Hikin' in the Rain

A couple of weeks ago we learned about a group of people going into the Alsulkan Hut near Rogers Pass and made the decision to accompany the group. We'd never hiked much in this area and I've always found the really high peaks of the Selkirks at the summit of Rogers Pass pretty appealing. The forecast was not good but I lightly said to Dave that I'd be happy to go (it's been a really dry summer after all) until the snow got to be a foot deep. I did have to eat those words. The hike along the Alsulkan Creek (?) is delightful and this picture is of one of the waterfalls pouring off the side of some mountain. I loved this part of the hike. After crossing the creek, the climb up the lateral moraine is pretty steep and fairly narrow, but not really scary. We'd heard about the storm "at the top" from about 40 kids who were on the descent. We hit the snow about 30 minutes from the cabin and at that point we were ready to keep going just to get high, dry and warm.

The blizzard continued the rest of the day and overnight. It was relatively warm - a couple of degrees below zero but the wind totally made me think of Wyoming! The next morning before 8:00 we could see the view - the front entrance of the hut looks right down on the Rogers Pass Centre. By 8:30 we were back into snow and wind. Dave and I decided to descend so I did get to go through my foot of wet snow and the lateral moraine could have been very scary if it had been icy. I was really glad to have two hiking poles with me. By the time we reached the forest it was steady rain. I think this is the first hike in which our descent was slower than the ascent. Dry clothing was a first priority when we arrived at the car, followed by beers and burgers in Revelstoke.