Cataract Plateau Backpack Trail Hike on 26-Jul-2003
This is the Cataract Plateau, a seldom-visited remote alpine area in the High Rock Range, in Don Getty Wildland Provincial Park, and our weekend backpack destination. Here, Jim Powers, Lupita and Andy Dragt pose just above the coulee we selected for our campsite with our adoptive canine mascot. The high point of the hike was where the green plateau reaches the shoulder of Mount Farquhar.
The hike up the logging road on a hot day would have been uneventful, but as we passed a logging camp, this very friendly dog came out to visit. We thought she would come along for a short jaunt, gambolling about as most hiking dogs do, and putting in two or three times the distance done by her human friends. By lunch time, it was becoming very clear that our mascot was in for the duration. We decided to call her “Rammy” in honour of our Ramblers totem. Rammy was the most beautiful and loveable dog any of us had ever met. Her manners were impeccable and she was obedient to any command we gave her. At lunch she quietly joined us, letting us know she was one of the gang, and would appreciate sharing in the fellowship and food. She seemed to be too trusting of strangers, but then perhaps she is just a good judge of character!
Now a part of our family, Rammy requested some play time with a stick, and enjoyed a refreshing swim in Lost Creek chasing nature’s simple toy.
It was a hot weekend, with a very minor thundershower on Saturday which did not cool things down, but on the plateau, over 7,000 feet in elevation, it was cooler and breezier. Mosquito action was considerable, rising to vexatious at dusk and dawn. We camped in a coulee which cuts across the plateau, right on the high spot where it drains two ways. It was a spectacular site, but camping on the plateau posed one major drawback—there was no water. Jim and I made a water run to the headwaters of Cataract Creek, 400 vertical feet below. Carrying buckets of water up that steep slope was the toughest water run I have experienced, but this was the price of camping with the view of Mount Holcroft and Mount Scrimger, above the muggy, mosquito infested forest. Note that the lake shown on the topo map has filled in so it is only a swamp. The flowers are still great, especially fireweed, aster and arnica.
Lupita Dragt poses for her “graduation photo” on her very first backpack. She scored an A+ in Backpacking 101, taking what turned out to be a tougher than expected trip in stride while leaving the rest of us trailing behind on the long slog back on the dusty logging road.
Rammy poses for her trip photo at our camp. On the return journey, at the logging camp, we learned that she is 3 years old and her real name is Taz, derived from her having as much energy as a Tasmanian devil. It turns out she lives at the lumber camp a good part of the year, and often takes very long runs. Naturally, her latest escapade caused some concern in the camp, as there are a couple of cougars in the area, and needless to say, her return was a great relief.
Jim Powers powers up to the high point of the plateau, with the pointy peaks of the High Rock Range creating a dramatic backdrop. Rammy turns to encourage her friend.
From the high point we had an extensive view of the open alpine tundra of the plateau, and the distant Highwood Range and Raspberry Ridge. The northern exit ridge can be seen dropping down to the left. We saw an elk on the plateau, no doubt the source of one growl from Rammy the night before, and coyotes started to howl nearby, causing Rammy some agitation!
Jim, Lupita and Andy enjoy the fresh air and freedom of our remote Shangri-La.
The northern exit ridge is a great extension to a visit to the plateau, but in retrospect we went the wrong way around. Dave Higgins, a prime mover and shaker of the GDT from its creation around 1980, tells me that there is, indeed, a one-log bridge and flagged game trail, as described by Gillean Daffern. He says the entrance is a couple of hundred yards west of the old cabin we passed near the end of the logging road, and not too hard to find from that direction, but nearly impossible to find from the ridge. Being unable to find it ourselves despite GPS readings confirming our position on the map as marked by Gem Trek, we descended a steep, ancient game trail to the hideous willow and spruce of Cataract Creek, where we struggled through forest and swamp for a kilometre before finding the logging road. Rammy found the trail for us a few times, trotting back and forth, seemingly checking to make sure we were all still together. We got back to the cars at 8 p.m., having hiked 38 km and 1325 metres elevation gain, and enjoyed a great meal and beer at the Turner Valley Hotel.
The GDT was built by volunteers around 1980. Dave Higgins has been involved from the outset and has an incredible amount of energy for the GDT. I have invited him to be a guest speaker at the RMRA this fall. I suggested we are still looking for trail projects for our 50th anniversary and I would volunteer to organize a Ramblers party to do some work on the GDT. Dave and his GDT friends have a bunch of tools, including professional chain saw and go out every year on projects on this trail.