be aware you may have difficulty finding any of these routes and trails from the top end if you are not familiar with them.

Many different hiking routes are possible above the treeline. One suggested route is as follows: Arriving in the alpine, traverse to Robina Creek's basin, ascending as you go and reaching the summit of the Monashee Range directly above Robina Creek. Far below to the east is Kinbasket Lake, part of the Columbia River watershed. A shorter distance below, and well within reach of a vigorous day hike from the cabin or the Keyhole area, the Robina Lakes can be seen. These alpine tarns actually drain down the opposite side of the Monashee Range and aren't connected to Robina Creek.

Remembering that the return trip will be uphill back to this point, it is possible to descend and visit the lakes. The descent may be made at the left or right corners of the basin, but not in the middle directly above the lakes, where a cliff bars the way. Descending into the right hand or south end of the basin can be a bit of a scramble, minimized by good route-finding. The north side is much easier, if you follow a ridge for some distance around the basin and descend the fairly gentle scree slopes northeast of the lakes.

Two large lakes in the middle of the basin are connected by a waterfall. There is a smaller lake in subalpine forest beyond the lower lake, and also a hidden lake off to the right (when looking down toward Kinbasket), somewhat higher than the main lakes, and out along the ridge toward Kinbasket Lake. This lake, if you are able to find it, will reward you with marvelous echoes off the sheer cliffs behind it.

It is possible to descend to the West Canoe forest road far below by following the creek down from the lakes, but the route is a steep and brushy bushwhack. However my first exploration of this basin was from the Kinbasket Lake side and the return trip that day was back down the same way. Brush made it necessary to walk in the creek bed there. I had seen the basin and planned my approach to it while operating a machine near the Bulldog Ridge trailhead about 12 km. up the "C" road, when it was a broad and nicely graded gravel haul road. To figure out how long ago that was, check the Bulldog Ridge trail description and try driving there now...

Getting There:

(1) To Y.O.R.A. Clemina Cabin: To get to the cabin, drive 32 km south of Valemount to the Clemina Forest Service Road #1360. 3.2 km. up the 1360 road, turn left onto a branch road. Continue to stay left until you begin to see #18a trail signs which will show you the way to the cabin. You will need to decide when to park and start walking depending on your vehicle type. Please note that this cabin is several tens of kilometres from the Clemina snowmobiler's cabin, so if receiving directions from a local person, check to make sure you're not being directed to the wrong cabin by mistake.

(2) To the Keyhole area: The logging road that leads to the Keyhole alpine area is on the left (east) side of Highway 5 about 23 km. south of Valemount. "Take the high road" at logging road intersections and look for a re-lanscaped road near the upper right hand corner of the road network. This former road has been reduced in width to form a narrow trail traversing to the right across the slope.

Hiking Time:

Allow about 2 hours one way to the alpine from the cabin, and about 8 hours to visit the lakes on the Kinbasket side and return to the cabin. Shorten these times by about 1 hour each way from the Keyhole access road.