Chain Meadows
The Wells Gray Corridor Road ends at Clearwater Lake where there is a campground and a boat launch. Right at the campground is a longer (km) trail over the forested hills above Clearwater Lake. The Chain meadows loop Trail is about 16.5 km.
The trail winds to the top of Bluff overlooking the falls, then goes north on a wet forested plateau to bluffs overlooking the lake, then winds down to the lakeshore to complete the loop. We had hiked this loop before so we knew what to expect, but it was quite smoky and even worse, very “buggy”, even in mid-August.
From the top of the first bluff we could see Osprey Falls 500m below as the crow flies.
The next 5 km of the trail winds through damp cedar-hemlock forest past a number of marshy spots. this boardwalk got us through a patch of devil’s club.
When the trail wound across the gentle slopes, we had no views but the smoky sun cast a little more light on aspens. birch, and Douglas fir trees.
At the north end of the trail, skunk cabbage filled the drainage gullies. A short side trail led over to Cranberry Lake, a marshy area, one of several open marshes in the “Chain Meadows.”
From the damp forest, the trail climbed over the Easter Bluffs (with no views because of the smoke) and then came down the west side using a number of wooden steps.
The Easter Bluffs are cliffs formed by basalt columns, evidence of a volcanic eruption that created the Murtle Plateau. The extinct volcano (14 km to the east) that erupted withe the lava flowing west (the Dragon’s Tongue) blocked the river valley and created Clearwater Lake. We can hike to various points in the area to evidence of the lava flow (Sticta Falls, Dragon’s Tongue, Osprey Falls, Easter Bluffs, and Kostal Volcano).
Easter Bluffs got its name because of the shapes of some of the cliffs, this one reminiscent of the carved rock on Easter Island.
The trail down from Easter Bluffs winds down through the forest to the lakeshore in 2 km of pleasant hiking.
The trail then follows the lakeshore back to the campground, but the views across the lake were still limited by the smoke.
The single track trail through the forest just above the lake is 4.5 km and takes about 1.5 hours.
The campground is divided into two sections, divided by Falls Creek. The creek enters Clearwater River in a low falls right next to the trail (although we had to scramble down the rock to get this view).
This was a long hike made more difficult with smoky conditions and lots of mosquitoes. It would be a much more pleasant choice on a sunny day in late spring or in the fall. We enjoyed the forest, the bluffs, and the falls along the way still but we could also get to the top of Easter Bluffs from the boat launch in 5 km. That is what we will do next time (on a sunny day).
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