June 8, Wells-Gray Provincial Park

 Friday, June 8

 This morning we head south a bit to Clearwater, where we find a gas station and a Tim Horton’s.  Tim Horton was a famous Canadian hockey player and his chain is near McDonalds status here.  Noted for breakfasts, but also selling sandwiches and a few other items, along with free wi-fi.

Today we will explore Wells-Gray Provincial Park.  Provincial Parks are like our State Parks and we’ve heard of this one.  It is very large and is noted for its waterfalls. Spahats Falls is the first one we come to and it is quite nice.  Sorry I can't get these photos to present correctly!

  This area was shaped by volcanic action about 400,000 years ago, then carved by glaciers, and further changed by flowing water.  The falls are still moving slightly lower and deeper by erosion. Spahats is a First Nation word for “bear”.

These flowers along the trail smell wonderful!  Kind of like honeysuckle.

Matt calls as we are leaving and while talking to him a black bear wonders onto the road.  We watch him, but he sees us and quickly disappears into the thick brush and forest.  Matt is excited about his new job and working to establish his teams.

Lots of pretty purple flowers along the road, mixed with some tiny yellow ones.

 We turn off a side road and climb about 3 miles of dirt road to Green Mountain Tower. It is a very windy day and especially so atop the mountain!  This is also a favorite hangout for Moose in the Winter because the wind keeps the snow more shallow, thus making feeding and escaping predators easier.

To our north is Battle Mountain, named for a battle between two Indian tribes over caribou hunting grounds.

Here is a site that sometimes is very appreciated along the trails.

We pass through an area somewhat inhabited before re-entering the park near Dawson Falls. 59’ high and 350’ wide, it is on the Murtle River.  Are/Is  “Falls” singular or plural??  

The road to the next Falls, Helmcken, is not far.  This is supposed to be the most spectacular of the Falls.  We will see a few more, and there are many that require hiking. This whole Park is very natural and backpacking and hiking are the only way to access much of it.

There are areas of meadows and small ponds as well.

Here is Helmcken! Wow!  462; feet high and 75’ wide.  Niagara by comparison is only 173’ high but much wider at350’.

We try to stop at the remains of Ray Farm,  an area given to a settler who helped the local Indians around 1911 during a smallpox epidemic.  The mosquitos are thick, however, making it a quick walk there and even quicker return.

The paved road now becomes gravel/dirt but we’ve been on worse, so we continue to Clear Lake Campground.

 There is a small store there and a friendly man standing outside with his dog.  He explains the setup and tells us to choose a site and self-register.  (Turns out he runs the store not the campground.)  Store is used generously - from what I can tell he has insect spray, matches, bread and maybe a few things to drink.  The  Campground is small but nice roomy sites and only about half are occupied.  We take site 11 near the river.

 There are some small falls just below our site.

Greg makes a fire, battling a bit with some light sprinkles.  We have chicken and black beans for dinner.  Nice and quiet and once night falls it is absolutely PITCH BLACK – you  really can’t see your hand in front of your face. Too many clouds for stars, unfortunately.

 It has been a cloudy day with a sprinkle here and there and gives a good downpour during the night, while temps drop to the high 40's.  We're cozy and warm and thankful once again that we aren't tenters!