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Ootsa Lake to Bella Coola, the Long Trail
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by Diana Roberts
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If you are looking for a trail to hike in the Lakes District, if you have about 11 days on your hands and love the show Survivor, then I know a trail for you!
This is one of the oldest trails in our area. The original European settlers at Ootsa Lake walked this 250-mile trail from Bella Coola, with their children and their supplies on packhorses. It took them up to 27 days to make the journey. The trail was used from 1904 to about 1910, when a new trail was built from Houston.
Two summers ago, some very brave people set out to pay honour to the pioneers and hike the Ootsa Lake to Bella Coola Trail.
The participants on the hike ranged in age from 19 to 72. They were Marion Blackwell (72), Hans Wagner (61), Mary Jane Ritchey (57), Edith Mackay (56), Mac Blackwell (41), Melinda Nealis (28) and Mathew Crockett (19).
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At Zielke's cabin - from left to right, Edith, Hans, Melinda, Mary Jane, Mac, Marion, Matt, all ready for the long trail
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Here's a rough map of the trail
The group started out on Monday July 10th, 2000. They met at the Ootsa Lake junction, at 8:30 am, then travelled by pickup trucks to East Ootsa barge. From here they took logging roads till they reached Euchu Lake. Family members of the group transported the hikers and their gear across the lake to the Entiako camp, which belonged to Dave Zielke. Here they had lunch, said their good-byes to family, then started out on their hike at 1:30 PM.
The first day, the group walked 7 miles, to the first creek after 5-Mile Lake. For the first couple of miles the trail was clear and easy going, but after that there was a lot of windfalls to crawl over, so the miles went by slowly.
Mary Jane had her own little adventure, which gave quite a chuckle to the rest of the group. It seems she had ripped her pants and needed to repair them, when they camped that first night. She was given a tube of glue to use, but it wouldn't open, so she cut a hole in the bottom. With her pants off, Mary Jane started taping and gluing, but when she got glue all over her hands, she couldn't put on another pair of pants to go wash. At this point she had to run down to the creek, in her underwear, to clean up. The glue wouldn't come off, however, so as she crawled into her tent she got pine needles and dirt stuck in the glue. Then she proceeded to wipe her hands on Melinda's wool socks, which just added wool to the mix. Remembering this gave everyone the giggles for the next few days.
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Wading the Entiako River
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The second day started out with lots of windfalls, swampy areas and recent bear signs. This day it was Mac's turn to give the group a laugh. While sitting on a log to rest, the log snapped, Mac fell over backwards and caught his pants on a knot. By this time he was laughing so hard he couldn't get up!
The group hiked to Cold Camp Lake, stopped for lunch, then carried on. They lost the trail for a while, but there was a cabin at the end of the lake, where the trail continued on.
Once back on the trail, they came to a creek crossing, which had two signs on it. One to Anaheim and one to Forest Meadow Ranch. They headed to Anaheim, which had a nice wide wagon trail and fewer windfalls. At 5:00 PM they were pleasantly surprised to be at Entiako River already. While trying to find a way to cross the river they found an old hippie settlement. It was a lovely place, with a furnished cabin and even a fence.
They decided to cross the river, so Matt and Mac crossed over 12 times, helping each person across and carrying their packs. This is when Matt lost his wallet and disposable camera. Once across the river it took them an hour to find the trail. After walking 5-1/2 miles that day, they decided it was time to stop at a campsite by the river. They tried fishing in the Entiako River, but without much luck.
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