We hung out on Trapper Mountain for the holiday weekend and just enjoyed the scenery. We went and checked out the public use cabin. It had a woodstove and tons of wood ready to warm up a cold hiker. Overnighting here is not allowed but you can tell it gets plenty of use.
We watched as others arrived and kayaked on the lake or buzzed around on their quads. Overall, it was pretty quiet considering it was Labor Day weekend.
On Monday morning, we continued on and took another side road that took us over the river a bunch of times and eventually ended. Then we were on our way to Telkwa Pass. The road was basically a forest service road and it followed a power line for quite a while.
It wasn’t a hard road but was rough in spots and had us driving up and down some good inclines. We crossed many small water crossings and we were in awe of the glaciers above where the water was coming from. The trail was in pretty good condition even in these spots where it is obvious water is constantly going over the trail.
We were almost to the first lake when it got really tight and we were scraping both side mirrors against small brush. It looked like someone had been through recently to trim back the larger branches which was so nice. The smaller ones just brushed our truck lightly but still left some new pinstripes.
We finally pulled into the beach spot that everyone talked about when we researched this trail. We were happy to see that nobody was there and we settled in. It was a little windy and chilly so we took a few pics and started to make dinner.
With a place so beautiful, it really didn’t surprise us that we didn’t have it to ourselves the whole time but it was kinda late when a Jeep and a side by side arrived and didn’t really try to park too far away from us. They unloaded their coolers and chairs and it appeared that they were going to be there a while. We were busy making dinner and it was cold out there so we did our thing while they did theirs. They finally left and then the place was ours and we were able to enjoy the beauty all around us.
We continued on the next day into the even tighter trail that was filled with water. Once again, we were thankful that the larger branches had been trimmed back but the truck still took a beating.
We finally emerged from the brush and climbed up and out of the valley and continued on. There was some decent climbs and descents but all in all, it was an easy trail.
We were told not to miss going up Microwave Tower trail. So we headed that way and climbed up a mountain once again. We got to the public use cabin which was actually really nice and had a stellar view.
We continued on because we could. We followed a rutted, bumpy trail that seemed to go forever, until it didn’t. The mountains along this entire trail were breathtaking! We got to the end of the trail a couple times and finally found our spot for the night with the mountains in sight.
We headed out the next day and made our way into Telkwa and got gas. We drove a few more hours and stopped just shy of Prince George. We camped on a forest service road with a dead end. We woke to warm sunshine and were happy to be able to use our outdoor shower. We drove to Prince George in the morning and did laundry and got groceries. It was awesome to finally have a Costco and some other bigger stores to get some of our favorite things. It was getting late in the day, so we grabbed a quick lunch and then continued on our way. Our original plan was to head to Williams Lake and stay at a recreation area just south. As we drove on 97 south, we were both getting sick of the traffic and I found a side road that was a touch longer but would get us to where we wanted to go.
This was such a neat detour. It brought us through some really beautiful farmland next to the Fraser River. We always enjoy getting off the main roads and exploring the countryside. We drove through beautiful farms with cows hanging out on the side of the road and saw old barns barely standing. We got to the recreation area just before dark and found that all the lake side spots were occupied. We found a place in the middle to park and called it a night.
Friday we continued south on 20 toward Bella Coola. Most of this drive was uneventful. We finally got to the mountains and started down the steep, narrow shelf road.
We came across a bear cub just laying on the side of the road. He didn’t move as we got closer to him, so we thought he was hurt. But then he sat up, looked up the road and lumbered away as we got closer.
He was looking at mom who was in the middle of the road just up a bit. She didn’t give us much attention and started walking toward her cub. My window was open to take pictures and I was a little nervous because of how close we were to her.
We made it to another free recreation area and set up camp. It was on the river but we didn’t have river views because of the trees. It worked for the night and we had the place to ourselves.
Saturday we made our way to Blush Road which would take us to Odegaard Falls. We did the short hike which still didn’t bring us anywhere close to the falls, but it was a fun hike through the woods and the falls were amazing to see even from afar!
We continued up the road to Purgatory Lookout which was an amazing spot overlooking Purgatory Glacier. It felt like there were 10 different glaciers in view! You can camp out at the lookout and it had 2 actual fire rings for 2 campsites.
We set up camp just as a SUV pulled up. We chatted with a nice couple from California for a couple of hours before they had to make their way back to their campground. It was windy and cold so we hunkered down in the camper with the views of the glacier out our back door.
About 8:30-9pm, a truck and a dirt biker showed up. Four people got out of the truck with a dog, took in the sights, and then left. We were hoping that would be it. Apparently they had to have a pow wow about their options and decided they didn’t care if they encroached on a campsite that we were at first. They came back, with another truck and another dirt biker. They parked right next to us and there were about 8-10 people milling around us. They then started setting up tents in front of our truck and behind their vehicles which were now blocking the walkway to the bathroom. They also were not quiet about this whole process. We don’t camp like this. If we had arrived and someone was already in the awesome spot, we would’ve left them alone and said, dang! Cool spot! Wish we had gotten there first. They absolutely had every right to stay but it just stinks when there is no respect or courtesy to others. So we did a quick packing away of loose things and left with the top of our camper still up now looking in the dark for somewhere else to camp for the night. We ended up on just a shallow pulloff but it worked.
We made our way into Bella Coola and parked at a pulloff next to a river so I could watch the Indiana Fever women’s basketball game. After they won, we drove through Bella Coola which didn’t take long. There is not much here. It’s a small little community tucked into the mountains. We headed toward an iOverlander spot on a forest service road. The road continued up into the mountains so we kept driving. It started to rain like crazy and we were driving through clouds and could see nothing. We finally had to make the decision to just turn around. We camped just 3 miles from the main road because we had to get up bright and early to try to catch a ferry.
We got up at 4:45am and made our way to the ferry terminal. When I had made our reservation, there were no spots immediately available and we were waitlisted. The email said to arrive 120 minutes before sailing. We arrived and there was no activity at all at the terminal. It was so weird until we saw the sign that said we had to go to the Co-Op in town. We drove back into town where we found the lines of cars waiting for the ferry. A nice gentleman told us the boat was not full and there would be no problem getting us on the ferry. We didn’t wait long and then we were all driving back to the ferry terminal.
The ferry ride was pretty uneventful. It was supposed to be a 10 hour ferry ride, 7:30am-5:30 pm. We had a pretty good breakfast and lunch in the small cafe on board. We meadered around the boat and settled in. The captain announced when he saw whales and the whole boat went outside to see them. It was nice that the boat wasn’t very full so everyone could have some space. I stretched out over a few seats and took a nap while Craig read. We grabbed a couple beers toward the end of the trip and were happy to hear we arrived in Port Hardy almost an hour ahead of schedule.
In Port Hardy, we got groceries, gas and water and headed to another free recreation site for the night. There are so many of these in B.C., it’s pretty awesome. We are on the north end of Vancouver Island and there are forest service roads everywhere. We have no plans or things we have to see so we just started driving.
We made our way to the small town of Holberg and stopped at the gas station/convenience store. The owner was so nice and we had a great chat with him. He recommended that we go to Cape Scott which we were heading to anyway, but also told about a couple other rustic beaches that we should visit. We made our way to Cape Scott and hiked the 3 mile round trip trail out to their award winning beach.
We are so spoiled in Michigan with our white sandy beaches. We’re glad we went but we’ll never stop bragging about our awesome West Michigan beaches!
We were on our way to the next beach but instead of turning off, we continued up the road into the mountains. I had another WNBA game I wanted to watch so we explored to the end of the road and found a nice quiet spot to settle in for the night. The weather has been overcast with a little bit of rain and it looks like that’s what we’ll have for the next few days. We’ll continue to explore as we make our way south.
Exploring Vancouver Island…