We headed up to the cabin last Friday early and with beautiful weather. It didn't take us long to connect with Jeff N. and Shelby. We texted our coordinates every so often and re-adjusted our schedules. Stopped at the bakery in Princeton and picked up some donuts. The bakery has been operating since the 1920s and I have been a customer since the mid 70s.
Jeff, daughter and Kita, the half husky trail dog, were at the trail-head at 1:00 and ready to go. We arrived and parked. Looking at the river, gauging the depth, colour and speed, I on the other hand had not completely said it out loud but new it in my mind - the river was beginning to be in flood. We would not be able to make the eleven water crossings necessary to get to the cabin. Some crossings are easier than others but I knew that some would be 3 feet deep with a high velocity of speed. The general rule is you only cross water that is less than half your height and not strong enough to knock you over. Shelby and Kita couldn't make it let alone the big folks.
After a short discussion it was decided that we would do the over the mountain climb. This approach to the cabin involved driving back out to the highway and backtracking about 5k then turning north off the highway we drove up about 7k into the mountains on a very steep logging road that provided a glorious panoramic view of the Similkameen Valley far below. Using both an old Gps unit and eyeballing the terrain we parked the two vehicles and readied our packs for the arduous hike on unmarked deer trails down a steep two thousand foot slope to the valley floor and the cabin that awaited us. Part of our goal was to avoid the cliffs on either side of the known route.
I first climbed out from the valley floor in the early 80s when I had been staying at the cabin through the beginning of spring run off one year. Again, during the set up for a spring/summer retreat in April of 1994, Jeff N. and I were forced to hike down to the cabin to take in the necessary supplies. We then hiked up two days later for me to retrieve the remainder of the food supplies and to send Jeff on his way back to Vancouver. Returning to the valley floor, two thousand feet below, with a hundred pound pack - I was delirious and close to exhaustion.
However, back to 2010 and this trip, the four of us and one dog headed over the edge of the ridge with a general idea of where we were going and how long it would take to get there. At first we had a tree canopy, but leaving the forests of the Thompson Plateau, it wasn't long before we had to stop for the obligatory snap shot photos of the spectacular views of the entire valley in front of us and the creek far below in the narrow valley below. The hike down the mountainside took approximately 2 1/2 hours. My knees and legs were rubber at the bottom. Thank god for walking sticks, company, and a good trail dog. [In the photo above I am standing with the Thompson Plateau behind me. The cabin lies in one of the many steep and hidden valleys that crisscross the plateau. The Thompson Plateau lies inland from the Pacific Ocean and over the Coast Mountains on the eastern side. Moving west, after the Thompson Plateau are the various mountain ranges such as the Selkirk, Purcell, and Kootenay all on the west side of the Rocky Mountains].
Arriving at the cabin we found it in use. Not by a person physically in it but by somebody that wasn't currently there. We investigated the signs of habitation and determined the squatter had left some days earlier. They had left all of their belongings out, but neat, as if still there, or returning shortly. We carefully packed all of their belongings away and unpacked ours. We were four and a dog, they were one. We needed space to sleep, prepare food and cook.
Using both a camp stove outside and the cast iron stove inside we were able to quickly boil water and prepare some food of pasta, beef jerky, cheese and tea. When traveling to the cabin we always have snack foods of chocolate, trail bars, real licorice, and more. The first night was spent with some tossing and turning as the cabin is not really meant for four people and a dog, three is doable and can be fun, two is great, one is pure pleasure and extremely restful.
Saturday was a day of mixed weather. We ate breakfast, washed, talked, napped, ate, cut wood, watched the weather, talked, finally Gio went out with Kita for a walk down to the last crossing where there was once an old concrete dam built at the turn of the century, small, long destroyed with only remnants of its existence.
Upon Gio's return Jeff and I also felt like a little hike to stretch out the legs from the hill descent of the day before. Shelby was content to stay in the cabin next to the stove and under the blankets. Off we went with Kita in tow as well, for her it was the 2nd time. The walk was fast paced and we made it to the last crossing in about a half hour. The water was high and brown. I knew that I would have tremendous difficulty crossing if I had a pack on my back even if I was using two over-sized walking sticks. The real danger, especially with a pack on the back, is that if you are knocked over in the water while crossing you can not recover - you are taken away by the swift current until you can grab onto a rock or regain your footing - if possible. It is an ugly scenario all round, I've been there, I've tried. The feeling is the same as white water swimming (swimming down rapids) except without the intention of wanting to be white water swimming. On the way back up the trail it hailed heavily. It seemed more like a snow shower.
Dinner on Saturday night was quinoa, my favourite, with cheese, meat, soya sauce, and whatever else we had. It was delicious. Quinoa cooks beautifully on a cast iron stove. When I am alone or we as a group are at the cabin longer then I often cook a sweet curry to go with the quinoa, but alas those days do not come as often now as they did in the past. The second nights sleep was better than the first probably because of some re-adjustment in the bedding and shifting of bodies.
Saturday night we decided to all leave together on Sunday. This was mostly for safety reasons. It would be easier for all of us to hike up the mountainside together knowing that if there were any problems we would all be there to help. Remember, it had been some years since Jeff and I had hiked that route out from the cabin. The mountainside is also known for mountain goats, deer, bears and cute brown rabbits.
The hike was horrendous, long and steep. The day on the other hand was magnificent, beautiful, with clear blue skies and thick sunshine like the clearest honey. Once again we had beautiful views of the mountains, ope meadows, and the valley below as we climbed higher and higher. As an added bonus we had drinking water the entire way up the mountainside. There were pockets of hail every so often in the shade of trees and rocks that were left over from the day before. The pockets of hail continued all the way to the top of the mountain. After that there was the remnants of the winters heavy snow and brackish ponds. Neither of these were to my liking, nor as clean as the hail - Kita didn't care.
The hike from the cabin to the top of the mountain (ridge) and then to the vehicles took approximately 4 hours. I was tired and ready for some serious rest. Packed up and ready to go we drove down the mountain road passing local kids with trail bikes and 4x4s farther along. Arriving in Princeton we said our goodbyes to Jeff N., Shelby and Kita who headed north to Williams Lake via the old Princeton/Merritt Road - the preferred route of bikers. It was about four in the afternoon and we headed straight for the pub to eat and drink. Leaving Princeton for Vancouver the last leg of the trip was relatively uneventful except for the very large numbers of deer grazing in small herds alongside the grassy areas of the highway outside of Princeton. There were also two black bears, not together, in the Manning Park area noteworthy for their beautiful thick shiny black fur.
