Day 103: Watering holes

We began the day drinking cold lightly-carbonated water from a hole in the ground, and finished it by drinking cold lightly-carbonated beer at the Noble Pig brewhouse. The Ray mineral spring is like a small water volcano made of travertine, precipitated calcium carbonate. The water bubbles up constantly and flows out of a narrow channel onto the surrounding meadow, which has effectively been paved with the dissolved minerals.

The short hike to the spring was almost mosquito-free, but at the spring itself (at the edge of a boggy meadow, admittedly), they were out in force. We still made time to sample the water, which was pleasantly fizzy with a metallic aftertaste. We all found it intriguing enough to go back for a second, third and fourth handful, and lamented the fact that we'd left our water bottles in the car. We'll know next time.

Having had enough of the mosquitoes we turned and headed back to the car. Maria was in front, Merewyn close behind with me then Andrew a few metres back. Maria rounded a bend in the trail and came to a dead stop, suddenly saying in a loud calm voice "Hello bear!" We all ground to a halt, and I have a vivid mental picture of a healthy-looking medium-sized black bear standing in the middle of the narrow trail, barely 10 feet in front of Maria and Merewyn. I fancy it had a surprised expression but that's probably just my imagination. We retreated a few metres, maintaining our raised voice banter of "Hello bear", "Just letting you know we're here", "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you" for a minute or two before venturing around the corner to see if it was still there. The bear had calmly moved off the trail into the undergrowth, snapping a few branches as it went (perhaps as a show of displeasure). We hurried past saying farewell to the bear, and I could make out its ears among the leaves and branches as I walked by. I snapped a photo but you really can't tell there's a bear in there :-) I think that was our closest bear encounter to date.

A hole in the ground

Day 102: Wowed by waterfalls

To say that Helmcken Falls is impressive is a huge understatement. I'd seen a few photos online, and read other people's descriptions of them but none of that prepared me for the spectacle. The falls drop 140 m into a heart-shaped amphitheatre, carved into a massive gorge with sheer walls. Layers of successive lava flows can be seen in the cliffs, some of them towers of columnar basalt which would be impressive in themselves if found anywhere else. Down at river level, the canyon is lined with bright green trees and shrubs.

This is the view from the tourist overlook, barely a minute's walk from the car. After seeing the falls from this angle, we drove round to the other side and hiked the 3-km trail to the opposite canyon rim. That was an even more visceral experience, being closer to the falls themselves, plus having no safety fence to stop you plummeting over the edge. Needless to say, we were all extremely careful in placing our feet. The view was literally quite dizzying (as described in the guide book) and we were all thankful for the illusion of safety by hanging on to various trees. Well worth seeing, despite the mosquitoes. Video clips from each side are here and here.

Helmcken Falls

Day 101: Welcome to Wells Gray

The Wells Gray welcoming committee greeted us within moments of setting off on our first little hike. By "welcoming committee" I mean a biblical swarm of blood-thirsty mosquitoes. I'd read about the bug populations in the park but hadn't really taken on board what it might mean, which may account for why we forgot to pack any insect repellent. Barely twenty minutes into our first hike, we decided we'd had enough and donned our bug nets and long sleeved-layers. I put on my waterproof jacket, partly because we were subjected to occasional showers but mostly to stop the mosquitoes eating me alive. My hands still suffered, of course - putting on gloves would have been far too warm.

We reached our destination of the 10-m high basalt columns known as Easter Bluffs, and came across a mother grouse and her one remaining chick as we were searching for a lunch spot. For just long enough, the mosquitoes abated. To our amazement, she allowed us to approach quite closely, and we spent several minutes taking dozens of close-up grouse photos. The ones of the little chick came out nicely, and at that I knew I had today's photo. I even took a short video clip where the chick's peeping calls can be heard.

Grouselet