NOTE for 2011: Due to a washout at 28.8 km on the Blaeberry FSR, you will need to walk, bike or quad the last 13 km to the trailhead.
A few comments on the Howse Pass trail: This hike generates more email questions than any other on the site. Here are a few things you need to know when planning to do this historic hike:
Synopsis: A multi-day hike across an historic pass. There is no overwhelming scenery, but lovely vignettes at a few spots.
Access: From the junction of Highway 95 and Highway 1, drive west on the Trans Canada Highway for 11.6 km to Moberly Branch Road. Go up the hill 1.9 km to a T, and turn left on Golden Donald Upper Road. After 0.9 km, bear right on to Oberg Johnson Road, and follow it 1.9 km to the end, where it forms a T. Turn left on Moberly School Road and follow it for 0.5 km until it curves to the right and becomes Blaeberry Road. Follow Blaeberry Road for 6.5 km, until you see a sign on the right that says M Road. Set your odometer to 0 here, and it will match the FSR signs for a while. Turn left 0.2 km past the M Road sign, and cross the Blaeberry River on a bridge. Follow the Blaeberry FSR to the end at 42 km, at the Cairnes Creek Recreation site.
At 41.5 km there is a left hand fork with a sign for the David Thompson Trail. This road leads to Cairnes Creek in about 100 meters. The road is rough with no spot for turning around. Instead, drive down the right hand fork for 100 metres to the Rec site and park here.
If you plan leaving a vehicle here for any period, it is important to protect it from porcupines. Bring enough chicken wire to wrap all the way around your car, and use local rocks to anchor it.
Some people think this is a joke, but it isn't. These rodents will eat essential rubber parts on your vehicle, rendering it inoperative. And they are voracious. One time I camped here, I didn't bother with the wire and had to chase a porcupine off my differential at one o'clock in the morning. (I don't know if that's an approved use for a hiking stick, but it did the trick.)
Note that the Howse Pass trail stays on the west side of the Blaeberry River. The two-log bridge near the rec site leads to a backcountry lodge up Wildcat Creek, and is not the route you want.
Trailhead: Walk back down the Blaeberry FSR for about 100 metres and turn right onto the old skid trail where the David Thomspon Trail sign is nailed to a tree. Follow this road 150 metres to Cairnes Creek. About 30 metres before the creek, the trail heads left into the bush and gains the creek 200 metres upstream.
Trail: Although the trail is no longer maintained by the B.C. Ministry of Forests, it is well worn and easy to follow. Once when it drops to the river flats, you need to keep an eye out for when it reenters the trees. If you run out of flat, you've gone a bit too far. Although the trail follows the river, there is some up and down in this section on inside bends. There are a few creek crossings, which were rock-jumpable in September.
At about 8.5 km, you reach Lambe Creek, which has an aluminum bridge across it. Take a minute and look upstream; there is a series of four stepped waterfalls in this lovely canyon. Just past the bridge is a camping area. The trail now starts climbing up and to the left. There is one confusing section of semi-open meadow here, where a trail seems to curve way left and dead end at a thicket of spruce trees. Go back about 25 metres and you'll find a faint junction. There is one piece of windfall you will need to climb over, but the pink flagging tape will reassure you that you're on the right path. Now comes the biggest hill on the whole hike. (The old Gemtrek map is in error here; the trail does not keep following the Blaeberry River. In fact, when you finally stop climbing, you are about 30 metres higher than the pass itself.) When you start descending while heading east, you will think you've crossed the divide, especially when you see water heading east. But you are still several kilometres away. Follow the trail down to a grassy meadow. Head for the bushes on the east side of the meadow to pick up the trail again. Climb the small hill, skirt the lake in the next grassy meadow on the east side, and eventually you are walking across a flat plain where the bush is starting to encroach on the trail. Once you reach the far end of this meadow, you will find the markers for the continental divide.
There are markers for the divide, for Thompson's journey, and for Banff National Park. The divide marker, a hunk of concrete encased in aluminum, is a piece of history itself, as decades of travellers have scratched their names on the aluminum. If you're from Golden, you will recognize a few of them.
Once past the markers, you are now in Banff National Park, and park rules, including overnight fees, apply. One way to legally skirt the fees is to camp at the border, on the B.C. side.
Heading down the trail, you cross a creek (rock-jumpable in September) and then, oddly, start climbing to avoid the Conway Creek canyon. You will meet the first and most serious stretch of windfall about 1.5 km in; there is a wide patch of downed pine blocking the trail. There is another windfall a bit further on; several spruce that you can walk around on the right. After 2.8 km from the border, you come to another creek that needs fording. On the far side of the creek is a (very old) sign that reads Howse Pass, 2 miles. You might not notice, but there is a junction about 20 metres past that sign.
The trail along the Howse River turns right up the hill, and you will need to take it eventually. But the trail to the left leads to the river flats near the confluence of the Conway, Freshfield and Forbes Creeks and has the best views on the whole hike. It is about one kilometre to the flats, and well worth the trip. This is a good place to camp. There is a warden cabin here, although you have to ford Conway Creek to get to it.
From that junction by the forded creek, the trail down the Howse River stays mostly in the forest to the east of the river and has no views whatsoever. Parts of the trail are rooty and muddy, and it is also riddled with windfall. Most can be stepped over, climbed over, or walked around. Crawling under when wearing an overnight pack isn't a favorite option, but is unavoidable in a handful of cases.
From the junction to the trailhead at Mistaya Canyon is about 24 kilometres. About 7 kms from the junction the trail emerges onto the river flats and in the low water season you can stay on the flats for a large portion of the remaining distance, as long as you don't mind wading through various side channels. The trail appears and disappears along here. Eventually, it will lead back into the trees before the river takes a large bend to the right. Expect more windfall.
Make no mistake about it. This stretch of the hike, from the junction near the warden's cabin to the Mistaya trailhead, is a real grunt with little reward. And when you finally emerge at the Mistaya Canyon bridge, the tourists who have sauntered down the path from the parking lot to view the rapids will glare at you like you are intruding on their appreciation of the natural beauty. (And after a few days in the bush, that's probably true.)
Plan your pick-up at the Mistaya Canyon parking lot. There is no way to get to the store at the Crossing without fording a serious river or walking 4 kms on the highway. The Icefields Parkway is a tourist road, and no one is going to pick up hitchhikers with giant packs who look like they just crawled out of the bush. Unfortunately, there are no amenities at the parking lot, except a small roof over the information board, should you need to wait out of the weather. There are no outhouses here.
Alternative plan: This was suggested to me before I did the hike, and I can now see the wisdom in it. Hike from Cairnes Creek to the warden's cabin, and then return. (It's about 16 km each way.) You get back to your own car, you avoid a 24 kilometre slog, and you don't have to arrange transportation on the Icefields Parkway. In fact, if you make it a three day return trip, you have a day to wander up Freshfield Creek and explore.
Cautions:
Some reading: To prepare for yourself for the historical aspects of the trip, there are two books you can read. Sources of the River, by Jack Nisbet, is a very well-written account of David Thompson's life. And, from the horse's mouth, there are Thompson's Journals. You probably won't find a copy of the originals, but Barbara Belyea edited a version called Columbia Journals which many libraries will have.