Chilcotin: The Dome and Dunes

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Hi Blog!

After a day of being stuck inside due to a forecast of heavy rain (which never really came), we were excited to get out and explore more of the Chilcotin Plateau. The Chilcotin stretches from the Fraser River valley to the apex of the Coast Mountains. Local residents say the Chilcotin contains the creator’s most beautiful natural works. The land was molded by volcanoes, which left stunning rivers, hoodoos and grasslands, jagged mountains, deep lakes, and ice fields. Grizzlies, caribou, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, moose and deer roam the land along with cattle that often wander unfenced.

The backbone of the Chilcotin is Highway 20, which runs for 285 miles from Williams Lake to Bella Coola, linking the Central Coast with the Central Interior as it crosses the Coast Mountains and the Chilcotin Plateau. We knew we didn't have the time to explore the entire highway, so we picked two areas to explore. The first was north of Highway 20 on Stack Valley Road.

Our first destination was The Dome. This unique volcanic mountain juts up from the plateau. It is located on the Chilcotin Military Reserve. We were warned that if the military is training in the area, then access would be denied. Fortunate for us, there were no maneuvers scheduled.

Along Stack Valley Road, we came across this old homestead on the shores of Drummond Lake.

It didn't take long before we got our first glimpse of The Dome. We had picked up a trail guide from the Visitors Center in Williams Lake.  While it gave driving direction to the 5 kilometer hike, it was vague about the actual trailhead. We ended up driving most of the way up our hiking trail.

As we approached the summit, the trees began to close in on the trail. We still had our kayaks on top of the Jeep, so we decided to park the Jeep and hike the rest of the way of The Dome.

As we hiked up The Dome, we thought of those poor military reservists trudging up this slope with 80 lbs packs. All we had were small daypacks and we were still huffing and puffing.

Once we paid the price of admission, we were rewarded with expansive views of the Chilcotin Plateau.

Ever faithful, Dusty waited for us to take us to our next adventure.

We drove back down Stack Valley Road to Highway 20, where we turned south on Farwell Canyon Road. Our next destination was the sand dunes of Farwell Canyon. Before hiking to the dunes, we decided to continue down the road to check out the Chilcotin River.

The Chilcotin River is a 150 mile long tributary of the Fraser River. It drains the entire Chilcotin Plateau. It starts northeast of Itcha Mountain and flows generally southeast to join the Fraser. Once a popular spot for first nation dip netting, the Chilcotin River has been closed to all salmon fishing. A rock slide in the Fraser River has prevented the salmon from traveling upstream to spawn.

After leaving the banks of the Chilcotin River, we headed back up to the sagebrush plateau above the river to begin our hike to British Columbia's largest sand dunes. However, in order to get to the dunes, we had to go down before we went up. If you look carefully, you can see our trail head down this valley and up the other side.

After climbing in and out of the valley, we found ourselves on a prairie grass plateau.

Wind and erosion cuts deep valleys in the soft sandstone.

Climbing up sand is like two steps forward one step back. Fortunately, it had rained yesterday, so the sand was much easier to climb.

The smell of sagebrush brought us right back to Arizona. We never would have expected sand, sage and cactus in coastal northwest British Columbia.

Not to mention the hoodoos!

From our perch high above the Chilcotin River we looked down on the long-abandoned homestead of Gordon “Mike” Farwell. Mike bought the place in the early 1900s from the original settler, Louis Vedan. Farwell named the place “the Pothole Ranch”, and in 1912, teamed up with Gerald Blenkinsop. They both married and brought their wives to the Pothole Ranch.

We hiked to the highest dune and sat down in the sand to have our lunch. We watched the cars, trucks and campers wind their way up the Farwell Canyon Road.

We also enjoyed the simple, intimate patterns the grasses made on the dunes right in front of us:

After lunch, we hiked over to the hoodoos to get a closer look. The light wasn't right for photos, so we continued back to the trailhead. The Chilcotin Plateau is a playground for outdoor enthusiasts. We just wish we had more time to explore. Next time.