South Chilcotin Adventure

August 12 - 16, 2020 -- Fatigue, hunger, thirst, sweat, dust, horsefly bites, route finding, bears, and exposure would be some of the words I'd use to describe this expedition. So at the end of this trip, what was our conclusion? It was an amazingly great adventure, leaving us with a sense of accomplishment and an awe of God's creation. Let my pictures tell the story...

Hike #1: Spruce Lake -- 15.8 km / 758m gain / 1550m high at lake (1600m highest point) / 6 hours MT. This provincial park is 83 km north of Pemberton. Just this year a lot of work was done on the trails and new signs were erected. But the "Trail Ventures BC" map is outdated. The upper section of the Spruce Lake Trail, running from north of the lake to Tyaughton Creek Trail, no longer exists. There's now a detour trail with a log crossing over Tyaughton Creek .

We spent our first night at the free BC Hydro Gun Creek campsite where Gun Lake drains into Carpenter Lake.

Fresh, clean and ready to go. Four of our group left the day before to scout things out. They saw a grizzly from a distance on the Gun Creek trail that leads to Spruce Lake. Little did we know that only six days later a mountain-biker would get attacked by a grizzly on that same trail.

It was about a 25 minute drive from Road 40 to the trailhead but there was no sign on that road. For the most part the Gun Creek trail followed alongside the Gun Creek River.

We carried 6.5 days worth of food in our packs. The weight ranged from 34 - about 50 lbs.

Groves of Aspens in the forest.

Fresh bear markings on the Aspens.

Heading north into the heart of the park.

Looking back.

I've never seen such a high concentration of Arnicas.

This proved to be our coldest night. We slept with our downy coats on.

Six of us stayed at this southern campsite for 1 night while 6 hiked 2 more km to the larger northern campsite. This southern one was closer to the trailhead for the next day.

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Hike #2: Spruce Peak -- 15 km / 897m gain / 2373m high / 5:15 hours MT

Windy Creek.

1) Asters 2) Edible Thistle 3) Grouse 4) Cow-parsnip 5) Wild Rose 6) White Thistle

West

The trail switch-backed gently to Windy Pass.

From the pass we turned right and then right again to get onto the Eldorado Ridge Trail / Route.

1) Goldmoss Stonecrop 2) Small-flowered Penstemon 3) Wild Bergamont 4) Arrowleaf Butterweed 6) Mountain Kidney

Almost there.

Shelter from the wind.

Northwest view on Mt. Sheeba (with the two cat ears).

West view of Coastal Mts.

The one and only full group shot for this trip: Dave W (who helped me organize this trip), Cindy W, Ingrid F, Anne O'L, Case T, Janice H, Jerry U, Irene H, Dave B, Patrick R, John McL + me.

Looking east at Edorado & Nea Peaks.

We could see the High trail in the valley below. It starts at Tyaughton Lake (southeast of park) and ends at Spruce Lake. You can also access it by a 4WD high clearance road from the east side of the park.

Thankfully Irene brought her binoculars so we could see the mountain goats below us.

A mama and her baby.

1) Showy Jacob's Ladder 2) Narrow-leafed Hawkweed 3) Worm-leaved Stonecrop 4) Mountain Sorrel 6) Three-flowered Avens 7) Umbrella Plant

Heading back -- northeast.

High Trail below.

There are 4 cabins by the campsite. But they were closed (Covid) and seemed rather run down.

Some peaceful fishing after dinner.

Lesson to be learned: don't hang your clothes on these trees. My coat ended up getting sap on it.

We earned our time to relax and do nothing.

Case provided us with some entertainment when he fell in the lake (that dock was not to be trusted). He had only one pair of pants with him which we dried by the fire.

Delicious fresh trout, complements of Dave B & Case T.

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Hike #3: Towards Mt. Sheba : 17 km / 1237m gain / 4:45 hours MT

Rise & shine! Wake up call was at 7:00am.

We passed the north end of Spruce Lake and headed west on the Open Heart trail.

One third of the trail formed a large loop. We stayed right.

At the viewpoint and junction for the loop which now turned into the Sheba Ridge trail. Castle Peak is that tiny pointed peak to the left.

At the beginning of the hike we agreed that the faster group would go on their own, ahead of us. Both groups made the mistake of going up this spine to a dead end.

After searching a bit, we saw the trail below us and boot-slid down to it.

Creeping Stonecrop.

The trail turned to the left, where it officially ended. From there it was a route where we had to climb up a very steep slope.

It doesn't look like it, but this slope was very steep. We had to watch for falling rock from the hikers above us. Also it held our last source of water.

The other group and Mt. Sheba.

A whole herd of Mountain Sheep!

Soft red, orange & lilac colours.

The Coastal Mts -- west.

We stopped at the edge of this drop for lunch and watched the other group carrying on. We made the decision to not continue to the peak. We were low on water and it would've been another 3 hours. But we weren't done hiking yet so I suggested to do the loop.

North.

As we turned back we stayed right on the ridge, glad to be passing that sketchy steep slope. Little did we know, we'd be in for worse on the loop! This is Hummingbird Lake.

We had to satisfy our urge to bag a peak so we went to the nearest one which had a nice trail going to it. It was about 2300m high.

Spruce Lake - east.

Dropping down to what was labelled on the map as a "mountaineering route".

It was unbelievable how mountain bikers can use this route but we did see tire tracks on the dirt sections.

Sheba in the distance.

We were about 2/3 way on the loop when we rounded the corner and our stomaches dropped. A landslide had destroyed a large section of the trail. A small rock barrier on the trail led to a large cairn. But I couldn't see any trail coming from it. In the meantime, the others were looking for an alternate route lower down. But there was none, just more cliff and going back would taken way too long.

Then I saw a faint levelling of the rocks and a small cairn up on the top of the sharp ridge. So I very carefully went to scout it out. Going down the other side was very steep and full of loose rock. But it was our only option. So we butt-slid most of the way.

Thankfully we all got down in one piece. Can't say as much for our clothes though. But that was a small price to pay.

Two of our group ended up running out of water near the end of the loop. Thankfully Janice had some to spare. We ended up getting back to camp at 5:00pm, just 10 minutes before the other group.

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Hike #4: 17.8 km / 258m gain /1050m at parking lot

We had a meeting the evening before and decided not to continue north to do Castle Peak. That would've involved 3 more days of hiking, 2 of those with our overnight packs. Also we heard from two bikers at the campsite that the campsite up there was quite small. We had 9 tents. And upon studying the map more, I realized if we drove our FJ up the eastern side of the park, it'd be only a 6 km hike in to the small campsite. So we definitely want to return another time to do Castle Peak.

A still morning on the lake. At least it is until the float planes come in.

We enjoyed watching the planes land and unload.

Our packs weren't quite as heavy this time.

The Dickson Range.

We never hiked alone and we always carried bear spray.

This very fresh scat was huge; about 1.5 x 2'! And there were five dumps in a space of about 200m. Good reason to stick together and keep talking. The very next day on this same trail, a mountain biker was mauled by a grizzly. His wife used her bear spray and SOS device. I would think because of their speed, they're more likely to startle the bears and give them the impression they're running, therefore need to be chased.

Back at the parking lot we soaked in the river while waiting for the group to filter in. The faster group had gone on ahead to Goldbridge.

Not only was the bar / restaurant open, but they were having a pig roast + live music that evening! So we went back to the BC Hydro campsite where John & Jerry had secured the last two sites, and set up camp. All except Case, Irene & Anne. Why? Because our old van refused to start. Why didn't my husband listen to me and take the truck instead??? Anyways, the van ended up staying there overnight and the next morning mechanic Jerry got it going by whacking the crap out of the fuel tank & filter while Case started it. Then Case had to drive straight home without turning off the engine.

Staying in our own social bubble. There's only 32 year-round residents in Goldbridge. Everyone here seemed to know each other. Having a toast for the trip -- but one more hike to come yet...

Cone heads and Mexican music. They were pretty good. Not sure why they were performing out in the middle of nowhere.

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Hike #5: Cinnabar Ridge -- 21.9 km / 1292m gain / 2107m high / over 30C

I had to apologize for telling everyone this'd be a moderate hike. I had just measured off of the map. But at the end of the day no one was complaining. The alpine meadows were spectacular!

Tyaughton & Carpenter Lakes. Hind sight, we could've driven another 2 km up the road, which shows as a trail on the map.

At the fork to the ridge loop, we split up. I didn't want to take a chance on another "mountaineering route". So we dropped 113m into this valley before climbing back up into the meadows and then the ridge.

1) Salsify 2) Fireweed 3) Anemone

At the creek we later filled our water bottles and dipped our hats in the cold water.

A riot of colours from Lupines, Indian Paintbrush, Daisies, Anemones & Arnicas.

On the other side of this basin we were yelling back & forth to the other group on that ridge -- south.

If you look close, the other hikers were on the pointed rock just below the peak to the right.

West.

There was such an abundance of Lupines that the air smelled like perfume!

southwest

We decided to have lunch on the ridge. There was more wind there which we hoped would get rid of those nasty Horseflies.

In the meantime, the other group caught up to us at this halfway point which is where the viewpoint was.

East.

Camel Pass -- northwest.

Looking at the southern part of the ridge. Glad we didn't come up that was because the other group had to climb up a very steep scree slope and some of the members in my group didn't like that kind of exposure.

The northern half of the loop (the way we came up and went down).

East - large patchess of the basin looked purple because of all the Lupines.

Heading back.

Tyaughton Lake.

Coming down the mountain, us women kept coughing from the dust being kicked up by the hiker in front of us. When we drove to Tyaughton Lake, we lost all modesty and didn't hesitate to strip and jump in that lovely cold lake (we did keep our under-things on).

Then we took over the other group's table and took their advice: to get the Dirty Burger & fries and Pale Ale, of course. It was the perfect way to end this great trip.

Tyax Lodge, (where we ate) has a beautiful view of the lake.

The next day we squeezed into two trucks because we were now minus one van. We stopped at the Fort Berens Estate Winery in Lillooet before heading home.

Thanks guys, for the bottle of wine in appreciation of my organizing this trip.