To the Trophy Mountains Rim
The best hike of our area is to the rim of Trophy Mountain. Starting in 1977, I have done the hike every year since and sometimes I have hiked to the meadows or to one of the peaks more than once (3x in 2019). The plan is to do the Trophy hike for as long as I can. This summer we hiked through the meadows and up to the rim with lunch on top of Long Hill, the lowest and easiest of the Trophy Summits. The hike is 7.75 km each way on an out-and-back route.
The first 2 km is a gradual climb through the forest, then the trail breaks out into open wildflower meadows below Little Hill.
tAt the shepherd’s hut the trail starts the climb up the ridges toward the alpine zone, passing above Sheila Lake.
The campsite at Sheila Lake below was unoccupied, but there were backpackers heading up the mountain later that day. The ridge of Long Hill is on the west side of Sheila Lake.
Past Sheila Lake the single track trail goes through high meadows to the large cirque of Trophy Two. Trophy One is on the right.
From the upper tarn below Trophy Two, we angled our way up to a col between the peaks.
From the rim we looked north to Battle Mountain where we backpacked in the previous year.
The Plateau of Tarns was below the rim. Roland Neave calls this one Lake of the Rock. We had lunch on top and returned the way we came.
Three of the Trophy summits can be seen from across tarns on the ridge.
It is a much more difficult route over to the summit of the highest of the Trophy Peaks, an all-day, off-trail effort (link).
One of the best features of the Trophy Mountain Rim trail is that the route is gradual, with few steep sections allowing a steady hiking pace up and back down. The scenery can’t be beat too.
On the way back down, the afternoon light shone on Raft Mountain from across the Trophy wildflower meadows.
The hike to the rim and back is about 15.6 km, taking about 5 hours. We will be back every year for as long as we can.
Doug Smith
Doug writes for Kamloops Trails, a not-for-profit (and ad free) website, offering information on trails, waterways, routes, featured spots, viewpoints, and explorations in the outdoors in the Kamloops area (and beyond).
Doug started exploring this area in 1976 and continues to follow tracks and routes wherever they lead, with the aid of map, compass, GPSr and camera. After many dead-ends, but also many discoveries, he chose to share this information.
The Kamloops Trails website has a massive number of interesting posts and would be of interest to anyone in Kamloops who enjoys the outdoors. Visit the Kamloops Trails website at: http://www.kamloopstrails.ca/
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