We enjoyed a wonderful trip, starting from Cornelis' home 7:45 Saturday morning, June 17th, 2006. The weather was excellent throughout the weekend, the temperatures were in the 15o - 20oC range during the day. We started out from the trailhead (WPA) at 10:35AM. On the way to James Lake the weather was sunny, with only a few small squalls pushing through the Fording River Pass, too far away to bother us. The flow through Baril Creek was strong, but crossings were facilitated by 2 to 3 log-wide bridges. At the second crossing we strung a rope handrail for security. At a certain point we picked up the blue blazes of the Continental Divide Connector Trail.

We followed Baril Creek West, 100m beyond the junction to James Lake (WPB), then bush-whacked around the W and N shore of this lake to find a comfy fireplace & cooking area (WPC) at 1:45PM. We also found a great, dry camp site on a little knoll (75m SW of the fireplace area, WPD), within a sheltered cusp overlooking James Lake (NE of James Lake). We finished setting up camp at 3PM and started climbing up to the Col NE of Mt Bolton. We climbed steadily through fairly open lodge pole pine forest to the Karst Area East of Mt Bolton. In the open Karst Area, we did not recognize the vague junction (WPE) between the trails leading to Fording River Pass and the Col NE of Mt Bolton and continued 200m down along the trail to FR Pass. Upon reaching the Creek we realized the errors of our ways, but not quick enough to stop Andy from testing his new boots in a “shallow” part of the creek. Conclusion: New boots are not water-proof in knee-deep water. We retraced our steps to the Junction (WPE) and followed the vague trail NNW across barren the Karst into the gently sloping, marshy area, leading up to the Col NE of Mt Bolton. In this area there was an abundance of alpine flowers. We reached the Col (WPF) at 6PM for a look into BC. Storm clouds started to gather and a cold wind picked up. At that stage, we decided it would be wise to return to camp. At a certain stage we put on rain gear, removing it only a few minutes later, after the warm evening sun re-appeared. We ambled back to camp, arriving at our fireplace at 7:45PM. We found three horses tied up to the trees next to the fireplace, belonging to two sisters, one from Alberta the other visiting from Saskatchewan. We made a large fire and prepared our dinners, enjoying a jolly time around the warm fire. We turned in at 10PM. That night the temperature dropped to 5oC, the wind was light and our camp sheltered.

On Sunday Morning, June 18th, we made a leisurely start after a good might’s sleep. We got up at 8AM, made breakfast and were on our way to Fording River Pass by 10:35AM. We made our official group picture at the lookout point, 1km West of Camp. We made the right route choice to FR Pass at WPE in the Karst area, descending to the creek and crossing it on a few logs, keeping our feet dry. The climb up and around the rock ledge East of FR Karst Area was steep at times, occasionally following the sketchy remnants of an old, rocky exploration road. We found occasional orange blazes of the Continental Divide trail, leading up to the pass. At a certain stage, the blazes no longer showed up. Hiking on the remnants of the steep exploration road, we missed the trail leading to the West up a steep grassy chute to the right (WPG) and continued approximately 200m too far SW, to the end of the exploration road (WPH). Again, we recognized the errors of our ways, and bush-whacked approximately 350m WSW, until we arrived in the open Karst Area East of FR Pass. We followed the undulating ridges, gradually climbing up to FR Pass. The views were magnificent: Into the Mount Cornwell (2,957m) / Mt Courcelette (3,018m) Cirque to the South, the BC Rockies across FR Pass to the West, MT Bolton (2,682m) and yesterday’s Col to the NNW and N with Mt MacLaren (2,835m) behind, Mt Armstrong (2,804m) to the NE, and Baril Peak (2,998m) to the East. To our East, Framed by Mt Armstrong and Baril Peak we could see Raspberry Ridge (2,350m), Hells Ridge, Mt Burke (2,540m) and Plateau Mountain. At 1PM, we had a 30-minute lunch snack at Fording River Pass (2,368m). On the way back, we initially took a different route, following a sketchy old exploration road leading ENE from FR Pass, down to WPG we accidentally had passed by on the way up. This was a practical route, but by far not as scenic as the route across the Karst area we had taken up.

At 3:30PM we were back in camp, to break up camp and pack our backpacks. By the time we left camp, it was 4:30PM. We hiked back to the trailhead through the warm, balmy late-afternoon sunshine, arriving at our cars at 7:30PM. To complete this wonderful weekend, we had a casual dinner at the Black Cat Restaurant in Longview. We were back at Cornelis' home by 11PM Sunday evening.

Participants (Sequence as per the Signup Sheet):Ricardo, Alicja, Lupita, David, Karen, Mark, Cornelis (Coordinator, Navigator, Scribe, Photgrapher).

Trip Statistics: Distance covered: 42km. (Approx. distances: From Road to Camp 10km. From Camp to the Col NE of Mt Bolton 5km. From Camp to FR Pass 6 km) Total Elevation Gain: 1,400m.

Waypoints (NAD83. 11U):WPA: Trailhead 668251 / 5580946 (1,595m)WPB: Junction to James Lake Camp: 661254 / 5577873WPC: James Lake Fireplace & Cooking Area: 660986 / 5577996 (1,829m)WPD: Camp in cusp on Grassy Knoll: 661062 / 5577986 (1,829m)WPE: Junction to FR Pass / Pass NNE of Mt Bolton 658950 / 5577500 (2,100m)WPF: Col, NNE of Mt Bolton 657355 / 5578551 (2,310m)WPG: Junction leaving Exploration road direct route to FR Pass 658428 / 5577448WPH: Exploration Road end to FR Pass 658373 / 5577231WPI: Fording River Pass 658373 / 5577231 (2,3689m).

A BIG THANKYOU FOR EVERYONE ON THIS WONDERFUL TRIP!!