Day 10 – Saturday 3rd June - Wells Gray Golf Resort and RV Park

We have agreed with Helen and Simon a day tour in the Park, with the intention of visiting as many of the sights as possible.  We continue up the Clearwater Valley Road, which starts with a tarmac surface and becomes a dirt road, stopping for a walk at Ray’s Farm, an abandoned farmstead with crumbling farm buildings and overgrown paddocks.

The insects are biting with a vengeance here so we spray a further layer of repellent.  We walk the loop to Alice Lake and back observing fresh bear scat (poo) and elk droppings but, as recommended, we are making lots of noise so it is unlikely that we would see any wildlife.  The walk includes a small detour to view the mineral spring, bubbling hot sulpherous water from deep underground.



A brief stop to admire the falls at Bailey’s Chute and then on to Clearwater Lake.  We had hoped to do a walk here but were warned that the path was very wet and many trees were down following the strong winds of the week before when we had been in Alaska.  Instead we had coffee and cake at the lakeside café.  A bit of a treat and more than just cake!

Comments

  1. Unknown30 August 2017 at 01:53

    We did this trip in 2015, the 3 nights at Wells Gray were torment in terms of biting insects. We decided to leave after the second night as my wife woke to a badly swollen face having been bitten in the night in the RV . It was a good job we had Piriton and anti-histamine eye drops with us. The area was interesting but our leaders should have made clear the insect problem. We were surprised to see that the tour still stays there for 3 nights when there is so much to do and see at Mt. Robson - and no insects!

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    1. Ian Vardy3 September 2017 at 23:55

      Thanks for your comment James. We were well prepared by our tour leaders. Actually they were amazing and we were well briefed wherever we went! We had been warned in advance and had plenty of insect repellant onboard. In some ways I agree with your view that three nights here is somewhat a detour from other locations where we could have spent longer; however Hemlechen Falls were magnificent and we, and others on the tour, spotted lots of wildlife including black bears! There are always places where some on a group tour would want to spend longer or less time, it's part of the whole 'group tour thing'. My wife and I are keen walkers and we enjoyed some great walks here and elsewhere on the tour, but not everyone enjoys the same thing. On a tour like this the club has to balance a wide range of opportunities/experiences to suit a wide range of participants and therefore it becomes inevitable that not everything appeals to everybody.

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