Wells Gray Provincial park

July 11th, 2016:

We leave John and Donna’s house in Logan Lake on Monday July 11th, heading north on route 5.  We are towing again due to the high price of gasoline in Canada, approximately $4.50 a gallon.  It’s a beautiful drive to Kamloops with small picturesque lakes along the highway.  After Kamloops route 5 reduces down into a single lane highway following a river valley with much farming, vegetable markets, cows and horses.  We were running in and out of rain showers all the way, but luckily no wind to contend with.  We stopped in the town of Clearwater at a food market to get groceries and to check at the “Wells Gray Provincial Park” information center about the camping situation.  We ended up heading for Pyramid Campground in “Wells Gray Provincial Park” about 28 miles away.  It’s a first come, first served campground and was fairly empty, that’s what we like to see. A nice roomy campsite, but quite a few mosquitoes, I was glad to have bug spray.

The winding road north of Kamloops

Our campsite at Wells Gray Provincial Park

We heard running water at the campsite, took a short walk and found a trail that led to the fast flowing Murtle River.  This is a really fast flowing river, you would not want to fall in.  We then drove about 5 miles away to the Helmcken Falls which were truly spectacular.  The Murtle River plunges straight down 462 feet here.  There was an excellent viewing area along the canyon rim and the sun actually came out for a while. 

The Murtle River behind our campsite

Fire Weed is common here

Helmcken Falls

Another view further away

A coyote crossing the road in front of us

Next was a drive back past the campground to the narrow one lane bridge that we had previously driven over with the RV.  It is a very scenic view as the Murtle River is flowing very fast with large turbulent rapids.  We somehow missed Dawson Falls which was only about a 1/4 mile down the road.

View from the bridge looking upstream

Another view of the bridge

I wish we had more time at this park, so many good trails, river views, wildlife and waterfalls, but we have a campground reservation at Jasper.  I hate getting locked into reservations, but camping spots are so limited and in such demand at National Parks, you sometimes can’t avoid it.  

Next stop is Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada 

Twinkles and Slick