Stoke adventure: Hiking Revelstoke's Mount Begbie

We met Qubec retiree Denis briefly as my friend Avery and I stopped for a breather at the first waterfall on Mount Begbie, just over a kilometre in. He had been gaining on us since the beginning of the trail and soon after we continued our ascent of the imperious mountain, he overtook.

The hike up Mt Begbie is a mix of tranquil forest and large expanses of rock. Photo: Emily Kemp/Revelstoke Mountaineer.

It wasn’t until hours later, when we were well onto the wide expanse of flat rocks, high above the treeline and just below the glacier that we met again. Denis was on his descent and we were on our way to touch the glacier and claim our victory for the day.

We stopped to chat, surrounded by views of the sky, the three of us the only souls on the mountain in early August. The overcast day had constantly threatened to rain and likely deterred others who may have attempted the challenge.

A few happy hikers stop to chat and enjoy the views on Mt Begbie. Photo: Emily Kemp/Revelstoke Mountaineer.

We learned that Denis had moved to Revelstoke two years ago with his wife.

“Yesterday I was on Frisby,” he said. “I love it here.”

Denis was obviously an adventure junkie and told us he usually skins up the mountain in the deep snow and skis down through the trees.

“[I did it] twice during the winter and that’s it, because there are so many other places to do, like in Rogers Pass,” he said.

Denis Fafard and his son cleared the Mt Begbie trail early in the season. Photo: Emily Kemp/Revelstoke Mountaineer.

We had been humbled by Denis’s fitness level and learned we could also thank him for clearing the path to the peak earlier in the season.

“[The trees] were blocking the trail, that’s why I came with my son,” he said. “[We] cleared all of it. It’s another way to stay in shape.”

They had carried just a small chainsaw but by the number of obviously recently cut logs on the trail, there’s no doubt that would have been a big job.

As we once again went our separate ways, the sheer mass of the glacier ahead made up for the sub-par views down into the valley, which was blotted by clouds.

These views would be spectacular on a sunny day. Photo: Emily Kemp/Revelstoke Mountaineer.

The jutting peaks of Mt Begbie, which embrace the glacier, is an unmistakable feature of the Revelstoke skyline. It’s usually unreachable until at least mid-summer and it took us about three hours to hike up.

There are abundant wildflowers in Mt Begbie’s alpine meadow. Photo: Emily Kemp/Revelstoke Mountaineer.

“If you’re in Revelstoke, this is the hike you have to do,” Avery said as we discussed the trail on our way up.

The six kilometre trek to the glacier is a leg-burning climb up through forested switchbacks and then out into an open and tranquil alpine meadow.

There are a couple campsites in the meadow and if you set up home for the night, there’s an abundance of views and lakes to enjoy.

The Mount Begbie hike is a full-day commitment, even if you don’t plan to climb the glacier.

“I feel like a lot of people don’t want to hike Begbie because they feel you need to climb the glacier,” Avery said. “But I felt just going up to it was pretty satisfying.”