Bocock Peak

Up Bocock Peak
(Without a Trail)
August, 2006
Rgr. Michael Nichols
Hudson’s Hope Patrol

What makes a group of adults spend a weekend whacking their way through the bush, where no trail exists, to climb a 6300 foot peak so they can look down a deep dark hole? Simple, none had ever been there before, it was an area where few people had ever been before, it looked interesting on a topo map, and they are Rangers.


Ranger admires the view.

So how did it all start? In December 2006, Hudson’s Hope patrol was on exercise near Moberly Lake. Anyone who has lived in the North knows that a December evening leaves a lot of time to stand around the fire in the dark and shoot the ….. well let’s say to discuss possible future exercises. One of our members, Ranger Kraigen, mentioned a depression he had noticed depicted on the map near Bocock Peak, and asked if anyone had ever been there.

None of us had but we were intrigued as the depression showed a stream that seemed to simply disappear.

A little research revealed Bocock Peak to be a newly created Provincial Park. Its claim to fame being some of the deepest limestone caves in Canada. The deepest of which are adjacent to Bocock Peak. Ranger David Kyllo did some further research and located an article written in a cave science magazine, some 20 years ago, describing an expedition by a joint British-Canadian team. Included in the article was a map of the cave system showing them to be at least 253 metres deep and almost vertical in nature. We decided that exploring the caves was out of the question as none of us were experienced cavers.

Friday evening found three of us at the end of a logging road getting ready to bed down for an early start the next morning. Another would be joining us the next morning.


After a cool night under a wikiup built in a growth of young popular we were rearing to start. As the crow flies we had only 6.5 Km to go, but as we all know there is a good reason why that crow never walks.

Typical of the terrain we had to traverse.

To get to the base of the mountain we had to make our way through about 6 Km of old growth forest. This meant climbing over, under, and around fallen trees on a steep, slippery moss covered slope in woods too dense for GPS readings. There was no trail. After about 6 Km we crossed Eleven Mile Creek and things changed. Instead of heading across a slope we headed up.


Plotting waypoints

After climbing about 1000 feet things changed again. Instead of fallen trees hampering us, we had to fight our way through dense Mountain laurel 6 to 8 feet high. At times it felt as though we were pushing our way through snowdrifts except our feet were constantly entangled in the serpentine branches. We were wet with sweat before we started the climb but now it was stinging our eyes and the straps from our packs dug even deeper as the bushes pulled on them. To top it off, we were very stingy with our water, as we had no idea what we were going to find further up. Man, were we thirsty.

Finally we reached an elevation that forced the vegetation to thin. The climbing got a little easier and the scenery was easier to see. After nearly eight hours of strenuous hiking we reached the depression depicted on the map. What a sight lay before us. A storybook mountain meadow full of lush green grass, a myriad of alpine flowers, and smack dab in the middle was the most refreshing pool of cool, spring water. After satisfying our thirst we went in search of the caves we had read about.

They were easy to locate and out theory as to the disappearing stream was confirmed, straight down the hole. After a brief examination we left the caves to the local marmots and sought out a suitable location to spend the night. Wishing to carry as little weight up the mountain as possible we had all forgone tents in favour of small tarps or other lightweight solutions, so setting up camp was easy.


The next morning Ranger Biever and myself decided to climb the final 1300 feet to the summit of Bocock Peak while Rangers Kraigen and Kyllo went in search of the other caves reportedly in the area. The hike to the summit was totally enjoyable as we only carried water and cameras and there was no tangled vegetation to hamper us. From the top we got a perfect view of some of the most rugged and inaccessible peaks in the Rockies, as well as the tortuous route we would have to follow back to our vehicles. After pausing for pictures and to leave a record of our visit in a cache that had only two entries in the past twenty years we started back down.

Rgrs Biever and Nichols at the Summit of Bocock Peak

By 1800 Hrs we were off the mountain and basking in that physically exhaustive state you get after pushing yourself hard to accomplish something and succeeding.

Our weekend taught us a lot about ourselves, our capabilities and those of our companions. We also left behind us a flagged route for any future hikers and coordinates to map that same route on our patrol’s topos.

Exercise Snow Cave

January 2008 saw Rangers from Hudson's Hope Patrol head off to a local lake to conduct a winter exercise. The objectives of this exercies included familiarization of local terrain, gain knowledge of transportation issues as they pertain to winter travel over unplowed logging roads and off road access trails, the use of 10 man arctic tents in winter, constructing snow shelters and living of the land by obtaining sustenance through fishing and trapping of small animals.

The day of our departure dawned warm and sunny with a southwest wind bringing temperatures of -5 degrees celcius. Perfect for a snowmobile ride of approxiamately 25Km. Arriving at a site selected during a previous recce we quickly cleared the site and set up the tent. While this was happening the wind shifted around from the north bringing with it the snow and colder temps we had been expecting.

After a warm lunch around a nice fire we gathered in the snow with our backs to the wind and learned the finer points of constructing a quinze. Anyone who started to feel cold merely had to crawl inside and do a stint at excavating the snow from inside the developing shelter. You were soon warm from the exertion inside that closed space.

Once the shelter was complete, we revisited the fire to warm ourselves a little while being treated to some knowledgable advice on ice-fishing. Our education complete(?) we moved onto the ice to face the 30Km wind and -15C temp. (You figure the windchill) Just for the sake of curiosity, and something to do, some rangers got to experience the difference between drilling a hole through 45cm of ice with an auger and cutting it with an axe. You don't appreciate what you have until you have to do without it. The fishing wasn't great but a nice 3 pound rainbow did surrender to the RCMP officer who had come along. No cuffs were necessary as the fishy character experienced flash freezing and ceased all struggle. The Stiff was last seen being carted by the law for further interrogation.

There is a fine line between ice-fishing and simply staring at a dark hole in the ice looking like an idiot.
Thinking we may be getting close to crossing that line and not able to see it in the sometimes near white-out conditions, we retired once again to the fire and for a demonstration on trapping small mammals such as squirrels and rabbits. This was followed by a rabbit skinning demo performed on a snowshoe hare caught earlier and brought along.

It being close to 1700 hours and getting dark, it was decided more logs were needed on the fire and some water boiled up for supper and hot coffee. With the wind and snow still coming from the North and the mercury falling to -20C. we settled in for some BSing around the fire and talk of how cold it might get. Some even suggested we might want to have some heat in the tent. It is a bad thing when the person responsible for making that decision knows he has a real warm sleeping bag and thinks everyone else has the same. I apologize for not recognizing their discomfort but I swear for people who didn't sleep much for being cold they sure did snore.

Next morning saw the thermometer reading -30C and everyone with nice rosy cheeks. After breakfast, activities centred around breaking camp and getting the sleds running. Seemed fitting the the only sled that didn't want to start was the newest and most powerful. Pulling the plugs and pouring gas into the cylinder quickly convinced it to join the rest. Just a quick note here. If you have a mustache and it has accumulated a layer of ice, don't cover it with a scarf and ride a snowmobile at -30C. Should you do this, use caution when removing said scarf. It may have attached itself.

Our trip out was not as comfortable as the trip in as we had to ride directly into the wind. We were forced to stop every couple of kilometres to check each other for signs of frostbite of which we all shared just a little. In the end it was quite a learning process for those of us who had not spent much time outside in that type of weather before and for myself I learned that as a leader I must be more aware of the comfort of my patrol as they may not always show how uncomfortable they are. As a patrol we must all take responsibility for our well being by being honest with ourselves and the rest of the patrol with how we are feeling and knowing our limits.

Canadian Rangers: Hudson's Hope Patrol

Hudson's Hope Patrol is located north of the Peace River in Northeast British Columbia. Our area encompasses lakes, rivers, mountains, forests, and ranches. As a patrol we like to focus on getting to know our area and being comfortable in it with as few modern conveniences as possible.

Our members range from retired guide outfitters, trappers, teachers, loggers to tech savey homesteaders. We are all interested in the outdoors and the recreational persuits to be found therein.