April 11 - 7.5 km / 735m gain / 658m high / 3.5 hours MT
The caves had been named because of an eerie haunting noise that rises when the wind is blowing and yes there is plenty of reason there might be ghostly unrest in the town of Yale.
There's a pullover where you can park right by the Pioneers cemetery on highway #1. Across from it is the trailhead.
A wash out. All-Hallows creek near the trailhead is the only source of running water on the trail.
Thanks to the broad switchbacks, this steep trail was doable.
At the lookout overlooking the Fraser River and the historic town of Yale -- southeast.
south
Hope Mt. to the right -- south to southwest.
After this lookout the grade of the slope eased somewhat.
Not much past this tarn, the trail abruptly ended. It was so faint, I wouldn't have been sure without my GPS. There were flagging tapes after the end though, and I could hear a waterfall not too far off. But it would've meant descending over 200m which was not part of our plan (especially with a longer hike coming up the day after the next).
There are two trails and flagging tapes to indicate that this mass of bolders are the Spirit Caves. Many people pass them unbeknowst.
There were numerous holes. The smallest one seemed to have the largest chamber. Made me want to climb in there and check it out.
These two larger holes at the west end of the bolder hill had the shallowest caves. Actually I wouldn't even call them caves. They're gaps in the rocks.
Back at the lookout.
I noticed most of the tombstones were of people who passed away in the early 1900s. There were a handfull of newer ones, mostly family members.
These two died within weeks of eachother.
I think this tree was planted on the gravesite when the person died in 1898. Its barely a foot away from the tombstone.
The moss looks like a piece of art.
This tombstone had three family members names engraved onto it. The mother died at the age of 30 and their baby, Mary was only one day old. Only a few people born in the 1800s lived much beyond the age of 60.
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