Day 15, August 27

Day 15, August 27 — Travel day

Locations: Mt. Robson; Kamloops; Revelstoke NP; Glacier NP; Bugaboos

Miles driven: 567

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I left Robson Shadows Campground at 7:50, but a bit reluctant doing so because Robson was wearing one of those smooth lenticular clouds overhead—a mountain photographer’s favorite cloud. I knew today was going to be a long day of driving, so I had to get started. I went through Valemount again and continued south on the Yellowhead Highway 5 through the towns of Blue River and Clearwater, and arrived in Kamloops at 11:25 which was the western-most point I’d be on this trip. I fueled up here ($1.06/liter), then headed east on Trans-Canada Highway 1. I drove through Salmon Arm and into Revelstoke.

From Revelstoke, I drove the Meadows in the Sky Parkway that ascends Mt. Revelstoke in the National Park of the same name. Once at the top, I sat in the parking lot and snacked for a bit as I hadn’t eaten anything yet all day. Once I found enough energy for a little walk, I started out on the short 1k hike up to the fire lookout at the summit. The horseflies were extremely thick, and on the trail there was always at least one or two flies orbiting within a foot of face. They would just not go away no matter how often I swatted at them. Annoying suckers! The 360-degree views at the top looking out to the spectacular ranges of the Columbia Mountains is quite impressive. After enjoying the views for a bit, I walked back down to the parking lot. I left there at 5:05 and only had couple hours of daylight left, and I figured it would be dark by the time I got into the Bugaboos. I drove right through nearby Glacier National Park and got onto Highway 95 at Golden where I continued in a southeasterly direction.

Rewind to just prior to the trip: I had come across pictures of the Bugaboo spires, and I believe it was the picture on this page that really got my attention, or perhaps it was an aerial picture I found somewhere. That view of the Howser Towers from an adjacent spire makes them look like some of the best mountains in the world. I was curious as to their whereabouts, and after excitedly finding that this place was right next to where I was going to be anyway, I knew I would have to reserve some time to check them out. I didn’t do any other in-depth searches prior to leaving, so I had no idea what the views were like from, at, or near, the trailhead, so if there were any to be had, it would be a bonus. I did find that the Bugaboos are a climbing mecca, so I knew that confirmed the beauty of the area.

Back to the trip. I got into Spillimacheen (just a few homes) around 8:15 (back in the Mountain Time Zone) where I started up the road to the Bugaboos. The B.C. forest service was just a little ways in so I figured I should be able to camp easily enough around here. At the first fork, I took a right which was signed Jubilee Mountain. I drove back in for 5.5 miles, but it ended up being gated at private property. Oops! Guess I made a wrong turn. I backtracked out and at 8:32, I saw black bear #4. He was running away from me on the road for a little ways before heading to the left side into the forest. I got back out to the intersection and took the left fork this time which was signed for Cartwright Lakes. I was looking for Bugaboo Creek, but no dice to this point. We’ll see where this road leads. The next road I come to was signed as the Bugaboo Diversion Road. I headed up this road for 1k, but it was much narrower than I was expecting the road to be. I figured this couldn’t be right, so I turned around. I finally found the Bugaboo Creek Road at 8:58. Ah ha! Now why wasn’t there a sign at the first fork? There was a just bit of light left in the sky, and I was hoping to find a spot where I could shoot sunrise and still find a place to camp. I reached the Cartwright Lakes/Bugaboo fork at 9:19. The sign here indicated 29k to Bugaboos. At this point, I’m just beat. It has been a long day of driving and I don’t think I can get up for tomorrow’s sunrise, but we’ll see how it goes and will worry about that at that time. I ended up coming to a road that intersected this one. It was the Bugaboo Diversion Road, so I would’ve ended up here anyway if I stayed on the last road.

I finally reached the intersection at the end and I took the right fork which was signed for Bugaboo Glacier Park. A short distance later, I saw the Bugaboo lodge with lights on through the trees off to the left and I reached the main trailhead at 10:07. There were, I would guess, about 30 vehicles in the lot. Popular place! The strange thing, as I had never seen this before, was that each vehicle had chicken wire fencing wrapped around their base with boards holding the fencing up. The only thing I could think that this would be for was to prevent some marmot type of rodent from getting underneath and chewing on hoses and such. I wondered where they got this stuff and if everyone carried this with them, but surely not. Or, was there extra material in the lot? I thought that was a pretty good idea as I know marmots like to get underneath and I’ve seen radiator fluid leaking from vehicles they’ve been under. Still, I wasn’t sure if this was for marmots, and I wondered what kind of beasts they have roaming around up here! I figured not only was this wire around, but I’m not an able mountain climber that can tackle the spires somewhere in the darkness above me, so I really didn’t think this place was for me to camp!

I would find out tomorrow that there are extra bundles and boards all around the lot. I also found after I returned home that the fencing is to keep porcupines out. Evidently, they have taken a liking to rubber and will go after tires and hoses underneath.

I headed back down the short spur to the intersection to begin looking for a campsite. I reached another fork just up the road at 10:17. I turned right on the Bugaboo Creek Forest Service Road. Turns out that goes to the gate in front of the lodge. I backed out and took the left fork which was for the Challis Creek Trail. I drove quite a ways further and was now on the Bugaboo Septet Road. Based on my relatively simple map for this region, I was not expecting any of the roads where I was at to go on for as long as they did. There seemed to be a vast network of roads. I’ll see what there is to see from them tomorrow. I finally parked at 10:43 and I was absolutely beat. I would definitely be sleeping good tonight and getting up for sunrise didn’t seem like an option.

7:52 AM — Mt Robson from Robson Shadows Campground