On a cool early November morning I hiked a loop route which included both Lac du Bois and Wheeler Pond. From the parking area at the northeast corner of the lake, I hiked along the double track around the lake to the west end of the lake. I have explored a number of trails and routes in the area, but for this time, I was combining two known routes for a 6+ km route. A single track trail climbs up through the forest to Wheeler Pond. There was some snow, but it was not a problem, but I was more careful in some steeper areas coming down.
From the pond (called a lake on the map), I continued on the old Wheeler Mountain “Road” to the southeast for 0.5 km. From there, I struck off up onto the ridge which overlooks the west side of Lac du Bois. This is an off-trail route, but there is some open forest and some viewpoints along the ridge. There is also some steeper forested terrain to navigate. Near the end of the ridge is an old track which winds down the hill to join the other trail back to the lake. The hike finished by returning along the north side of Lac du Bois.
Earlier this year, I had hiked the first half, but followed the Wheeler Mountain Road down to the Upper Grasslands Track, then north to the start. This route was shorter, but harder and it required some navigation and some careful work on steep sections coming down. There are more combinations of trails and routes from Lac du Bois and I hope to do one or two of them before winter.
Shared here are photos from the hike:
- Lac du Bois Wheeler Pond Loop (Google Photos Album with captions)
- Forest Loop – Wheeler Pond (Ramble On)
- Lac du Bois Loop Hike (Kamloops Trails)
- Wheeler Pond Forest Hike (YouTube)
- Wheeler Mountain Hike (YouTube)
- This hike on YouTube – Wheeler Lake – Lac du Bois Loop
