The mountain skyline south of Tumbler Ridge is dominated by the peaks near Monkman Park. Features such as the Pioneer Range with its distinctively shaped Shark's Fin and the sharp horn of Mt. Bulley catch the eye. One of the most dramatic sights is the Bulley Glacier, cascading down an unnamed peak east of the Blue Lakes in Monkman Park. This 'Bulley Glacier Peak' is the highest summit in the area, and it is a measure of the wildness of the region that it has yet to be officially named.

I have been looking at the glacier for many years, as it is visible from the upper parts of the Quintette mine. Ideas of skiing it evaporated once I looked at aerial photos, which showed it to be heavily crevassed. A summer trip was in order, but the area was very remote until the Bulley Creek Forest Service Road was built in about 1996. We did several trips from the end of the road, crossing Bulley Creek and bushwhacking up to the range that included Mt. Bulley. These trips introduced us to the spectacular scenery and rugged terrain of the area. We succeeded in climbing Mt. Bulley in 1999, and it gave us an appetite for more.

It was time to get to the glacier itself. We planned to go in and camp at the head of the valley below the glacier, and with luck, get as high up on the peak as good sense and weather would allow. There were two possibilities for reaching the head of the valley - heading up the drainage of the creek itself, or climbing to the alpine on the north side of Mt. Courtipat, crossing a high pass, and doing a long sidehill descent to the head of the valley. We were fortunate to have good weather, so we chose the alpine route. This proved to be very scenic, passing by a small deep lake at the foot of Courtipat, and climbing past waterfalls and cascades to the pass, carpeted with wildflowers. The view from the pass was unbelievable - a huge amphitheater of peaks, dominated by the 'in your face' view of the glacier itself. The sidehill descent took much longer than forecast, but after a bit of thrashing we were set up at the only decent campsite in the valley, relaxing at the foot of a cliff with three waterfalls thundering over. Supper was a time to recharge tired bodies and contemplate our surroundings. The massive east face of Mt. Bulley towered above, and I was glad that the fog at the top when we climbed it in 1999 prevented us from looking over the sheer drop!

The next day our plan was to go up onto the ridge of the peak as high as we could, hopefully to a point where we could look over at the Limestone Lakes to the south. The tops of the mountains were fogged in, though, so we elected to head up to the small lake at the toe of the glacier. This proved to be a good choice, as there was a lot to see along the way. The lake is set in a moonscape of rock and moraines left by the retreating ice. From the lake, we climbed to the toe of the glacier itself, then paralleled the ice so we could have a look at the icefall. The drama of this scene was memorable. The entire glacier pours over a thousand foot high cliff, with hideously crevassed tongues of ice creeping to the edge. Innumerable waterfalls issue from the ice, and chunks of glacier would periodically break off and hurtle over the cliffs. A lake of the most intense shade of blue occupied the head of the valley. This, for me, was the culmination of a long quest to see this wild area up close. We returned to camp, most impressed by the scene.

Walking out on the last day presented two choices: we could return the way we had come, with its known obstacles, or we could walk out via the creek, hoping for animal trails to follow. Memories of sidehilling were too fresh, so we chose the valley route. After about a kilometer, we picked up a good trail, and the rest of the route out was spent following the animal trails as they faded and reformed. An easy crossing of Bulley Creek was followed by a well-deserved swim. We all felt privileged to have spent three days in such a wild valley, and vowed to return.

Mt. Bulley from the Bulley Creek road	Unnamed lake below Mt. Courtipat	Climbing to the pass beside Mt. Courtipat	View of the glacier from the pass	Detour around krummholz, Mt. Bulley in background
Cascades at base camp	East face of Mt. Bulley	Lake at the toe of the glacier	Approaching the icefall	Bulley Icefall

Fogged in on top

Evening in the valley

Trekking down the valley

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