Rockies Recollections – Wapta Traverse

Rockies Recollections – Wapta Traverse

Doug Smith  August 15, 2023 at 8:35 am

Some time ago, there were quite a few trips to the Rockies to mountaineer, backpack, run, hike, and explore.    Most of those trips were done before a SLR camera was part of the gear.    Most trips had no photos or a cheap film camera with a few images saved.   Some were scanned, and there are more to come.   A few of the scans are shared here.

This photo was taken from the Wapta Icefields near Balfour Hut on the way to the Balfour High Col.   We backpacked and skied from Peyto Lake during that particular trip.

We parked at the Peyto Lake viewpoint, put on our backpacks, and skied down to Peyto Lake.   From the end of the lake we climbed up the rocky gullies to the toe of Peyto Glacier, arriving at the Peter Whyte Hut while it snowed.    the outhouse was perched on the edge of the drop-off into the valley below.

Later in the week, we skied around St. Nicholas Peak to Bow Glacier and Bow Hut.

We skied the Wapta Icefields a number of times, mostly with some success, but we also had some whiteouts, some over-nighters in a tent on the snow, some wrong route choices, some avalanche danger, but also great adventure.

 

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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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