British Columbia: VALHALLA PROVINCIAL PARK

Rising to Valhalla

 
It was the silly Sasquatch New Year's blog that made me think of one of the most beautiful areas of the West Kootenay region - the rugged Valhalla provincial park

In old Viking times Valhalla meant just one thing: an after-life place for the heroes and warriors who died in a battle. Where did the non-fighters go? I have no idea.

Location of Valhalla Provincial Park is the red dot on Google earth map.

 Here, In the secret corner of Magnificent British Columbia, Valhalla means something else. It is still regarded as a heavenly place - not for the weapon wielding folk but for the warriors of a different disposition. Hikers. mountain climbers, skiers, naturalists come here for their out-of-the-ordinary experiences....



This Valhalla is a wilderness park that hems the western shores of beautiful Slocan Lake. Its hard, glacier polished granite peaks are rising steeply towards the sky - like giants emerging from the depths of the pristine mountain lake. Many of them reach to over 2600m high. The name for this park is a brain child of Philip Brooksbank, a British immigrant to the area - it was upon his suggestion in 1911 that the area received its "new" name.
Not only that - the entire area adopted the names of the old Norse myths - as well explained on Ron Perrier's blog "only where you have walked have you been".

It must have been called "something else" by the indigenous people and it would be nice to know how they described it. Perhaps someone out there in the mighty cyberspace else will let us know.

 Autumn is magnificent in Valhallas as the stands of Western Hemlock turn bright yellow to paint the steep slopes in pure gold.

Valhallas are still the true wilderness and as such support a wide spectrum of wildlife. There are many impressively large animal species still roaming these mountains but the favourite of mine are the tiny farmers of the tree line - the Pika.

Sit quietly among the rocks and maybe you will be lucky to spot a small furry egg equipped with four large footed legs.
It will be running from rock to rock - collecting grasses and other vegetation and hauling them first to the drying locations and later into a storage space under the rocks.

Perhaps you will even hear a whistling sound coming from a hard-to-pinpoint direction!
It is a Pika (Ochotna princes), a small rounded cousin to rabbits and hares.

Just try to gather some greens, place them near your location and wait. The little one might not be able to pass an opportunity - and before long will come to collect your offering.

Quite like this:


























It will gather and carry them away - to a drying place before they are stored for the winter. 

Valhalla Provincial Park (left), Slocan lake and the town of New Denver, West Kootenay, British Columbia