The
writer after ski-ing down Three Brothers Mountain in Manning Park
MANNING
PARK:
ALL SEASON OUTDOOR PARADISE
by
Bruce Burnett
We
were awakened by the urgent grey flickering and twittering of the whiskey
jacks, demanding some granola for their breakfast. I stirred reluctantly
from my down cocoon, guessing the dawn temperature to be hovering around
minus 30 degrees Celsius, and fired up the stove for some tea.
My son and I were camped halfway up the Windy Joe Trail in Manning Provincial
Park, British Columbia, 225 kilometers (140 miles) east of Vancouver.
Spring, summer, fall and winter, Manning Park has always been our favorite
recreation area. With nearly 73,000 hectares (180,000 acres) of forest-clad
mountains, deep valleys, sub alpine meadows and sun-dappled lakes, Manning
Park offers visitors a vast selection of all season activities.
For downhill skiers, the Gibson Pass Ski area has two chairlifts, a T-bar
and a rope tow servicing a variety of slopes and runs. However, for cross
country skiers and snow-shoers, Manning is a true paradise. The extensive
network of self-guiding nature trails, from the 500 meter (one-third of
a mile) Beaver Pond Trail to the 66 kilometer (41 miles) Cathedral Provincial
Park Trail, that host hikers, backpackers and horse riders in the summer,
becomes the domain of cross-country skiers when winter's confetti weds
these hills to niveous tranquility.
By the time my son and I had eaten breakfast and packed the sun was well
up and so was the temperature. We stowed our packs in a snowdrift at the
side of the trail in order to complete the 13-kilometer (eight miles)
climb to the top of Windy Joe Mountain unencumbered.
No superlatives can adequately describe either the view or our feeling
of exhilaration once at the top. By now the sun was high in a flawless
azure sky. The temperature had soared to close to the freezing point.
We again shared a snack of nuts and raisins with the ubiquitous whiskey
jack, Canada's malapert grey jay.
Glissading back down, we stopped for lunch at our campsite, priding ourselves
on the fact that, other than some compressed snow, we had left no evidence
of our presence. We hoisted our packs, descending more slowly under their
weight. The afternoon sun was now warm and cast a satin sheen on the sugar
snow. Every turn in the trail was a Christmas card scene. It was beautiful.
It was as quiet as a dream. We hadn't encountered another human being
all weekend.
During the previous winter on another ski-camping trip to the Three Brothers
Mountain, also in Manning Park, we got caught in a howling blizzard. It
was too cold and too windy to pitch the tent. We hastily dug a snow cave.
We dined on frozen cheese and frozen raisins. Our stove had decided it
was too cold to work. We then read by candlelight in our sleeping bags,
cozy as toast, until the sleep of exhaustion took us, while the lethal
storm raged outside. The morning dawned clear and benign. The only residue
of the past night's fury was the alabaster beauty of a snow-pillowed landscape.
Now we admired the sublimity of Robert Service's "Great White Silence,
not a snow-gemmed twig aquiver."
Three Brothers Mountain
Manning Park, British Columbia
It
had taken us two days to get to the top of Three Brothers. We glided down
in less than five hours. Again, at an altitude of 2250 meters (6900ft),
the view was magnificent with a panoramic view of seemingly endless peaks
Throughout
most of Manning Park cross-country skiers are spared the scourge of snowmobiles.
Their noise and stink are confined to the Castle Creek snowmobiling area.
It
had taken us two days to get to the top of Three Brothers. We glided down
in less than five hours. Again, at an altitude of 2250 meters (6900ft),
the view was magnificent with a panoramic view of seemingly endless peaks.
Throughout most of Manning Park cross-country skiers are spared the scourge
of snowmobiles. Their noise and stink are confined to the Castle Creek
snowmobiling area.
In summer, the Skagit and Similkameen rivers and the chain of Lightening
Lakes in Manning Park offer some of the best canoeing and fishing in southern
British Columbia. Powerboats are prohibited in the park. Walkers, hikers
and backpackers can integrate other activities such as photography, birdwatching
(over 190 species at the last count!), gold panning and an interest in
the park's geology, flora and fauna.
The park's chipmunks and ground squirrels are as cheekily tame as the
whiskey jacks. The larger hoary marmots (the "whistlers" --
so called after their alerting whistle-like call and after which BC's
Whistler Mountain is named) inhabit the high country and are shyer. One
of the park's most endearing mammals is the pica or rock rabbit. They
resemble small guinea pigs with round black ears and practice a sort of
rodent agriculture. In the summer they cut grass and shrubbery, cure it
in the sun, then store the "hay" in small caves in the rocks.
Also found in the park is the snowshoe hare. As its name implies it has
a pure white coat in winter that turns to a mottled brown in spring.
Larger mammals to be found at Manning include mule and blackmail deer,
moose, coyote, cougar and wild goat. Most significant for hikers and wilderness
campers is the presence of both black and grizzly bears. Every usual precaution
must be taken when on the trail, especially with the preparation and storage
of food.
Many British Columbians make an annual pilgrimage to Manning Provincial
Park when the alpine meadows are in bloom. There are two distinctive blooms,
one in spring as the snow is melting and the more spectacular of the two
in late July to mid-August. Hikers are requested to keep to the trails
to protect the delicate skin of topsoil and vegetation. Against a backdrop
of native grasses will be seen the blue lupine, the yellow arnica and
the Red Indian paintbrush. Peppered throughout these will be the towhead
babies, the fluffy seed heads of the western anemone.
In summer visitors can drive right up to the alpine meadows on the 15-kilometer
(nine miles) long switchback road from Manning Park Resort on Highway
3, which traverses the park, to the Blackwall Peak parking area. Halfway
up there is a magnificent viewpoint facing south. The resort, 1.6 kilometers
(one mile) below, looks like a toy alpine village. The road ends at 2,060
meters (6,300ft.) and hikers will often encounter pockets of snow here
in shady areas in the middle of a hot July. Adjacent to the Blackwall
Peak parking area is the Alpine Naturalist Hut in which visitors will
find information about the park's flora and fauna and the times for conducted
nature walks.
The Manning Provincial Park Visitors Center, situated just over one kilometer
(0.6 miles) east of the Manning Provincial Park Resort on Highway 3 is
open June to September, and has displays depicting the natural and human
history of the region. During the summer months, interpreters offer a
variety of special programs ranging from nature walks to evening slide
shows.
Manning Provincial Park straddles Highway 3 between the towns of Hope
and Princeton. The park's western entrance is 26 kilometers (16 miles)
east of Hope, its eastern entrance 48 kilometers (30 miles) southwest
of Princeton. Allison Pass, at an elevation of 4,403 feet (1,342 meters),
is the high point of Highway 3 as it traverses the park.
MANNING
PARK: ALL SEASON OUTDOOR PARADISE
was first published in Northwest Parks and Wildlife magazine
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