Because I'm not covering A LOT OF GROUND (453 km = 281 miles), I'm off to a late start (10:30 AM). In the beginning of these trips, I have everything well-mapped-out and my stops nailed down. But by the time I get a couple-of-weeks down the road, I'm more in the "I'll figure out the details when I get there" mode. One of today's "details" was visiting Hunlen Falls in Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park ("Canada's highest free falling waterfall"). Unfortunately, according to Wikipedia: "There is no road to Hunlen Falls. The easiest access is by float plane from Nimpo Lake, about a 20-minute flight. Planes land on Turner Lake above Hunlen Falls and the walk on a good trail takes about 30 minutes to the unfenced viewpoint on the east rim of the canyon." Since I am not in the "float plane" mode-of-travel, that crosses Hunlen Falls off today's list. So let's just see the pretty landscape, beginning with the Fraser River:
Looking forward-and-back at noon:
Driving through British Columbia at 12:30
And a few minutes later I hit Bull Canyon Provincial Park, which has a very nice "River Trail":
It was just over 1/2 mile to the picnic-table-at-the-end-of-the-trail, which is where I turned around. There was a black bear foraging about 30 yeards beyond the table, so just turn around and walk back (quietly) the way you came, leaving him to do his own business:
It is kind-of "open range" out here, which means "Please don't hit our cows.":
Still moving down the road:
At 5 PM the road-to-Bella-Coola runs through the Tweedsmuir Provincial Park (and I have left the concept of "blacktop" far behind):
and when I pulled into a rest-stop I saw my grizzly, just foraging around
Needless to say, I just kept moving down the road:
It was hot and dusty, so I was blessed to be able to stop at Young Creek - very refreshing:
Careful about driving:
It was late afternoon (6:30 PM) when I hit Stupendous Viewpoint (I will have to come back here in the early-morning to get the light coming the other way):
Nice pictures of the Bella Coola Valley, but there will be more over the next 2 days:
There is basically NO WIFI out here, and I actually didn't know where I was going. Blessedly, downtown Bella Coola had WiFi, so I was able to figure out where I was going:
Note the "HIPCAMP sign, and my friends for the night. Thank you God for these Great "British Columbia" Adventures!
Music today:
U2 - The Joshua Tree [Bonus Disc], recorded 1987, released 2007, last heard 10/24/2014. This "Bonus Disc" is made up of great material that just didn't make the cut for the original album:
The 5th Dimension - Up-Up And Away, The Definitive Collection, 1997 greatest hits album, last heard 10/28/2014:
Fleetwood Mac - Tusk, 1979 double-album, last heard 11/01/2014:
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV, 1971 4th album, last heard 11/02/2014 - excellent rock 'n roll FOR THE ROAD. "Stairway to Heaven" still gives me chills, 53 years after its release:
Drive-By Truckers - English Oceans, 2014 album, last heard 11/03/2014 - a good collection of usual "very good" DBT songs, plus THEIR BEST SONG - "Grand Canyon":
We went to Grand Canyon and we stood at the expanse
And we watched the rocks change colors
And we watched the shadows dance
We probably didn't say anything til the sunset turned to night
We let the spirits do the talking with cascades of faded light
We drove across the desert, saw the mountain range at dawn
Heard the thunder rumbles echo
Against the rocks that Gods were made from
We drove across the wastelands until we finally reached the sea
And I wonder how a life so sturdy could just one day cease to be
I'm never one to wonder about the things beyond control
I stare off in the distance as I feel the highway roll
We roll on in the darkness to some city far away
Lug our sorrows, pains and angers and turn them into play
There's no time to dwell upon it, it's this life that we chose
That made it all worth living through the horrors that life throws
If the recently departed make the sunsets
To say farewell to the ones they leave behind
There were technicolor hues to see our sadness through
As the sun over Athens said goodbye
There's a white owl out my window soft-lit in fading light
He'll go soaring through the clouds and hunting through the night
And in my dreams I'll still see him flying through a western sky
I'll think about Grand Canyon, and i'll lift my glass and smile
O Positive - Only Breathing/Cloud Factory, 1988 debut cd album, last heard 11/06/2014. A Boston-band I really like, this cd collected their first 2 EPs. I bought the cd in a music store in Vineyard Haven:
Jack Johnson - In Between Dreams, 2005 3rd album, last heard 2/24/2015:
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King, 1969 debut album, last heard 2/24/2015 - GARBAGE 1st song, but the rest is wonderful Greg Lake:
The Moody Blues - In Search of the Lost Chord, 1968 3rd album, last heard 2/24/2015:
Past entries of this blog are available on the website https://dixonheadingwest.blogspot.com/
Shameless Plug: if you enjoy this blog, you may like my other one about Hiking the 4,000 footers in New Hampshire/Vermont/Maine/New York:
hyperlink: dixonheadingnorth
http://dixonheadingnorth.blogspot.com/
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