Our workaway in Williams lake is over and we are heading to Bella Coola, our next destination. It's about 6-8 hours driving with a stop in Tweedsmuir national park - south on the way. Amy from our Workaway recommended the Rainbow Ranges trail but advised us to buy a mosquito net because it's been raining lately so it will probably be buggy.The road to Tweedsmuir is quite good with about one hour of gravel road through the national park with some nice scenery at the start and in the park. We arrive at the parking lot and decide to spend the night in the car as it's raining and there are mosquitoes everywhere... Every time we open a door, we get a bunch of them inside the car..For future reference, just set up the tent even if it's raining a little. It's better than having mosquitoes flying around all night in the car... Petra manages to sleep a few hours when I only get one hour of sleep..We prepare our backpacks in the morning. This will be a dry run for back-country camping making sure we can carry everything we need.The trail covers different type of areas from burnt forest to bogs and lakes until the 8km where you can finally see the rainbow ranges properly.That's a good spot to start cooking as there is a little wind so less bugs. Unfortunately, I forgot the lighter... So, no cooking.. Luckily, it's a dry run so we are not planning to spend the night and we have prepared snacks for a 2 days hike.. The hike is about 16km return and is well worth it even in a buggy day.We jump straight back into the car to avoid the mosquitoes. 2 hours later, we arrive in Bella Coola. Bella Coola is surprisingly small but the valley is so beautiful. There is quite a lot to do from hiking, cruises, planes, petroglyphs and fishing. We spend 3 days in the valley mostly hiking, visiting the petroglyphs and enjoying the views.We first drive to the Mont Gurr lake trail which starts after 17km of rough road where you definitely need higher clearance than what we have with the Honda CR-V. We make it up to about 12km (in 90min...) thinking we did 15... So we have to walk 5km to the trail head.. It's exhausting and we think about turning back but we finally make it to the trailhead. It's an alpine landscape with lots of flowers and the trail follows a little creek up to the lake. It's beautiful and well worth it specifically if you can drive up to the trailhead. There is a back-country campsite as well a little bit further but it's too far to check it as we don't have food and we don't have that much water.We wake up the second day to the sound of a ranger's car. There is a grizzly bear and 3 cubs in the area about 2-300m from our tent. Unfortunately (or luckily for some), we are not able to see them. We spend the rest of the day doing a few shorter trails and visiting the museum. The museum is really small but cost only two dollars per person. We spend about 30min reading about the history of the valley. However, it barely talks about the aboriginal community in the valley and instead explain the story of Alexander Mackenzie and the Norwegian settlers. There is a few short trails in the valley where we can see giant cedar trees, petroglyphs and some Beavers if lucky.Hike to the petroglyphsIf you go to the visitor center, you can get a tour to the petroglyphs for about 90 dollars per person. You will get a native telling you about the story behind the petroglyphs and playing some music. But you can also go to the petroglyphs by yourself without having to pay if you are on low budget.We do our last and toughest hike on our last day in the valley, The Saloompt Forest Trail. The trail is new and not referenced in the books. A friend of Amy we visited in Bella Coola recommended it to us. It's getting steep quickly after the trailhead for quite a long time. The trail is well marked but quite hard. It's within the rainforest for the entire trail until the viewpoint at the end at the top of a rocky cliff. The view is breathtaking and we are so happy to finally reach the end of the trail because it's lunch time and we are hungry! The way back is not as hard as expected and much faster.We leave the beautiful Bella Coola Valley the same way we arrived, sleeping in a campsite in Tweedsmuir. We wake up the next day and head to our first planned multi day hikes to the Hunlen falls. Unfortunately, the road to the trailhead is about 20km down a rough road and we decide to cancel after less than a kilometer on that road.If you are visiting the Bella Coola Valley and are planning to do some hiking, you should go for a high clearance 4wd vehicle.It's a pain but we have to take the same road back to Williams Lake to continue our adventure north. It's a long drive but there are plenty to do on the way if you have time. A lot of hikes and campsite/lodge can be found but they are not well referenced online so it can be hard to find. A small airport located in Anahim lake runs tours to waterfall. There is also a small aboriginal cemetery in Redstone that you can check on the way.It's quite a detour from the north road but it's a beautiful place not too touristy yet that is enjoyable whatever your budget is.
