Thursday, 19 February 2009

Hiking Trails - Tonquin Valley - Day 5

This is a continuation of the post from last week where the hike stopped at the Surprise Point campground.

Today’s hike of 3.8 km goes south to Outpost Lake where the Wates-Gibson hut is run by the Alpine Club of Canada.

The trail from Surprise Point campground to Chrome Lake is a hike downhill on rocky footing. There will be a lot of mosquitos, so wear your bug hat, jacket, gloves, trousers and bug repellant.


[1-Trail south to Chrome Lake, at mid photo, and the Eremite Valley]




[2-Eremite Valley and Chrome Lake just visible in the centre of photo]




[3-Nearing Chrome Lake]




[4- Chrome Lake]




[5- Chrome Lake]



[6 - Mountain stream feeding Chrome Lake in the Eremite Valley]








[7- Eremite Valley - click to enlarge]


Once past Chrome Lake the trail will reach a junction with Eremite Valley trail and the Astoria River Trail. The trail continues on the left to Arrowhead Lake and the head of the Eremite Valley.



[8 - Peak in Eremite Valley]







[9- Eremite Glacier on Mt. Eremite]






[10- Eremite Valley - click to enlarge]




[11- Spruce Grouse on trail in Eremite Valley - click to enlarge]



Animals to be found in the Eremite valley are porcupines


[12- Porcupine]













and wolves.


[13- Wolf]




[14-Eremite Valley near Wates-Gibson hut]




[15- Creek near Outpost Lake]















The Wates-Gibson Memorial hut is another steep kilometre up the trail and set back from the shore of Outpost Lake.



[16- Outpost Lake - click to enlarge]


The Wates-Gibson Memorial hut was built in 1959. This Class “A” hut is a large and well-equipped log cabin is a perfect destination in summer or winter. There is a 30 person limit in the summer and 24 in the winter. Booking is required and fees apply. Reservations can be made up to three months in advance.



From the Wates-Gibson hut hikers can go west over the continental divide south of McDonnell Peak and Simon Peak to get a glimpse of wilderness considerably more remote and wild. There are also a number of excellent alpine and rock and mixed routes in the area including scrambles and hiking opportunities for everyone.


Sources: ParksCanada
Wates-Gibson Memorial Hut – Alpine Club of Canada

Photo Credits: [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][17]-brilang CC=nc-sa-flickr, [12]-Tiffany Schimmens CC-nc-sa-flickr, [13]-kielas CC-nc-nd-flickr, [14][15][16]-priya biswas CC=nc-sa-flickr.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello,
Very nice shots !!! Wonderful place. The Outpost Lake....Whaou, beautiful, this reflection and these colours are incredible.

Charles Gramlich said...

Love the wildlife, especially the wolf. Looks like a fabulous place to hike.

bindu said...

What a gorgeous location for a hike! Thanks for taking us along.

Teresa said...

More beautiful pictures, Barbara. I love the one of the porcupine and the "hut". I would love to spend a week there.

Barbara Martin said...

Aurélie, welcome. Mountain lakes are a wonderful respite from trudging on a rocky trail.

Charles, when hiking in the mountain woods one never knows what they may stumble across.

Bindu, if you decide to take a vacation to Jasper the landmarks will be familiar.

Barbara Martin said...

Teresa, one's comfort levels are increased with a stay in a mountain 'hut' rather than roughing it in a tent.

Steve Malley said...

gorgeous. Simply gorgeous.

Mary Witzl said...

I love the look of that gushing water -- also the cabin in the snow and the porcupine. But for some reason, I can't see all these pictures.

Wish I were 'roughing' it in a mountain hut...

L.A. Mitchell said...

These are breathtaking, Barbara. Almost too beautiful to be real.

Barbara Martin said...

Mary, unfortunately sometimes Google acts up and does strange things to my blog, like making the photos disappear when they're still there.

L.A., it's too bad I am unable to produce photos where if you reached in you could feel the clean crisp air filled with the scent of pine and wildflowers.

It's nice you've come up for some air after doing your edits. Feel free to venture over here for your virtual hike in the woods.

Brian said...

Barbara, how I would love to take photos here!! these are lovely so glad I called to look, thank you.

I am back posting again hope you have time to comment.

Brian

Rune Eide said...

I fell completely for that reflection. but was not very afraid of that wolf They are not as dangerous as some would have us believe.

Re you comment - I was standing on a quay half a metre above sea-level. It is a panorama made from three shot.

Barbara Martin said...

Steve, I'm glad you like the area.

Brian, in the wilderness there are many choice locations for photos.

RuneE, on several occasions I have been quite close to wolves, both in an urban environment. They had come into Edmonton (Alberta) during the deep freeze weather in January to follow the snowshoe hares. I was not threatened, but rather considered whether I, too, was after their prey. When they discerned this was not the case, I was ignored.