Kamloops Photo Arts Club weekend away in Wells Gray Park. June 24 to 26, 2016

The Kamloops Photo Arts Club (and I) recently had a weekend away in Wells Gray Park.  While I am not a great photographer, the setting just begs for photography and makes everyone look pretty good.  I share some history and photographs with you.

Per Wikipedia, “Wells Gray Provincial Park is a large wilderness park located in east-central British Columbia, Canada. The park protects most of the southern, and highest, regions of the Cariboo Mountains and covers 5,250 square kilometres (524,990 hectares or 1.3 million acres).  … It bears the nickname "Canada's Waterfalls Park" because 39 waterfalls are found within its boundaries. There are actually many more, if you count the numerous creeks that cascade down the mountainsides.

The northern two-thirds of the park is extremely rugged with relief ranging from Clearwater Lake at an elevation of 680 m (2,231 ft) to 2,946 m (9,665 ft).  These summits are part of the ancient Cariboo Mountains.  They contain the oldest rocks in the park, some of which may have originated as ocean bottom sediments 1.2 billion years ago. 

Most of the east boundary of the park follows the mountain divide between drainage into the North Thompson River and into the Clearwater River.  Individual mountain groups dominate the topography of the northern park region and are separated by deep glacially carved valleys, several of which contain large lakes. The ruggedness of its features has ensured that northern Wells Gray remains little known except to the hardiest of backpackers.

The southern third of the park is traversed by the Clearwater Valley Road, although large areas are accessible only by trail. The dominant topography features volcanic plateaus, lava flows and deep canyons which are crowned by several peaks over 2,300 m (7,546 ft) high. The waterfalls, for which Wells Gray is famous, usually result from the interaction of volcanic eruptions and glacial activity. “

The first evening we walked out to Dutch Lake where we saw no waterfalls but much interesting habitat.  

We stayed at the Wells Gray Inn which had great food.  Would have loved it even more if the parents of the children down the hall had been there to monitor them. 

The second day we went to a number of falls and other areas.

Third Canyon Falls 

Ray Farm. The residence consists of the remains of a one-storey, square, four-roomed dwelling constructed of logs, with a now-collapsed pyramidal roof.
Constructed in 1940, it is important for its historical, aesthetic and interpretive values. Although the building is abandoned and will be allowed to decay naturally over time, the Ray Farm Residence is valued for its interpretive ability to demonstrate a former way of life in the early pioneering settlements of the North Thompson and Clearwater valleys prior to the creation of Wells Gray Provincial Park.

As we continued up the road, we stopped to have a look at some interesting beauties of nature including: flowers (paintbrush, yellow flag iris – invasive, pink spieria, tiger lily), bird (black capped chickadee), animals (fox, skunks), insects (spitbug foam, inchworm, bee)

 Bailey’s Chute is a short walk off the road.  The trail winds through a delightful wildflower garden (bunchberry, variety of small green plants and ferns) and ancient stands of magnificent cedars.  

The Chute plunges 8 meters over ancient bedrock and is a very impressive specimen of the type of turbulent waters of the Clearwater River we saw throughout the day. 

There were also some small round holes in the rocks next to the chute.  I believe these were eroded away in the bedrock and the force of the water.  

Helmcken Falls is a 141 m (463 ft) waterfall on the Myrtle River within the park. The protection the falls was one of the reasons for the creation of Wells Gray Provincial Park in 1939.  It is the fourth highest waterfall in Canada, measured by total straight drop without a break. 

The falls drop over the western escarpment of the Myrtle Plateau. This is a huge lava deposit in the Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field which erupted from nearby fissures starting 200,000 years ago and filled the wide valley of the Clearwater River.  Layer upon layer of fresh lava created the plateau, then enormous floods eroded the lava at the close of the last ice age, about 10,000 years ago. These floods created Helmcken Canyon below the falls.

Mushbowl Falls is located about 5 km by road from Helmcken Falls.  The Myrtle River drops 5 m (16 ft) here and is split by a central rock.  The waterfall is located here because of Cambrian rock which has resisted erosion.  The park road bridges the Myrtle River at The Mushbowl via a little one-way wooden bridge.  The name was given to this waterfall prior to 1940 and it is a good description of the water's action.  We were fortunate enough to catch the waterfall with a little rainbow on the left hand side.  

Dawson Falls are located 600 m (1,969 ft) upstream from the Mushbowl.  At the falls, the river drops over lava flows that date to about 200,000 years ago.  Below the lava are compacted sand and gravel deposits left by a river that predated the eruption.

That evening we (about 20 of us) had a delicious dinner at the Wells Gray Inn Banquet Room.  The meals were very good (and very large) and the service (though there were not many servers) was really swift and courteous.  

The following day we headed up to Spahats Falls.  Like the larger Helmcken Falls, Spahats Falls owes its formation to deposits of volcanic rock in the Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field.  

 

Starting about 300,000 years ago, numerous eruptions from Trophy Mountain poured into the Clearwater River Valley and filled it layer upon layer to a depth of over 300 m (980 ft).  Common references place the falls at around 60 m (197 ft) tall, but taking into account the second tier, it is closer to 75–80 meters tall.

All in all, the trip to Wells Gray was an amazing experience.  Fresh air, stunning waterfalls, nature abounding, excellent company and photographers willing to share their knowledge with a “newbie”.  Great time.