How to get there:
A good point of reference is the town of Revelstoke.
Drive south on Hwy. 23.
Fork right and enter a forest road at location N50.71814, W118.00556.
There are a few alternative forest roads that will work, one might also
continue on the main Hwy. all the way to near the ferry, then drive uphill.
We drove to location N50.63410, W118.03901, turned left onto a smaller road there
and connected to the better road (turn right), that runs to the trailhead at
location 50.63410, -118.03901, elevation 1065 meter. There is space for several vehicles
to park here.
Route description:
Follow the road that forks right (uphill) at the trailhead. The route is also flagged with red ribbons.
The trail/road soon turns more right and ascends gradually. Next, the road turns into a pretty nice trail.
It climbs (steeply in places) uphill in old forest, then you cross some boulders before a new section
of forest. The trail runs to the river,
then along this, somewhat more cumbersome. You cross a smaller
creek before ascending steeply uphill along a distinct moraine ridge. Continue to somewhere near
location N50.54643, W118.07569, elevation slightly above 1900 meter. This is the best location to
camp if not doing the peak as a (long) day hike. Flat gras and a small creek with good water.
Next, ascend about 250 vertical meter to the ridge south-east of the upper lake. The easiest route
is likely an ascending traverse right,
then a bit left and uphill when the slope eases. There are not
many red ribbons in this section. From this ridge you have a good view into the
bowl with the second lake.
The trail/route now becomes more distinct and somewhat better marked as one contours right, following
a pretty obvious line. There is a good water supply near location N50.55611, W118.08965 at elevation near 2330 meter.
Continue uphill on easy terrain to location N50.55432, W118.09838, 2480 meter, where it is natural to enter the
glacier.
This glacier is nice and easy, but people with limited experience should show respect, it is a real glacier.
Continue on the glacier in a fairly
direct line to a local summit ridge with some antenna equipment.
This location is
near N50.54959, W118.12100, elevation 2830 meter.
Odin may be seen while ascending, now much closer than earlier.
From here, continue along the top ridge (exposure on climbers right)
to the connecting saddle, then a very easy scramble directly uphill to Mount Odin. This scramble stays at
YDS) class 2 if you pick the obvious route. (Off-trail, infrequent use of a hand for balance/movement in a few
locations.) The summit is pretty well defined and commands a nice view in all diretions.
Here is a quick summary of peaks climbed on this trip to British Columbia.
A track is posted on Peakbagger. Comments:
I did this climb with my son Pål Jørgen. We had earlier been on Vancouver Island.
The original plan was that David should also be on the team, but he joined with Brian prior
to our planned Vancouver climbs. This, unfortunately, caused major problems
since the deviations, starting later than planned, made me loose the Golden Hinde.
As expected (and planned), I needed a full 6 days before our pre-booked boat to assist with
some additional ultras. Hard lesson learned, we would certainly have succeeded if we had parted
with David/Brian immediately. Thus, it was now extremely nice to do this quality climb with Pål,
having nobody else influencing our climb.
We stayed in Kamloops, then drove to the trailhead arriving there mid-day. The climb was planned with an
established camp above the lower lake. It took us 3 hours to hike to camp. We were very happy with the
location, perfect green gras, a small creek with good water only a few meter away.
A very scenic location.
The next morning, we started
our ascent towards the upper lake around 0630. The day was near perfect, good
temperature for hiking, completely blue sky and no wind. We made good progress to the ridge above having
a pretty impressive view of the upper lake. The red ribbons returned, but the continuation was pretty
obvious. We entered the glacier at near elevation 2480 meter. Easy glacier travel brought us to the small
snow ridge with a limited antenna installation. The route now connected in a very aesthetic way to the final
slope of Odin. I had expected some (YDS) class 3 scrambling here, but it was more of a walk than a scramble,
the overall route remained at class 2.
The time was 1030, weather still perfect.
The climb
had taken us 4 hours at a very leisurely pace.
Superb scenery and nobody else around.
Right across the valley stands Thor, slightly lower than Odin as history dictates.
The two "twins", Burnham and Grady, caught our attention.
We sat down and enjoyed the moment.
Another high quality peak with my son,
I knew that there will not be many more. I felt extremely grateful that he had agreed to come along
on this trip. Without him, this British Columbia trip could have been a complete fiasko. Now, the opposite.
Some peakbaggers have all their focus on "counting peaks", they may forget what this hobby is all about.
The peaks provide motivation to travel and get out, but it is the TRIP, not the SUMMIT that gives you
memories and life quality.
We stayed 30 minutes before starting our return trip.
Equally nice, at a relaxed tempo, we had no time
to meet, no other schedule that pushed us. We returned to camp at 1430. Plenty of time to descend back
down to the car, but then what? Find a motel, and sleep? A better option seemed to just take a second
night here at this beautiful camp,
then descend tomorrow morning.
We had a nice dinner, a good evening and another good night of sleep. The next morning, after breakfast,
we descended back down to the car in 3 hours.
We drove to Salmon Arm and booked a motel there for 2 nights.
