A route exists from the south of the Valhallas at Hoder Creek and Drinnon/Gwillim lakes that continues north along the spine of the Valhallas. Several exit routes exist to the east down to Slocan Lake.
Each person should have an ice axe and know how to use it, and the party should carry a light rope in case of a bad choice of route. Despite the low altitude, the terrain is very rugged and traverses through the Valhallas (especially the north part of the route) are not easy. Other than the north and south end points at Shannon and Drinnon Lakes that have road access, all other access points are by boat from Slocan Lake. The day-by-day itinerary is only a suggestion.
A key to successful backpacking in the West Kootenay is avoiding bushwhacks. Plan your routes carefully trying to stay close to the watershed where it is more likely to be subalpine or alpine with few trees. For example, I wouldn’t come within a kilometre of Wee Sandy Lake. The lake is well below the treeline and surrounded by frightening brush. A treeless route from Mt Meers to Mt Niord passes close to the divide above the trees. Then stay high above Grizzly Lake. If exiting at Wragge Creek (against all advice) it would be better to descend over Wragge Peak down to the trail.
Day 1. Drive up Hoder Creek FSR and park at the Drinnon Lakes TH, the main southern start point/terminus of all traverses.
Walk past Drinnon Lakes to Gwillim Lakes basin. Pass through the Black Prince/Lucifer col. Watch for ice on the descent from the col. An axe is necessary and late in the season, crampons could be handy. Descend to Rocky Lakes, a pretty place to camp.
Exit #1 Evans Lake. I knew people who did this. They even made it out alive. And unbelievably, they went back and did it again. They were truly mad. The bushwhack down to Evans Lake and around the lake is prodigious. The group constructed a raft and sailed down Evans Lake. From the end of Evans Lake, trend NE towards the east end of Beatrice Lake and the trail over truly awful terrain. None of this is recommended.
However, it might be the only way to see the Evans Lake cabin without flying in.
Day 2. Continue north walking between the two Hird Lakes and contour north and east to Urd Peak. Either traverse it descending the N ridge, Class 2-3; or possibly better, use the col east of Urd Peak (steep snow, perhaps ice). Descend to Upper Demers Lakes, the site of the 1978 KMC Hiking Camp.
Exit #2 Demers Lakes to Beatrice Lake and Evans Creek Trail. When I did the traverse, we camped between Demers Lake 2 and 3 and exited out Beatrice Lake. It was a very long day getting to the end of Beatrice Lake.
There are two steep descents between Demers Lake 3 and 4 and again after Demers Lake 5 down to the end of Beatrice. Walking the shore of Beatrice Lake is truly the worst bushwhack I have ever done. It was so bad that we tried walking in the woods – that was worse. There is an amazing amount of wood on the shore and it gets exhausting walking over and under the logs with a heavy pack. We all arrived at the campsite at the east end of Beatrice after dark and a 12-14-hour day. It was then an easy fourth day walking out the Evans Creek Trail to Slocan Lake. We had arranged a boat pickup. One could also walk out to Slocan City on the Slocan Lake Trail. Total of 4 days, is 32 km long and passes 16 lakes.
Day 3. If continuing the traverse, north of Demers Peak, walk on the divide itself. Access it from the NW corner of Upper Demers Lake. Stay on the divide until approximately 493-276 and descend off the ridge to the Avis Lakes basin (headwaters of Beatrice Creek). This is a possible Day 2 campsite.
At Avis Lakes, traverse east on the divide to a col (Snow Creek-Beatrice Creek 534-293) 2450 meters (8050 feet). Here the divide is too rugged and one must travel on either the east or west side of the divide. On the east, access ledges 150-210 metres below the east side of the ridge.
End this section on the east side at Nemo Lakes. If the day 2 campsite was at Avis Lakes, Nemo Lakes is likely the day 3 campsite.
Day 4. From Nemo Lakes, go over the col into Caribou Creek, or traverse east on the south side of the divide to the col north (or northwest) of Mount Meers at 583-331. Climb Mount Meers and descend its east side to the north end of Upper Wee Sandy Lakes. This was the location of the 1979 KMC Hiking Camp. Or descend to camp at the north end of Wee Sandy Lake. Or better yet, don’t go near the lakes and brush – camp high and traverse to Mt Niord above the trees.
Day 5
Exit #3. Mount Denver and Sharp Creek Trail. Access the ridge due east of Mt Meers that continues east to Mt Denver. Descend the glacier and follow the ribboned route to the Sharp Creek Trail that leads down to Slocan Lake. A boat pickup would be required.
Exit #4. Caribou Creek via Mt Meers. From the col west of Mt Meers, go left (west) to access Caribou Creek and after a long day of bushwhacking, reach a logging road (and hopefully a vehicle) that continues to Shannon Lake FSR (see post “Shannon Creek to Wee Sandy Lakes” for route and driving instructions).
To continue the traverse, descend to Wee Sandy Lake by an unpleasant bushwhack. Pass Wee Sandy Lake on either side – there is no trail. Alternately and a better choice, traverse under the east side of the Meers-Niord ridge, regaining the divide, to the south ridge of Mount Niord and traverse Niord, down the east ridge to the north of Wee Sandy Lake by another bushwhack.
Camp at one of the Wee Sandy Lakes – upper, main or lower.
Exit #5. Wee Sandy Lake Trail. This is a common terminus of some traverses. It is 14.4 km and one day on a reasonable trail down to Slocan Lake (going up is usually done in two days). The Iron Creek Cabin (previously the Holt Cabin) is approximately 4 km from Wee Sandy Lake. A boat pickup is required. Wee Sandy Beach is directly across from New Denver and is arguably the nicest campsite on the lake.
500m or 15 minutes from the lake, an old wagon road heads south to Sharp Creek along the lake. This is one of the many remnants of old logging.
Exit #6. Caribou Creek via Grizzly Lakes. There are two routes down. This is the most southerly of them: Grizzly Lakes are the two lakes north and northwest of Wee Sandy Lake. Stay high to the west above the large Grizzly Lake and contour to avoid bushwhacking. To exit out Caribou Creek, ascend the very steep grassy slopes (use an ice axe for safety) to the pass (one of two; 584-387) just south of Un. 2640m at the Un. 2640m-Niord Col and west-northwest of Grizzly Lakes. From the pass, descend to the NW (bear trails through the grass) to find a road (high clearance, four-wheel drive, low range) above the tree line where the valley is flat. Follow the road for 2kms to the junction with the Caribou Creek FSR where it makes a big indentation (about 550-417). From here it is 7km to the summit of the pass leading down to Shannon Creek. Refer to the post “Shannon Creek to Wee Sandy Lakes” for details of both these routes.
If continuing north, it would be best to traverse Mt Niord, come off the north ridge and contour around the basin to cross the ridge separating the Wee Sandy and Wragge Creek watersheds.
Ridge above Wragge Lakes – Skadi Peak to Old Goat Pass. This has been described as one of the most beautiful walks in the WK. The ridge is 5kms long, narrow in a few places, with some minor scrambling, varies from 7500-8000 feet and offers 360° views in both directions.
South access: “Skadi Peak” 8600′ – the peak at the south end of the ridge, North ridge is class 3/4.
North access: From the ridge, traverse 600m west to a gully that descends to below the north side of the Old Goat col. It is a fast scramble up the west ridge of Vingolf from the col.
OR Descend to the two small Upper Wragge Lakes. If descending out Wragge Lake (not recommended), turn right (east) and try to find the best way down to the lake. These lakes were described as the prettiest spot in the entire traverse. There are two sets of upper Wragge lakes – one in the SW of the basin and the others in the NW.
Exit #7. Wragge Lake and Creek. This descent has been done but has horrendous bushwhacking. It is a 2000-foot descent from the two small upper Wragge Lakes to Wragge Lake through terrain so steep that one feels like they are free-falling down the mountainside barely averting disaster by grappling onto the alder bushes. It doesn’t improve at Wragge Lake where the bush is so thick around the lake that it is faster to just wade through the waist-deep water along the shoreline. An old overgrown trail exists along Wragge Creek (initially on the south side of the creek) that descends 5 km to Wragge Creek FSR.
A better way may be to backpack over Un. 2638m (“Wragge Peak”), directly south of Wragge Lake, and descend this mountain’s north side to the lake, trail and road.
Day 6. If you have decided to not take the easiest exit from the traverse at Wee Sandy Trail, ending at Shannon Lakes is much easier than going down Wragge Creek. If you have decided to do the entire south/north traverse of the Valhallas following the watershed, then you would want to finish at Shannon Lakes anyway.
From the upper Wragge Lakes, contour into the valley with two small lakes northwest of Wragge Lake. This could be the last campsite. Or camp at Shannon Lake.
Access Shannon Lakes via One Goat Pass to the west of Mount Vingolf. Descend to the west side of upper Shannon Lake and then down the boulder fields to the south end of the Shannon Lake and the trail along the west shore.
It is the 1.6km down Huss Creek to the parking area on Shannon Creek FSR.
Refer to the post on Shannon Lakes for road access to Highway 6 and Hills.
