NOTE from late July, 2011: There is currently active logging on the Whiskey Creek Road. Driving on the road during the week is not advised.
Synopsis: Once you are above treeline, this is a pleasant stroll through alpine meadows to a stunning 360 degree panorama.
Access: From the lights in Golden, drive south on Highway 95 for 35 kilometres. Turn right on the Parson River Crossing Road and set your odometer to 0. Cross the Columbia River and back channels on five bridges. Continue straight, past the CMH helipad, and follow the Spillimacheen FSR. At 17 km, stay straight on the North Fork. At 23 km, check your odometer and if it doesn't agree, reset it to zero and subtract 23 from the following instructions.
At 23.3 km, turn right on the Whiskey Creek FSR. If you reach the Loon Lake turnoff on the left, you've gone about 30 metres too far. (Note: The Whiskey Lake FSR is at 20.3 km. Don't take it.)
The Whiskey Creek FSR has more branches than a chartered bank, so pay attention here. At 24.6 km, do not take Branch A, but curve left instead. At 24.9 km,where a sign says Branch B, bear right. At 25.0 km, drive through the landing and curve right, up the hill.
At 26.2 km, curve right up the hill, and do not go straight on Branch D. At 27 km, stay left. Do not go right on F Branch. At 28 km the road curves left onto G Branch, but you want to go right. Unfortunately, a killer cross ditch has been installed here, and the brush is getting very thick. If you are in a low clearance car, park off the road here and walk an extra kilometer. Otherwise, drive through the cross ditch (and watch for five more) and continue until 29.2 km, where there is a wide area with a good view. Park here. (If you don't care about your paint job or your oil pan, it might be possible to drive another 800 metres. I really don't recommend it.)
Trailhead: From the parking area, head up the road to a fork. The right hand fork is marked with an H. Don't take it. Turn left on to an overgrown road and follow it for 800 metres as it switchbacks up the hill. This part of the route is getting seriously overgrown. When you reach a large landing, look for an overgrown skid road to your right. Follow this trail for 250 metres until a faint skid trail, with an obvious foot path, heads up the the left. Follow this for about 20 metres, and the trail heads into the timber on the right. Look for orange flagging tape on this section if you're in doubt.
Trail:The trail climbs through the timber to the ridge. There is one very steep pitch early, and then the walking is easy. After 2 kilometres, you come across a trapper's cabin. The trail continues on the other side of the cabin and heads to the east side of the ridge. After 3 kilometres, you break into the open and get a view of the Columbia Valley.
Shortly after crossing a stretch of flat ground where a great deal of water is weeping from the rock, the trail turns uphill and climbs to the edge of a ravine. Take a look back at this point. Finding the trail on the way down can be a problem.
This ravine runs in a rough north-south direction, and the trail heads north on the east side of the gully. In the ravine are two small lakes, separated by about 500 metres of a dry stretch. North of the second lake is an outlet creek. You'll need to understand this for what follows.
There are two options for the hiker at this point.
Follow the trail for another 500 metres, and you will notice the second lake in the gully, and a trail visible on the other side. Just beyond two large fallen trees, drop down to the lake and climb the hill on the other side. The trail becomes faint here, but just head up to the ridge above you. You're right: the first apparent ridge is never the real one, but you will get to the true ridge eventually.
Don't drop down to the lake, but continue along the east lip of the ravine until you drop down to the outlet creek. (A beautiful spot, incidently.) Jump across the creek and pick up the trail on the north side, which turns uphill and climbs into the meadows.
For each option, the repeater, which looks like a rocket on a launch pad, is clearly visible to the north. Work your way towards it across the alpine meadows.
The view speaks for itself. The massif across the Columbia Valley and one row back is the Goodsirs in Yoho. Mt. Assiniboine is visible to the south, Sir Donald to the north (you'll need to walk over to the other side of the ridge) and to the west is the Conrad Glacier.
Cautions: