It was another warm July day as nine of us led by Charlotte Sellers hiked the Hope Pass wagon trail built in 1861. The last part of the drive was over a severely rutted road, but the SUV and pickup handled it well, although at very low speed. There were actually clouds which have been rare this summer, moving east quickly; this and the high altitude kept the day cooler than other days in town. The elevation of the pass is 1839 m as per the sign post – almost the same as Mt. Kobau.
The wild flowers were blooming in great profusion – white, yellow, red and blue mainly. The marmots were active in Marmot City, just past the summit where we stopped for lunch. We then continued down the west side a bit until it got a bit steep, and we turned back. The heat hit us when we arrived back in Billy’s parking lot about 3 pm having left at 8:30. We were glad to have been in the flowery hills for the day.
Overall, to quote Rika (without permission), “The flowers were worth the price of admission”.
