Trail reviews, tips, photos, stats, maps, and more!
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 […]
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 […]
The snow is going fast at lake-level with the mild spring temperatures, and that has opened up a couple of great shoreline hikes! These two trails are now snow-free and ready for exploring: Pilot Peninsula – East Shore Kootenay Lake Yellow Pine Trail – Syringa […]
It was a beautiful day to hike up to the flagpole above Pulpit Rock. The fall leaves are at their peak right now and Nelson is full of colour! The flagpole trail has had a number of improvements this season, including the development of new […]
It was a good plan. We were going to hike Jumbo Pass and Monica Meadows over the Thanksgiving long weekend, ending the hiking season in a blaze of glorious, golden larches. Sadly, Air Canada had other ideas.
I spent a summery September day hiking Gimli Ridge! We hiked this trail last year under ominous active weather, but today the Valhallas were sunny and warm and cheerful. Some other improvements over last year’s excursion: More goats! We met a large, male mountain goat […]
We spent a magical weekend backpacking into Gwillim Lakes. This is truly my favourite West Kootenay hike and an overnighter was the only way to do it justice!
Smoke from the wildfires has settled around the Kootenays, pushing the mountains back into a blue haze. It’s not great conditions for hiking, but we trekked up towards Kokanee Lake anyways.
Returned to Toad Mountain today with the goal of avoiding further sunburn. It was a hot hike in the full sun and we moved slowly along the ridge, packing snow into our hats.