Gina Bégin is an adventure travel photojournalist and founder of Outdoor Women’s Alliance, a volunteer-run nonprofit media and adventure collective designed to educate and empower women around the world. In 2017, Outdoor Women’s Alliance (OWA) received one of twenty-six Force of Nature Fund grants from REI Co-op. With the $25,000 grant, OWA is funneling efforts into their Grassroots Program, nationwide social communities intended to connect women locally to create support systems and friendships via outdoor activities. With these funds, OWA is hoping to expand this particular program worldwide.
Currently, Gina acts as the executive director of OWA, the editor in chief for the OWA editorial mentorship program, and the director of their social media program. While born in Florida, she now resides in Nelson, British Columbia.
In Scandinavian mythology, Gimli is the equivalent to “heaven,” making this an aptly named trail. Located in Valhalla Provincial Park, it is one of only two hikes in the Valhallas that reaches into the alpine area, but the epic views only come with serious sweat equity. This is a steep trail that gains almost 1,000 feet per mile, so be prepared for an arduous day. Wildlife is aplenty and you are sure to run into curious mountain goats and chattering marmots. As with most Canadian trails, be on the lookout for bears, as this is grizzly country.
Nearest Town: Nelson, British Columbia, Canada
Getting There: As with many hikes in this region, the approach isn’t simple. From the Playmore Junction where Hwy. 6 departs Hwy. 3A, head north on Hwy. 6 for 28 miles. You will now be in Slocan. Turn left onto Gravel Pit Road. Once you do this, reset your odometer.
Drive across the Slocan River Bridge. When your odometer reaches 0.5 miles, stay left and continue on Slocan West Road. Cross over the Gwillim Creek bridge and then take a right on Little Slocan Road (1.4 miles). Drive along Little Slocan Road until you reach the junction at 8.1 miles, then turn right onto Bannock Burn Road. To keep things simple, reset your odometer here.
Start driving on Bannock Burn Road, but you will bear right very quickly (after roughly 100 yards). Drive another 200 yards, and then bear right a second time. Continue driving, staying straight at 5.2 miles. Eventually, you will curve right (6.5 miles) and drive up a steep uphill. Keep driving until mile 7.8, then bear left. The road very quickly (at 7.9 miles) curves sharply back, and you will reach the end of the road and Gimli Ridge Trailhead at 8 miles. Note: Due to budget cuts in British Columbia’s provincial parks, this road has worsened. Clearance and a 4WD vehicle are recommended.
Trailhead: Bannock Burn Road GPS: N49 44.144', W117 38.653'
Fees and Permits: None
Trail Users: Hikers, backpackers, trail runners
Elevation Gain: 2,510 feet
Length: 5.92 miles RT (out-and-back)
Approximate Hiking Time: One Full Day
Difficulty: Strenuous
Insider Info: Thoughtful park rangers leave chicken wire in the parking lot for hikers to wrap around the base of their vehicles. Marmots and mice are aplenty, and they will chew through vehicle wiring and anything else they can get their teeth on, so it is highly recommended that you use it.
Managing Agency: Valhalla Provincial Park
Gina Bégin will be the first to admit it: She didn’t like hiking.
There was something about the perceived monotony of placing one foot in front of another, slowly plodding along while hefting a typically heavy load on your shoulders, feeling the weight of the pack compressing your spine as your heart pounded and lungs burned. In fact, it is easy to understand: Hiking is not comfortable.
Many might find this odd. After all, Gina is the founder of Outdoor Women’s Alliance (OWA), one of the first nonprofits dedicated to female empowerment and companionship in the outdoors. While hiking isn’t a requisite for participation, it is arguably one of the more common activities scheduled on OWA’s local grass-roots calendars. Groups of women from Colorado to Canada and Washington to New England embark upon group hikes as a means of finding female camaraderie mixed with a touch of self-confidence.
NORSE MYTHOLOGY IN THE VALHALLAS
With their stunning beauty, it seems only logical that the features in the West Kootenay are largely named after famous Norse mythological figures. In fact, Valhalla itself is taken from Scandinavian folklore. Valhalla was a majestic and gigantic hall that the god Odin presided over. Led by Valkyries, half of those soldiers who died in combat were chosen by Odin to travel to Valhalla (while the other half went to Fólkvangr, Freyja’s field).
In addition to Valhalla, numerous names in this area carry Norse origins. Asgard Peak, Gimli Peak, the Valkyr Range, Mt. Odin, Mt. Freya, and Hoder Creek are all examples of names from Scandinavian lore used in this Canadian range.
While Gina never enjoyed hiking, she surely understood its powers. As a child growing up in the northern portion of Florida, Gina and her twin brother enjoyed playing in the backyard forest that was central to their universe. But when she was 8 years old, her single mother received a teaching job offer that whisked the family away to the other side of the country. They left behind the ocean and swampland for the canyon country and foothills of southern Utah. It was a small town of 1,800 people and Gina’s family was even more removed, living just outside of the town center. Her mother worked during the day and attended school at night, enduring a round-trip commute of 4 hours every day. Gina and her brother enjoyed plenty of freedom. After they finished their chores and ate dinner, they had free rein of the foothills behind their house. With minimal adult supervision and a swath of mountains at their disposal, they explored every inch of the hillsides. They learned about hiking and camping and skiing, all activities that were new to them after a more structured outdoor experience in Florida. Gina also learned a lot about self-reliance and independence, characteristics that are intrinsic to outdoor experiences, especially if you are making decisions for yourself.
The family eventually returned to Florida, only this time they ended up in the southern portion, where retirees were more common than kids. Gina observed that towns were focused on catering to the snowbirds that fled south when the northern weather turned cold. As a result, the community frequently overlooked the youth and many of Gina’s friends turned to bad behavior and gangs. Girls dropped out of school with teenage pregnancies. Dads ended up in jail facing murder charges. Friends ended up hooked on the drugs and violence that accompanied the gang behavior.
While many of her close friends succumbed to these pitfalls, Gina managed to keep it together, something she still credits to her outdoor experiences in Utah. Exploring the foothills behind their home had provided her with the skill set needed to make good choices and understand the consequences of her actions. She had confidence in herself and believed in her abilities; these traits stemmed directly from her solo explorations out west. They worked in her favor as she continued through high school, watching as various friends and acquaintances struggled, eventually capitulating to a wayward lifestyle.
Upon graduation Gina left, not wanting to be shackled to the urban environment, rife with unwise choices. She ventured west, returning to the place where she first fell in love with the wilderness: Utah.
She attended university and took outdoor courses, earning certifications in ski instruction and avalanche awareness. As she grew more involved in these outdoor experiences, she felt the urban pressure fall away, almost as if a weight had been released from her shoulders. It was then that the kernel of the idea for OWA came to her. If the rejuvenating power of the outdoors had helped her so much, imagine what it could do for women all over the country!
Years passed and Gina continued to grow OWA as she moved about the country. She lived in her car for a year while driving throughout North America in search of outdoor stories and pristine adventures. She eventually found love—and a forever home—in Nelson, a thriving community in the Selkirks of British Columbia with enviable ski terrain and breathtakingly scenic hikes out her front door. But still, Gina couldn’t latch on to hiking and if anything, grew less interested in the hobby. It made her uncomfortably hot—something she willingly left behind in Florida—and the mystery of British Columbia’s hiking trails left her frustrated, with their dense trees that shrouded views and hid obstacles that existed just around the corner. She understood others enjoyed these arduous adventures and certainly recommended trekking for her friends, but as for her? No, thank you. She would stick to skiing and mountain biking.
But then, as if by divine interference, her perspective changed in a single day.
While shuttling her mountain biking enthusiast boyfriend to a trailhead one day, she rumbled around the bend of a small dirt road and stopped the car in its tracks. The thick forest opened up into a clearing and before her lay the most magnificent slab of granite she had ever seen. The sheer face was warmed by the sun, almost as if heaven had opened up in an effort to highlight this stupendous massif for her eyes only. This was Mt. Gimli.
Immediately, Gina knew she needed to explore the area. She convinced her boyfriend to play tour guide and planned a trip to Gimli Ridge. She had once seen the Valhallas in a ski film, impressed by their grandeur but completely unaware of where they were or how she would ever get there. Seeing them appear in front of her almost seemed like a sign; she was meant to hike this trail.
The weekend approached and Gina and her boyfriend endured the seemingly never-ending approach to the trailhead, complete with a downed tree that threatened to thwart their plans before they even got started. But then they arrived, and Gimli was everything she had dreamt of a hiking trail—and more.
To be sure, the voyage upward was steep, and certainly steeper than Gina preferred while hiking. She huffed and puffed, her quads incessantly screaming as she trailed behind her boyfriend. For the first time in forever, she didn’t hate the hike. She enjoyed the mystery as she rounded each bend, eager to experience whatever beauty this trail had in store. She crept up to the saddle to find her boyfriend quietly sitting on a rock, watching her with an unassuming look on his face. She briefly considered heckling him for crushing the impossibly steep climb, but she was distracted once she saw the view. In front of her lay the imposing Mt. Gimli, its steep spire soaring to the sky while specks of granite shimmered in the sunlight. A family of mountain goats wandered by, absolutely unaware of how their exquisite home was affecting Gina.
It was a moment she clearly remembers. Overwhelmed by the beauty around her, Gina didn’t know what to do other than sit down on a rock, make herself comfortable, and quietly soak in her surroundings. She observed the goats and marveled at Mt. Gimli. She watched the yellow sun rays stream down as dust particles danced in and out of their warmth. She wondered at the color of the alpine lake below, questioning whether Mother Nature had simply melted a box of crayons in the water.
She does not know how long she sat on the rock, admiring the natural world, but it certainly changed her. Trekking to Gimli Ridge changed her perspective about hiking. She still isn’t sold on hiking in general, but if you ask her to hike to Gimli Ridge? She will join you every time.
Once you exit your vehicle, you will see Gimli Peak looming in front of you. Don’t let your eyes deceive you: The commanding peak is not as close as it appears and you still have some formidable climbing ahead of you for the day!
From the trailhead, your route immediately begins climbing through brushy clear-cut growing toward the trail, creating a tight, scratchy singletrack. After 10 minutes of movement, you cross over a small stream via a bridge and trade the brush for a densely wooded forest. Continue hiking up as the unrelenting terrain climbs through steep switchbacks. Until you hit the alpine, this route is technically very easy and won’t require anything other than placing one foot in front of the other. By Canadian standards, this makes this hike “easy,” but don’t be fooled. You will gain nearly 1,000 feet in elevation for every mile you hike, so this is a steep trek.
After one mile of climbing, the trees thin and you enter the alpine. From here, the trail fades as it curves north–northwest as you ascend to the shoulder. Hike for roughly 30–45 minutes across the grassy and rocky hillside, eventually catching a glimpse of the uniquely shaped Mt. Gimli. You will know you have reached the shoulder when you see a small windbreak constructed from loose pieces of shale. Some hikers opt to camp here; it can also be used as a food cache. There is a composting toilet here.
As you look toward Gimli Peak, you will see a small saddle to the west. This is Gimli Ridge. A small track can also be seen winding along the base of the peak, eventually connecting with the ridge. Take this small trail for roughly 45 minutes and you will find yourself on Gimli Ridge, with commanding views of Mulvey Basin and Asgard Peak. Some scrambling is required. Note: Some hikers opt to spend the night on the ridge and return to the trailhead the following day. Others continue on to summit Mt. Gimli itself. There is a small campsite on the ridge, as well as another food cache and composting toilet.
0.0 Begin at the end of the access road where you parked your car. Look for the sign that indicates Valhalla Provincial Park.
0.2 Cross a small stream via the bridge.
0.4 Trail junction; stay straight and continue climbing.
0.9 You’ve reached tree line; continue hiking into the alpine.
1.4 The trail flattens out temporarily and affords you a breather.
2.5 You’ve reached the first windbreak and a small toilet on the saddle.
3.0 You’ve reached the base of Gimli Peak. Unless you are spending the night or tackling the peak itself, turn around and retrace your steps back to the trailhead.
