Have you ever heard of Macbeth’s ice field?
Nothing as tragic or revengeful as Shakespeare’s play comes to mind when you look at the photos of this magnificent West Kootenay landscape.
Instead, the first word that may come to mind looking at Macbeth’s ice field is “glorious.”
Seasoned Trail Area hiker Brenda Haley shares photos of the wonderful places on Earth she explores, which of course are right here in the West Kootenay.
He made this trip to this ice field, located near Kaslo, on Saturday.
Although it wasn’t his first time.
“But it was the first time I was able to explore the edge of the ice field because it used to cover half the lake,” Haley told the Trail Times.
“The ice (glacier) has receded past the end of the lake so we can walk on the edge of the glacier. It was super cool!”
About Macbeth Icefield (Kaslo)
Macbeth Icefield is one of the top hikes in the Kootenays.
From the 4×4 accessible trailhead, the trail is 12 kilometers (km) round trip and 15.6 km round trip from the Glacier Creek Forest Service Road (FSR) spur.
This challenging trail has a nine to 10 hour round trip and is accessible from July to October.
The 2 km lower trail follows the stream and offers views of picturesque meadows.
From the meadow, the path climbs steeply to an alpine lake near the edge of the ice field.
The main activities are hiking, camping, mountaineering and observation.
Directions from Kaslo: Driving time is approximately 1.5 hours and requires a two-wheeler with plenty of clearance.
From Kaslo, head north on Hwy 31N to Lardeau/Duncan Lake. Turn right onto Argenta Rd (35 km from Kaslo) and set the odometer to 0. Cross a bridge and reach a junction 2.3 km, continue straight. At 12 km turn right (northeast) and climb to Duncan-Glacier Creek FSR. At 22.5 km you reach a fork and turn left (east).
From there it is a mandatory 1.8km 4×4 to the trailhead, which is slightly covered and can scratch your vehicle, otherwise park at Glacier Creek FSR.
Strong hikers can walk from the spur to 22.5 km in 20 minutes.
-with provincial files from sitesandtrailsbc.ca
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