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73-716: The Columbia Mountains are made up of four large ranges containing many subranges: Additionally lower areas to the west of the main ranges are sometimes included in the description of the Cariboo Mountains: Some classification systems end the Columbia Mountains at the North Thompson River , such that the Cariboo Mountains are assigned to the Interior Plateau . Where the Columbia Mountains meet

146-898: A comprehensive development of the Murtle River was proposed by the British Columbia Power Commission. These proposals paled in comparison to the final report of the Fraser River Board, issued in 1963. Although dams were proposed elsewhere such as on the Cariboo and McGregor Rivers and at the Grand Canyon of the Fraser , the Clearwater River attracted most of the attention with seven dams and five reservoirs recommended. The dams would be located 4 km (2.5 mi) upstream from

219-530: A land surveyor working for the British Columbia government. He was so impressed with the waterfall that he wrote a letter from his remote camp to Sir Richard McBride , Premier of British Columbia, requesting that the falls be named "McBride Falls". Three weeks later, Lee received a reply from the Premier stating that the waterfall was instead to be called Helmcken Falls. This name honoured John Sebastian Helmcken ,

292-459: A lightning strike west of the Clearwater River, smouldered for several weeks, then was fanned by winds and moved rapidly north through the homesteads. The Ludtke family immersed themselves in Battle Creek for 8 hours, dampening some blankets to cover their heads, and their livestock and even wild animals joined them for protection. The Rupell cabin was the only one that did not burn. The fire crossed

365-466: A mini-replica of the much larger rapid on the Fraser downstream from the mouth of the Thompson. About 17.4 kilometres (10.8 mi) upstream from the small town of Avola , the river is forced through a narrow chute only about 30 feet (9.1 m) wide creating a rapid that resembles the Fraser's famous rapid. At Kamloops, the combined Thompson River flows 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the confluence of

438-522: A new Minister of Lands, Arthur Wellesley Gray , was interested in parks and recognized the growing need to preserve special places in British Columbia. In 1938, Gray and his Chief Forester, Ernest Manning, created Tweedsmuir Provincial Park in the Coast Mountains near Bella Coola , and Hamber Provincial Park in the Rocky Mountains. In 1939, a forest ranger near Clearwater, Bill Noble, recommended

511-531: A northwest to southeast direction. On the northeast side, an unbreached wall of rock and ice rises between 400 m and 1,300 m from the Goodall Glacier. The first ascent was achieved on August 21, 2006, by Roger Wallis, Don Chiasson, and Jim Lundy. They established its height, only 16 m lower than Mount Lyons. As of 2022, only four of Goodall's 11 summits have been conquered. Mount Goodall is one of six peaks in this area named in 1966 in honor of Canadian soldiers from

584-433: A park and on November 28, 1939, an Order-in-Council was approved, creating a huge park around most of the drainage basin of the Clearwater River. The park was named for Gray (Wells was his nickname). In 1941, he and Manning were working on establishing a new park in British Columbia's Cascade Mountains when Manning was killed in a plane crash; that park ended up being named E.C. Manning Provincial Park . In 1940, just after

657-443: A park was suggested to preserve the waterfall. Eventually 1925 the B.C. Auto Club started a campaign to establish a park around the falls. The Minister of Lands, Duff Pattullo , was not interested and rebuffed the club, stating that there were no benefits to protecting waterfalls which "wouldn't go away". In the mid-1930s, there were more recommendations for a park at Helmcken Falls. Finally the government began to listen, mostly because

730-562: A physician with the Hudson's Bay Company who arrived in Victoria in 1850. He helped bring British Columbia into Canadian Confederation in 1871. Dr. Helmcken died in 1920 at the age of 95, but never actually saw the falls himself. The first homesteaders in what is now Wells Gray Park were John Ray in 1911 at The Horseshoe, who was given land by the Canim Lake Band, and Michael Majerus in 1912 on

803-657: Is Helmcken Falls , the fourth highest waterfall in Canada, which plunges 141 m (463 ft) over the edge of one of these volcanic plateaus. The eight highest mountains in Wells Gray Park are: 1) Mount Lyons, 2946 m. The first recorded ascent was made by Bill McKenzie and Roger Wallis on August 18, 2005. It is named after Chess Lyons , Wells Gray Park surveyor in 1940, naturalist, author, photographer, and explorer. 2) Mount Goodall , 2930 m. The mountain consists of 11 distinct summits and extends for nearly 8 km in

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876-515: Is fed by snowpack and glacier meltwater. This stream emerges 2 km east and flows into Ovis Creek. The disastrous Fraser River flood of 1948 nearly changed the Clearwater River and Wells Gray Park. In November 1947, prior to the flood, the Federal Minister of Public Works had proposed the creation of a joint federal-provincial committee to study the Fraser River's water resources. The flood in

949-680: Is fed by the Little River , which drains Shuswap Lake , which is fed by several rivers and creeks. The North Thompson originates at the toe of the Thompson Glacier in the Cariboo Mountains west of the community of Valemount and flows generally south towards Kamloops and the confluence with the South Thompson. For most of its length, the river is paralleled by Highway 5 , and the Canadian National Railway (both of which cross

1022-475: Is home to various birds as well as the mammalian species of grizzly bear , white-tailed deer , beaver , moose , mule deer , black bear and timber wolf . Winters in the Clearwater Valley are severe, with an average of 1 m (3.3 ft) of accumulated snow at lower elevations and much more higher up. Snow may linger along the low elevation roads until mid-April and never completely disappears from

1095-572: Is now the Columbia River drainage. This flow direction was influenced by large ice buildups in the Thompson valley, which created extensive glacial lakes . Two large glacial lakes, Glacial Lake Thompson and Glacial Lake Deadman, occupied much of the modern river's course from 13,000 BCE to 10,000 BCE. These deep, narrow, ribbon-shaped lakes held large volumes of water; Glacial Lake Thompson held nearly 84 cubic kilometres (20 cu mi) at its highest point. The lake stretched from Spences Bridge in

1168-468: Is open year-round, but in winter the Clearwater Valley Road is plowed only as far as Helmcken Falls. Following are the park's major attractions: Wells Gray Park bears the nickname "Canada's Waterfalls Park" because 42 named waterfalls are found within its boundaries. There are actually many more if the numerous creeks that cascade down the mountainsides are included, but the following table lists

1241-609: The Adams River , the Thompson has one of the largest sockeye salmon runs in the world. Pink salmon spawn mostly below Kamloops Lake, while coho spawning beds are found in 40 of the Thompson watershed's streams and rivers. Coastal rainbow trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus ), including an anadromous variety called steelhead, are found in the river along with a local strain the Kamloops rainbow trout which occurs in Kamloops Lake at

1314-802: The Cabinet Mountains and Salish Mountains , which lie south of the Purcells between the Kootenai River and the Clark Fork of the Columbia , but in US classification systems they are generally considered to be part of the Rocky Mountains. Physiographically, they are a distinct province of the larger Rocky Mountain System physiographic division. The following mountains are the 10 highest mountains (in order) contained within

1387-641: The Cariboo region , eventually entering what is the modern-day Peace River drainage basin and ending up in the Arctic Ocean . This flow direction is estimated to have ended approximately 2 million years ago, as the Pleistocene era of heavy glaciation began. During the era of massive glaciers in the Thompson River valley, water from the area likely drained eastward, through the Shuswap Lake area into what

1460-635: The Interior Plateau there are intermediary areas known as highlands - the Quesnel Highland (west flank of the Cariboos ), the Shuswap Highland (south of the Cariboos and west of the northern Monashees ), and the Okanagan Highland (west of the southern Monashees ). These are listed here but are often considered to be part of the Interior Plateau . Some geographic classifications also include

1533-510: The North Thompson River . The river is home to several varieties of Pacific salmon and trout. The area's geological history was heavily influenced by glaciation, and the several large glacial lakes have filled the river valley over the last 12,000 years. Archaeological evidence shows human habitation in the watershed dating back at least 8,300 years. The Thompson was named by Fraser River explorer, Simon Fraser , in honour of his friend, Columbia Basin explorer David Thompson . Recreational use of

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1606-615: The Salish Sea , more than 250 kilometres (160 mi) away. From this point, the Thompson waters stopped flowing eastward into the Columbia River system, and the river became a tributary of the Fraser. Because of large deposits of glacial silt, sand, and gravel in the lower Thompson River valley, large landslides are common. The area downstream from the town of Ashcroft is prone to landslide events; eight major events between 1880 and 1982 have been recorded. Several of them have obstructed

1679-614: The 1970s, based out of Spences Bridge. Notable whitewater features on the lower river include the Frog, named for a frog-shaped rock formation, and the Jaws of Death, named by CPR engineers. Rapids on the river reach up to Class 5 on the International Scale of River Difficulty . Wells Gray Provincial Park Wells Gray Provincial Park is a large wilderness park located in east-central British Columbia , Canada . The park protects most of

1752-608: The British Columbia Fish Protection Act of 1997, the Thompson cannot be considered for future dam construction. Conservation of the Thompson's fisheries, especially its salmon population, has been a focus of provincial, federal, and international bodies, such as the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and the Pacific Salmon Commission . From the 1950s through the early 1990s the Thompson River

1825-523: The British Columbia government was preoccupied in the 1960s with planning and building (and paying for) the W.A.C. Bennett Dam on the Peace River and Mica Dam , Keenleyside Dam and Duncan Dam , all part of the Columbia River Treaty projects. In 1971, BC Hydro , the provincial power utility, revived the Fraser River Board's report and took a new look at the feasibility and costs of building

1898-771: The Canadian Pacific Railway and the Canadian National Railway. From Ashcroft to Lytton, the river is completely confined within Thompson Canyon, making for spectacular scenery. The Thompson River joins the Fraser River in Lytton. There is a striking stretch of dark black cliffside just downstream from Ashcroft and visible from the Logan Lake-Ashcroft highway is officially named the Black Canyon. Just below

1971-470: The Clearwater River and its tributaries was not new to the Fraser River Board. In 1918, Helmcken Falls was studied as a source of power for Kamloops, but the needed transmission lines were prohibitively long. In the late 1940s, the Aluminum Company of Canada examined the power potential of Helmcken Falls, but chose Kitimat instead, thereby flooding northern Tweedsmuir Park instead of Wells Gray. In 1959,

2044-429: The Clearwater Valley are often in the mid-20s Celsius, but may reach 30 degrees, and vary considerably according to altitude. September through mid-October usually features clear warm days, cool nights and colourful fall foliage. There are five roads that provide access to Wells Gray Park. The park is popular from mid-May through mid-October. Campgrounds are open and serviced from late May to mid-September. The park

2117-529: The Clearwater Valley. The original park included the Pendleton Lakes in the west but not Trophy Mountain or the Flourmill Volcanoes. In 1986, the Pendleton Lakes were eliminated from the park while the later two areas were added to the park. In 2018 Sarlacc's Pit cave was discovered in the park. Notable for its size, the entrance pit measures some 100m x 60m, and a 61m waterfall on the pit wall

2190-918: The Clearwater was cancelled. Wells Gray Park is bordered on every side by different types of terrain and these merge within the boundaries to give the Park its splendid diversity. According to Tom Dickinson, Professor Emeritus at Thompson Rivers University, Wells Gray hosts about 1,050 species of trees, shrubs, and flowers; more than 1,000 species of lichens, several important for wildlife, especially mountain caribou; about 200 species of mushrooms; at least 275 species of mosses and liverworts; 15 species of fish; 56 species of mammals; 5 species of amphibians; 3 species of reptiles; over 275 species of birds with at least 75 being listed as rare or very rare; and several thousand species of invertebrates, including dragonflies, moths, butterflies, and of course mosquitoes. A variety of factors enrich

2263-679: The Columbian Mountains: "Columbia Mountains" . Peakbagger.com . The following passes are located within or on the perimeter of the Columbia Mountains: Thompson River The Thompson River is the largest tributary of the Fraser River , flowing through the south-central portion of British Columbia , Canada. The Thompson River has two main branches, the South Thompson River and

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2336-489: The Murtle River and burned part way up Kilpill Mountain. After its initial rampage, it burned slowly in the marshes of the Murtle Plateau until mid-August, when it was finally extinguished by a heavy rain. Over 125,000 acres (510 km ) of the Clearwater Valley were burned and most settlers lost almost everything they owned. However, there was not a single human fatality. Soon after Lee's 1913 discovery of Helmcken Falls,

2409-477: The Murtle River near Dawson Falls. Both cleared land, built cabins and established isolated lifestyles far from other people. Other settlers who arrived between 1918 and 1925 were the Ludtke family, Lewis Rupell, Pete McDougal, Jack Zellers, Dave Anderson, Alex Fage and Herman Ordschig. On July 16, 1926, the entire Clearwater Valley between First Canyon and the Murtle River was destroyed by a forest fire. It started from

2482-480: The North Thompson River were published. These had a scale of 1 inch to 500 feet, and a contour interval of 20 feet. As of 2023, these sheets are still the most detailed and accurate topographic maps available of the lower Clearwater, although they are out-of-date regarding human developments. The Fraser River committee proposed two dams, one just upstream from Clearwater and one at Sabre Tooth Rapids. In 1955,

2555-481: The North Thompson confluence, at the lower end of Granite Canyon, at Sabre Tooth Rapids, near Myanth Falls (upper and lower dams), at the outlet of Hobson Lake and on the low pass between Hobson and Quesnel Lakes. Together, these dams would turn the Clearwater River into a 160 km long (100-mile long) series of reservoirs extending nearly to its glacial source above Hobson Lake. Each dam would back water almost to

2628-464: The North Thompson has been sparse, but artifacts near Bridge Lake to the west of the river have been dated to 3000 BCE, while pieces found near the tributary Clearwater River are possibly as old as 6000 to 7000 BCE. Explorer of the Fraser River and North West Company employee Simon Fraser named the river, after passing its mouth on the Fraser in 1808. He named the river after his colleague, David Thompson , who had mapped much of western Canada and

2701-515: The North and South Thompson Rivers before reaching Kamloops Lake , which is roughly 30 kilometres (19 mi) in length, ending at the town of Savona . From there it flows in a meandering course westwards through a broad valley area. At Ashcroft , the Thompson Canyon begins and the river turns southwestward to its confluence with the Fraser. The river is paralleled by the Trans-Canada Highway,

2774-518: The Park and these include the 1926 forest fire, the proximity of the Fraser Plateau westward, the Cariboo Mountains northeastward, the interior wet belt eastward, and the semi-desert zone to the south. Within the Park, micro-climates, altitude, soil type, and availability of water all have their effects and contribute to the existence of this amazing variety of plant and animal life. This park

2847-479: The Quesnel area who were killed in action during World War II; it is named after Trooper Walter Henry Goodall, age 24. 3) Garnet Peak , 2876 m. This is a prominent landmark from many viewpoints in southern Wells Gray Park. It is located north of Azure Lake. The first ascent was by Hugh Neave, Tor Schmid and Barbara Hargreaves on August 29, 1974. It was long believed to be the park's highest mountain until expeditions to

2920-463: The Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada ( COSEWIC ), for Canada's Species At Risk Act (SARA) protections. The river is subject to catch and release angling only for steelhead and has severely restricted seasons to protect the wild stocks of remaining steelhead. The rapids of the lower Thompson are used for recreational whitewater rafting . The first commercial rafting operation on the river began in

2993-434: The Thompson River headwaters and other nearby lakes. Other fish species include round whitefish , largescale sucker , bridgelip sucker , northern pikeminnow , longnose dace , and slimy sculpin . Several bird species are found in Thompson River environments, including osprey , merganser , wood ducks , and American dippers . Golden eagles are found near the confluence with the Fraser, and Bald eagles congregate on

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3066-544: The best route for the Canadian Pacific Railway between Yellowhead Pass in the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Coast. Three survey parties visited what is now Wells Gray Park. In 1873, Marcus Smith, searching for the best route to Bute Inlet, visited Hobson Lake and Mahood Lake. In 1874, the railway dispatched a survey party to explore the headwaters of the Clearwater River, under the leadership of E.W. Jarvis, but

3139-735: The continental ice sheets of the last ice age . The ice moved out of the Thompson River region approximately 11,000 BCE, and migration by the ancestors of the Nlaka'pamux and Secwepemc people is thought to have occurred soon after. Some of the older archaeological sites on the lower Thompson include the Drynoch Slide site, near Spences Bridge, with artifacts dating to about 7350 BCE, and the Landels site, near Ashcroft, which dates to older than 8000 BCE. Archaeologists theorize early settlers lived in small groups, beginning with nomadic bands hunting ungulates on

3212-461: The east, but were forced to turn back by difficult terrain. It was named after Hugh Neave after his death in 1988. Two expeditions in the 1990s, two in 2015, and one in 2017 failed to reach the summit. The first successful ascent was on August 27, 2019, by JF Labranche and Travis Goodridge. 8) "Unnamed Peak, 2797 m, 3.1 km SE of Mount Beaman". Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the Wells Gray area

3285-467: The federal and provincial governments replaced this committee with a smaller one with only four members, the Fraser River Board, and directed it to determine what development of the Fraser River's water resources would be feasible, particularly regarding flood control and hydro-electric power. The Board published two preliminary reports, one about flood control in 1956, and one about hydro-electric developments in 1958. The idea of developing hydro power from

3358-488: The fertile benches of the river, and a North West Company trading fort at the confluence of the North and South rivers became the city of Kamloops , now the largest human population center in the watershed. The Thompson River supports 24 fish species, including two considered endangered. It also hosts carp , which are not native to the watershed. The river is home to large populations of Pacific salmon , including coho , sockeye , pink and chinook . Through its tributary,

3431-519: The following spring made this project more urgent, and in late 1948 the Dominion-Provincial Board Fraser River Basin was established to report on power generation, fisheries, flood control, water supply and recreation. Between 1949 and 1954, the committee of ten collected data and filled in the gaps in other government studies. No report was produced, but in 1953, 12 detailed maps of the Clearwater River between Hemp Creek and

3504-457: The foot of the next one, similar to the Columbia River today which has little free-flowing water. The dam at Sabre Tooth Rapids would be the highest at 137 m (449 ft), flooding most of Helmcken Canyon, inundating Sylvia and Goodwin Falls, and submerging the bottom 10 m (33 ft) of Helmcken Falls. The plan for Baileys Chute envisaged two dams; the lower dam at Myanth Falls would divert

3577-463: The hardiest of backpackers. The southern third of Wells Gray Park is traversed by the Clearwater Valley Road, although large areas are accessible only by trail. The dominant topography features volcanic plateaus, lava flows and deep canyons which are crowned by several peaks over 2,300 m (7,546 ft) high. The waterfalls, for which Wells Gray is famous, usually result from the interaction of volcanic eruptions and glacial activity. The best known

3650-404: The mountain divide between drainage into the North Thompson River and into the Clearwater River. Individual mountain groups dominate the topography of the northern park region and are separated by deep glacial valleys , several of which contain large lakes such as Clearwater, Azure and Hobson . The ruggedness of its features has ensured that northern Wells Gray remains little known except to

3723-522: The mouth of the Clearwater River, they noted its distinct clarity compared to the muddy North Thompson and named it Clear Water. In 1863, the first tourists, Lord Milton and Dr. Cheadle , traveled through the North Thompson Valley and solidified the Clearwater River name by publishing it in their journal, The Northwest Passage by Land (London, 1865) . Between 1872 and 1881, about 20 survey parties fanned out across British Columbia trying to find

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3796-451: The north boundary found the above two peaks were higher. 4) Black Cone, 2861 m. This is the second highest summit of the Goodall group and has been unofficially called "The Black Cone". Its first ascent was on July 30, 2012, by Paul Geddes, Norm Greene, and Bill McKenzie. 5) Mount Pierrway , 2854 m. It was first climbed in 1969 by Art Maki and Art Wilder. The second ascent was in 1987 and

3869-408: The north sides of the mountains. Early May and most of June are often rainy and, during the summer, storms occur about once a week. Average annual precipitation at Clearwater is 43 cm (17 in) and this increases as one travels north into the park and closer to the mountains. Clearwater Lake receives over 60 cm (24 in) and Azure Lake about 80 cm (31 in). Summer temperatures in

3942-403: The park flows into this river. The northern two-thirds of the park is extremely rugged with relief ranging from Clearwater Lake at an elevation of 680 m (2,231 ft) to 2,946 m (9,665 ft) at Mount Lyons on the northern park boundary, 4.9 km (3.0 mi) west of Mount Pierrway. These summits are part of the Cariboo Mountains, and most of the east boundary of the park follows

4015-423: The park was created, Chess Lyons (namesake of Mount Lyons) and his assistant, Huntley Campbell (namesake of Mount Huntley/Huntley Col) thoroughly surveyed the park and produced a detailed report with photos. Lyons and Campbell are responsible for about a quarter of its current place names, all carefully researched to remember settlers, prospectors, explorers, forest rangers, and other people who had lived and worked in

4088-481: The plateaus around the river, who then established more permanent dwellings along the river benches as their fishing techniques developed. The South Thompson has the watershed's oldest dated evidence of human habitation, at the Gore site near Pritchard . The human remains date to 8250 BCE, and bone analysis suggests the person was a hunter with small amounts of his protein coming from salmon. Archaeological investigation in

4161-459: The river a couple times). The North Thompson passes by several small communities, the most notable being Blue River , Clearwater & Barriere . The North Thompson picks up the Clearwater River at the town of Clearwater. The Clearwater, the North Thompson's largest tributary, drains much of Wells Gray Provincial Park . A notable feature along the North Thompson is Little Hells Gate ,

4234-510: The river are within provincial parks , including Steelhead , Juniper , Goldpan , and North Thompson Provincial Parks . Some of its tributaries, such as the Clearwater , are more protected through large parks like Wells Gray . However, unlike major river systems to the north and east like the Columbia and Nechako , the Thompson has no hydroelectric dams or major man-made water diversions. Under

4307-510: The river during the salmon run. Trumpeter swans use the South Thompson on their migratory route. Rattlesnakes are found in the dry sagebrush regions of the lower river. Aquatic insects found in the river system are dominated by three groups: mayflies , midges , and caddisflies . Many of these species emerge with the spring snowmelt, which greatly increases the volume of flow on the river. The Thompson River and its two branches are mostly unprotected through parks or reserves. Small sections of

4380-410: The river includes whitewater rafting and angling. The South Thompson originates at the outlet of Little Shuswap Lake at the town of Chase and flows approximately 55 kilometres (34 mi) southwest through a wide valley to Kamloops where it joins the North Thompson. Highway 1 , the Trans-Canada Highway and the mainline of the Canadian Pacific Railway parallel the river. Little Shuswap Lake

4453-456: The river into a 1.7 km (1.1 mi) power canal ending at Baileys Chute. Collectively, the proposal (including the other rivers) was called System E and the cost of construction was estimated at $ 398,503,500. There was little reaction to the Fraser River Board's report. The public was not too concerned about losing remote preserves such as Wells Gray Park, when British Columbia had so much wilderness land. The park may have been saved because

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4526-405: The river, and caused large, temporary lakes. An 1880 slide caused the formation of a short-lived lake over 14 kilometers long with a maximum depth of 18 meters. These slides have caused major damage to the rail lines and farming operations in the river valley. Heavy irrigation has been blamed for some of the events. The Interior region of British Columbia was first populated after the retreat of

4599-431: The route was described as "clearly impracticable for a railway line." When the more southern Kicking Horse Pass was chosen instead in 1881, all the meticulously examined routes in what is now Wells Gray Park were abandoned. Only three place names in the park recognize those 10 years of surveys: Murtle River & Lake , Mahood River & Lake , and Marcus Falls. Helmcken Falls was discovered in 1913 by Robert Lee,

4672-436: The seven dams on the Clearwater River. In just a decade, the environmental movement had gained power and credibility in the province , and BC Hydro's interest in the Clearwater quickly caught the attention of the Shuswap-Thompson River Research and Development Association (STRRADA) and the newly formed Yellowhead Ecological Association based in Clearwater, BC. One of the undertakings was to offer bus tours of Wells Gray Park during

4745-415: The southern, and highest, regions of the Cariboo Mountains and covers 5,415 square kilometres (541,516 hectares or 1.3 million acres). It is British Columbia's fifth largest provincial park, after Tweedsmuir , Tatshenshini , Spatsizi and Northern Rocky Mountains . The boundaries of Wells Gray Park encompass 60 percent of the drainage basin of the Clearwater River , and most water that originates in

4818-400: The summer of 1972. The tours stopped at viewpoints where the volunteer guides urged passengers to imagine how the valley would look when flooded by the dams. The strategy was effective and succeeded in creating an uproar of protest about the dams. Within a year, the plan to dam the Clearwater River was quietly shelved, but BC Hydro retained its water rights until 1987 when the flooding reserve on

4891-533: The third in 2005. This honors another World War II casualty, Private Alfred Pierrway, age 22. 6) "Unnamed Peak, 2847 m, 3.7 km WSW of Mount Pierrway". It is located on the north park boundary near Mount Lyons. As of 2022, there is no record of this peak being climbed, therefore it is Wells Gray Park's highest unclimbed mountain. 7) Mount Hugh Neave , 2829 m. Located east of Hobson Lake and north of Garnet Peak. Hugh Neave, first to summit Garnet Peak, and Peter Cowan attempted to climb it in 1972 via Hobson Glacier to

4964-427: The town of Spences Bridge was the site of a major rail disaster in the early 20th century. Communities along this section are Bighorn , Shaw Springs, and Goldpan. The Thompson River valley has existed in some form for at least 50 million years; however, for much of its history, it did not drain to the southwest into the Pacific Ocean as it does today. Geologists believe water from the river flowed northward, through

5037-429: The west to the eastern reaches of Shuswap Lake, as well as far up the northern reaches of the North Thompson river valley. The last large glacial lake, Lake Deadman, was drained by a catastrophic ice dam failure, called a jökulhlaup , in about 10,000 BCE. This event released as much as 20 cubic kilometres (4.8 cu mi) of water southwest into the Fraser River system, possibly depositing sediments as far away as

5110-414: Was 16 pounds (7.3 kg). By the late 1990s, steelhead populations began to decline due to a wide variety of adverse environmental conditions and overfishing by commercial and First Nations gill netters. In 2016, annual steelhead numbers entering the Thompson were estimated to be less than 400 fish. Low numbers have prompted conservation organizations and sportsman's associations to petition Committee on

5183-424: Was a valued hunting ground to the Secwepemc (Shuswap) , Tsilhqot'in (Chilcotin) and Canim Lake Indigenous People. This resulted in a conflict around 1875 over access to caribou herds. Geographic names like " Battle Mountain ", "Fight Lake", "Battle Creek" and "Indian Valley" recall this period. The Overlanders expedition to the Cariboo goldfields rafted down the North Thompson River in 1862. When they arrived at

5256-409: Was at the time exploring the Columbia River basin to the east. Thompson never visited the river that bears his name. The first documented traverse of the Thompson from Kamloops to Lytton was by Hudson's Bay Company governor George Simpson in 1828. More Europeans entered the Thompson River valley in the early to mid 1800s, drawn by the fur trade and small gold rushes . Others started farming on

5329-484: Was considered one of the premier steelhead angling destinations in North America. The river hosted large runs of both summer and winter run anadromous coastal rainbow trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus ). In the late 1980s the runs were estimated at over 10,000 fish. The river attracted anglers from around the world seeking powerful Thompson River steelhead. In 1982, the average male winter run Thompson River steelhead

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