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Tom Jamieson shares his journal entry from a September trip in B.C.
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After celebrating our daughter’s wedding in Pemberton, we began our Chilcotin and Cariboo Circle Tour with our friends, Rich and Sue, who had travelled over from the UK for the wedding,.
September 5
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We arrived in Hope around noon and headed to the Blue Moon Coffee House for an excellent lunch. Then we checked out some of the many chainsaw carvings, which are spectacular, and feature work from carvers located throughout B.C. and Alberta predominantly. Of course, likely the most photographed is the carving of Rambo, given that “Rambo First Blood” was filmed in Hope.
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From there we carried on to Cache Creek and checked in to the Bear Claw Lodge. We then carried on for a short hike at Marble Canyon Park. Once there, we headed down to Pavilion Lake and then on to a trail that led to Marble Canyon Falls. This area is known for its surrounding limestone cliffs; a lovely little hike, after which, we headed back to the lodge for dinner, before calling it a night.
![limestone cliffs](https://i0.wp.com/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/vancouversun/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/1209-trav-reader-4.jpg?resize=1000%2C750&ssl=1)
September 6
We left Cache Creek and headed towards Williams Lake. Our first stop was the Mount Begbie Lookout, home of one of 11 fire towers in the region, constructed 100 years ago as a fire watch for the surrounding areas. On a clear day, apparently more than nine million hectares can be surveyed from the 1,275 metre peak.
From here we moved on to the Chartreuse Moose Cappuccino Bar and Bistro in 100 Mile House for our now customary noon coffee break.
Refreshed, we moved on to 108 Mile House to visit its heritage site. Although the buildings were closed on this particular day, we had a fascinating visit around the site, which was built in the 1860’s to serve as a hosting location for prospectors going to, or returning from, the gold fields in the Cariboo. The site hosts 13 buildings, including a school, a church and a museum. It overlooks the beautiful, and aptly named, 108 Mile Lake.
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We continued on to Lac La Hache, and headed down to a picnic area by the lake. We were the only people there, and so we enjoyed lunch on our own ‘private’ lake.
![Begbie Lookout, home of one of 11 fire towers in the region.](https://i0.wp.com/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/vancouversun/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/8.jpg?resize=1000%2C750&ssl=1)
September 7
We started off our day in Williams Lake by visiting the Visitor Centre which includes a museum of the Cariboo-Chilcotin. This is a fascinating museum that hosts an exhibit to the BC Country Hall of Fame, and provides local history exhibits including: First Nations, railway, mining and forestry.
From there, we crossed the road to visit the Scout Island Nature Centre, which has trails in and around the lake, and features various marsh life, and birds, and a beaver dam. It was a great little detour before we headed out towards Tatla Lake. Our first stop en route was the Farwell Canyon, about a 15 km detour off Highway 20. Although there were nice views, it was probably not worthy of a 30 km dirt-road detour.
Next on our itinerary was a visit to Bull Canyon Provincial Park where we picnicked, overlooking the Chilcotin River with its magnificent turquoise waters. After our lunch, we headed out on The River Trail. We took some fabulous photos of the surrounding vistas and some of a snake that slithered across the trail in front of us. We then headed back to our SUV and on to Puntzi Lake, which was not far from our stop for the night; the fabulous Eagle Bear Lodge at Tatla Lake.
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The main attraction of Puntzi Lake is that it is a major breeding ground for pelicans. They inhabit an island on the lake, but visitors are asked not to approach during breeding season, April to September.
We then moved on to our lodge at Tatla Lake and enjoyed a wonderful stay, hosted by Jennifer and her husband, who is a wildlife photographer – some of his work is featured in the lodge.
September 8
There’s nothing like an early morning paddle on the lake to get the day underway, or so I told my wife, so we used the lodge’s kayaks and set out.
After a lovely breakfast at the lodge, we followed Jennifer’s recommendation and headed out on a 20 km dirt-road detour to visit Tatlayoko Lake. It’s a wow – beautiful mountain backdrop and the lake, a magnificent turquoise. Really worth the detour.
![Tatla Lake](https://i0.wp.com/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/vancouversun/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/1209-trav-reader-_5580.jpg?resize=1000%2C750&ssl=1)
Next, we called in at the Tatla Lake General Store, mainly to meet ‘Uncle Dave,’ the character of the town. A retired police officer, he was part of the team who apprehended the notorious serial killer Clifford Olsen. We had a good chat with him and he is indeed quite the character.
From there we popped into the adjacent Graham Inn for coffee to sustain us over the journey to Hotnarko Falls. This was off the beaten track, and although the falls were not the most spectacular we have ever seen the surrounding vistas were magnificent. This location was completely deserted and had a single picnic table ,so we set up lunch, keeping an eye out for bears.
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Next up, Tweedsmuir Provincial Park and on to the renowned Heckman Hill. The hill itself covers the last 20 km of a 60 km dirt road in the mountain pass of the Rainbow Range. The descent has steep gradients with severe drop offs, and no guard rails or barriers. And plenty of switchbacks. An epic part of the drive with fabulous views and graphic evidence of the recent fires that tore through the area.
I was totally focussed on navigating the drive down when Sue yelled, “Bear!”
![bear](https://i0.wp.com/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/vancouversun/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/1209-trav-reader-5699.jpg?resize=1000%2C750&ssl=1)
Managing to avoid careering off the cliff, I brought the vehicle to a stop and gently backed up to where Sue had seen a Grizzly grazing on the fauna beside the road. We stopped and watched him for several minutes, getting some great pictures. I should note that we were the only vehicle on the hill and, we only encountered one other vehicle on this entire leg of the journey.
Our final stop en route to Bella Coola was the Belarko Viewing Platform – a beautiful location. Apparently, the best bear viewing opportunities are early in the morning and we were there late afternoon, so no sightings. After hanging out there, we completed our trip to Bella Coola and just got into one of only two restaurants in Bella Coola before they closed at 8 p.m.
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September 9
Early start today as we were booked on a Grizzly bear viewing tour with Kynoch Adventures, located near the Belarko Viewing Platform in Tweedsmuir Park that we’d visited yesterday. This tour gently meanders down the Bella Coola River, a confluence of the Atnarko and Talchako rivers, in a six-person dinghy. We immediately came across a sow and her two cubs. We gently floated down the river for three peaceful hours, but there were no more sightings.
After lunch at the Café Bella, located in the Eagle Lodge, we took a stroll down to the Bella Coola Harbour, where our ferry was scheduled to depart from to Port Hardy, on Monday.
We did one short hike to Clayton Falls – impressive falls that BC Hydro uses to service Bella Coola. From there we continued back along the trail to the shoreline.
September 10
Our first planned hike of the day was at the Lost Lake Trail, which is a 2 km hike on the South side of Saloompt Peak. Unfortunately, the Saloompt Bridge was closed and we had to abandon our plans. Given that we were more than halfway to the Belarko Viewing platform, we thought we’d carry on to get another bear viewing opportunity. Unfortunately, no sightings. However, we did spend a fair bit of time a little further down the river watching the salmon jump.
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En route we stopped at Stupendous Viewpoint – so named not because it was the greatest viewpoint ever (although it was pretty good) but because it overlooks Stupendous Mountain. We spent a fair bit of time there watching eagles.
Before we’d headed out to Belarko, we’d called in to a local supermarket and picked up a local flyer advertising the 70th annual Bella Coola Fall Fair. Our plan had been to drive back to the Odegaard Falls, a recommended trail, but a bit of a drive to access. Based on this we decided to forego the Odegaard Falls in favour of the fall fair, which was on our way back anyway.
![Bella Coola Fall Fair.](https://i0.wp.com/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/vancouversun/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/1209-trav-reader-39.jpg?resize=1000%2C750&ssl=1)
The fair was a lot of fun and included lots of log cutting activities, axe throwing and culminated in various tugs-of-war. Really glad to have stopped in. A great way to spend the afternoon.
We then headed to Bella Coola and got dinner at the Bella Coola Valley Inn, the other restaurant in Bella Coola and the only one open on a Sunday night. The food was excellent, and either of the two restaurants in Bella Coola are good choices.
September 11
Up early today to catch the ferry from Bella Coola to Port Hardy. Departure time was 7:30 a.m. but we were asked to assemble in the Bella Coola Co-op parking lot at 5:30 a.m. About 25-30 vehicles duly assembled, including some campers. The reason why we had to assemble so early was that there is only one entrance/exit on the ferry, the Northern Wolf, so the procedure is that vehicles are loaded one at a time, and when in the vehicle holding area reverse and park the way that they entered, ready to depart.
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![BC Ferry](https://i0.wp.com/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/vancouversun/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_5978.jpg?resize=1000%2C750&ssl=1)
Once on board, we enjoyed a hearty breakfast and had just finished when the captain advised of a whale sighting on the port side. Passengers temporarily abandoned their breakfasts to scurry out on deck to see a Humpback waving his tail at us as we sped by. There were a few more whale and porpoise sightings en route and, despite the warnings that the crossing might be a little rough when we reached open water, the sailing was largely calm throughout.
We docked around 5 p.m., a half hour ahead of schedule and I should comment that this crew, from the canteen staff to the captain and everyone else on the crew, was one of the most pleasant, and smiling, group that I have encountered on all our numerous crossings on BC Ferries.
September 12
We completed our journey home by driving to Nanaimo to board the ferry to Horseshoe Bay. We were just approaching Horseshoe Bay when the captain advised of orcas, and one duly breached in front of us, to give a dramatic conclusion to a great trip.
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