Bella Coola.....Again. (Part 1 of 2)

My main reason for coming to the Bella Coola Valley..... Grizzlies.

I hesitated going north to Bella Coola this year due to the forest fires BC had been experiencing over the late summer months.  My final destination of Bella Coola was fire free but the one and only road leading there had been recently closed.  After monitoring the road conditions, it looked like it was going to be clear after the Labor Day weekend so the trip was on.  The plan was to spend a week in the Bella Coola Valley and another week or so in the South Chilcotin Range.  Every time I go the area, this being my fourth, I discover something new.  The area ranks right up there as one of my favorite areas to explore.  Last time up here I was in the old motorhome which didn't have four-wheel capability and this trip I fixed that by coming up with the Toyota and the Four Wheel Camper.  If you want to remote camp and explore backcountry areas a four-wheel drive is necessary.  I had come up on Hwy 97 out of Hope, BC and the plan was to get off the pavement in Clinton.  From Clinton or Lillooet, you can access dirt/gravel roads and cut across the South Chilcotin Range before popping back out on pavement west of Williams Lake.  After jumping off the pavement in Clinton I ran into a road block by a fire crew in the area.  It looked like I'd have to backtrack and get back on the pavement when at the last minute the guy in charge decided to let me go through if I promised not to camp in the area and continue through to Hanceville.  It's probably about 80 miles or so to get through. He stated I'd be going through some bad burn areas and they were just now opening it back up to thru travel.  I was amazed at the devastation in the area.  I encountered some homes that were destroyed but couldn't bring myself to stop and take pictures.  You'd see the occupants standing out front or trying to clean up and you'd really feel for them.  Just didn't feel right to stop, gawk and start snapping pictures.

A rancher told me the driver was badly injured when he went off the road here trying to escape the fire when it was sweeping through this valley.

 Road grader didn't make it out.

Only around bodies of water was anything saved.  The remainder of the forest in this area was consumed by the fire.  Quite a contrast when I'd come up on a lake or pond.  The green with black everywhere else. I drove this particular road for well over 10 miles and the scene never changed.

After working my way through the burn area I had to cross the Chilcotin River where I ran into an RMCP Officer who was parked on the bridge.  He wanted to know where I'd come from and how I got into the area.  I let him know one of the fire crew's let me through.  Apparently, there was some miscommunication as I shouldn't have been let through and he couldn't let me cross the bridge.  I certainly didn't want to backtrack over the 80 miles I'd just done. At this point, I was only a few miles from popping back out on pavement.  Rather than have me backtrack all the way back through the area he consented and let me cross the bridge where I accessed Hwy 20 at Hanceville, better known as Lee's Corner.  It's an old established rest stop consisting of a little store, restaurant and gas station.  It was completely destroyed by the fire.  They had a dozer leveling everything in sight when I came through.  

I pointed it west and after about 30 miles turned back off pavement looking for a camp.  Headed into a place called Farwell Canyon and located an old homestead along the Fraser River.  Beautiful spot to spend the night.  Petey and I hung out, walked the river and explored the old homestead.

 Camp for the night.  Fairly recent gravesite on the right of picture.  Not a bad place to spend eternity.

 Short climb above camp gave you a better view of the Fraser.

 Hoodoo's across the river from camp.

While out hiking that evening spotted these juvenile Big Horn Sheep checking me out.

  After a night along the Fraser I drove into Bella Coola the following day. There had been some small fires in the east end of the valley but nothing in comparison to what had occurred up on the Chilcotin Plateau.  The area containing the fire in the valley is remote and requires four wheel drive to access.  Normally, you can drive all the way up this particular four wheel drive road but they had closed off a portion of it due to fire danger.  I spent the first few days in the valley looking for bears before heading up in the backcountry.  The bear viewing this time of year is great due to the salmon run on the Atnarko River.  The grizzlies congregate on the river to fatten up for the winter.  With some patience you can usually find bears.

 Sow and her cub.

 I had driven up the old Tote four wheel drive road and hung out at an old homestead in the area.  I could hear these cubs bawling at each other before spotting them.  They were raising a ruckus down river and hoped they were headed my way.  Eventually they came around the corner and I got to watch them for about 20 minutes before they disappeared in the forest. This sow and her three cubs were a lot of fun to watch but never really got close enough for good pictures.  Additionally, the lighting was really bad.  It was a miserable ride back out of this area as Petey found a nice fresh pile of bear scat and decided he needed to roll in and cover 90 percent of his body.  I never realized just how bad bear shit smells until you have to sit next to a dog for 15 miles.  I dumped him in the river, which was freezing cold, but it didn't do much for the smell.  A cold bath with Eucalyptus soap when we got back to camp did the trick.  The damn truck smelled like bear shit for the next week.

 Couple of cubs keeping a wary eye on me.

 Sow fishing for salmon while the cubs keep pace.

Same sow and her cubs.

How people with money photograph bears.  The rest of us walk, sit and wait!  It's really a hit and miss proposition in seeing bears.  Biggest factor is having the patience to hang out all day in areas where they are known to feed along the river.  The surrounding forest is so thick in places you could be 10 feet from one and not know it. I've talked with people getting off a guided boat tour that didn't see anything all day wherein I'd seen several bears that same day.  The poor man method had also resulted in zero sightings where the money people had seen a bunch.  You just never know, it's mostly luck, but I would say that your chances of seeing bears are better via a drift down the river as you're able to cover a lot more ground.  Only problem.....$175 bucks per head for about a 3 hour float and that doesn't include lunch! I'll walk thank you.

After hanging out along the Atnarko River for a few days I decided to head up into the backcountry.    There are a few forest service roads leading up out of the valley.  They gain quite a bit of altitude and most require four wheel drive in places.  I had attempted to drive the old Chinook up one of these roads last year and couldn't make it.  This year, with the Toyota, I was headed in.  Your chances of sighting any grizzlies up this high are pretty minimal this time of the year but your chances of seeing black bears are good. The grizzlies come down when to feed and are congregated along the streams containing salmon. Black bears are more likely to be up higher in the meadows chowing down on blueberries.  Black bears and grizzlies are rarely seen feeding together.  I've watched black bears feeding on salmon before and as soon as a Grizzly shows up the black is gone.  A grizzly certainly won't do the same when a black bear shows up.  No doubt who is the boss in the bear world.

 About a 20 mile drive in will get you across a valley which holds the Purgatory Glacier.  The old forest road comes to end along a slope and this is your view.  An awesome place to spend the night.

 When travelling these backroads a little work may be required to get through in places.  Here, twenty minutes with an axe and a pull with the tow strap and I was on my way.

Sunset along the Bella Coola River running through the valley.

 Old forest service road into Odegard Falls.

Odegard Falls on the way into the Purgatory Glacier campsite.  These falls drop over 800 feet.

 Petey getting some hiking in near camp at the Purgatory Glacier site.

Headed back to pavement after a couple of nights in the backcountry.

(Part 1 of 2)