Wells Gray Provincial Park

We had booked a log cabin deep in the park for two nights so that we could spend a day exploring the natural wonders of the area. We stopped off at a supermarket at the entrance to the park and stocked up with enormous Alberta steaks, chicken and a selection of veggies, nice wine and a bear bell.

Our cabin was 25 Km deep into the woods and was one of a huddle of three owned by Frank. It was very pretty, warm and cosy and really well equipped for our short stay. There was a creek flowing vigorously at the back door and the sound of splashing water lulled us off to sleep at night. It was great to be able to cook for ourselves but we did set the fire alarm off when cooking the steaks.

Wells Gray is known as the waterfall park and so it proved. Dawson Falls is wide and not so tall. A bit like Niagra but shorter and not as wide. Helmcken Falls is spectacular, falling 463ft straight down. We hiked one of the rivers and found rapids that we would have not tried with our new found rafting skills. There were Kayakers breezing down them though. Douglas, would have a go at this?

Towards the end of the day, as the light was fading and an electrical storm was approaching we went to have a look at the farm that John and Alice Ray had tended between 1911 and 1947 when John died. They raised 3 children there and are buried behind the little house. We looked for their graves but the area was heavily overgrown and since the storm was getting closer we decided to beat a hasty retreat back through the woods to the car. As we hurried along the narrow path there was a mighty crash close to my right shoulder and immediately afterwards lots of movement in my peripheral vision. We froze in our tracks thinking that we were being charged by a large animal. Just as well that we stopped. A dead tree was falling one step in front of us. One more step and we would have been in the branches, two more and we would have been under the trunk. We were quite spooked to say the least. We picked our way around the remaining stump of the tree and scurried back towards the car park. Just as we reached the car park there was another mighty crack followed by creaking as another tree came crashing down. This one was twenty yards behind us and not immediately life threatening but we had the distinct impression that John and Alice wanted us off their property. We obliged and sped back to our cabin. As I got out of the car a branch came clattering down and banged onto the roof of our car right beside my head.

Once in the cabin the storm started properly. There was a bright flash of lightening immediately followed by a rolling blast of thunder. Everything went dark. The electricity stayed off for two hours in which time we managed to consume all of our remaining wine.