What a hike!
On the heels of doing the full Mamquam journey, including Opal Cone, I was wondering if this would be anti-climactic - but it wasn't.
The price of admission to this premier area is not insignificant. A long drive from Pemberton, the need for a 4WD, and a day on either end that is the toughest not vertical 15km trail I can recall. Why so tough? Most of the distance is covered on broken scree-like material and the route is a mystery at times as it weaves in and out of the woods, plus there are river crossings.
That being said, it is a scenic journey at that and better than most end pay-offs in 103 hikes!
Then, there is the middle day,.. oh what a day! Because we had only made it to the middle camping area (which in the end we were happy about), it was a slightly longer day. The plan was to hit the Elephant and Ocre mountains. The route was tricky and up to us to determine the best which led to some disagreements, and some tightened sphinxters on the steep parts. Up top, scenery like I've rarely seen. Check out the pictures,.. no point in me trying to describe it! It was one of the best days of hiking I've ever experienced.
Day 3 was much like the first, with an extra scary ridge to walk added in (though the creek crossings were easier).
I would suggest doing this trip just as we did. Get up to Pemberton the night before, and then get to the trailhead early becasue it took us a LONG time to hike in. You probably don't need more than 3 days if you are fit and ambitious. Inexperienced hikers could get in trouble,... know what you are about, this isn't one for just rolling the dice and hoping for the best. This is active Grizzly country, and many other hazards made me happy to be with the group I was.
Most hikes I've done have parallels to other hikes,.. sections that resemble somewhere I've been before. This one was completely fresh,.. a huge valley and more glaciers than I've ever seen in one place.