On July 24 to Aug 1, 2017 Dave and I spend nine days hiking in the spectacular Southern Chilcotin mountains of British Columbia. It's not as remote as other areas we have backpacked - with mountain bikers and horse riders keeping us company - but it's a region as scenic as any we have visited.

Day 1: We drive (with some navigation errors) to the Jewel Creek trailhead and then hike Gun Creek trail for 9 hours arriving wearily to a camp at Hummingbird lake.

Day 2: We continue along the Gun Creek trail passing Trigger Lake to arrive at a camp at Warner Lake. We spend the remainder of the day exploring the trail to Warner Pass.

Day 3: Today we hike through Warner Pass and explore the mountaineering route up Denain Spur. We find the ridge steep with lots of rock fall potential and unsure footing. At the ridge top we admire the view and admonish our foolish spirit to gain this ridge. We also don't see an obvious route beyond the ridge. We carefully descend and return to our camp at Warner Lake.

Day 4: We leave camp early and take a bushwacking "shortcut" uphill through forest, crossing meadows, hopping streams, passing tarns and snowfields. We use our rusty compass and map skills to find the Deer Pass Trail that eventually leads us to the main camp at the summit of Sheba Ridge beside a disappointing pond surrounded by dirt and exposed to the cold persistent wind. After lunch and a short snooze we find a better camp in a grassy depression beside a clear stream. A classic high alpine camp! In the afternoon we scramble up Mt Solomon and see the twin peaks of Mt Sheba in the east.

Day 5: Today we explore the mountaineering approach route to Mt Sheba in the hope of using it to return back to the car. The route rises steeply and crosses several steep talus sections with considerable exposure. As we approach the flanks of Mt Sheba (with the twin peaks hidden) we stop for lunch at a scenic promontory. Going further would require extensive downhill so we return using an alternative mountaineering route that proves more enjoyable than the trail. High on the ridge we enjoy the 360° views then snooze in the mountain grass away from the wind. Later we slowly descend seeing our yellow tent glowing in the distance below.

Day 6: We leave our high camp on Sheba Ridge and descend the Deer Pass trail to camp at Trigger Lake.

Day 7: We hike the Gun creek trail to Cowboy Camp and then hike to Spruce Lake.

Day 8: Today we explore the approach to Mt Sheba from the east using an old connector trail from Cowboy Camp. We find the main trail that leads to the ridge line connecting Mt Sheba. However, before reaching the ridge we discover the trail washed out by a mudslide requiring a sketchy traverse across a steep gully to bypass the washout. On the ridge plateau forest fire smoke obscures the views toward Mt Sheba. We opt for a lunch and a snooze rather than proceeding further.

Day 9: From Cowboy Camp we hike 12.5 km back to our car and end another fantastic backpacking adventure.

During our travels we meet several times a horse handler who appears to have been hired directly from cowboy central casting.