Spirit Caves

March 24, 2026 -- Yale

Stats: 5 km / 520m gain / 594m high

Ahhh! it felt so good to be out hiking with friends after a long stretch of rain and snow not too high up. The budding green sun dappled forest featured an understory of florescent velvet moss, a bubbling brook and a higher viewpoint of the might Fraser and town of Yale. Add to that the caves...

9:45am - 1:45pm. This time the trailhead wasn't so hard to find with a new sign to mark it, right across from the Pioneer cemetery.

There was a light dusting of snow as we approached the viewpoint.

After a steep 444m climb, we came to this south-facing viewpoint with a backdrop of Hope Mt. Yale is a historic Fraser River town, established as a Hudson’s Bay Company trading post in 1848. It became a bustling, 40,000-person tent city during the 1858 Fraser Gold Rush and later the southern terminus of the Cariboo Wagon Road. Today, it is a small heritage site known for its Gold Rush history. 

south

Fred insisted on taking this photo of me. Allana is photo-bombing it.

The Fraser River.

After the viewpoint the grade was less steep.

A bowl before the final stretch to the caves.

As we exited the bowl, we got a bit off course, due to the blow-down that obliterated the trail.We just backtracked and bushwhacked a wee bit.

From the eastern side of the boulder hill, we carefully picked our way on wet & snowy rocks to the small holes that led to who-knows-where.

The tunnels in this one were narrow. Joe didn't go too far.

Fred, Joe & Ling found a large chamber, about 20' long in this one. The hole in the upper right of this photo is the largest but it's shallow.

Group shot, L to R: Lorena B, Ling S, Heather R, Joan S, Ken A, Patty A, Brian H, Stelian A, Karl V, Terry B, Allana W Front: me, Joe K, Fred H

Notice how this footbridge is held up, by that thick branch resting on a few stones. Yes Fred, how could we not notice you? lol

This kind truck driver stopped traffic until our whole group of 14 crossed the highway.

Since this was a shorter hike, we checked out the Pioneer cemetery.

These two tombstones closest to the railway tracks, held the remains of a centurian and a 99 year old, that had passed away in the late 1800s.