Oct 8th, Ashnola River Valley and Cathedral park.

Scott had found some really promising hiking trails in Cathedral park…an hours drive from here……So off we trucked….following the Alltrails directions to get to the trailhead.

Unfortunately …one of the limitations of Alltrails here….was the failure to mention that most of Cathedral park is not accessible by road. In fact…there is a private company that do a jeep shuttle service on the only track in to the core several times a day…but that service halts for the season Sept 30th (and costs $130 per person ) https://bcparks.ca/explore/parkpgs/cathedral/

or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_Provincial_Park_and_Protected_Area

Admittedly we should have done a bit more research before we drove up there….but we really had no idea just the scale of this park ’til we got there…..

The drive up through Keremeos (which is spectacular in its own right ) still could not have prepared us for the unparalleled natural beauty of the Ashnola river…..with our ‘Wow’ muscles overworking big time…we actually stopped the truck in the middle of the road quite a few times to get out an stare…turn around and stare some more…..if any of you out there ever get the opportunity to come here…take it…..its like a whole different magnificence….!!! I have pictures to show……so Ill try to share.

The trailhead…is actually the basecamp for the company that runs the shuttle service up the mountain……so that was the end of our plan for the day….we did, however, carry on up the valley …still in awe of our surroundings…..

…and we took a couple of opportunities to park and work our way down to the river….

We did find another track off the main (only) road up the valley…and with our hike plan dead in the water….took a peek down it…and found that there is actually a parking lot and a park map…..this is a spot where one of the few hiking trails in to the park start. We hiked it for a couple of kms and decided we should probably know a bit more….and start earlier in the day…….and bring sammiches….!!!

There are many small (unserviced) campsites of this road up the Ashnola valley….for any of you out there who fancy it…….there can be few spots anywhere to camp more spectacular than these (and they are $10 per adult per night through BC parks…) Not a road you would want to pull a 30 ft trailer up…….but maybe a smaller trailer or motorhome would be just the ticket… (the road is not bad but its narrow…often close to the edge of a cliff and has many winding corners…..)

Down this little side road…we managed to get right to the river…and although we did not see any beavers we did find these very skillfully carved trees.

We still did get a few kms in for the day…and a plan for where we might go next…!! Bonus…

The drive home through Keremeos we had to stop at a fruit stand….its like some kind of Utopian fantasy…fresh local fruit. veg and samosas…..they even have a slushie machine set up with mango lassi…….gotta love this place…..😁😁😁

So…the next adventure will be a return to Cathedral park……

Extra pix gallery