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Day 8: Windy Ridge to Little Paradise Valley

The wind howled and shook our tents right through the night and into the next day. As the first light began to shine on the horizon, I kept a watch the first rays of sunlight to creep over the mountains. At exactly 6:10 sunlight illuminated our tent. As I poked my head outside and looked around, I was stunned to see the colouring of the hills and sky and quickly reached for my camera and snapped the photo below. It looks so desert-like - you wouldn't think it was up at 2,303 meters (7,600 feet) on a cold windy mountain in BC!
Andre and I ate an early breakfast, dressed in warm, windproof clothing and headed outside for a walk on the windy ridges. Joanne joined us and together we journeyed to the peak picutred above, down the slope on its other side and up another, slightly higher peak from where we had a spectacular view of the Big Creek valley.
From the first peak (top photo) looking south toward Cardtable Mtn. and Castle Peak. Our tents are the tiny sposts circled lightly at center. Little Paradise valley lies below at far left, the final slope we ascended the previous day at right - the opposite side of the ridge from our tents.
A view Relay Mtn. looming above Little Paradise valley and our exposed hillside camp.
Back at camp we spent the better part of the morning relaxing and basically just sitting around lethargically. Except for Joanne, none of us had gotten much sleep, and coupled with yesterday's long hike we felt a little less than motivated.
Around 12:30, Andre and I packed our gear and hiked down the slope into the valley. We'd decided we would hike down first, find a place to camp along the creek near the base of the hill and be joined by the others later in the day.

It was actually quite difficult to find a clear spot once we were down - all the green you see is tall, thick bushes of willow. We did eventually find a very scenic little spot with room for all our tents right by a small creek. Andre set about making a little dam in the creek to serve as a bathing pool, while I washed our sleeping bag liners and some clothes.

I retreated to the tent to write in my journal, but ended up sleeping until I heard Ian and Aynslie arriving around 5:00 PM, followed by the others. Joanne, Ashley and Sarah had spent part of the afternoon hiking south along the ridge from camp towards Castle Peak before packing up and descending for the evening.
Day 9: Little Paradise Valley to Relay Creek

The remaining hike was a short distance and we were in no rush to get back, so once again we took our time this morning.
Morning at our Little Paradise valley camp. The creek is just out of view in the tiny gully directly left of the tents.
Andre cleaned up in the little bath he built in the creek (which each one of us had used), then got maps and compass our for some "fieldwork".
Ashley looks over a plant guide over breakfast while his personal gnome is hard at work packing up
Leaving camp at 12:30, we followed the heavy-duty path down the valley.
Around 1:30 we came into a cleared area that had been used as a camp. The trail seemed to veer directly north, into the Graveyard Valley. We searched for the Little Paradise trail, left our packs at the camp and even sent Andre ahead with one of the radios to scout. As it turned out, the sharp turn was part of the trail after all but for a long time after it would disappear through open areas (where horses, the main users of the trail, disperse) and reappear in forested areas. The trick was always locating it upon entering the forested areas.
At every opportunity, Ashley and Sarah would pull out their miniature score to the Brandenburg Concerto #1 and hum-sing two parts (Andre joined in once as well). The rest of us were wondering why it took them until almost the last day to grace us with such nice concerts, but apparently they'd been working on it since the beginning of the trip and only now had it "together enough" to "perform".
Andre joins in with Ashley and Sarah to hum-sing the Brandenburg Concerto #1.
Taking a final rest before the short descent to Relay Creek
Dropping back into the forest, we began descending steeply to meet Relay Creek. We took the opportunity in a section of windfall to rest our packs (above), while Ashley and Sarah graced us with a good half hour concert. They were just passing the time until we were ready, but none of us wanted to stop them!

We crossed Relay Creek, finding ourselves at the Gang Ranch range cabin we'd passed on our first day. We set up our tents, prepared dinner and Andre and I even washed in the icy cold creek (it's pretty murky and not too apetizing looking).
Our last evening together around the campfire.
Day 10: Relay Creek Camp to Relay Trail Head
We gathered around in the morning sun for one last camp breakfast. With hardly any food left to pack up, and the rest having become routine, we made short work of packing up.
We began the short hike at 9:50, posing one more time infront of the range cabin where us four girls had posed under much darker skies our first day.

We had a little "run-in" with some anxious cows shortly after the cabin, and hustled to get out of their reach.
Andre stands on the Relay Creek trail. Behind him to the left if the beginning of the Little Paradise valley which we'd hiked down the previous evening.
We enjoyed the sunny, scenic hike back to Ian's vehicle where we arrived in less than an hour. One last group photo, and then we were off. Our lovely Chilcotin hike had come to an end.
One final group photo. L-R: Ashley & Sarah, Trudel, Andre, Robson, Aynslie, Joanne, Ian