Day 1-4: West Kelowna to Bella Coola (Aprox 1,177 km)
Total Trip Length: 10 days
Total Trip (Approximate) Distance: 3,131 road km & 503 nautical km = 3,634 km
Day 1 Our only goal today was to get as far as we could before it got dark. We both worked that day so we weren’t able to get on the road until about 5pm. We made stops only for gas and a quick dinner in Savona at the Roadhouse Cafe. It was about 8pm when we decided to end our day in Clinton, at the Round Up Motel, after having a few close calls with wildlife. Between Savona and Clinton, we had a family of ducks run out in front of us and a fox with a rabbit in its mouth. I would prefer if wildlife didn’t run in front of us but seeing a fox is pretty rare, let alone a fox with his dinner in his mouth. We also saw a few deer. The drive between Kamloops and Clinton at sunset was beautiful and another road on my list of favourites. (334km)
Day 2 started early with a quick breakfast at the Cordial Restaurant before packing up and heading on our way. We had talked to the owners about our trip earlier that evening and as we were getting ready to leave they came out and gave us some snacks and water for the road. I always find it so touching when people, especially strangers, do unexpected acts of kindness like this. If we ever need a place to stay in Clinton, Round Up Motel is where we will stay.
Unlike yesterday, we had more time to stop for breaks and check out the scenery. Our first stop was under Sheep Creek Bridge, just after Williams Lake. 
Farewell Canyon was our next stop, where the largest sand dune in BC is located. This is a place I would like to return and do some hiking and exploring. 
I read somewhere that this is where the largest population of Big Horn Sheep are located in BC. We didn’t see any sheep but we could see the trails across the dunes from where the sheep were traversing across,pretty impressive!
I think it is worth mentioning, for your sake and/or our future selves, that Riske Creek is NOT a town. We were excited to get on to the Chilcotin Highway and assumed (which – yes, i knooow – is something you should never do) that we could get gas in Riske Creek and as a result, we barely made it to the next gas station in Hanceville. Actually, between Williams Lake and Bella Coola, there are not many gas stations at all…we had a couple really close calls along this stretch of road. On the bright side, our new bike will have much MUCH better gas mileage than this bike so this should not be a concern for us in the future.
We stopped in Alexis Creek to pick up supplies and again shortly after, for lunch in Bull Canyon Provincial Park. It was scorching out so we were pretty happy to see that the Chilcotin River ran through the park. Despite the heat, the Chilcotin River was freezing – like too cold to even sit in for any length of time – we took turns in between cooking to go and splash water on ourselves and do polar bear plunges.
Tourists popped in and out of the park all day but one couple in particular stopped and talked with us. We did the whole exchange of names, where are ya from, where are ya going and what do you do. (They were from the Netherlands and this was there third time visiting Canada.) While we ate our lunch we swapped travel stories, recommendations and our worries about bears and cougars. I love meeting new people when we are on the road, especially the ones that are on an adventure too. Not only can they relate and share but I love to hear them talk about the things that make them excited, their perspective of things we have already seen or are about to do and the things that they’ve learned along the way. Before we parted ways they gave us their card and told us that if we are ever in the Netherlands to give them a call and we could use their motorcycle during our stay…….people surprise me every day.
From Bull Canyon to Nimpo Lake was the next close call on our gas supply. There is a gas station in Tatla Lake but we passed through about 6pm and it was already closed. After Tatla Lake, you are able to get a view of the tallest mountain in BC called Mt. Waddington which helped ease the worry, for about 30 seconds. Luckily, we made it to Nimpo Lake.
“These roads are truly different from the main ones. The whole pace of life and personality of the people who live long them are different. They’re not going anywhere. They’re not to busy to be courteous.”
“Plans are deliberately indefinite, more to travel to arrive anywhere. // We want to make good time, but for now this measured with emphasis on “good” rather than “time” and when you make that shift in emphasis the whole approach changes.” – Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
I read these quotes in my book that evening. After driving along the Chilcotin Highway and visiting a few of the small towns along the way, the first quote is similar to what my thoughts and feelings were about them. The second quote was what became our motto for the rest of the trip.
We arrived to Nimpo Lake (the float plane capital of BC!) with daylight to spare. We set up our tent beside the lake (at Nimpo Lake Waterfront Resort) and spent the rest of the night relaxing, watching the sunset and getting eaten by mosquitoes. (555km)
Day 3 we crawled out of the tent to find two large herons sitting on the dock.
We made breakfast and Bren did some fishing while I read. Still. Peaceful. Quiet. Perfect. Quite different than what the rest of the day would hold.
First stop on day 3 was in Anaheim Lake to pick up lunch and fill up our canteen. The highway turns into gravel just after Anaheim Lake and it is at this point you start heading down from the plateau and getting into the mountains again.
We had less then half of the kilometers to drive today than the day before so we stopped at Tweedsmuir Provincial Park to do a hike. We decided on the Rainbow Range Hike – 16 km, round trip – it was the shortest option. It was still a great and fun hike despite the mistakes we made………like one of us had improper footwear (I won’t name names), we ran out of water and did not have enough food. Okay so pretty serious mistakes were made. Our plan was to make lunch once we got back from the hike but we underestimated how long and how far it was. We knew things were scarce but we hike all the time and figured we could make do. Pretty silly, easily avoided, ignorant mistakes. It was extremely hot and we were exerting extra energy making noise to scare any bears or other wildlife. A few times we were going to turn around because the range still looked so far away but that would have been disappointing so we pushed through. We are not quitters but in hindsight, we probably should have been.
We did end up making it (far enough to get a good view of the range) and found a refreshing lake to take a swim in. By refreshing, I mean absolutely freezing so it was more of a quick jump in and out. Now that we were near a water source, Bren taught me that in order for evaporation to occur, it requires a great deal of heat so if you take a wet cloth and wrap it around your water bottle, as the cloth dries out it will pull heat from your water bottle. Ta-da! Cold water, or at least cooler water.
On the hike back we had to start rationing our water supply, which was next to nothing. By the time we got back to the bike, we were exhausted, dehydrated and hungry. We made the decision to skip lunch, pack up and get on the road. Lunch would have been great but we needed water ASAP.
The next 15 kms took us down “The Hill,” which is a really impressive road that drops 5,000 vertical feet from the Chilcotin Plateau into the Bella Coola Valley. We were in awe but because of the dehydration, we probably didn’t enjoy it as much as we should/could have. We didn’t make any stops for pictures because we just needed to get to a place with food and water but honestly, no picture would have ever done it justice. The views reminded me of a movie set. Completed surrounding by massive mountains, a 360 view in the middle of a valley. We spotted two eagles above our heads catching a ride on the hot air currants.
The first town we came to is called Stuie and we stopped in at Tweedsmuir Park Lodge, hoping for food and water. Sadly, the restaurant was closed but they allowed us to use their restrooms and fill our water canteen from the tap outside. I remember going into the washroom and feeling like I had been away from civilization for so long…a toilet! running water and soap! and the softest towels for drying my hands! Luxury.
The water helped us make it through to Bella Coola, our next stop. We had our eyes peeled for a restaurant because we were too starved to even think about cooking a meal. We stopped at the Bella Coola Valley Inn for chicken burgers and ice cold beers….the best chicken burgers and beers we have ever had.
Afterwards, we made our way back to the small town of Hagensburg, right before Bella Coola, where we had a campsite booked at Rip Rap. On our bike trips we usually go to bed when it is dark and wake up when it gets light out. Well, we didn’t know that it doesn’t get dark in Bella Coola until 1130pm…it is easy for time to get away from you when traveling so before we knew it our box of wine was gone and we still had dinner to cook. (188km)
Day 4, Laundry day! We woke up bright and early and I washed some laundry in the river right out front of our campsite and hung it out to dry for the day. This campsite had the luxury of hot showers for the price of $2.00/4 minutes. We splurged.
We spent the rest of the morning gathering supplies, stocking up on food, alcohol and gas. Early afternoon Bren did some fishing in the river while I did some reading and tried to distract myself from the thought of possible bear and cougar attacks. We had a few warnings from the locals and we came across quite a few fresh bear droppings ….so I was pretty nervous.
Bren didn’t have any luck fishing so we packed up and went to Bella Coola Valley Seafoods to pick up some fresh spring salmon for dinner. (Best salmon we have ever had!)
After lunch, we drove 24kms up a long and bumpy gravel road to see Odegaard Falls. The drive up the valley to the falls was breathtaking. It was a long drive but worth the view. We did the hike that takes you right to the falls, it was an easy and beautiful hike.
Bren carving B+K into a fallen tree at the top of the hike.
We didn’t get back from the falls until later in the evening so when we got back to the campsite, we made dinner and packed it in for the night (100kms)