Hiking The High Rim Trail Kelowna To Vernon BC

Disclosure: Advertising and affiliate services, including Amazon Associates, help the cost of running my blog. Clicking ads or making purchases through affiliate links may, at no additional cost to you, earn me a small commission. I appreciate your support.

This summer I got big into hiking. What started as a way to get outside soon became a fascination. I wanted to challenge myself. Prove I could hike with the rest of them. I have big plans for 2021 to hike Kilimanjaro, and I was never going to attain that goal unless I put the Netflix down and got outside. But taking a walk wasn’t enough. I wanted to hike longer than I had done before. Further. Higher elevation. All of the superlatives that you can connect with hiking, I wanted to do. My friend casually mentioned doing the Juan de Fuca trail, a 47 km 3 day hike near Victoria on Vancouver Island. When the weather had other plans we changed our route last minute and instead headed inland to do the High Rim Trail. This is that story.

Where is the High Rim Trail?

The High Rim Trail is a 60 km multi-day hike from Kelowna to Vernon in British Columbia’s Interior. It’s very different from the hike I was planning with my friend. For one, there was no beach or coastal views anywhere to be seen. It was also about 13 km longer than we were planning. Although, it was much less technical, a part of the original trip that I was concerned about. Since the trail is a one way trail, the plan was to leave the car at the end of the trail in Vernon and then travel to Kelowna to start the hike. At the end of the High Rim Trail our car would be waiting for us.

The logistics of doing the High Rim Trail

I know what you might be wondering. If we left our car in Vernon, how would we get to the start of the trail over an hour’s drive away in Kelowna? We went through a few options.

Public transportation: Not really possible. It wouldn’t be easy and would only get us so far since the trail began and ended away from the main towns.

Taxi: Definitely a contender. If you choose this option you will need to book the taxi ahead of time and they will factor in the return drive for the driver. This option would cost the best part of $170.

Find a friend: The lucky we asked option. My friend knows someone who has family in Vernon and asked if he knew someone who would give us a ride. Turns out he was in town for the weekend and we paid him some money and a pack of beer to drive us.

Granted you might not know someone so the taxi will likely be your best bet. The good news is that Vernon is pretty cheap for hotels so I would plan your before and after hike stay there instead of more expensive Kelowna. We booked a $60 a night stay at the Riviera Plaza hotel. It was basic but perfect for what we needed.

How easy is it to find your way on the trail?

The trail is pretty well maintained overall. The High Rim Trail Association have an army of volunteers who regularly tend to sections of the trail clearing it as best they can. Of course this is nature, and trees can fall. So not all of them are removed, but the more difficult to pass ones do seem to be tended to very well. We had our map and the trail app which didn’t lead us wrong except on that first 15 minutes of day one.

There are pink and black signs and markers to follow so you can keep on track. If you come out of a clearing, always look ahead for the next marker before you walk too far in the wrong direction. The kilometer markers start by showing every kilometer. This is both helpful and infuriating as sometimes you feel sure you’ve gone way more than just a kilometer. As the trail continues sometimes one kilometer marker is missing. That’s a good feeling when you skip a number. Overall it was very easy to find the right way.

Planning for the High Rim Trail hike

There wasn’t much planning for us. We had been hiking all through the summer in preparation for the Juan de Fuca trail. That involved packing our backpacks full of stuff so we could emulate having to carry a 30lb+ pack for up to 6 or 7 hours a day. That bit did not fill me with joy. I’ve never overnight hiked before. I’ve always done day hikes with only the hiking gear essentials. But as for the High Rim Trail itself, we didn’t really look into it until a week before we left. It was only when a storm and rainfall warning came in for the West Coast of Vancouver Island that we thought the Juan de Fuca might not be the best idea.

But we spent the month prior gathering all the gear we would need for our overnight trail. A lightweight tent and sleeping bags, small stove, portable fuel and all weather clothing including thermal layers. What we would bring did not change even when the trail did. But we did download the All Trails app as we were told the High Rim Trail had decent reception and that way our significant others could log into the app from home and check on our progress (safety tip #1). Just in case technology failed we printed maps of where we were going. Two copies, in a dry bag, one copy each (safety tip #2). I also bought a portable power bank so we could keep our phones charged for the full 4 days (safety tip #3).

           

Packing for the High Rim Trail

Packing was by far the hardest part of the planning process. The thought of carrying more gear than you need will weigh on your mind as the bag gets heavier. We were sharing a tent which helped with the weight. We had lightweight sleeping bags and ground mats. Our stove was super small and lightweight. On top of that we had to bring enough clothing to cater for rain, cold and warmer temperatures, first aid kit, fire starters, a dry bag and rope for hanging our bear bag. And that was before we even thought about food and water. Did you know water weighs 2.2lb per liter? And that most days we would have to have at least 3 liters with us if we wouldn’t pass a water source until later in the day.

The night before the hike, we wondered how we would ever lift our bags without ending up like a proverbial turtle rolling around unable to get up. That’s when we got cut-throat and decided to cull some items. Duplicate personal items went first. Then came the clothes. Deciding that I wouldn’t care about my appearance by day 2, I stuck with a long and short sleeve hiking shirt only. Plus a fresh t-shirt to sleep in. I had my day pants, rain pants and night time thermals. I had my hat, gloves and underwear/socks. Then for some stupid reason I sacrificed my rain jacket for the thermal jacket as the weather outlook was good. I bet you can’t guess how that turned out! Check out my camping essentials guide here.

Beginning the High Rim Trail hike

The day had arrived. We’d dropped off our car, driven to the trail head in Kelowna and strapped all 30+lb of bag onto each of our backs. Trekking poles in hand we set off on the trail. Two minutes in, it began to rain (remember that whole rain jacket thing?). We put on the rain pants which turned out to be the winning clothing item. Not only did they keep us dry, but they let all the errant branches and twigs from the plants we had to wade past just slide right past me. I put on my water resistant thermal jacket and put up the hood. One hour in and I was soaked to the skin as the rain continued to fall.

We lost the path almost immediately and ended up scaling what we later found out was the historic trail. Not the newly designed much less scary gradual switchback route we should have taken. The hiking shoes I wore had been great through the summer. Couldn’t fault them. But the relentless rain created puddles that we couldn’t avoid and soon even our feet were wet. This was less fun than I imagined. And we were only 4 km into our 60 km hike.

Philpott Road to The Grand View (14.5km)

Day one was miserable. Wet, cold and trying to adjust to carrying the weight of a fully grown Corgi dog on my back, I cursed at every incline I came to. We started off so cheerful, so full of hope. This trail had taken all that away in a matter of minutes as the reality of our situation sunk in. How would we make it to our first night’s campsite at 14.5 km, let alone the rest of the way? Getting used to the bag was the biggest challenge. It did not want to go the way I did.

The first trail blocker we came to was a fallen tree that I decided to crawl under. I didn’t want to go over it as I thought I might lose my balance. Instead the tree knocked my bag and I was on my back like the turtle I had feared I would become. Getting up was only possible by separating myself from the bag for a glorious 30 seconds. We came to many of these fallen trees over the course of the trail. The familiar obstacle was always tackled with differing strategies. Sometimes over, sometimes under. Sometime I just shed the bag to start with to save me time.

We made a brief lunch stop, huddled under a tree that provided little shelter. Unwilling to mess with a stove in the rain we opted for dry snacks like granola bars and nut mixes. Enough to keep us going until camp. Our afternoon involved a trek up an aptly named Cardiac Hill. The biggest challenge for the day.

After the longest day, cold, drenched, exhausted and contemplating where it all went wrong, we finally made it to camp. Just as the rain stopped, and the sun began to shine through.

The Grand View camp

I almost cried as the sun came out. I dropped that bag to the ground quicker than a hot potato, happy we’d made it. We sat for a moment taking in the gorgeous view and a beer (yes I brought one beer each to celebrate day one). It’s not called The Grand View for nothing after all. The sunlight peeked through the clouds over the city of Kelowna and Lake Okanagan in the distance. The sky lit up a million different colors. This made the day all worth it. Although since our trek was a little longer than we had planned it meant we didn’t have much time to rejoice. We had to set up our tent for the night before we lost that glorious sunlight.

This was the one place on the trail that had a proper campground. Ready made fire pits, a toilet (or rather a doorless pit toilet you could sit down on) and tent pads. That is, already flattened areas on which we could construct our temporary home. We managed to get the tent put up rather quickly.

We next found a tree about 100 meters away from camp which would be our bear bag hanging spot (safety tip #4, never leave food in your camp). With that done we made dinner, a dehydrated Thai meal which was actually quite nice. It would have been better if the water had been fully boiled, but it was our first attempt after all.

We tidied away all remnants of food, and tried (and failed) to dry our socks and shoes by a fire for an hour, before retiring to bed due to the fact we were cold, wet and tired. I would certainly sleep tonight.

What to do when things go bump in the night

So I guess sleep was an optimistic notion. Although we were in bed by 9pm, and not out of the tent until 7am we got about 2 hours of sleep between us. Rewind to half an hour after getting into our sleeping bags and bidding each other goodnight. As I tried to drift off my friend nudged me asking “Did you hear that?”. Unwilling to be pulled into a game that never ended well I dismissed her saying I didn’t hear anything. And I didn’t. One minute later she asks again “So you didn’t hear that?”. Still nothing. One minute later the crack of a large twig immediately following the stomp of a big foot, and I was alert. “You’re telling me you don’t hear that?” my friend asked. “That I definitely heard” I replied.

Headlamps on, sitting bolt upright we froze. We knew we should make noise and try to scare whatever fuzzy villain was outside. She shouted in a deep voice and I, flustered, began to sing. Christmas songs. No idea why. We kept making noise, unable to see anything through the “window” of the tent. Then another loud footprint followed by another twig crack under pressure. This time on the other side of the tent but further away, towards our campfire. Then silence. Whatever it was had gone. I now needed to pee and played a risky game of chicken with my bladder until I was sure we were alone again. This, along with the rapidly dropping temperature meant we had a poor night’s sleep.

The Grand View to Vernon Creek (30km)

We got up after a lack of sleep but still grateful for no further overnight visitors (I still vote it was a bear). We packed up the tent, retrieved our still hanging, untouched bear bag and got our bags packed. Breakfast was some oatmeal with dried fruit and some coffee. We took one last look at the view and set off on our second day. This time we had to go further than yesterday.

The day was nice. The walk was more pleasant, and the sun stayed out. There is however no worse feeling than having to put on wet shoes. I got inventive and wrapped my dry socks in duct tape to prevent them taking on the dampness quicker. We stopped at Scotty Creek to collect some water, and used our Sawyer water filter to transfer it to our clean drinking bottles. We got enough only to last the day knowing we would get to Vernon Creek before camp. Lunch was some soup as we rested in a clearing. We were slower than we wanted to be so after lunch vowed to pick up the pace.

Bridge or no bridge?

We were doing well until we arrived at a river with no bridge. Only a log. We were faced with three options: wade through the river (not great), walk along the log (even worse) or sitting on the log and shimmying across. We went with this option and luckily my pack and I moved as one now it was day two, because balance was everything. This whole process slowed us down. As did our water collection at Vernon Creek.

Luckily the bridge across this fast flowing “creek” was still intact, if not a little rough looking. We filled up our water bottles and then faced the biggest uphill battle of the day. We raced against the disappearing sun for the last kilometer to around the 30km mark where we found a suitable camp spot.

Wilderness camping and hunters

Our day had been long, and there were a couple of obstacles. But the weather had held out and our shoes had dried. There had been a lot of mud, many more fallen trees to navigate, and an incredibly creepy Forbidden Forest-esque wood we had to traverse as we lost daylight. But we found some green area and started putting up the tent. We were half done when we heard a noise. Bigger than a bear. It was a truck coming towards us. This green area it turns out was actually a road. We picked up and hurled the tent to the side along with our bags just as the truck rounded the corner. Turns out it was hunting season and there were a lot of people in this area coming from the nearby shooting range.

We found a better place for our tent, avoiding the incredible amount of cow poop everywhere, and started making dinner. Tonight’s feast was dehydrated Cuban beans and rice and it was actually really good. Some Baileys and vodka to calm the nerves before bed and we went off to hang the bear bag. 45 minutes and a whole lot of cursing later and our bag was in a tree. Kind of. The branches around here were barely sturdy enough for the food and garbage we had to hang. We got in our tent hoping for a less eventful night. We had no more visitors but it got cold. Really cold…

Another restless night

I don’t know who these people are who have a good sleep in tents. I’d love to meet them and learn from their ways. We unzipped the tent and ice fell off it. That’s right, ice! Apparently it got to -4C overnight. My feet and uncontrollably shaking body can attest to that. We put on every layer we had, stuffed our thermal jackets in the sleeping bag and zipped the thing up so we were “sleeping” like mummys. But bright side: no bears!

We did however see a couple of hunters wandering by, guns in hand. The first real people we’d seen in two days. We packed up our tent and gear, had another hearty cup of oatmeal and got ready to leave. Today, although a colder start, promised to be a brighter day still. The temperature rose quickly and as we were getting ready to leave camp we had already decided to shed a layer. Putting the pack on was getting easier. Even with an almost full supply of water. I actually looked forward to seeing what the day held.

30km to Damer Lake (45km)

The Third day was the most pleasant day. Largely uneventful: no wild animals, no mud, no torrential rain or washed out bridges. We passed through an active logging area at the start of around kilometer 31. This was open on weekends but not during the week, which we knew in our planning stages. So watch out for any trail closures ahead of time. Check out the High Rim Trail Association site for any updates. The terrain started to change. We moved from dense forests to openly logged areas, and grassy paths. Around the 35-36 km mark it does get very overgrown. It looks like this area hasn’t been tended to in a while and we had to force our way through some rather large plants.

We decided to try and get at least half of the hike done before we stopped for lunch. At around the 38km mark we had a steep incline. At the top we arrived at The Monolith. A giant rock and viewpoint area. This was the perfect place for lunch. We stopped and ate our soup and snacks. And for the first time in 3 days we met people to talk to. A couple day hiking from nearby Oyama Lake. This was a big day hike hotspot, so we also saw more people with dogs and out for a walk. It was so weird after being alone for so long. We carried on our way, walking the trail until the 44km mark where we took a detour off the trail to Damer Lake where we would spend the night.

Damer Lake campsite

We could have stayed on the trail. Going to Damer Lake added about a kilometer to the day away from the trail, and the same to get back the next day. But this was an actual campsite. With fire pits, toilet, flat ground for the tent and best of all a lake. There are only 3 camping spots but being the end of the season we thought we’d be fine. Turns out a couple had brought everything they owned for a weekend in the woods and didn’t want to give up any one of the three spaces they’d commandeered. Including the one they parked their car in! We eventually found a sliver of an area to put our tent after explaining that after hiking 15km we didn’t have it in us to go any further.

But bad manners aside this really was the perfect spot. We gathered twigs for a pathetic but effective fire. Had a slap up meal of dehydrated vegetable lasagna and instant mashed potatoes. And successfully hung our bear bag in way less time than usual. Then relaxed by the campfire.

My friend pointed out the sunset creating a beautiful reflection on the lake. Then I told her to turn around and see what the actual sunset looked like. It was magical. And learning from our first two nights we were determined to have a good sleep. I slept about 7 hours which I think was a record. Day three had been the best day.

Damer Lake to the end of the trail

After a good night sleep I opened the tent at 7am to the most beautiful lake view. We collected water and filtered it for the day. We were packed up and on the trail before our inconsiderate neighbors were even awake. The road back to the trail was long and uphill, but we were soon back in the woods. One kilometer into the day, around Microwave Tower, I felt a sudden sharp pain in my ankle. I instinctively reached down and grabbed my leg, knowing I’d been bitten by something. But there was nothing around. Spider? Snake? I was too afraid to check, and it hurt like a mother.

There were many F-bombs as my friend got me to a rock to sit down. Turns out it was a wasp sting. A bad one. My friend wrapped my ankle tightly to keep the pressure on, but knowing we still had a full day of hiking I would have to walk. Never have the trekking poles been more helpful, really taking the weight off. The pain came and went but we carried on, the thought of a cold drink and a change of clothes filling me with excitement. As the kilometer markers counted towards the end, we started discussing our next trail adventures. We were real hikers now after all. The forest gave way to a more desert like area. We heard rattle snakes all around so kept moving. Until we reached the end.

The end of the High Rim Trail

The views of Vernon and the surrounding area were cast aside as we rounded the final bends of the trail. As we approached the parking lot, hoping that no-one stole our car in the last 4 days, we were filled with an overwhelming mix of emotions. We had done more than we had thought was possible. Our first multi-day hike. It hadn’t been technical, and it wasn’t anything compared to the trail we would have done. But it had not been without challenges. Two women alone, hiking 60km and first time wilderness camping. That’s an achievement.

We spotted the car and started whooping for joy. Trying to maintain our balance, because it would suck to trip over at this point, we motored along the final hundred meters. We dropped our bags and high fived, then leaned against the car panting from exhaustion, unsure if we should laugh or cry. As if by happy accident we discovered two bottles of water in the car. Our final journey was back to our hotel where I had possibly the best shower of my life, and immediately then jumped on the soft bed. We celebrated with beer and a nice dinner in Vernon. Happy to have succeeded at what people thought we were crazy to attempt.

Final thoughts and tips on the High Rim Trail

Despite not knowing about this trial until a week prior, I’m glad it was my first big hike. Carrying a large bag, sleeping multiple nights alone in the woods, and dealing with unforeseen challenges all takes work. The High Rim Trail itself is a rather moderate trail. There is some elevation, but other than short bursts it’s not too bad. There is a lot of flat area and some nice downhill parts too. The region is so beautiful that it’s hard not to appreciate it even when you’re exhausted or uncomfortable. I made sure to take plenty of breaks, remove the bag from my back and breathe it all in.

There are things we packed but did not need. Over-packing snacks for one. I thought I’d be eating all day, but trekking poles make it difficult to eat while walking. The meals we had were good but we had an abundance of heavy snacks left over. I also brought a book. But each night we made it to camp with enough light to set up, too exhausted to do anything but eat and try to sleep. A book was the last thing I needed.

If I have one regret it’s taking that raincoat out of my bag. The wet shoes I’m now OK with. It was pointed out that waterproof shoes can get wet from large puddles and muddy areas and then the waterproof-ness means they can’t easily let the water out. So our feet would have been just as soaked. But the raincoat…Rookie mistake!

If you’ve enjoyed this post, found it useful or think someone else will then share using the social media buttons below, or leave a comment. Have you done the High Rim Trail? Would you like to?