Today's Hike - In the Valkyrs

The Valkyr Mountains are a sub-range of the Selkirks situated just south of the Vahallas between Koch Creek and Lower Arrow Lake. They are fairly inaccessible by road, with just a few access points along the Koch Creek Forest Service Road and Canyon Road, which is a very rough goat trail that follows the power line from the Koch Creek valley over to Fauquier on Arrow Lake. That’s the road I used to get to a spot that looked promising on Google Earth.

I’m glad I parked a hundred metres or so short of where I started hiking, because if I’d driven those hundred metres instead of walking, this mule deer doe and her three (!) fawns would have been long gone. I froze when I saw them and they couldn’t figure out what I was for the longest time. When I eventually started walking again, they bounced away like four-legged pogo sticks.

Not far from the road there is a lovely meadow with a small stream flowing through it, with late-flowering plants like fringed grass of Parnassus and meadow arnica scattered throughout.

What I’d assumed was an avalanche track was, in fact, some glading (clearing areas for ski runs) that had been done by the back country recreation operation for this area. It made for a nice, brush-free lane up to a natural talus slope leading to the open ridge I’d noted on Google Earth. For those who can afford it, the outfit will fly you in to one of the three lodges they've established in the Valkyrs.

I came home with photos of four different pikas on this hike, so I thought I’d slip just one in. This guy or gal has a mouthful of greens that it will spread out in the sun to dry and then store for the long winter ahead.

About halfway up the slope to the ridge, a pair of Steller’s jays swooped in and started feeding on black elderberries that were growing in among the boulders.

There was an abundance of fruit along the slopes and in the basin below, including blackberry elder, juniper, currant and patches of big, black, juicy huckleberries. Yum!

I was pleasantly surprised, on this hike, to see and hear quite a variety of birds. Among others, I saw maybe a dozen northern flickers flying by, and also a little flock of mountain bluebirds that spent a few minutes chasing insects in the air above me. I love running into these guys up in the highlands -  they feel like old friends.

It was a fairly steep climb to the ridge, picking my way through the boulder fields, but such a pleasant, breezy day that I hardly worked up a sweat. Fall is in the air, especially at these higher elevations.

Grouseberry, a member of the Vaccinium family with tiny fruits not much bigger than a grain of rice, was growing alongside heather and others in this meadow on the ridgetop.

I suspect the name reflects the fact that the berries are a food source for grouse, like these dusky grouse – a hen with two mostly-grown chicks – that flushed up when I approached.

There were vistas in all directions from the ridge. This is looking south across the southern portion of the Valkyrs, with Airy Mountain just visible on the horizon.

I made my way up to a little cairn on the summit of this unnamed (as far as I know) peak, keeping a safe distance from the sharp drop on the northern side of the ridge.

This is a view to the southwest, back from whence I came, with the Arrow Lake valley on the right. A portion of the area burned by the Octopus Creek wildfire (that chased us out of our motel in Fauquier in July 2021) is visible on the right side of the photo.

Views to the north encompass the Valkyrs and some of the Valhallas, including Mt. Hilda and others.

A pair of what I think were immature Cooper’s hawks were playing (joyfully, it seemed to me) in the air currents above the ridge. Siblings, maybe? Fun to watch.

From the summit, I worked my way down the steep ridge to the east, and then meandered through the meadows below the talus fields that stretch along the eastern side of the basin.

This moist receiving area is rich with a variety flora including arnica, false hellebore, monkeyflower and many others.

The arnica is a magnet for bees, butterflies and other insects. I believe the first butterfly is a northwestern fritillary, and the second is one of the "coppers."

Another fritillary, sipping nectar from an arnica blossom's many disk flowers. Fritillaries belong to the Nymphalidae, the largest of the butterfly families, also called four-footed butterflies because the front two of their six legs are kept curled up out of sight.

Full circle: I followed a small streamlet down the slope to the meadow from which I started my journey. This was my first time exploring the Valkyrs, and I'm glad that I stuck it out on the rough access road (over an hour to cover about 10 km), because it is a truly lovely spot. Feeling gratitude, as always, for gifts such as this day.

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