On a sunny mid-November day I hiked through the middle grasslands from a designated trailhead in Lac du Bois Grasslands Park. A single track trail winds through the open grasslands past lakes and glaciated features. On this day I did a counter-clockwise loop that went east across the grasslands hills. On this day I did a counter-clockwise loop that went …Continue reading…
We hiked the trail along the Tranquille River at the end of summer. Part way up the trail the whole area is flooded. The marshy area is a result of a broken water pipe that runs from the dam/water treatment area upstream down to Tranquille. We can see the exposed pipe in several places, but at the flooded area, all …Continue reading…
On a day of less smoke from the forest fires, I hiked the hills around Deep Lake. From the parking area on Ida Lane, I started on the Extended Loop Route which goes north then west, working my way across the hills toward Deep Lake. There is a trail which goes up over the hills branching off the …Continue reading…
I hiked up to explore the old gold mine on Batchelor Hill. The first time was in about 1977 and each time I have returned, there is less to see, but since the views are terrific from the top of the hill, it is still worth the effort. I started at the trailhead area just past Batchelor Lake which is …Continue reading…
In early April I went up Mara Canyon with a plan to explore the steep slopes of the canyon. The trail was dry on the south-facing slopes, and mostly dry dropping into the bottom of the canyon and up through the narrows. I hiked about half-way up the canyon trail before heading east, up a steep slope below a series …Continue reading…
When the snows melt, mud is a challenge on most hiking trails, but any sloped route that is south-facing will dry off first. A route from the bottom near Tranquille up an old double track, then along a series of steeper ridges climbs through sagebrush grasslands to a high point above the Tranquille Canyon. The final goal is the top …Continue reading…
On a sunny summer day we hiked half of the Grasslands Community Trail from the top, then we looped back on a Connector Trail above McQueen Creek for an 8.6 km hike. We parked at the trailhead and followed the signed trail past Griffin Lake. After 1 km through the forest, the trail emerges into an open area with several …Continue reading…
The Deep Lake Trail starts at the trailhead on Ida Lane in Westsyde. We can hike up the road or onto a loop trail into Lac du Bois Grasslands Protected Area. Signage helps to direct hikers to the loop trail, to Deep Lake, or to the Grasslands Community Trail. On a June day we hiked toward Deep …Continue reading…
Every year I hike to the summit of Mara Mountain and the most frequent route used is a route from Pruden Pass up the northeast side of the mountain to the top. It is the shortest route with the least elevation gained, but there are no trails for half of the route, but the way is straightforward, winding up through …Continue reading…
In late winter the south-facing slopes dry off first so we head up into the hills, enjoying dry conditions when the route is ready. We hike up Tranquille Ridge from the bottom to the top of the hill sometimes called The Pimple, though we prefer just to refer to it as the Tranquille Ridge Summit. The route follows some double …Continue reading…
In the last third of winter we snowshoed the upper end of the Lac du Bois Grasslands Conservancy. The goal was to go on a known route to the end of Clay Lake, then continue east over to Meadow Pond and back, following some known tracks, some user-made snowshoe tracks, and breaking trail to connect them. There are some …Continue reading…
A route that we snowshoe every winter is through the middle grasslands of Lac du Bois Grasslands Protected Area through the maze of glaciated ridges and gullies, looping to viewpoints on the stomped in paths. We have developed routes over the years, but other snowshoers and hikers now do these loops too, so we can benefit from tracks set by …Continue reading…
With snow covering the hills, we chose to do an on-the-snow hike in the Lac du Bois Grasslands. The parking area for Red Hill is about 5.5 km from the cattleguard. Faint trails go around either side of Red Hill. Our route was around the north side of Red Hill, then around the large pond. Hidden from the roads, this …Continue reading…
In late fall most of the trails of the area became quite icy so we decided to hike in the lower grasslands on a route I call the Barren Hills. It is just an section of the lower Batchelor Hills. Some of the old double tracks were used by ranchers. Most of the single tracks are relatively new, made by …Continue reading…