The drive to Bella Coola and back has long been a call-to-explore and a week was set aside into the calendar for the tour. It is 740 km each way so I got an early start on a Monday morning. The road is paved all the way to Anaheim Lake so I proceeded along the route, stopping for gas as needed. The gravel section started just before Tweedsmuir Provincial Park and there were no vehicles along the upper section of the park. The weather was fine and I stopped at some trailheads in the park to scout out future hikes. Wide views were impressive at the top of Heckman Pass and I proceeded carefully down the Big Hill. I was happy the road was dry and I wasn’t pulling a trailer on this daunting 16 km section of road.
The Bella Coola Valley was impressive with steep-sided mountains all around, glaciers and snowfields above, and waterfalls and creeks entering the valley into the Atnarko and Bella Coola Rivers. All of the campgrounds in Tweedsmuir were still closed and there were no vehicles at all in the upper valley. This is a coastal cedar-hemlock wet coastal zone forest with fast-flowing streams and dense green forest.
In the middle part of the valley, Hagensborg is a small community with Norwegian immigrant history. There were some services, regional parks, and a nice ambience to the area. Coming into Bella Coola was a bit surprising. The community is in a beautiful setting, but seemed a bit run-down. I drove past the town out to the Government dock where the ferry used to land, then beyond to a small regional park for a view out the North Bentick Arm.
I drove through the town and looked for a gas station. The one gas station was closed and though I wanted to stay in Bella Coola, I had to drive back up the valley where I ended up paying $3.84 a litre! A big disincentive to staying in town. I decided to looked for a camping spot near the western edge of Tweedsmuir Park. I spotted this this old homestead along the way.
I had noted some possible camping spots on the western side of Tweedsmuir Park and I settled on a spot by Burnt Bridge Creek, very near the end of the Alexander Mackenzie Heritage Trail.
The weather was mostly clear on day one. The moon was shining over the Coast Range in the middle of the night..
An early morning start and I had choices to make – paddle in the Bentick Arm or on a lake up in the Chilcotin? The weather was changing and I didn’t want to drive the Big Hill in the rain, so I made the decision to head east. The Big Hill is very steep, unpaved, and has drop-offs at the shoulder all the way to the valley floor 4000 feet below. I carefully drove the 16km section to the top at Heckman Pass. At the top is a viewpoint back across the Coast Range above the Bella Coola Valley.
The upper part of Tweedsmuir Provincial Park has high (5000 feet) wet meadows and small lakes.
The plan for the day was to hike the first part of the Rainbow Range Trail in the morning.
Just before the trailhead, I spotted two silver-backed grizzly bears stumping along the meadows not far from where I had planned to hike. There were no other vehicles around and I was hiking alone. So, I drove on.
It started to rain west of Anaheim Lake. I chose to drive east to attempt to outrun the weather. At Nimpo Lake, the weather cleared a bit so I found a boat launch and paddled for 2 hours on this peaceful lake.
At the end of this pleasant paddle, the weather started to deteriorate. The plan was to turn down to Tatloyoko Lake to hike, paddle, and camp for a day or two. When I reached the turn-off, the rains had resumed, but more heavily now so rather than tent in the rain, I continued east. The weather really came in after that.
My plan to paddle Charlotte Lake, Tatla Lake, and Tatloyoko Lake and to hike around Tatloyoko was rained out. I continued east. At Riske Creek I turned down toward Farwell Canyon. The roads were muddy by this time and I passed quite a few loaded logging trucks. I stopped at the Sheep Junction Park trailhead and went for a walk along the track, but the rain discouraged any further exploration. This will be a return bike/hike.
Farwell Canyon was in a grey weather zone, but it was nice to see the hoodoos above the Chilco River.
In the end, I drove all the way home. The planned 5 day trip to Bella Coola and the Chilcotin took only 2 days. It rained for the next day and a half after that. The road trip was quick, but it was fun to see all the villages, Reserves, ranches, rivers, lakes, and mountains along the way. This became a “scouting trip” for a return (summer) trip to hike and paddle sometime in the future.
