Author: Hardy
General area: Cariboo Mountains
Trip start date: 2015-07-20
Number of nights: 4
The Cariboo Mountains are a spectacular mountain range in the Columbias that lie to the south of Prince George and east of Quesnel and Williams Lake. One of my favourite features of the Cariboos is Quesnel Lake, which apparently is the world’s deepest glacier-carved lake. I haven’t spent much time exploring the wilderness upstream of Quesnel Lake, so when my friend Mark proposed a trip in 2015 to paddle down the Niagara River into the east arm of the lake, I was excited.
One thing about the Cariboo Mountains near Quesnel Lake – they are remote! To get to the Niagara, we planned to hike an inflatable canoe from the 3100 Road outside of Likely into Mitchell Lake, paddle across Mitchell Lake, hike the canoe over to Christian Lake, paddle that, and then hike over to the Niagara. From there, it would be all downhill to the final waterfalls where the Niagara poured into the lake. All this through the wonderful cedar-hemlock forests that dominate the valley bottoms in Cariboo Mountains Provincial Park.
Mark talked to a pilot about the Niagara River. The beta made it sound pretty relaxing, “The river is flat. We should be able to float the whole way.” We scoped Google Earth to see if we could find any rapids, but the imagery wasn’t the greatest. We knew there was a trail to get around the final waterfalls. And that was about it. The other great thing about the Cariboos is that there isn’t a ton of information about them. This can make for a fun adventure. With that as our beta, four of us headed in: Eric from Vancouver and Mark, Ben and Hardy from PG.
Full screen
Mitchell to Niagara KML (just approximate not for navigation!)
Day one
We departed Likely and drove up the 3100 gravel road that heads back to Barkerville. We took Ben’s ATV down an old spur road that gt us close to the Mitchell river. From there we were able to get down to the Mitchell River and found a major logjam to cross. The Mitchell River is home to a large concentration of grizzly bears, and the game trails along the river were well trodden. After crossing the river, we were able to follow a faint trail all the way to Mitchell Lake. We slept on the lake for our first night.
Day two
We paddled down Mitchell Lake to a concentration of cabins at the east end of the lake where we met Bill Corbett and a friend. If memory serves, Bill lived in Calgary but spent most of his summers on the lake fishing and boating. Bill wrote about his adventures on Mitchell Lake in “Adventures at Mitchell Lake: Retreating and Recharging in Canada’s Wilderness”. Thanks again for the beer Bill! We decided to spend the day hanging out here exploring this side of the lake and drying out our gear from all the rain the day before.
Day three
We rolled up the canoe and started hiking through the bush to Christian Lake. The canoe weighed 100lbs and we figured the best way to deal with was for each guy to take a turn hiking with it on his back for an hour at a time. It didn’t take long for that sucker to hurt! It took us all day in the pouring rain to reach Christian Lake and paddle across it. At the end of the lake, we found an old dilapidated trapper’s cabin. From the cabin, it was a short hike through a swamp to the Niagara. Finally we were ready to start the river part of the trip! All downhill from here.
When we got to the river’s edge, I shot a nervous glance at Mark. For a supposedly Grade I river, the water was moving really fast. We’d have to pay attention that we didn’t sneak up on any logjams or such. Well, it didn’t take us too long on the river to find out we’d have more than Grade I to deal with. Within the first kilometre we found ourselves in some nice boulder gardens. In a kayak, this would have been fun; with four heavy dudes in an inflatable canoe, it felt more like we were pingpong balls careening down the river. After we got used to maneuvering the boat, we settled in and made some miles. Getting close to supper, we turned a bend and saw the river pinch into a canyon. We pulled out and took a look. After realizing we had a Grade IV canyon to contend with, we decided now was a good time to call it an evening. We’d deal with the canyon in the morning.
Day four
After a brief scout of the canyon, we realized there were some larger drops, and the rapids ended in what looked to be a small waterfall. This was going to be a walk! Well, not quite a walk. More like a scramble along cliffs with a hundred pound monkey on your back! It was a little exposed in places. The highlight was battling through dense alder in an avalanche chute, and then popping out of the thick brush right at the end of the canyon. We could see the exit waterfall had a tight entrance. Good thing we portaged.
We put back on to the river. It was mellow at this point. I think we all started to relax and settle in for a long float to the takeout. The hours started to pass by and we glided down the valley. Nice mountain views everywhere! The river saved a final surprise for us. At the base of an avalanche chute, we noticed the river was littered with large boulders. We sat up and started to pay attention. Sure enough, around the next corner we were into some nice Grade III boulder gardens. A bit further, and we noticed a horizon line. Time to get off! We barely made the eddy above the drop and took a look. Another walk. This time, the canyon sported a large waterfall, somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 feet perhaps? That’s a pretty rough guess. The portage was through steep sidehills covered in devil’s club – it took us the rest of the day to finish walking the canyon. We camped under the hemlocks somewhere on the river.
Day five
Ok, we have to make the takeout today! Smitty is coming to pick us up in his boat and take us back to Likely. We put back on the river, and fingers crossed we wouldn’t have any more big portages, we settled in for some floating in the rain that pelted us every day so far. We floated for hours. Turning a corner, a strange apparition emerged from the mist. A jacket draped on a stick stuck in the mud. What the? We eddied out and took a look. The footprints in the mud were fresh. Mark figured this must be Smitty. Was he telling us this is the takeout?
We found a faint trail and started walking down it. Boy it was good we eddied out here! It wasn’t too long down the trail that we heard a roar coming from the river. I took a peak, and sure enough, the Niagara was starting its final descent through major waterfalls and rapids as it dumped into Quesnel Lake. Thankfully we didn’t keep floating past the jacket! Smitty waiting for us on his boat was a welcome sight.
I think the Cariboo Mountains around Quesnel Lake are really special. Thanks for reading and have fun out there!
Awesome report, thanks for posting!