Gimli Ridge - October 7th, 2006
This hike will take your breath away. Not only does it have beautiful views of the Valhalla’s but you will get an excellent cardio workout. After the first 1/2 km, it is all uphill, some of it quite steep, but it is not that bad if you take it slow and easy and take breaks when you need them. I would rate it between moderate & strenuous. The trail is well maintained, and there are cairns marking the trail to the base camp once you are above the tree line and have to walk over a few rocky patches.
There are a couple sections that have quite a steep grade off the side of the trail so if you are scared of heights or nervous, this hike may not be for you. From the base camp up to the base of mountain requires scrambling over rocks most of the way. Again, cairns mark the trail. We did not go beyond the base of the mountain and around the west side up to the ridge to see the view down to Mulvy Basin because there was snow on the narrow rocky trail and it was very steep with a long drop off so we decided it was not worth the risk.
View of Mount Gimli from the Trail Head
I left home at 5:35 am, picked up Mel in Salmo and arrived at Marice’s at 6:30. Marcia introduced us to her friend Claudsie from Vancouver, then we decided to all jump into Larry’s truck since there were only five of us (Sylvia had the flu so couldn’t come). We left Nelson, picked up Bobbie at the Tagum bridge and started on our way to Slocan City. Once we were on the Little Slocan forest road, the route was straight forward. We turned off to the right at the red 15 km sign and made our way north, following the blue signs to the Valhalla Park & Gimli Trail. When we arrived at the trail head we put up the chicken wire, took pictures at the trail head and started up at 9:08.
Mount Dag in the Background
It had snowed an inch or two, and it was very chilly when we started out. Everyone had on their warm hats and gloves. We went along a creek for about 15 minutes, crossed over a couple of logs and started the climb. All the way up we could catch views of the incredible mountain peaks through the trees.
Mount Gimli - From Above the Tree Line
We stopped just before the top and had lunch on the south east side of the slope which was almost the 4 km point. Just another 1/2 a km or so of steep climbing and we were to the base camp where there was a wind wall of rocks where the climbers set up their tents. We arrived at the top around 11:45. The view was an incredible 360 degrees and we could see far into the Valhalla Mountain Range to the west.
View to the West - The Valhalla Mountain Range
We climbed from the base camp to the base of Mt. Gimli which involved scrambling up the large rocks, we curved around to the west where you can get access to a path that goes up to the ridge so you can look over into the Mulby basin.
Scrambling Up the Rocks to the Base of Gimli Mountain
However, with the snow and the very steep drop off (I like to call it the 900ft plunge to death), we decided not to take the chance, turned around for another breath taking view and started our way back down the rocks. We checked out the possibility of going down and around the east side, but it looked much too difficult also.
View to the north west at the base of Gimli Mountain, where we turned back.
The hike down was steep and seemed much, much longer than the hike up. Everyone’s knees and legs were quite happy when we crossed the creek at the bottom and finally hit the last 1/2 km stretch which was a nice flat walk back to the parking lot. The return trip was 8.66 km.
Standing in the parking lot we all admired Gimli one last time and started the drive home. We were back down at Slocan City around 4:00 and went for tea, cheese cake and pie. We dropped Bobbie off at home, grabbed the Jimmy at Marcie’s, dropped Mel in Salmo and I was home about 7:15pm, phew! A long day…
To see more photos from this hike check out the Gimli Ridge Photo Album in my Gallery.
Return Trip : 8.66 Km
Start Time : 9:07 am
Finish Time : 2:52 pm
Distance from Slocan City : 25.2 km
Position of Trail Head : N49 44.146 W117 38.678
Position of Gimli Peak : N49 45.973 W117 38.828
Altitude at Trail Head : 5407 ft
Altitude at the Base Camp : 7940 ft
Altitude where we turned back at the base of Gimli : 8207 ft
Download the GPS Track (txt file) : Gimli Pass Route, Track & Waypoints
