In 2015 I was browsing the hiking forum ClubTread and came across a post looking for a fifth person to fly into Ape Lake near Bella Coola BC. I jumped on the opportunity, and in early July, I met Sean, Clayton, Stu, and Earl (?) in Squamish and we drove to Nimpo Lake BC in the Chilcotin.
From there we flew into the gorgeous Ape Lake, flying past Hunlen Falls on the way. We set camp below Mount Jacobsen on the sandy shores of Ape Lake. For the next three days we hiked and explored the area. We didn’t do much peak bagging – I was tired from a solo trip just a few days before and the terrain was larger than I had ever encountered. What I predicted to take 15min would take an hour.
We managed to summit Musician Mountain, just beside camp. Getting to the alpine, through the band of sub-alpine forest was the crux of the climb. We crawled our way back through alder when we mistakenly took a wrong turn down a slide path.
On the fourth day we began traversing to Jacobsen Lake and ended up camping beside the massive Jacobsen Glacier. By mid-morning we made it to the lake where we were picked up and taken back to Nimpo Lake.
Reflecting back on this seven years later, I wish we had climbed more peaks and I am keen to go back into the area with Lindsay. This is a stunning area.
Coastal Mountaineering 