3 Days on the Hudson's Bay Company Trail
The HBC Trail (Hudson's Bay Company Heritage Trail) is a 74 km fur trade and hunting route through the Cascade Range that connects Hope (on the Coast) with Tulameen (in the Interior).
I tried to complete this hike last summer but didn't have a decent weather window with all the heat waves and wildfire smoke. My chance came this year on Canada Day long weekend. I only had 3 days off work which meant covering at least 25 km per day.
Thanks RE for dropping me off at the trailhead at 5 AM (Huge thanks also to CH for your support also)! I wanted to get an early start to the day since the western part of the trail was the most strenuous from a net elevation point of view. The route essentially starts at 300m altitude before climbing 1866m up Mount Davis.
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| Peer's Creek |
The first sections of trail were fairly overgrown and held lots of condensation from the night before, which made it near impossible to stay dry during the ascent. If I was doing this trail again and had more flexible time parameters, I would probably wait until the afternoon when the foliage is drier.
After ascending Mason's ridge, you immediately drop back down on the other side of the valley and cross a few deactivated forest service roads which likely link with the Coquihalla.
There are several creek crossings and bridges are scarce so expect to either play hop skip jump with the rocks or wade through the water.
Trees scared black showing evidence of a wildfire sweeping through this valley a long time ago.
There was an abundance of fresh clear water on the western side of this route. You get a feel for the presence of creeks and streams from the large heavy timber and bright green deciduous plants. I usually only carried 1 litre of water until reaching the Tulameen Plateau.
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| Mountain bikers near Sawaqua Camp |
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| A well deserved break after the steep climb |
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| Deer Camp |
This alpine section was my favourite part of the trail. I ran into another party of day hikers who had completed the entire trail years ago and came back for a skinny dip in Palmer's Pond.
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| Palmer's Pond |
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| Max cooling off the backside of Mount Davis |
Approaching the Conglomerate Camp. There was an Outward Bound group spending the night here.
I camped near Jacobson Lake and was very fortunate to share Canada Day celebrations up with a group of generous strangers who fed me steak, eggs, popcorn, and fresh local coffee - what a treat!
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| Intersecting with the historic Rice trail |
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| Junction with Whitecloud Lake / Manning Provincial Park |
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| Horseguard Camp |
Horseguard Camp was one of the better campsites in my opinion. There is lots of flat ground and a sandy beach area near the creek. Not an easy creek crossing back on trail though!
Approaching Blackeye's Camp and the Tulameen Plateau. Your last climb before the elevation changes to your favour of going primarily downhill.
The 8-10 km section before Lodestone Lake is shared with offroad motorized vehicles. And as this was a long weekend, it was busy. I imagine it would be feasible to hitchhike off trail from here if need be.
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| Camping at Lodestone Lake |
This slash block completely ruins what would be a rather great viewpoint. Remember this location though, because from here to Olivine Mountain you get decent cell phone coverage. It's about 7 km to the end of the trail. As there is no reception in Tulameen, consider texting your contact here if you are relying on a ride from the eastern trailhead.
There are several intersections with deactivated forest service roads and quad trails in this area. I mistakenly went off trail for about 1km after missing the flagging tape when the trail diverges, so make sure you maintain sight with the HBC flagging tape.
Crossing the Tualmeen River marks the end of the HBC trail, wahoo! The river was flowing just above my knees this time of year. It's a 4km road walk or hitchhike to the Tulameen Trading Post restaurant which has burgers and beer.
