Helmcken Falls (winter), Wells Gray Provincial Park
About this Site
In November 2018, I made a day trip to Wells Gray Provincial Park, in Clearwater BC. I wanted to shoot some drone video and photos of Helmcken Falls. Given the success of that trip, I wanted to visit the falls in the winter, when they are frozen over. As you can see from the banner photo above, Helmcken is striking and spectacular.
Basically, the mist from the falls freezes as winter takes hold, building up a cone. It ends up looking like an ice volcano. By the time I got there, at the end of March, much of the snow in the area has been melting. So the cone has predictably been melting. Though it is quite high, and judging from other photos from previous years, may have been unusually high this year. Also, not as lilly white as it would be surrounded by fresh snow. The brown is likely sediment collected and deposited by the Murtle River.
Below are links to some of the media I took, including some nice drone video. The forth video, "From the Floor Up and Out", offers an excellent aerial view of the falls from a distance. The second video, "Down the River", has the drone flying upstream of the falls culminating in a view straight down the falls into the cone. Make sure you check out and navigate around the Panoramas.
For additional background, here is a link to the Wells Gray waterfalls page. You can also check out my media from Spahats and Dawson Falls. I plan to make a trip in the spring to observe the full melt, so stay tuned.
Photos
Video
Panoramas
Most of these panoramas are 360 degree, though one is 180 degrees, across the cliff face. The Panorama looks best if viewed in full screen. Click on the icon on the upper right hand corner (with 4 arrows pointing outward).
To properly view the Panoramas, if you have a touch screen, drag your finger across the screen and the Panorama scrolls around. Same effect using a mouse (click and hold) on a non-touch device.
Also, with a phone or a tablet, you should be able to stand, hold the device level with your eyes and turn around. The image should scroll as if you are actually there turning your head.