Day 8

Day 8 would take us from just south of Eve cone all the way to Buckley Lake (21.6 km, +218 m, -1061 m). It would also be the day that we made up the lost day from earlier in the hike. The original plan was to keep this day low-key by climbing Eve cone in the morning and then hiking out as far as Oasis camp or Willie Williams camp. But a sudden turn in the weather forced our hand.

Strong winds on the open plateau putting a strain on the tent.

My first indication that the weather was shifting came around 4:00 am when two of my tent pegs let go. With 70 km/hr winds and driving rain pelting in from the west, I had no choice but to don my headlamp and scramble out to deal with the problem. It was a quick fix and I was soon back in my cozy sleeping bag for a few more hours of sleep.

By the time we awoke, the rain had let up but the wind was still howling. A check of the forecast on the inReach confirmed what we had in store for the day and indicated worsening conditions for the two following days. We messaged the pilot to see if we could get an evening pick-up if we could make it to Buckley - he indicated that he was scrambling to get other clients (mostly hunting parties in Spatsizi) out or moved before the weather got worse, and couldn't guarantee anything. The pilot also confirmed that the weather was tanking and if we didn't get out that night we would likely be stranded at Buckley for a few days. We made the decision to push to Buckley where we would at least have some shelter from the driving wind.

Hiking north across Big Raven Plateau towards Eve cone.

Just south of Eve cone with Mount Edziza and some angry, scudding clouds in the background.

When we decided to make the push to Buckley Lake, and with the unrelenting winds driving across the plateau, I assumed that our climb up Eve cone was no longer under consideration. But Jeremy, being one to never back down, and pointing out that we would likely never see this opportunity again, convinced us that it would be well worth the extra hour to make the side trip to the top. 

 

The ascent up the north face of Eve cone.

It was an easy scramble up the north side of the cone but once we got to the rim of the crater, the wind was threatening to blow us over the edge. Jeremy took some time to climb down to the crater floor while Christoph, Alejandra and myself took a few photos. The views into the crater and the 360 degree panorama were worth the climb.

Looking down into the crater of Eve cone.

The green and yellow hues along the crater wall are spectacular 

but in the muted light they did not show up well in the photo.

The view to the north from Eve cone - across the lava flows and towards Buckley lake.

Sidas cone and more lava flows from the top of Eve cone.

The trail to Buckley Lake follows the edge of the lava flow around the back side of Sidas cone.

Looking south from Eve cone towards Mount Edziza.

With the climb out of the way it was time to make some tracks to our extraction point. Luckily Eve cone marks the start of a decent trail making travel relatively quick.

At some point during our trek the fall colors had started to pop, making the hike through the shrubby sections rather spectacular.

One of many moose antlers found along the trail.

Our last view of Sidas cone as we start to make our descent off the plateau. 

Note the change in color of the shrubbery from the greens we saw on day 1 at Little Ball Lake.

 An old moose skull and antlers being slowly broken down by some very patient lichens.

Once we dropped off the plateau, the trail transitioned to a 12 km slog along a trail through spruce and mixed-wood forest. It was a decent trail with a few rough patches. The way forward was generally obvious but there was the occasional fork in the trail where we were not sure that we were going the right way - in the end we chose correctly and did not have to do any back-tracking.

The boardwalk section just before Buckley creek.

The log bridge at Buckley Creek - 1 km to go before reaching the lake.

We reached the camp at Buckley Lake around 6:30 to find the lake blown into a murky froth with choppy white-caps splashing over the makeshift dock where the float plane usually pulls in. By this time we were all spent and the prospect of spending a few days in a wet, windy camp did not appeal to us. Knowing that the plane flies by VFR and what the local sunset time was, I calculated that if the plane was not there by 8:30, we would be spending the night (and quite possibly longer) at the lake. We ate a quick dinner but tried not to unpack too much knowing that if the plane did show up, it would be a scramble to get our gear loaded up as quick as possible. But even then, I had some doubts about the plane landing with the wind and waves to contend with. 

It was about 8:15 when Christoph figured that we would be spending the night there, and started to set up his tent. He no sooner had it unrolled when we heard the distinct drone of the float plane coming in - and the scramble ensued to get things packed up.

It was a bit of a white-knuckle takeoff, and it seemed to take forever to get up to takeoff speed on the choppy water, but the pilot knew exactly what he was doing. It turned out we were his last pickup of the day. 

Even though we were glad to get picked up, there was still a feeling that the trip was over too soon. We had trekked over 100 km together, overcome obstacles together, and learned a bit about ourselves and each other in the process. Tomorrow morning we would all go our separate ways. The fellowship of Edziza was at an an end.