Bella Coola

B

Blindbaybob

New member
Hello! We've been following C-Brats for over a year, getting lots of good advice and enjoying all the great chatter. We bought our 22 Cruiser from a local shop here in March 07, and had a great season getting to know her, on Shuswap Lake, Adams Lake, and out to the coast at Kitimat and Port Edwards.

We are contemplating driving to Bella Coola, BC, to do some exploring and fishing with Grey C'Lune, probably in July, and wonder if anyone has experience in that area? Any tips would be most welcome!

Thanks.
 
Welcome to the C-Brat society. Wonderful people here, with lots of good info and a ton of opinions. I didn't look up Blind Bay, but I know Shuswap and Kitimat and the North Okanogan. Wonderful country. Haven't been to Bella Coola, but have heard it is quite a drive Down into there. Worth a really good brake check at the top of the hill there. Good luck and keep us posted here.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
Robert,

I have been to Bella Coola by boat. The two main channels that lead west of Bella Coola are the Burk and the Dean. The combination of incoming westerly winds and outgoing ebb tides, can cause close steep waves that almost stop westward progress. To quote the locals, "The Dean(or Burk) can kick your a**!" Other than that, the area is nice, but has a lot of bugs, (black flies, aka white socks flies, deer flies, no sees, and mosquitos).

If you get away from the Dean and Burk channels over toward Bella Bella, or Shearwater, closer to the ocean, the bug problem diminishes and the enjoyment goes up. There are lots of places to explore, and Shearwater is a good restock/refuel location. A C-Dory can cover the area from Klemtu to the north down to Hakai Pass and Namu to the south and return to Bella Coola for haulout. Also Ocean Falls is in the area and even though their mascot is a raincoat wearing duck, it is worth a visit. Salmon fishing and crabbing is good in that area also.
 
Lori & Robert,
If you haven't been to Bella Coola, or for that matter the whole Chilcotin area before, in my opinion, you are in for a real treat. From Williams Lake to Bella Coola takes you through some great and remote country. It ranges from grasslands, to near desert and forested areas. Tons of lakes to explore with a CD if you have time. Unfortunately the forests have taken an extreme hit with the Mountain Pine beetle in the last few years. Hundreds of square miles of trees are now dead. I think the distance from Williams lake to Bella Coola is about 600K. Don't quote me on that its been a few years since I last drove it. Most of the road is paved but there are/were still sections of gravel. Be sure the boat is well protected. The hill down from off the Chilcotin Plateau to Bella Coola is an experience not to be missed. It is a major drop of about 5000 ft in about 8-10 k. Lots of switch backs, grades to 8% or so and shear drops from the edge of the road. No shoulders in lots of sections.
Be sure your brakes work very very well. You may need to stop and let the brakes cool on some of the steepest areas. People with four wheel drives often shift into low range and let the truck engine do most of the braking. Don't be too intimidated by the hill though, semi trailer trucks with 40ft trailers do the hill all the time. Its just an experience you need to add to your lifes memories. :lol:
Bella Coola is an interesting little town in itself and worth an afternoons visit. The marina is through town towards the channel a few K. I can't speak to the launch or the facilities at the marina as I was boatless the times I drove to Bella Coola. Once on the salt the door is open to a huge area for cruising and fishing as Larry said. Ocean falls is a great place to visit. I liked it a lot. Hopefully you will have enough time to explore and enjoy.
Cheers
Ron
 
Thanks for the welcome and replies! Good to hear what the water can be like, Larry.

We drove to Bella Coola a couple of years ago, fishing along the way with an inflatable, and pulled our Bigfoot travel trailer down "The Hill". Yes, it is quite an experience! Had no problems, taking it slow. We enjoyed watching the grizzlies with cubs fishing along the Atnarko River. We did not get out on the salt water that trip.

Our original idea was to launch from Bella Coola, and cruise down to the Broughtons and back, but we are thinking that may be a bit ambitious for now. Any ideas on the feasibility of such a trip? We are leaning towards exploring around Burke and Dean Channels this time.

We'll study the charts and watch the weather if we do travel anywhere along the coast. Would welcome any Brats who would like to join us!

Lori and Robert
 
I hope you'll tell us all about your trip. I have a driver who comes across the scales at work...found out we love to fish, and told us about that area. He guided there for a couple years and said we probably shouldn't go, because we wouldn't want to come back home. Sounds like you can catch fish until your arms give out. Good luck and welcome to the pub!

Caty
 
Robert,

To get to the Broughtons from Bella Coola, you have to cross the Queen Charlotte Sound, which is open ocean. Queen Charlotte Sound can be a bad piece of water with the large ebbs coming out of Rivers Inlet and Smith Sound. Those ebbs combined with the incoming Pacific swell and wind can make for some extremely rough water, with large waves. Then you have to recross it to get back to your trailer.

The Queen Charlotte Sound is usually considered one of the major crossings on the inland passage from Washington to Alaska. The other one is the Dixon Entrance, north of prince Rupert. Both of these open water crossings deserve respect!

If your Blind Bay is the one between Pender Harbor and Powell River, it would make more sense to cruise the Broughtons by either boating north thru the Johnstone Str or trailering across on the ferry to Campbell River and driving north to Port McNeil to launch.

From Bella Coola, I would cruise the waters as far north as Klemtu, and south to Hakai Pass and the inland channels in between. That is a lot of water, several towns, and you could even go out to the Goose Group of islands, on the edge of the Pacific ocean. You can also go south past Namu to Rivers Inlet and explore and fish Rivers Inlet without crossing the Queen Charlotte.
 
From Bella Coola, I would cruise the waters as far north as Klemtu, and south to Hakai Pass and the inland channels in between. That is a lot of water, several towns, and you could even go out to the Goose Group of islands, on the edge of the Pacific ocean. You can also go south past Namu to Rivers Inlet and explore and fish Rivers Inlet without crossing the Queen Charlotte.
Click to expand...

I totally agree with Larry. If you are trailering to Bella Coola spend your time (and gas money) on the Mid Coast area. Its a huge place to explore with many, many inlets and islands that are only a short distance off the "inside passage interstate". Once you get away from the main north south route the number of boats you see drops exponentially with the distance off the main route. If you want to explore the Broughtons, and they are totally worth it, come up from the bottom. Either launch from Vancouver or take the ferries north to Egmont, Lund or Vancouver Island.

If you absolutely can't stand the thought of driving through Vancouver after your laid back Salmon Arm pace and do really want to come from the North allow yourself more "weather wait time" for the Queen Charlotte sound.
:lol:
Ron
 
Good advice, thanks so much everyone! Sounds like two separate trips would be the way to go. Yes, our Blind Bay is on Shuswap Lake, east of Kamloops, between Sorrento and Salmon Arm, not the one on the coast.

Lori and Robert
 
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