Mount Edziza Provincial Park - Slog of the Century
In August 2022 we (3 of us + dog) set out to Mount Edziza Provincial Park. We read ahead of time about the extensive volcanic plateau which is known to harbor approximately more than 30 not-so dormant volcanoes. Etched across this landscape are numerous cindercones and basalt plains which are almost non-existent everywhere else in Canada. The primary challenge of this provincial park is that there are no roads present, anywhere. Additionally, there is little online information about any paths within the park.
Noted on the very edge of a page within the northern british columbia backroads map book, there is one main trail which runs between Buckley Lake (North) and Mowdade Lake (South). Typically, access is only by plane and visitors take 7-14 days for a trip within this vast landscape. We were a little short on time, roughly 5 days and consequently opted to self-design a route which would lead to the south end of the volcanic field. We designed this route using a combination of satellite and GPS elevation mapping in combination with locations of the known trails within the park. For this route we decided it was likely best to drive up the Willow Creek FSR, which is found slightly outside the park boundaries, then bushwack to Mowdade Lake, and hopefully there would be a somewhat maintained trail leading north towards Buckley Lake. Ultimately, the forest service road had a near-broken bridge (which was crossable with a few well placed logs) and two massive washouts several km further. The first washout we narrowly managed to pass (although would not recommend - we almost got stuck) and then the next was so large and consisted of a beaver dam, so we parked and walked from here.
Afterwards, we walked for around 5 km down the overgrown logging road where we then chose to follow our compass and garmin GPS in a near perfect diagonal line northwest towards Mowdade Lake. This bushwack was 5 km and took about 5 h - there were thick alders, swamps, bogs, lots of black flies and blowdown absolutely everywhere. Of all the bushwacking I've done, this was some of the most atrocious terrain to cross if one would be looking to get somewhere quick. We reached the south tip of Mowdade Lake by dark, where we then camped in the woods for the night.
Next morning, we followed the shores of Mowdade Lake for 6 km of bushwacking until the docks and maintained campsite at the north end. This bushwacking was even worse then the previous day with much more blowdown and very wet sections, as well as quite a few hills. It took us around 7 h of walking to make it to the north end, where feeling absolutely wrecked we decided to call it an early day and camp here. A lot of what slowed us down was that we kept stopping to take pictures of the unique flora, fauna and fungi that inhabit this remote northern British Columbian ecosystem.
From this campsite a sign marked the beginning of the Mowdade-Buckley Lake trail as well as shortly thereafter a turnoff to the Kinaskin Lake trail. After getting a well needed nights rest from the previous days strenuous bushwack, we packed up and began the Mowdade-Buckley Lake trail. Despite being an actual trail, this trail was not simple either. There were many extremely muddy and flooded sections - within only a few kms of beginning, there was a knee-deep glacial stream to cross, and this stream was so flooded that there was about another 100 m of knee deep trail to walk through. A few kms later there was another stream which needed to be crossed. The trail was overall fairly bushy and occasionally it was hard to discern what was 'trail' and what was not, only the odd orange flagger tape seemed to remind us we were heading the right way.
As this was our last day of hiking before turning around, we tried as hard as we could to make it to Coffee Crater. We continued along the trail until, with only limited time, we decided to hike up a streambed into high elevation to get a good view of our surroundings before returning. The streambed showed many interesting volcanic rocks and strange yellow rocks I have never seen before, definite signs that we were near a volcanic region. After reaching a high viewpoint we got a great panoramic view of the area where we could see some prominent volcanic-esque features in the mountains surrounding us. This was quite stunning. Despite only being a few kms from reaching Coffee Crater and the beginning of the volcanic plateau, we were running out of time and had to turn around before it got too dark if we wanted to reach our initial camp site. All-in all it was still a great day and we were able to see a truly beautiful and special landscape.
With only a few hours of daylight to spare and a fair bit of downhill remaining, we trail-jogged a large portion of the trail back. When we arrived to our campsite it was almost dark and the first thing we noticed was that three horses blocked the entrance. While we were out for the day, two horsepackers arrived at the campsite, the third horse was an extra for the pack. They were quite friendly and told us not to worry about the horses and shared the firepit with us. According to them, they were locals helping clear trail for the sheep-hunting season in the area. One of them mentioned they took the Kinaskan Lakes trail on the way in and it was so muddy that a horse got stuck. They nearly had to shoot it they said, as it was almost impossible to get out. Fortunately, the horse was able to be freed from the mudpit and all was fine - a close call indeed. Throughout the night, the horses wandered the camp and one had a cowbell on that was ringing. We didn't mind it much and it was actually kind of soothing to hear in such a remote place.
The next day we cooked breakfast around the fire and then journeyed back out. We opted for an alternate route back as we now knew that the Kinaskin Lake trail was slightly maintained, and also after discussing not wanting to take the same boggy-alder fields on the way out. This route would instead consist of an 8 km trail hike followed by 5km bushwacking and lastly a 5-10 km section of logging road depending on which point we ended on. This distance seemed about right for the two days we had remaining so we tried it out. On the 8km trail section there were some very muddy sections, consistent with what the locals described. At one point maneuveuring around a beaver dam I slipped and was nearly impaled by a saw-cut alder in my thigh. This slip flipped me completely upside down where I was caught between two branches and I was left with a hand-sized bruise, and a large gash through three layers of clothing. From this, I received hugely ripped rain paints and the wound took about two weeks to heal while leaving a scar.
A few kilometers after this slip we suddenly found ourselves face to face with the body of a horse and an abandoned pack. The locals who previously mentioned their close call, departed before us on this day. Unbeknownst to us, what they warned of on their way in ended up occuring on the way out. It appeared the horse either broke it's leg in a mudpit or became so stuck that it could not be freed. Because of this conundrum they had no option but to put down the horse. There was still about 15 km of absolutely heinous muddy trail to the nearest highway and no service within hundreds of kilometers, so their decision was understandable. Sadly sometimes this is what can occur in wilderness settings.
When we finished the 8 km trail section we then were ready to take off at a somewhat high elevation into the woods towards the logging road. This was about a 5km bushwack remaining and we hoped that it would be a lot better than our way in... we were wrong. Shortly after entering the woods, we were faced with even more blowdown than ever before. The reason for this being that there was a recent forest fire and it burned just enough that every tree in the forest fell down, but not enough that they burned all the way through. Unfortunately for us, this meant a complicated puzzle of never ending logs to maneuver around. With only half the day remaining we made it about 2 km through this log-field where we then set up a bushcamp for the night.
The following day it was raining and we still had a good chunk of forest to make it through before a long forest service road walk back to our vehicles. After a few hours the forest fire induced blowdown city transitioned into an impenetrably thick alder and peat bog. In here we carefully hopped between nearly submerged sphagnum mounds while avoiding alders to the face. Next up there were two small creek crossings down steep hills. These steep hills were littered with even more atrocious blowdown and we walked side to side around thick section in hopes of getting around some of it, to no avail. Eventually we had to just will our way through the dense blowdown and managed to cross the streams. After a few more hours and kilometers of this we suddenly appeared back at the logging road, luckily it showed up a bit sooner than expected due to a deviance from its original heading. Subsequently, we walked down the logging road for a few long hours and finally reached our vehicles with only about an hour of daylight to spare.
All in all, this trip was a complete slog. It was the most time I've spent bushwacking in one trip and some of the thickest terrain to maneuver. Despite this, Mowdade Lake and the beginning of the volcanic plains was truly a treasure to behold. I've now marked out our trek on maps and we were just slightly shy of Coffee Crater (I believe we could see it in the distance). If we had an extra few days we would have successfully by foot completed a trip which is usually only done by plane. Now that I've been here, I only want to go back and see the full beauty of what the rest of Mount Edziza Provincial Park is hiding. Perhaps in the next year or two I'll plan another excursion here, however I will not take and do not recommend this path - I'll probably access by the north from Telegraph Creek or maybe save up enough for the plane access. I'm quite interested in reaching the foothills of Mount Edziza or summitting a crater or two - but for now, until next time!