Tuesday, July 22, 2025
End: Warner Lake
Route (km): 25.2
Total (km): 82.7
Hours: 14.4
Total (hrs): 40.4
Poor Navigation from Amisk Lake
Somehow I managed to climb to quickly and too early as I left Amisk Lake, leaving the route on my left and having to descend back down to get back on it. This happened to me multiple times during my hike, as I typically prefer to get up to terrain which seems preferable to me, such as shorter grass. I would recommend just sticking to the route, as though it might be more difficult early compared to the slope to the East, it gets to better hiking soon enough and goes directly into the pass.
Tricky Descent to North Herrick Creek
I suppose all the descents are tricky for me, but I remember specifically having a difficult time staying on the route for this one. I was stuck bashing through small fir trees, using them to belay down a bit when I could. I got back on the route, part of which was a descent down a rocky ravine, which is actually better than the fir trees.
Easy Creek Crossing
North Herrick Creek is quite small at this point, and I was able to hop across it. This was a welcome reprieve from taking my socks off and getting my shoes wet. It was the only marked creek crossing on the Great Divide Route that was this easy.
Easy Going to Paksumo Pass
What I have called Paksumo-Menagin Pass seems to be called Paksumo Pass by most others. By staying on the route from North Herrick Creek, I was in swampy meadows until it came time to climb up to the pass. If that sounds bad, then you haven’t seen the rest of the Great Divide Route! It was relatively easy hiking and the climb wasn’t too difficult compared to some. I even saw a caribou up at the pass as I took a break.
Long Valley to the Lake
From up at Paksumo Pass, I could see the lake off in the distance to which I would be hiking. It seemed clear that sticking to the left (South) side of the valley would be best, and that is where the route was. The first portion was easy going through grass, no bushes to speak of. As I approached the lake, the forest got more dense and I tried to stick to game trails. This is a theme that you will find as you hike these off-trail routes. The game trails are helpful for a time, but you have to stay alert and get off them when they begin to depart from the route. Thankfully the bushwhacking neart the lake is not overly long.
Side-Sloping Misery
The route takes what I think is probably the best option here: to get to the next pass heading Northeast, it ascends up out of treeline, and then stays halway up the slope for awhile. This left me with my feet on a permanent angle, trying to stay on game trails, carefully advancing step by step, hoping not to sprain my ankles which were in an awkward position for a couple kilometers. All that being said, this may indeed still be the best route, despite the difficulty.
I was so tired of it, that at the end, as is typical for me, I climbed higher in order to get over into the next valley, and then had to descend farther than the route did. It was a slippery slope of scree and small rocks, which I would have preferred to avoid.
Relief Pass
I belive the pass which I did not have name for is known by others as Relief Pass. It is an easy hike up to this pass, and from here I could see an old burned-out valley off to the East, past the valley which I would follow North towards Warner Lake. The lake isn’t visible from the pass, just the beginning of the descent to the valley floor.
Approaching Warner Lake
I saw my first and only grizzly bear on the Great Divide Route on the initial descent from the pass down to the stream which runs North to Warner Lake. Thankfully he ran and I left the area. The hiking is good here, finding meadows which connect to each other and staying on the East side of the stream at the beginning. The going gets more rough as the route crosses to the West side of the stream, which required getting my feet wet.
The route stays on the West side of the stream, which curves slightly West, towards the Southern tip of Warner Lake. This is slow going through dense forest, and then it is difficult to stay on the route as it crosses back over the stream and moves East to avoid a bad area on the Eastern shore of Warner Lake. I didn’t succeed in escaping this area. Try as I might, I couldn’t navigate far enough to the East. There was deadfall and obstacles everywhere, and I don’t think my GPS was getting good signal. I would recommend being careful to avoid repeating this mistake, and I wonder if there is not a possiblity to simply stay on the East side of the stream and go straight North.
Disappointing Warner Lake
I might be alone on this, but I was hoping that Warner Lake would be a better spot to camp. There were a couple tarps tied to trees to offer emergency shelter if needed, but I didn’t find a great spot for my tent. I made do, but I expected more from the only spot accessible by ATV on the Great Divide Route.