Wow—that’s a word you will use many times if you take the ride we did in September 2008. My husband, Ed, and I joined members of the Golden ATV Club for a weekend to do some riding in the Bush Arm of Kinbasket Lake. I had heard this was a ride not to miss so, even though it was teeming rain in Revelstoke, we trusted the weather forecast and took off for camp at 57.5 kilometres on the Bush River Forest Service Road (FSR) where we found the gang from Golden.
The next morning was—surprise, surprise—exactly as the weather man had predicted: mainly sunny with some clouds. Ten ATVs took off up the Bush River FSR and quickly entered typical Rocky Mountain country. The mountain tops were covered with the first snow of the season which emphasized the weathering and layering of the mountains. The first mountain to catch my eye was one that was very similar to Castle Mountain in Banff National Park, just smaller.
Then we came into a valley and there was an incredible sight of a banded mountain where the bands were multi coloured. When the mountain was formed the bands were thrust upwards and sideways so that they varied from vertical to convoluted, wow.
Next was the spectacular Mt. Bryce and the cameras started what would be a day long activity of taking incredible photos. Mt. Bryce, towering above us at 11,515 feet, is at one time a smaller version of Mt. Robson, then from another angle it’s the Matterhorn and yet another it is a large vertical plug rising out of severe vertical slopes.
Off to our left was Mt. Columbia all white and towering over everything else at 12,293 feet; this is the highest point in Alberta. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, we next caught a glimpse in the distance of a horizontal wall of snow and ice.
Further up the valley, we went up Bryce Creek FSR, turned the corner and the biggest wow possible. The lookout point was at 4,600 feet and we were looking at the south edge of the Columbia Icefields. Below us was a valley with a meandering river spawned from the ice melt. We spotted two hikers and a herd of elk in the valley.
At the head of the valley rose three glacier tongues coming down from walls of fractured and convoluted glacier ice. The whole horizon was filled with this awesome sight. Just 20 kilometres over the top and you would arrive at the Columbia Icefields visitor centre on the Banff-Jasper highway.
It was hard to leave this awesome sight but our next trip was up Rice Brook, climbing up the valley with towering, dry, vertical faces until we were stopped by deactivation only three kilometres from the Alberta border. We went back to the Bush River FSR then to the north where we would pass snow-covered Mt. Columbia and arrive again at the edge of the icefield.
Unfortunately, a bridge was missing on the road and someone had cut out the alternate bridge so we were thwarted. Back to camp we went, stopping repeatedly for picture opportunities. After refueling, we started up Valenciennes River FSR branching up the Icefall Brook FSR to a lookout to view the Southwest Lyell Icefield.
On the way, we passed Bush peak and Rostrum Peak—both 10,000+ peaks. We could see the icefield growing at the end of the valley but we were stopped in our tracks by a huge washout. Obviously the spring runoff had caused this. After much examination and consultation, a very rough way around was found and two ATVs took off to see what lay ahead.
Once again, the road was washed out two kilometres up and that was that. What a great day. We rode about 180 kilometres in total and saw incredible country that is totally awesome. And this opinion is coming from someone who lives in the midst of the Selkirk and Monashee mountains and every day has her breakfast gazing out the window at a 180 degree view of 8,963-foot Mt. Begbie with its glaciated peaks and Mt. McPherson at 7,874 on my right then Mt. MacKenzie and Mt Cartier at 8,071 and 8,666 feet respectively on my left and the wetlands of the Columbia River and its wildlife below me.
This trip combined the best of ATVing: good riding, totally awesome country and great company. This is absolutely a ride not to be missed. Thanks for the hospitality, Golden ATV Club, and we will be back next year—no doubt about that.
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