It’s becoming an annual tradition: a big alpine day-hike by the female members of this family to cap off the summer. Last year we hiked the Alps Alturas and Lyle Creek Basin areas. This year we decided to trek into the southwest corner of the big wilderness park that has formed the backdrop to our lives here over the past two decades: into Valhalla Provincial Park through Drinnon Pass to Gwillim Lakes.

The drive to the trailhead took quite a while: more than an hour after we hit gravel. The road was a bone-rattler, but not unduly steep or exposed. The hike took us past a series of lakes at various elevations within a cradle of craggy peaks and huge granite faces. Each lake and ridge brought a different spectacular view. While the Gwillim Lakes basin was our picturesque final destination the cliff edge that preceded it, with its spectacular views down over the Slocan Valley to Kokanee Glacier park almost 50 kilometres in the distance, was unsurpassed. It inspired upside-down-lying-backwards viewing over the edge. No glasses were lost.