Category: Kooteneer Blog

March is here and it doesn’t feel like winter will be over for a while! But despite the cold, the days are lengthening and the sun is brightening and hiking season is just around the corner.

My goal over the winter was to edit and re-format all of the 60+ hikes on this site. And while I made some progress, I also got caught up in some other community initiatives (hello, Cottonwood Lake Preservation Society!) and still have more work to do!

Work Completed – Winter 2018/2019

• Added 3 new snowshoe trips.
• Added 4 new shoulder-season hikes.
• Simplified trip rating system and updated all posts.
• Added yellow safety boxes highlighting significant hazards on hikes and routes (example Mt Loki).
• Added new map page with better functionality and summaries of hikes.
• Added new categories to find hikes (including 2WD low-clearance vehicle access).

Snowshoe Trips

Winter backcountry travel can have much higher risks with avalanche terrain, route-finding, cold temperatures and short days. I’ve had a few requests to post snowshoe routes on this site, but I’m reluctant to post trips that could lead inexperienced snowshoers into trouble.

The snowshoe trips I’ve shared all stay in simple avalanche terrain. I’ve added yellow safety boxes to highlight some of the additional hazards on these routes (see White Queen – Snowshoe Route). I welcome feedback about how to handle snowshoe routes and the trips I’ve posted so far! Please contact me if you have any suggestions!

2018 Financials

West Kootenay Hiking made a bit of money in 2018 through merchandise sales on Redbubble – thanks for supporting the project! You can review the 2018 Financial Statement on Google Sheets.

The $112.30 of profit from 2018 will be donated to the Friends of Pulpit Rock Society. Pulpit Rock is one of the most popular hikes in the region and was the first trail that I explored when I moved to Nelson in 2016.

Next Steps

Hiking season is around the corner! What’s next for the project?

• Continue editing and re-formatting older hikes.
• Expanding and re-organizing Resources section.
• Improving site navigation and search functionality.
• Lots of trip planning! Continue expanding the site with new trails in 2019, especially focusing on exploring West Kootenay places that are a little further afield!

Happy hiking!

-Abby

Happy Canada Day! Today is the launch of WestKootenayHiking.ca!

When I moved to Nelson in April 2016, I started a personal hiking blog called “The Kooteneer” to capture trail reports and adventures on our West Kootenay hiking trails. Since then, I’ve written nearly 100 posts and had traffic to the blog steadily increasing to over 10,000 visitors.

Seeing the interest in a West Kootenay online hiking resource (and also how I was almost maxed out on my free wordpress.com space!), I began making plans in 2017 to expand The Kooteneer into something bigger that could go beyond one person’s adventures in the mountains and capture information for our entire hiking community. I wanted to create an online hiking guide that could be used and maintained by locals and had the most up-to-date info about hiking trails and access.

I’ve looked at many hiking sites for inspiration! One of my favourites is the Washington Trails Association!

Designing this kind of website takes quite a bit of time and energy and so I’m using a phased approach to slowly expand the scope and functionality of this site. See below!

Phase 1 – Complete

• Transfer kooteneer.wordpress.com to westkootenayhiking.com
• Set up basic site design and SEO, keep it mobile-friendly!
• Summer 2018: continue adding new hikes and collecting GPS data

Phase 2 – Fall 2018

• Reach out for feedback from local hiking community
• Introduce new “trail” templates to standardize trail information (stats, map, GPS, pictures, access road). Reformat a lot of old content!
• Add interactive maps and elevation profiles to each trail with GPS download
• Expand the “Resources” section

Phase 3 – Winter 2018-2019

• Set up ‘User Generated Posts’ for trip reports so that visitors can submit info.
• Set up functionality for users to rank trails.
• Improve post categorization and search functionality.
• Expand admin access to a small team of local editors to help add new trails, monitor user trip reports, maintain the site, and expand the Resources section.
• Establish revenue model to cover the costs of webhosting (grants, ads, merch) – profits to go back to local hiking clubs/conservation societies.

Hopefully the site will be ready to go for Summer 2019 hiking season! In the meantime, there is lots of information posted that I’ve collected over the past two years and I’ll keep adding content.

If you have any thoughts or feedback on this project, please contact me!

I’ll be reaching out to the local community periodically for feedback throughout this process (especially on designing trail templates and trip reports)!

This site is a passion project and I’m happy to dedicate the hours to building and developing westkootenayhiking.ca. If you’re an experienced web developer who would like to volunteer mentorship and feedback (and possibly some trouble-shooting!) throughout this process, please get in touch. 🙂

-Abby

See Part 2: West Kootenay Hiking – Fall Updates

 

 

With summery temperatures pushing +30, the snow-line is finally receding higher into the mountains and more shoulder-season hikes are opening up.

The wildflowers on the Flagpole trail above Nelson are absolutely fantastic right now. Red paintbrush, blue delphinium, and huge clusters of yellow balsamroot, as well as many more are blanketing the open sections of the trail!