The real BC
Trip Start
Mar 01, 2007
1
20
48
Trip End
Feb 29, 2008
Bella Coola, British Columbia, Canada
Monday, September 17, 2007
The first stop was the Kootenay NP that straddles Alberta & BC..... started with a 3klm hike to the "paintpots" muddy red, yellow & orange pools....the idians mixed with fish oil to make paint.....and of course, also keeping our eyes open for bears ! which is fast becoming Colin's latest obsession.
Was kind of neat to see where the trains went spiralling through the mountains, we could see the front of the train coming out above as the back was entering into another tunnel below.....they must have built this in the most difficult place possible.
Marble canyon another hike of 2 klms which looked just like marble but was in fact dolomite, the hike has loads of small wooden bridges as the canyon gets narrower & deeper.
Then back to Yoho (means awe in Cree indian) NP in BC (lots of abbreviations we know, but typing is slow)....this is where Takakkaw falls, the highest in Canada are located, and the rushing kicking horse river....you have to drive 50klms to get to it each way !! but incredible.
The Emerald lake was stunning, we thought we would just like to sit and have a coffee here, but when we tried to get in, it was 40 questions !! did we want to eat ? if not, did we want beer or wine ? if not we were told that we were not allowed the privelege of sitting on thier patio....even though it was empty (they obvioulsy haven't been told that coffee is very profitable)....so we thought "stuff them" and sat on a nice rock outside....
Over dinner that night we decided to change our travel plans and head west across BC to a small inlet called Bella Coola, now this really is out of the way, a great trip across of 800 klms to get a ferry to Vancouver island, a crossing of some 13 hrs through spectacular inland waterways.......managed to book the last ferry of the season leaving on 17th Sept.
Revelstoke is a place that 14 years ago when we last came, we looked at buying a KOA campsite and emigrating, we liked it that much.....but it does get 40ft of snow a year. !!
We went to the Wolf sanctuary here which is one of the most interesting things we have done, they are misunderstood and endangered.....the owner of the place takes the wolves out each day (not born wild, but used to help educate people as wolves are still hunted)....it was funny standing next to them with all the people howling to try to get the wolves started.
At Salmon Arm we just walked along the pier, watched Osprey nesting, Heron fishing, and huge Catfish.....we bumped into an older Scottish couple, we asked if on holiday to be told we have lived here for 40 years !! Scots accent still strong....also a Welsh couple and then an Irish couple !! all on one small pier !!!
The Clearwater KOA where we were staying, had a bear problem on the site, rubbish collected at 8pm...so had to be very tidy......Kim wouldn't go to the Washroom after dark and was deperate at one stage, Colin being the gentleman he is refused to get up and just turned over. Visited Wells Gray park, more waterfalls, more lakes & of course more hiking.
Once we reached Williams lake (again, as we crossed over on the route) Colin at this point was going mad as no one was watching the rugby, but after hearing Englands result against SA was very glad he didn't bother.
Now this road out to Bella Coola really was a road to nowhere, with a real feeling of Autumn in the air, with trees turning red, yellow & orange, we started to see signs saying CARRY SNOWCHAINS, which of course we did not have. At Puntzi lake they told us they did not have a bear problem and in the next sentence descibed how a bear was found in thier kitchen rummaging through the freezer....so we slept comfortably that night.
The road across is 500 klms and at one point turns to gravel for about 100klms, mainly single lane, and through the mountain range, winding & curving....as it had rained overnight was also very wet. which made it slippery.....they call this locally "the hill" now even in winter everything they need comes in by truck over the hill, not sure if this is brave or just foolish....but very Canadian.
Bella Coola was closing for the winter as the ferry we were catching was the last for 7 months....so nothing to report other than it has a cool name.
Comments
Bella Coola does not close for the winter. The ferry stops running that's all.
Revelstoke does not get 40 feet of snow every year.
I guess it just felt like it.