Chilcotin Horseback Riding

Wind your way past the glacier dotted peaks that vault defiantly into the crystal blue sky, descending into meadows of wild alpine flowers, bursting with colour from June to September. Along the way you may spot some of the local inhabitants: bears, (black or grizzly), moose, marmots, deer, wolves, mountain goats, California Big Horn Sheep or a Kittiwampus. Bring your camera to capture it all.

Not only will you visit some of our base camp locations in the wilderness, but we will go further into the back country were few people roam. While in the back country accommodation will be provided in one of our spike camp locations and you will be housed in new dome tents and sleep comfortably on our inflatable sleeping pads. Wake each morning to a roaring campfire and the smell of cowboy coffee, and a full breakfast.

There will be numerous photo opportunities on this trip as well as a lifetime of memories. This pack trip heads above the tree line into the wildflower carpeted alpine meadows. On a clear night, a breeze filled with the sweet scent of alpine flowers might carry the lonely cry of a timber wolf into camp.

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Itinerary / Highlights

Day 1: - Arrival in the afternoon. Please plan to arrive by 5 pm. Dinner at 6 pm and overnight.

Day 2: After a hearty country breakfast, guests will leave the main ranch in vehicles headed for the horses which will be waiting for their arrival at our lower Relay Base Camp. Here we will fit each client to their horse and pack our gear upon our eager pack horses. After crossing Relay Creek we will begin climbing the hillside which crosses us over to the Tyaughton Creek Valley. This valley is a mix of pine grass and fir forest with grass hills full of bunch grass. You will experience high mountain views. We will end the day below Fortress Ridge at our Coldwell Camp. Approx. Distance 10km, elevation gain of 1800feet

Day 3: After breaking camp we will mount up and head through Castle Pass before dropping down into Big Paradise. We will set up camp at the top end of the valley. The day ride is mostly above tree line with spectacular scenary and many wildlife viewing opportunities. Aprox. Distance 8km, elevation gain 1000ft.

Day 4: Today we will begin a relatively long climb up the mountain side heading for Little Paradise and Hail Pass. Once through the pass we work our way across to the very top end of Little Paradise and ride the ridge looking down at the amazing views of Tyaughton Creek Valley and Manson Creek. You will then drop down into the main valley of Little Paradise where we will set up camp for the night. Approx. Distance 8km

Day 5: After another good climb out of the valley up to Little Graveyard Pass which leads us down into the valley of Little Graveyard. Here you will witness beautiful wide open country with amazing views. We will make our way down into Graveyard Valley. Coming out not far from the famous gravesites which this valley was named after. Finally after dropping down to Big Creek we will set up camp along the base of the Dil Dil Plateau. Approx. Distance 12km

Day 6: We will not break camp today but spend it on a day trip out of camp. We will travel up onto the Dil Dil Plateau. Approx. Distance 12km

Day 7: After another hearty campfire breakfast we break camp and head for Iron Pass via Grant Creek. Once through the pass we drop down into the Battlement. Most of this day is spent in wide open country with spectacular Big Sky views. Following Battlement Creek we make our way down the valley ending up at our Horse Heaven Camp. Approx. Distance 15km, elevation gain 1500feet

Day 8: Break Camp and head down through the historical Taylor Windfall Mine and down along the Taseko River. We break off the Taseko and head up Denain Creek. Our camp is set above Denain Creek. Approx. Distance 8km

Day 9: Three days to go and two vast areas have now been covered. Today we will break camp and head up to Warner Pass and then back into the Spruce Lake Park which leads us down to Warner Lake. The steep, narrow, rocky trail will decend down to Trigger Lake were our cozy log cabin awaits us. We have completed all our spike camping. Approx. Distance 12km

Day 10: We will move from our Trigger Lake Base Camp to our Spruce Lake Base Camp. Before arriving at the famous Spruce Lake you will enjoy a meandering ride along the turquoise beauty of Hummingbird Lake. A hot shower awaits you at our Spruce Lake Camp. The fish are jumping in the lake and the boats are ready for your use.

Day 11: The last leg of our journey finds us descending along the twisty trails passing forest, meadows and torrential streams. We use established trails to reduce the environmental impact of our journey, although we may have the odd detour around areas of fallen deadwood. We ride along the raging torrent of Gun Creek before crosssing the first of 2 major bridges. A stiff climb up the far bank, then a 4km stretch through lodge pole pines before dropping down to the creek once more. We ride through a forest of fir and aspen for 5km before arriving at Jewel Bridge and enjoying a brief rest before completing the last few kilometres of our journey. This is a long day home. Overnight.

Day 12: Departure after Breakfast.

Subject to Change: This itinerary has room for minor changes based on the weather conditions and feed at the camp locations. The route will be followed but spike camps may vary accordingly.

Other Details

Accommodation Details

Accommodation: For the first and last night you stay at the ranch in rustic cowboy cabins. The bathhouse is located a few feet away from your door where you will find both a shower and bath area, washing and toilet facilities. The bath house has both hot and cold running water. The ranch cabins have a very cozy setting, nestled among the fir and pine trees. You can hear the creek gurgling from your doorstep and may even awake in the morning to a deer on the lawn. There is also a campfire and horseshoe pit. You are surrounded by a vast network of horseback riding, hiking and biking trails.

During the Pack Trip:Some of the more fixed camps have tents on platforms and cots to sleep on. At the spike camp locations you sleep in new dome tents comfortably on our inflatable sleeping pads.

Meals: Wake each morning to a roaring campfire and the smell of cowboy coffee, and a full breakfast. We serve scrumtious campfire food including grilled steaks, roast turkey and sizzling sockeye salmon.