A confidence inducing solid platform overlooks Spahat Falls, which drop a total of 75-80 metres, with the name coming from the word for "bear" in the First Nations language. Wells Gray is located in Simpcwúl̓ecw, an unceded territory which is home to the Simpcw and Tsq’escen people. Waterfalls and lakes feature heavily in this park, where several mountains reach over 2,800 metres. These mountains often make an appearance above the thick evergreen forests, snow visible on their peaks year-round. There are 42 named waterfalls here, one of the most iconic of which is the wide Dawson Falls.

In 1913-14 surveyor Robert Lee set up summer camps near the falls and named them after surveyor-general George Herbert Dawson. The falls are part of the Murtle River which rises in the Cariboo Mountains. Once again it's easy to get a good view of them, with a convenient car park and easy trail leading to a section of riverside immediately adjacent to - and just below - the Dawson Falls.

As we continue on we pass people canyoning on that same river, I feel an urge to join them but we have an appointment at Clearwater Lake, at the end of the road.

It only takes a little over an hour to drive directly to Clearwater Lake but it feels a vast distance away from the noise and buzz beyond the park entrance. We meet with Dennis Redmon who has guided here for 57 years and is always happy to take visitors out on his electric boat because it means he doesn't have to do dishes back at the lakeside cafe set in a cute log cabin. 

The further we cruise along Clearwater Lake and the more that Dennis tells me about it, the more enamoured I become of the place. This is a land of pristine water, peaceful forests and wild yet accessible campsites which cost just $5/night and where park rangers deposit firewood for your camp fire. Many of those campsites are only accessible via canoe and I spot a family setting up camp on a lakeside beach. What an enriching experience that will be for those young children.

After a large fire in 1926 moose moved in to gobble up the young foliage which appeared soon after. Ancestors of those moose have remained in the area ever since, you can also see bears, loons, spawning salmon and many other species. This is such a wild place that new discoveries are still being made, including, in 2018, an immense cave nicknamed Sarlacc Pit. Having resolved to one day return to this lake and paddle my way to paradise, we return to the track and drive back towards Clearwater town.

Before we exit the park, though, there's just one more stop: Helmcken Falls, which are one of the reasons why Wells Gray Provincial Park was created in 1939. The other falls are impressive in their own ways, but Helmcken Falls are in another league. They drop 141 metres into a massive bowl of an ancient volcano deposit, their constant spray watering lush trees above and below. This is an appropriately dramatic end to my visit of this magnificently wild - yet easily accessible - place.