"On January 19, 1946, a Royal Canadian Air Force DC-3 (Dakota) left Comox, British Columbia on a flight to Greenwood, Nova Scotia. It never arrived and its crew of seven were reported missing. It took five days for the Crowsnest Pass Forest Rangers to snowshoe to the crash site because of bad weather. They were guided by the smoke of the burning plane. There were no survivors, the rescue team brought the bodies out on toboggans. The men who lost their lives were: Flying Officer Robert Huycke Watt, Flying Officer James Leonard Norris, Flight Lieutenant William Joesph Woods, Flight Lieutenant William James Sealy, Sergeant Vernon Rupert Ducklow, Leading Aircraftsman Daniel Levy and Leading Aircraftsman Richard Brockwell Lowe."
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM114_Dakota_Plane_Crash_1946
The aircraft apparently struck Mount Ptolemy and crashed near the headwaters of North York creek. I had been told about this crash site a couple of decades ago and I have intended to hike there ever since. Reading a description of the hike in Joey Ambrosi's Southern Rockies Trail Guide was the motivation I needed to finally attempt the hike.
I parked my vehicle along the forestry road on the north side of the bridge that crosses York Creek. I started my hike from there at just a little after 6 AM. There is some signage and with Ambrosi's trail description I was able to find the route. The hike is mostly on forestry roads and 4X4 and All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) trails. At about 1700 M long stretches of the trail still had snow. The snow was packed and solid enough to walk on so it did not hinder me much. At about 9 AM at 1900 M elevation I broke out of the trees to find the Cirque, where the crash site is, completely snow covered. I had intended to visit the crash site and then explore the alpine meadows and the ridge above it but I have no experience hiking in snow and the evidence of avalanche damage in the area discouraged me from venturing further. Once I left the shelter of the trees I found myself exposed to a stiff wind which was driving a light snow fall through the evergreens. I turned back down the trail and at about 9:15 AM, back in the trees and sheltered from the wind, I took a break.
Since I had planned to spend the day exploring the alpine meadows and possibly climbing the ridge behind the crash site I now had the time to take a more leisurely back and time to take a few photographs. While hiking up the trail I had noticed some bear scat but it appeared to be weeks old so I had little concern about encountering a bear. Also just before the place where the trail branches off to the Ironstone Lookout trail I heard, then came upon, 2 guys on trail bikes. The wideness of the trail and the ruckus that the ATVs and Trail Bikes made had me relaxed about encountering bears or any wildlife during my hike.
As I was hiking back I remembered the Trail Guide described a second hike up to the Ironstone Lookout on the Willoughby Ridge. I decided to at least hike to the start of that trail and determine where it is at. Once I arrived at the trail to the Ironstone Ridge I used my GPS Map to conclude that the summit was less than a kilometer away. It was not noon yet and I reckoned that I could hike up to the ridge in less than an hour and take a break for lunch when I got there.
Over 2 km, because of some long switchbacks, and an hour and a half later and I was on the ridge. At about 1900 M elevation I was encountering a lot of snow on the trail. The weather was still unsettled but the day was warming up and now the snow was softening and making it not as easy to walk on. In spite of feeling tired by this time, and knowing that I now faced at least a 6 km hike back to my vehicle, this was still an awesome hike. The Trail Guide describes the area like this, "Ironstone Lookout, perched on the crest of Willoughby Ridge, presents the determined hikers with a sweeping 360 degree panorama of the Crowsnest region and a dramatic overlook onto the extensive burn of the Lost Creek Fire". The Lost Creek Fire happened in July 2003 and burned about 22,000 hectares.
Once on the ridge there are two directions I could have gone. To the left was a communications tower about a kilometer away and to the right was a forestry Lookout. As I got to the ridge I was on a complete snow cover again and to walk to the Forestry Lookout I would be walking in deep drifted snow. There were no obvious tracks on the trail indicating to me that I had been the first to venture that far. I was also cognizant that I had already hiked about 17 km and it would still be a 6 km hike back to my vehicle. I decided to hike a little way up the ridge until I was at 2000 M elevation and take a much needed break. The sweeping view of the Crowsnest region made every step well worth the effort.
As I walked the road up to the ridge I found this written in permanent marker on an old painted plank,
“In times of loneliness, who did you turn to? It was the fire. When your world came crashing down around your shoulders with hardship and pain, who stilled your grief? It was the sun. When the stern face of storms plagued you, who was there to give you shelter? It was the spruce and fir with their backs for cover and their scents of comfort. When trauma and confusion stole your spirit and spilled Hope to the ground, who woke in your dawn ....?(this part is weathered away)?.... joy to your heart? It was the singing birds, the funny squirrels, the jumping fish, and the majestic caribou. When authorities controlled your life and were displeased, who returned solace and comfort? It was the eternal hymn from beautiful mountains and silent woods.” "Stan Walchuk Jr. Cordillera"
Given the time and place I was in when I read this I was profoundly moved by it, to say the least. I later Googled Stan Walchuk and found out that he traveled, by himself with two horses, from Alberta to Alaska through the Rocky Mountains. Cordillera is the title of the book he wrote about that journey. In a small way then I feel akin to him as I often am a lone hiker on a small journey of my own.
About 9 hours and about 24 km after I started out that morning I was back at my vehicle.
