Stein Wilderness Traverse - B.C.

“Thought I'd go for a little walk on the river..... okay this was actually more than just a little walk. It's a trek that I've had on my 'must do' list since the first time I stepped foot in the Stein Canyon nearly ten years ago.

The Stein Valley Wilderness lies north of Vancouver, B.C., tucked between the Coast Mountains east of Whistler and the Fraser River Canyon. I had been in as far as 20 miles from the east side TH, where the Stein meets the Thompson & the Fraser, but never seemed to get around to doing the full traverse. Part of the reason was that the west side TH is hours from the other and there was no easy way to do a shuttle. Last year a friend suggested putting together a small group and arranging a drop-off and pick-up, so I jumped at the chance. Unfortunately the FS road to the western TH washed out, so we put the plan on hold until we could get some more intel on accessibility.

Even before the washout this was a 50+ mile trek traversing the Coast Mtn Divide before dropping into Stein Lake and following the river's course through the glacial valley and down through a canyon to where it joins the Fraser. The washout adds about another 8 miles and 3000' vertical feet just to get up to the TH, and puts the total vertical gain for the trek over 15000'. The only route guide for this area was published in 1991 describing the full traverse as "difficult and best left to experienced hikers in good physical condition with some degree of masochistic inclination", and warning of "unpredictable weather, steep ascents and descents, rough terrain, and the need for solid route finding and navigation skills".

So this would be the year at last, and late September is the perfect time to go. It's a narrow window of opportunity for a couple of reasons. Firstly, if you go too early after the alpine snow clears in mid-July, the mid-valley would be very buggy and the canyon can hit summer temps well over 100 degrees. However if you wait 'til October, the snow will be flying once again. The Coast Mtns are notorious for foul weather and a system can sock-in and pound the west side for days, dropping the visibility to nil. Another advantage to going later in the season, is that trails crews may have made an attempt to keep up with the phenomenal amounts of blow-down in the valley. The eastern 20 mile section is quite well marked trail, but the rest is little more than a route and in some sections not even that. Each year a few cairns are erected in the alpine, and then wiped out by winter conditions. Also, 10 years ago there was a pretty major fire in the mid-valley and the young forest there is quick to cover the path.

The Stein Valley is a pristine wilderness watershed that has never seen commercial resource harvesting..... remarkable really considering its location in southwestern British Columbia. The ecology of the area is intact and amazingly diverse, from the cool wet forests of the western slopes, through the alpine zone and then into the rainshadow of the Coast ranges where the Interior Douglas-fir zone progresses to groves of Cottonwoods, Aspens and Cedars as the canyon narrows and reaches the arid zone of Ponderosa Pine - Bunchgrass. Equally diverse is the wildlife of the Stein. All manner of critters live here, from tiniest bugs & birds, rodents and reptiles, felines and canines, to the larges of beasts including grizzlies, black and cougars

Close to the Stein, site of inhabitance by the native Nlaka' pamux peoples have been dated back 6500 years. The valley played an important role in their culture and mythology, as well as providing excellent grounds for hunting, fishing and gathering. The Mt Currie & Lytton Bands joined with conservationists to preserve this area as a Native Heritage Site (now part of the Provincial Park system) in the early 1970s. There are numerous sites along the trail where native pictographs, 'cultural modified trees' and other signs of the early inhabitants can be found.

Our group of seven planned a nine day trip to complete the traverse. It's possible to do it in less I suppose, but we wanted to allow a day or two for the possibility of bad weather without having to crunch the miles to make up time on the east side. We also were expecting some seriously slow going through sections of boulder fields and blow-down. And then there's always the unforeseen incidents that could seriously alter our plans. Short of carrying a satellite phone, we would be as much as three days from any assistance on this route (As it turns out, we didn't even see another person until day eight). Best case scenario would be a couple of light trail days to relax by the river, and to camp in the prime locations after crossing the divide.

A full trip report is in the works, and the photos are coming together

Enjoy......

Trip & Photos Page
last edited: 10/08/05 9:50:02 AM”

“Wow, those pics are amazing! I can't wait for the full trip report. How many times did you cross the river? And I wish I had that burger right now!
Thanks for sharing.”

“We actually only cross the Stein 3 times.... twice by cablecar and once on a bridge. There is also cablecars over two of the major feeders, as well as several bridges of various sorts on the minor creeks”

“Hodgie - you knock me out!!! I can't wait for the trip report. The "teaser" really whets the ol' appetite!”

“Looks like a superb trip.”

“Hodge, you guys gonna have a better winter this year?”

“I sure hope so Dunk ! There was even a little early dusting of snow on the North Shore Mtns the other day.... gets everybody thinking about skiing. Are you coming up to Whistler again this year?”

“Awesome trip pictures as usual Hodge! What a treat for the group to have Trillium and TheHiker show up with steaks and all the trimmings! Your hikes are always a surprise with food (such as crab and beer in the middle of the WTC!).”

“Excellent-o-rama, hodgemeister!!! I had actually checked out the pics before you posted this, when it popped up on my webshots desktop thingamabobber. Looks like a cool trip.”

“Great pictures Hodge. I've snuck a peek at the other trip report already but can't wait to see what more you have to add. We got snow on the Virginia Lakes hike(a dusting)so hurry up Canada its catch up time.”

“Awesome report and photos Hodge!!!”

“Ya JVZ we're really hoping that you California guys won't steal all of our snow again this year
;-)

BillyGoat is working on a major trip report for this one, so hopefully it will be wrapped up soon and I can add a link to the trip page”

“Great pics...wish I was there (except for all the uphill!!!)”

“Wow! Great photos. Things are different up north. The way across the water, steaks and beer brought by friends, and the size of the footprints stand out in particular. Looks like an amazing trip.”

“Thanks guys.
Ya lots of uphill on this one Phil
;-)”

“Uphill, schmuphill!”

“looks like a great trip”

“No plans for Whistler yet. I will have 2 weeks off around the same time frame so maybe the Oly trip and Whistler again, just no plans yet. I'm also trying to save up for Sabbatical which I'm eligible for in April '06. I might wait until the following winter and take a trip around the world.”

“Dunk - Sabbatical eh? Must be nice. I just marked 25 years and still all I got was the cheap gold watch LOL. Keep me posted for the new year then.... not sure if there's going to be an Oly trip.”

“I've added a trip report link to the group page. BillyGoat did a really nice job on it.

GroupPage
last edited: 10/12/05 11:02:07 PM”

“Dunk - Sabbatical eh?

Is eh one of them Canadian words?

I'll keep you posted on my plans.

So what's the dealio with the olys? Shoot me an email if you have the low down. Come to think of it, I haven't heard much from Bruce at all this summer.”

“This was a fantastic trip!

Hodge, you are an amazing routefinder. Your skill enabled the rest of us to continue plodding up and down hills, through boulder and rock fields, through and over streams, and over and under the blowdown. Thank you.

Our group was wonderful. When we started planning this trip we purposely kept the size small, but not too small. We have all hiked and partied and dined together over the past couple of years, and we knew that this was a strong group.

During the first three days none of us would even consider doing this trip again, but by the end at least one was thinking about a future traverse, and others were thinking about returning to explore the alpine area from Lizzie Lake.

I had tears in my eyes when we got into the last camp and I saw Trillium and TheHiker. Trillium had planned on doing this traverse last September and couldn't fit it into her plans for this year. I was so happy that she was able to make it for this one night. She is an honorary Stein Warrior Princess :-)

I had hoped to see the alpine lakes in their full glory, amidst clear blue skies and snow-covered peaks, and one day maybe I will ;-)”

“I didn't realize I was logged out from webshots, and the pop ups were ANNOYING! But I made it thru the first album. Beautiful! What were the bird tracks? Looked big! I'll check out the rest later . . . gotta get back to work!”

“You're most welcome for my part in the guiding role, TrailFlower. And I was happy to have BillyGoat along to share that duty.

I will definitely take you up on the raincheck for the alpine. Tundra Lake especially would be incredible, not to mention the snow-packed peaks of the Pacific Range.... awesome !”

“Ya Snowy... musta been one large type bird alright. If you forced me to guess I'd say Heron. It's definitely not a raptor's talon so Heron is about the only thing I can think of that's large enough”