Mt. Nusatsum

Mt. Nusatsum

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Scaring Blog Readers

It has come to my attention that I might be scaring some of my faithful blog readers and in particular scaring them from visiting the beautiful Bella Coola Valley! 

Take for example one of my readers at the Spotted Dog Ranch Blog.  Chinle writes and photographs about a fantastic and beautiful area of the state of Utah.  In one of the recent posts, it appears like they might like to visit the Bella Coola Valley, but aren't too sure about "The Hill".


I've made a few posts that mention "The Hill" and thrown in the odd picture, but nothing that should scare anyone from taking a leisurely drive into Bella Coola...but the folks at the Spotted Dog Ranch are looking for some "Hill" stories to convince them that visiting would be good (at least not dangerous on the hill). Did you or your family help build the Hill?  Or maybe you are a trucker or professional driver that can offer an opinion or advice.  Maybe you just have a few unique thoughts or good advice about The Hill.  How about what The Hill means as Bella Coola's lifeline and place in it's history?

So bring em on!  Funny ones, scary ones, short ones, long ones.  Post them in the comments anonymously or post your name if you want.  I'll publish a selection of them as a posts-- let's make this the greatest online source of Bella Coola Hill stories on the net!  Grizzly

11 comments:

  1. I'll go first! It sounds scary but just put it in low, stay off your brakes and enjoy the view. When we moved down here 4 yrs ago I was quite worried about that part of the journey but it was no where near as bad as I expected. The road is well maintained and part of the valley's charm. The old timers tell me it's the TransCanada compared to the OLD days ;-)

    Veronica NE

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  2. Thanks for this Grizz. Would love to hear the stories, and yes, I admit I'm a wimp, even though I grew up in the Colroado mountains. :)

    Folks, please, stories! :))

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  3. I drove to Bella Coola from the California Bay Area in September of 2003. The Hill was closed to traffic at the time, except for two brief "windows"--once in the morning and once in the afternoon. The rest of the time road crews were dynamiting the mountain side and widening the road. Well, I crossed Heckman Pass and arrived at the barricade about two hours before the second "window" of the day. I was the only car there and it was insanely quiet. After stretching my legs I rolled down the car window and read a book. It began to rain, so I rolled the window up. Soon the sun came back out and I rolled it down again. After a few minutes, I heard the window roll back up. I stuck my arm out: the window was down. Hmm. After a few more minutes I heard it roll up again. Once again it was down. I began to question my sanity when I noticed a raven in the tree about twenty feet away, staring at the car. I whistled at the bugger and he answered me with: the perfectly rendered sound of a car window motor.

    The rest of the ride down the Hill was totally uneventful.

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  4. 3 days tried to hitch a ride, me a young 20's and an englishwoman, fair haired and delicate.. everybody stopped to talk, everybody was 2-3 a day. we had a great trip never made it but that was meant to be.. bella colla very romantic fail.
    very quiet and animals tease are notable. always swore will return.. its been 50 years ago.

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  5. How about this: "It's nothing like it was...".

    It's a good road and has been for a very long time. As mentioned, stay off your brakes and enjoy the view. Think too of the folks that built it - two bulldozers, pack trains of dynamite and little (if any) government funding.
    Each time I drive to Bella Coola I like to leave Williams Lake pretending it's my first time on HWY 20. Fuel up, eat then head west into the setting sun. Civilization quickly recedes in the rear-view mirror and you feel like you're getting more and more remote. There are pockets of people living across the Chilcotin and several services strung along the way, but you definitely get a sense of alone time.
    The journey across the Chilcotin itself is both the best and worst journey possible. It's very interesting and entertaining if you have time to stop and check things out - things like Farwell Canyon, Bull Canyon (and the caves up the hill), good burgers at Lee’s Corner, Chilco Lake, Anihim Peak, Charlotte Lake, ‘The Chilcotin War’, Nuk Tessli, the Rainbow Range in Tweedsmuir park, the Ulkatchco range north of Anihim, to name a few. And if you’re lucky and you time it right, you can experience the thrill of the healthy mosquito population at Green River.
    If you’re in a rush and need to catch a ferry, it can be a very monotonous journey made entirely frustrating by the refraction of the blinding sun off the bug guts on your windshield.
    As for ‘The Hill’, it’s nothing like it was. Do not hesitate to visit Bella Coola because of this piece of the road. In fact, enjoy it – it’s really pretty nice. Up at the top take a few deep breaths of the unbeatable cool, pine-scented air and take your time heading down. Use your engine to keep you moving slow and rely on your brakes only when required. We do it this way all the time…
    At the bottom, take another deep breath – the heat radiating from the summer sunned rocks convey the scent of the surrounding fir forest. Those of you with a proclivity for nervousness should look forward to this – there is no better remedy in all the world.
    Karl (... still calling Bella Coola 'home'.)

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  6. How about this: "It's nothing like it was...".

    It's a good road and has been for a very long time. As mentioned, stay off your brakes and enjoy the view. Think too of the folks that built it - two bulldozers, pack trains of dynamite and little (if any) government funding.
    Each time I drive to Bella Coola I like to leave Williams Lake pretending it's my first time on HWY 20. Fuel up, eat then head west into the setting sun. Civilization quickly recedes in the rear-view mirror and you feel like you're getting more and more remote. There are pockets of people living across the Chilcotin and several services strung along the way, but you definitely get a sense of alone time.
    The journey across the Chilcotin itself is both the best and worst journey possible. It's very interesting and entertaining if you have time to stop and check things out - things like Farwell Canyon, Bull Canyon (and the caves up the hill), good burgers at Lee’s Corner, Chilko Lake, Anahim Peak, Charlotte Lake, ‘The Chilcotin War’, Nuk Tessli, the Rainbow Range in Tweedsmuir park, the Ulkatchco range north of Anahim, to name a few. And if you’re lucky and you time it right, you can experience the thrill of the healthy mosquito population at Green River.
    If you’re in a rush and need to catch a ferry, it can be a very monotonous journey made entirely frustrating by the refraction of the blinding sun off the bug guts on your windshield.
    As for ‘The Hill’, it’s nothing like it was. Do not hesitate to visit Bella Coola because of this piece of the road. In fact, enjoy it – it’s really pretty nice. Up at the top take a few deep breaths of the unbeatable cool, pine-scented air and take your time heading down. Use your engine to keep you moving slow and rely on your brakes only when required. We do it this way all the time…
    At the bottom, take another deep breath – the heat radiating from the summer sunned rocks convey the scent of the surrounding fir forest. Those of you with a proclivity for nervousness should look forward to this – there is no better remedy in all the world.
    Karl (… still calling Bella Coola ‘home’.)

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  7. The Hill certainly didn't live up to the hype. It's an easy road to drive as far as I'm concerned. Driving the road to Jay Lake feel a lot more like an accomplishment than the Hill

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  8. I love that hill! After the long drive over the Chilcotin (as Karl says, "the best and the worst..."); exhausting and exhilarating at the same time, I come dusty and parched to the top of the hill, and stop at the first sight of the luscious green valley opening up ahead. Up here, the only sound is the wind murmuring in the trees, or maybe a busy family of bees mumbling in the goldenrod. Then I drive down, slowly, watching the valley unfold gradually below me, the mountains rise almost magically from the earth, embracing me, welcoming me. I begin to hear the river chattering, far below.

    I always stop at the open space half-way down to rest my brakes and look for eagles circling far above. Then on down, down, into the cool shade and the final few miles home. (I've been living elsewhere for too many years, but the valley is still, and always, home to me.)

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  9. We are driving from Vancouver to Bella Coola next week to farmsit for 6 weeks. We have been warned of "The Hill" but after reading these posts I am getting quite excited about the journey! Your blog has also been adding to the excitement of our upcoming adventure. Thanks Grizzly!
    Carla

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  10. Made a trip down to Bella Coola in 2006. Totally unprepared for the hill! Keep in mind that I live in the Alberta Peace Country area, and our "hill" is Dunvegan, a paltry 8% grade, wide and paved! I was driving a Chevy small V8 1/2 ton with auto, and pulling a 21.5 ft 5th wheel weighing around 6700 lbs. In retrospect "pulling" should be changed to "being pushed" by the trailer! Now to the good stuff; the trip to, and the valley were absolutely beautiful!! Unfortunately it was necessary to leave the next morning after staying at the Gnome campground. Since that trip I have developed spinal problems that restrict my ability to travel very far, so while I would love to go back and stay awhile, it's highly unlikely that I will ever be able to. It's not all that tragic though, I follow this blog regularly, and do my "traveling" via the internet.

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  11. Thanks for the stories everyone. We are getting excited about our trip out to Bella Coola from Alberta in July. This is helping me get over my fear of "The Hill" in order to get to the great valley below.

    To Annette, how did you find Gnome's Home Campground? We are planning to stay 5 nights in the valley and are booked in there.

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