NOTE for Spring 2010: As far as I know, the cable car is still out of commission, and this hike is not possible at this time. I'll try to get an update.
NOTE: This hike requires workgloves for the cable car and sandals for fording creeks.
Synopsis: A very strenuous trip to Glacier Circle Hut in Glacier National Park.
Access: From the lights in Golden, drive south on Highway 95 for 35 kilometres and turn right on the Parson River Crossing Road. Set your odometer to zero here. Cross the Columbia River and its back channels on the five bridges and head up the hill on the Spillimacheen FSR.
There are many branches off this road, but stay on the main road. At 17 km, take the north fork (straight ahead.) Past 57 km, cross the Spillimacheen River on a bridge. Fifty metres past the bridge, turn right onto the Baird Lake road. (Note: you pass the Baird Creek road before the bridge, but you want the Baird Lake road.) You will notice a large sign that says "Road Closed." Drive down the Baird Lake road for 300 metres, and you will find out why the road is closed. The bridge is missing. If you have a low clearance two wheel drive, park here. If you have a high clearance four by four, you can drive through the creek on the left and continue on Baird Lake road. On foot or in your truck, continue for 500 metres until you reach a fork labelled Branch A. Take the left hand fork. The brush on the road is going to get brutal quite quickly, so you might chose to park at the fork. Again, on foot or in your truck, continue on the left hand fork for 700 metres. You will drive through the bottom of one cutblock, then reenter the forest (the brush is waist high here) and emerge into a second cutblock. Proceed to the end of this block. The road is dug up here, so park. There is room to turn around.
Trailhead: The road continues back into the forest just to the left of the road you followed. Walk up this road, which has enormous cross-ditches and lots of bush.
Trail: Continue on the road through yet another cutblock (a trail has been carved through the slide alder here), watching for major cross ditches on the way. Eventually, you re-enter forest and then come across another cutblock. Keep plodding along the road. There is some pink ribbon in this stretch that might help you in the dense alder. Eventually, the road just disappears. Stay to the right side and you'll pick up a skid trail that leads to the back end of the block, on the right. You actually want to be at the back end of the block on the left, but the easiest route is to get to the back first, and then follow the edge of the block uphill to the top corner. You will have travelled about 2.5 km from your truck (or if you parked at the missing bridge, about 3.7 km.)
And now the bad news. The col at Caribou Pass is 1.5 km away, on a bearing of 250 degrees. There is no trail. The last 500 metres is in a semi-open boggy area near the col, so basically you have one kilometre of bushwhacking to do. It can get brutal in spots. I've done it a few times now, and my only suggestion is to cheat a little bit to the left on the way up. The brush is a bit thinner there, and you can skirt some of the deeply carved water courses.
There are game trails all over the place, so if you find one, you can often follow it uphill for a ways. There is also quite a bit of ribbon on this hillside, and I have no idea what it signifies.
As you get nearer to the col, the forest opens up and the whole area is quite marshy. You will also start finding orange ribbon, and eventually a cleared trail for the last 200 metres to the col. I have heard a couple of different stories about this trail, but nothing definitive yet.
The col, and the park boundary, is marked with a slash line and a legal survey post. From the col at Caribou Pass, you will pick up the Parks Canada Caribou Connector trail, which heads to the left, or west. (If you continue north, up the hill, you will come to the Caribou backcountry campground and eventually Bald Mountain. The Caribou Campground outhouse is about 30 metres up the trail, on your left, hidden in the bush.)
The Caribou Connector trail is about 7 kilometres long and drops 650 metres. It is easy descending, except you spend the whole time thinking about how you'll have to climb back up it at a later date. It switchbacks steeply down the hill before turning north and sloping down to the 20 Mile Warden's Cabin. About two kilometres before the cabin, you will notice a trail coming in from the left. I think this is the trail that continues all the way to the headwaters of the Beaver River. It doesn't matter right now, but on the way back up you will want to take the left hand (uphill) fork, or you could end up walking to Nelson.
Note that the Caribou Connector trail is improperly marked on the Chrismar Rogers Pass map. The trail starts at the col, not the campground, and is located to the south of what the map indicates.
The trail continues on a gentle downslope for a long ways, but you have to keep your eye out for the turnoff, as it is only signed for hikers heading the other way. You might notice an old wooden sign on your left, and a trail heading down to a boggy area with log boardwalks. Once you turn around to read the sign, it says "Glacier Circle." You want to turn left here.
If you miss this turnoff, within a few hundred metres you will come across the 20 Mile wilderness campground. Again, all the signs for this are facing the other way. If you cross two log bridges in quick succession and the trail splits, you have gone too far. Not to worry, the left hand trail leads back to the 20 Mile Warden Cabin, alongside the Beaver River.
The cabin is a good place to rest, as things are about to get tricky in a hurry. From the cabin, head south to rejoin the trail, turn right across the last log bridge, and head to the left in the grassy area. The trail is hard to see, but it enters the trees along the river bank and heads south to meet the cable car.
You need to cross the Beaver River on the cable car. A pair of workgloves is highly recommended. A few hints: face in the direction of travel. Being tall, I found it easiest to stand up and pull on the thick cable the car rides on, rather than the thin one meant for propulsion. Having a partner on the shore pulling is a big help, too.
Once across the Beaver River, follow the trail through the bush until you enter an old forest with big trees and little ground cover. This section is so beautiful you might not even notice that the trail is getting very steep. Well, okay, you'll notice but not mind as much. After a bit, you move out of the forest and into an old burn, and then into a slide path coming off Mount Macoun. This is a brutal steep uphill grunt, and the trail has not been cleared in a while. You will have difficulty seeing where you are putting your feet. It is also prime bear habitat.
The trail reaches some trees and levels off slightly, before resuming the relentless uphill climb. You will find yourself well above the waterfall on the outflow creek from Glacier Circle. The trail then levels off, crosses more steep slide paths, and reaches a large flat rock. From here, much to your dismay, the trail drops abruptly down the hill to the floor of the basin. Nothing like losing a lot of hard-earned elevation in a hurry. (Note that the Chrismar map shows the trail continuing along the shelf below Mt. Macoun. If this was once true, it no longer is.)
Once on the valley floor, it is an easy stroll to the back of the basin, first in forest and then in scrub. The views start opening up here, and they are spectacular. That is Mount Topham on your left, Mount Selwyn ahead, the Mount Fox slightly to the right, and a high dirt bank further on your right. More on that bank in a bit.
As you get to the outflow creek from the Illecillewaet Neve coming in from your right, you will probably need to ford several branches of the creek. Then, follow the pink ribbons for the new trail up that huge moraine on your right.
This is probably the wettest Parks trail you will ever find. The whole hillside bleeds water, and the trail is a constant mud bog. It climbs steeply up the side of the moraine, finally drying out about two thirds of the way up. The comes the fun part. The last 15 metres of the moraine are incredibly steep, and there is no trail to speak of. This is why your mother told you not to chew your fingernails: you'll need them for purchase as you claw your way up this desperate stretch. You can try kicking steps in the till. The only thing that keeps you going is the fact you've come so far, and the hut is so near. (Earlier trail descriptions say to climb the moraine at the far (west) end; I can't vouch for that.)
Once you gain the top of the moraine, you'll be greeted by a lovely little lake. The trail from here is tricky to follow. (David Jones describes the hut as being notoriously difficult to find.) Skirt the small lake on the left, turn the corner, and stay low on the boulders to get to the bigger lake. Again, stay low on the slope to get around the big lake, and head for its inflow creek. Follow the left bank (looking upstream) of the creek until you reach a large log crossing. Cross the log, follow the trail uphill for about 150 metres, and you will find the newly renovated (2006) Glacier Circle Hut, amidst some huge boulders that are bigger than the hut itself. For GPS users, the hut is at 725691.
To stay overnight in the hut, you are supposed to have previously booked and paid for your accomodation. You can book the accommodation at the Rogers Pass Centre, or online. The hut can sleep eight people (but they had better be good friends.)
The hut was fixed up in July and August, 2006, with new foundations, new bottom logs, new roof, and a new, two story outhouse, which means it can be found in the winter. By the way, winter travellers will want to know that a person standing at the door looking out is facing 55 degrees, and is about two steps to the left of centre. Happy digging.
To stay in the hut, you will need a sleeping pad and bag, and food. There is enough firewood around now for years, as well as dishes, utensils, a white gas stove and lantern, cards, crib board, and some truly awful literature. Parks Canada will tell you stove fuel is not provided (although there is often some left there.)
There are also copious supplies for cleaning up after yourself, so please do so.
Cautions: