British Columbia's Interior to Alberta's Parks and Back

​Follow Canadian Overlanders Mathew Irvine and Kim Scott as they set out to explore some of the West Coast’s vast wilderness and parks. Trekking 2700 kilometers from Vancouver’s lower mainland thru the pristine British Columbia interior to Alberta’s stunning parks before taking the Whipsaw trail home. 

​In July of 2016 Kim and I (Mat) decided to set out and the vast backyard that is the province of British Columbia. We only managed to scratch the surface, but what a backyard it truly is!
 
We started out Late on Friday of the Canada day long weekend with the rest of the lower mainland. Once we escaped the grid lock that is highway one we made a cannonball run for the small town of Boston Bar where we setup camp at around 10 pm that night. This was a critical moment because it was here at the Log Creek Rec Site that I realized I had left the tent poles on the kitchen table.  

​6am the next morning we got up ate a quick breakfast and got ready to head back out on the road, while I took a few minutes to explore the rec site. I had originally planned to take the Nahatlach forest road from the town of Harrison but again traffic had us alter our route. The Nahatlach River looked a bit beyond my kayaking skills.

gBack on the road we headed off to our second stop the ghost town of Pheonix B.C. This marked the furthest I had ever traveled inland, which meant I had no idea where I was headed and we only had our Backroads Map Book and occasional cell phone service to gather intel. Arriving at the town, we were unsure if we were even in the right spot, because only a cenotaph remains. By following some cross country ski trail signs we managed to find this small lake and decided to spend the night here.

​While unloading the kayaks and coming up with a way to setup the Tepui tent without poles I had been hearing some rattling as I had gotten pretty aggressive on the front side rear or the cab the previous day. We were not able to stop, as we were trying to beat the night fall. One of the kayaks got loose and left a souvenir on the cab of my 09 Tacoma.

​We were very surprised this whole trip at the lack of heat being as it was 35' Celsius. when we left Abbotsford the previous day but it was warm enough for a tank top and a cold beer, at least I thought so. We setup and threw some burgers on the grill before heading out on the lake to do a bit of paddling.

​Luckily I Had a 100 ft of paracord tucked away in the truck just in case. Because when you’re out on the road it’s nice to be prepared for the “oh dam” factor. Our Airflow snorkel and my mirror made good anchors as well as my rear bumper swing out and the trees.

​The Next day being Sunday we set off further up Highway 3 and actually managed to find an eerie abandoned section which made for a neat photo opportunity.

​Pressing on we next headed for Kaslo B.C. , here we found some heat, we had planned to head up to the fire tower on Mt Lavine, however missing the turn several times and blowing through half a tank of fuel we decided to pick a spot on the map and stop there for the day. Kim picked this one and it was a beauty!

​We could have easily stopped our trip here and spent the remaining week sitting on the beach and paddling the lake; however the prospect of what awaited us as we got closer to the B.C./Alberta border had us packing up camp and moving on after spending a glorious day in Kaslo. We loaded up a little later the next day finding it hard to leave, and pressed on down Highway 31 which to my surprise and delight was a dirt road the entire way once we passed Duncan Lake. 

​Pressing on and taking in all the scenery we reached Galena Bay and took the ferry, passing through Revelstoke and stopping in Glacier National Park and at the top of Rogers Pass which was a torture test for my 2.7L 5 speed Tacoma with how heavy she was and because she sports 35” BFG KO2’s and a 4.88 gear ratio. All that means is I was in 3rd gear at 4500 rpm for close to 10 minutes straight, and I don’t regret a single minute of it because of what awaits you when you reach the summit.

​Our stop for that day was Golden B.C. and the Cedar Lake Recreation Site, while we got there early in the afternoon we kept noticing a van endlessly circling looking for a spot, I flagged them down and asked them if they had a backup plan, turns out they were from France and had spent the last three years travelling North America and Mexico, saving Canada for the finale. With their bad English and me trying to remember French immersion classes from over a decade ago, I finally managed to invite them to stay with us. We swapped stories, talked trucks and I gave them some locations to check out as they headed West towards Vancouver Island.

​Moving on the next day, leaving our new friends behind, we pressed on into the National parks in Alberta, which again was a first for me; Kim not so much, but things have changed in the 10 years since her last visit. First up was Lake Louise. Being morning people, we were on the road from Golden at 6:30  am, arriving at the lake before it was flooded with people and this was the result (below).

​This day was an intense travel day for us. We covered a lot of ground on only a single tank of gas, because I was unwilling to pay the price of fuel in Golden. Instead, I used up my 40 liter reserve to top off the tank, which tapped out at 620 km as we later rolled into the town of Banff.
      As we drove into Banff we saw tons of wildlife and took what was probably the longest way possible to Radium Hot Springs, but then it’s all about the journey isn’t it? After spending a couple hours just resting and enjoying the springs we headed back into Banff, which made parking an adventure. We wondered the town just taking it all in and stopped for lunch in a basement level sandwich shop that I can’t remember the name of, but I wasn’t about to fire up the grill in the middle of town.
      After leaving Banff we started to look for a camping spot. It was peak season for tourists, so we were a little worried we would be driving for quite some time. This turned out to not be the case as the second site we stopped at had a ton of spots available--partially because of its name I think--so we spent the night at Mosquito Creek. Paying for a permit was new for us, because we are more backcountry campers and generally only use pay sites as a last resort. This was where we made a critical mistake, we did not opt for the 8$ fire permit. Later that day we were huddled around the stove, which made for some amusing moments as we waited for the soup to heat up.

​Pushing on towards Jasper I felt the urge again and again to stop and take pictures because how could you not!!!

​Again we had another big travel day ahead of us as we entered Jasper and stopped off at The Other Paw Bakery on the pro tip from a friend who used to live there, and it’s worth the trek. Deciding to leave the national parks behind we turned back into B.C. We stopped off in Clear Water which is host to a ton of small lakes, all perfect to spend days and days exploring.

​Finding it hard to get moving from this site as well, we reluctantly got back on the road and headed into Kamloops. There is a spot we had been to a year or so previously that was just too good not to stop at again.

​It’s imperative to remember that some roads pass through protected areas and fragile eco systems and it’s never acceptable to leave the road with your vehicle damaging those areas forever. We are ever so thankful that the government continues to allow motorized access to these wonderful areas. At this point in our journey we were on the home stretch and decided to finish it off by taking on the mighty Whipsaw Trail. Running this trail solo is not advisable unless you are extremely capable and familiar with it. We had never run it backwards, so decided why not try? I’ll be the first to admit recent logging threw me off and we got a little lost trying to find the trail head, but we managed stopping off at Loadstone Lake and finally ending up in Wells Lake.

​Rain and muck greeted us and we pushed through obstacles and downed trees.

​This is the obstacle where my truck earned the nick name “Honey Badger” because even in the early days I managed to make it work and succeed in overcoming it. This is also the fastest I had ever made it to Wells Lake which is one of my favorite places to date.

Not wanting our trip to end we decided to just sit by the fire and enjoy life as the pace of our trip slowed dramatically, we had covered nearly 2700 km in just eight days.  The last two would be a slow go as the real world and work was all that awaited us at home. Starting out in our usual fashion we were up early and packed up our camp for the last time. Once you leave Wells Lake things escalate rather quickly!

​This was the last image we took on this trip, and I think it’s the perfect way to end with a 35” front tire hanging above a truck swallowing ditch, as we bid farewell to Whipsaw and our journey we touched pavement an hour and a half later aired up the tires and made the two hour journey to The Home Restaurant in Hope, British Columbia. A tradition I have observed since we would take the family suburban out on trips in the late 80’s.
     Nine days we were on the road and we only touched a small amount of BC and Alberta, you could spend years exploring British Columbia on it’s own and not see it all. For more adventures you can follow me on Instagram @4cyl4lowlife.
    Always remember to keep your rubber side down and tread lightly !

​

​Mathew Irvine lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, allowing him the luxury of stunning trails in the surrounding area. An avid overland explorer, we look forward to more articles from him this coming summer. You can see more of Mat's trips on Instagram @4cyl4lowlife.


Want to read more about travelling the Whipsaw Trail, see the blog post "Fun on Four Wheels: Whipsaw Trail" by Emily Masse.