This expedition may begin at any of the trails leading up to the timberline on the Selwyn Range adjacent to Valemount. This is the Canadian Rockies at its most pristine and spectacular. For the serious backpacker, a world of alpine lakes, basins, rushing streams, waterfalls and meadows stretches for 20 to 30 kilometers north and east from Valemount. Apart from the initial 4,000-foot climb to timberline, elevation changes in a typical day will be in the neighborhood of 500 to 1,000 feet lost and a similar amount gained. Destinations must be selected taking into account crossing the Fraser River or Moose Lake. It is quite easy to place a canoe as a means of exit from the hike, by paddling it solo, leaving it in the woods at the foot of the Selwyns and having a friend along with a second canoe for the return trip. If spotting a canoe along the Fraser River below Moose Lake you must have sufficient river experience to be able to select a relatively calm stretch where you have ample safety margin to complete the ferrying maneuver before being swept into faster water or logjams. There is whitewater in the area below Moose Lake, which is no place for a flat-water type of canoe, and several kilometers below is Overlander Falls. The lake can be hazardous also, due to sudden storms, particularly at the public boat launch area. The safest canoe crossing method is to cross the Fraser River within 2 km. of either end of the lake where there is little current and it is unnecessary to venture far from the nearest shore.

The Mount Robson area is also a suitable destination for hikes through the Selwyns from Valemount. Hargreaves Road crosses the Fraser here. It should be noted that 2 to 3 hours of difficult bushwhacking is required to descend from the Selwyn range at any point in the area mentioned. To avoid bushwhacking, see the Swift Creek Circle route below, which covers much of the same alpine country but is somewhat longer. There is some commercial recreational use of the area; however, this is essentially wilderness, and backpackers here would be wise to be totally self-reliant and not to expect to encounter anyone or get any kind of outside emergency assistance. A satellite phone might come in handy; a cell phone is not likely to work from the majority of this route.

See also the description of the Swift Creek Circle.