Parks of the Chilcotin Ark

Verse 1
Gun Creek in the south water rushes fast down the line.
Tyaughton Creek from the north through meadow and pine,
Twin peaks of Sheba, the tallest mountain in all the Park,
Basalt on Castle and Fortress where ash once spewed dark.

Verse 2
Spruce Lake holds trout that swim to a wilderness beat,
Leckie Creek feeds Leckie Falls, until Slim Creek it meets,
From Warner Pass the glacier heart beats in a shining train:
Warner, Trigger, Hummingbird, sending lifeblood down the chain.

Chorus
South Chilcotin Mountains Park, where the glacial waters run,
From Warner Pass to Spruce Lake glacial water in the sun.
Castle’s basalt peaks, Eldorado’s red shale, journeys begin,
A true wilderness park, wildlife’s hope, its energy sings.

Verse 3
Grizzly with four cubs digging roots in meadows bright,
Mountain goats roam Eldorado’s iron-coloured heights,
Black bears in the forest where the Douglas fir stands tall,
Mule deer roam the summer alpine ridges over all.

Verse 4
California bighorn north of Sheba on ridges long,
Moose in swampy Relay where the willows grow strong,
Cougar in the shadows where the mule deer like to feed,
Lone wolves roam the park, following their prey’s every need.

Chorus
South Chilcotin Mountains Park, where the glacial waters run,
From Warner Pass to Spruce Lake glacial water in the sun.
Castle’s basalt peaks, Eldorado’s red shale, journeys begin,
A true wilderness park, wildlife’s hope, its energy sings.

Verse 5
Whitebark pine at timberline, an endangered, five-needled tree,
Clinging to the broken rock, feeding nutcrackers and grizzlies.
Douglas fir in dense old stands where low light filters through,
Engelmann spruce between the meadows catching dawn’s first hue.

Verse 6
Balsamroot at springtime paints the hillsides yellow flame,
Indian paintbrush, lilies, columbine and lupines can’t be tamed.
Wild potatoes bloom in white when snowmelt time is here
Thimbleberries close to trails, sorrel by the creek always near

Chorus
South Chilcotin Mountains Park, where the glacial waters run,
From Warner Pass to Spruce Lake glacial water in the sun.
Castle’s basalt peaks, Eldorado’s red shale, journeys begin,
A true wilderness park, wildlife’s hope, its energy sings.

Verse 1
They call this place Yalakom, “ewe” in the old tongue of the land,
A valley carved by hoofbeats where the ridges gently stand.
From the headwaters in shadow to the wide stone river bend,
This is refuge, this is passage, this is where the journeys blend.

Verse 2
Yalakom Mountain lifts the sky in rough and jagged hands,
Nine Mile Ridge rolls like waves across these dry lands.
Alpine meadows, rock and timber stitch a long, unbroken seam,
Linking north and south for wildlife in a quiet living stream.

Chorus
Yalakom, land of the ewe,
Headwater valley, wild and true.
From Yalakom Mountain to Nine Mile Ridge,
Creek to river, stone to sky, a living bridge.

Verse 3
Yalakom Creek runs clear and cold through forest, grass and stone,
Gathering snowmelt in a basin by humans left alone.
Flowing into the Yalakom River where canyon walls rise,
Every riffle, run and eddy is the salmon’s great prize.

Verse 4
White bark pine on wind cut knolls, endangered, holding fast,
Aspen patches on the hillsides, dry forest, echoes from the past.
Spruce and pine along the valley, krummholz on the upper line,
Grassland shoulders turn to rock where only stubborn lichens climb.

Chorus
Yalakom, land of the ewe,
Headwater valley, wild and true.
From Yalakom Mountain to Nine Mile Ridge,
Creek to river, stone to sky, a living bridge.

Verse 5
This is country made for ewes and lambs on open scree,
California bighorn sheep drifting ridge to ridge in liberty.
Mountain goats on jagged faces, watching storms go rolling by,
Mule deer roam at dusk and dawn beneath the wide interior sky.

Verse 6
Black bears work the berry slopes where forest meets the light,
Grizzlies follow river benches in the soft green of the night.
Cougar tracks and wolf sign etch the snow where no roads run,
All the hunters and the hunted share this narrow band of sun.

Chorus
Yalakom, land of the ewe,
Headwater valley, wild and true.
From Yalakom Mountain to Nine Mile Ridge,
Creek to river, stone to sky, a living bridge.

Verse 1
Birkenhead lies long and deep beneath glaciated stone,
A cold, clear mountain mirror where headwaters have grown.
Oligotrophic, quiet, low in stain and summer stir,
Holding kokanee and char in its ancient blue waters.

Verse 2
They drew a line in ’63 around this shining shore,
Then widened it in later years to shelter even more.
Sockeye Creek and highland bowls were folded to the heart,
Twice the borders opened out to give the wild a larger start.

Chorus
Guard this deep blue valley, where the old trees meet the snow,
Where Sockeye Creek runs wild and free and no machines may go.
Twice the line was opened so the headwaters could stay,
Whole and undivided in this Leeward Range of grey.

Verse 3
Deeply carved U shaped valleys, fast creeks running white,
Colluvial cones and scree slopes catching shadow, catching light.
Glaciers, old volcano fire, shaped these walls of fractured grey,
Rocky fans and floodplains tell how ice and rivers play.

Verse 4
Old growth cedar, hemlock, fir stand tall above the shore,
Subalpine ridges, alpine meadows, lichen, dwarf pine, more.
Four rich biogeoclimatic bands from valley floor to sky
Hold a layered, living ladder where the seasons travel by.

Chorus
Guard this deep blue valley, where the old trees meet the snow,
Where Sockeye Creek runs wild and free and no machines may go.
Twice the line was opened so the headwaters could stay,
Whole and undivided in this Leeward Range of grey.

Verse 5
This is country for the bear, both black and grizzly so,
Deer and goats on rock and timber watch the lake far below.
Spotted owl in shadowed groves, the last of what remains,
Raptors riding thermals over untouched forest veins.

Verse 6
Kokanee in crimson run, a fleeting autumn flame,
Rainbow trout and Dolly Varden thread the currents just the same.
Every cold, clean tributary feeds the lake’s clear mind,
Carrying the mountain’s pulse through gravel, root and pine.

Chorus
Guard this deep blue valley, where the old trees meet the snow,
Where Sockeye Creek runs wild and free and no machines may go.
Twice the line was opened so the headwaters could stay,
Whole and undivided in this Leeward Range of grey.

Verse 1
On the edge of the Chilcotin, where the plateaus meet the peaks,
Big Creek carves a silver road through wetlands, bogs and reeds.
From volcanic hills and tundra to the high, snow patched divide,
This is one long living doorway where the wild can slip and glide.

Verse 2
Elbow Mountain hides its fossils in the old uplifted stone,
Cluckata Ridge runs out in ribs of rock and wind carved loam.
Dil Dil Plateau stands flat topped, Ram Mountain rises above,
Lorna Lake lies glacier fed and turquoise, cradled by the walls it loves.

Chorus
Big Creek Park, wide and wandering vein,
From tundra plateaus to the marshy plain.
It hold the paths of sheep and bear,
It blends the Coast and Chilcotin air.
Guards these domes and milky streams,
So predator and prey can keep their dreams.

Verse 3
Grizzlies roam the valleys, black bears vanish into night.
Mule deer climb to summer ranges, California bighorns migrate just right,
Mountain goats on broken faces hang like ghosts above the ledge.
Moose in low wet meadows browse the willow, reed and sedge.

Verse 4
White bark pine on windy knolls holds its cones against the sky,
Douglas fir in drier forests, Engelmann spruce in cooler bands,
Mixed with aspen, grass and marshland in a wide mosaic of land.
Balsam root lights up the hillsides, Indian paintbrush in bright stands.

Chorus
Big Creek Park, wide and wandering vein,
From tundra plateaus to the marshy plain.
It hold the paths of sheep and bear,
It blends the Coast and Chilcotin air.
Guards these domes and milky streams,
So predator and prey can keep their dreams.

Verse 5
Lupine spills a purple river through the sedge and scattered stone,
Wild potatoes bloom in white where the last of snow has gone.
Thimbleberries crowd the trail in heavy August rain,
Sorrel greens the creek side where the water sings its name.

Chorus
Big Creek Park, wide and wandering vein,
From tundra plateaus to the marshy plain.
It hold the paths of sheep and bear,
It blends the Coast and Chilcotin air.
Guards these domes and milky streams,
So predator and prey can keep their dreams.

Verse 1
On the Chilcotin Plateau where the low clouds brush the pines,
Nuntsi holds its quiet basins, off the road and out of time.
Made a park for winter moose where snow lies soft and thin,
In the swampy willow wetlands where their long strong legs move in.

Verse 2
Nuntsi Creek threads beaver ponds and half frozen oxbow bends,
Carrying the muskeg’s secrets down through meadows without end.
It flows into Taseko River where canyon walls rise high,
With small lakes strung like silver beads beneath the wide interior sky.

Chorus
Nuntsi holds its quiet ground,
For moose and bear and wolf to roam around.
Creek to Taseko, plateau to sky,
Wetlands shining where the wild hearts lie.
We pass through softly, it remains,
A living refuge on the Chilcotin plain.

Verse 3
Sub boreal pine and spruce stand in ragged, shifting bands,
Engelmann and subalpine fir climb the colder, higher lands.
Black and grizzly bear move through, wolf and cougar share the trail,
Mule deer, marten, hare and muskrat write their stories in the gale.

Verse 4
Here the wetlands, small dark lakes, are a summer choir for wings,
Waterfowl on mirrored water, hidden nests in sedge ringed rings.
Beaver dams and muskrat channels slow the dark and gentle flow,
While moose browse willow in the hush and deep of winter snow.

Chorus
Nuntsi holds its quiet ground,
For moose and bear and wolf to roam around.
Creek to Taseko, plateau to sky,
Wetlands shining where the wild hearts lie.
We pass through softly, it remains,
A living refuge on the Chilcotin plain.

Verse 1
Chilko Lake lies long and blue beneath the glacier carved stone,
Largest high lake in the country, cold and clear and all its own.
Chilko Mountain, Good Hope’s ridges, Tatlow watching from on high,
Guard the lagoons and creeks where blue water meets the sky.

Chorus
Tsʹilɂos, of mountains wild and deep blue waters cold,
Chilko winds and Tchaikazan carve the stories never told.
Grizzly tracks and bighorn paths where fir meets alpine snow,
We’re only passing through its heart—may it forever freely flow.

Verse 2
Chilko River leaves the lake in a rush of salmon fire,
Sockeye, chinook and bull trout driving hard against the wire.
Tchaikazan cuts a glacier road through meadows, plains and ice,
Five white tongues feed braided channels on the leeward mountains’ side.

Chorus
Tsʹilɂos, of mountains wild and deep blue waters cold,
Chilko winds and Tchaikazan carve the stories never told.
Grizzly tracks and bighorn paths where fir meets alpine snow,
We’re only passing through its heart—may it forever freely flow.

Verse 3
Douglas fir at lower slopes, dry alpine high and bare,
Brightly coloured mountains, plains and meadows there.
Grizzly, bighorn, fisher, wolverine and eagle ride this range,
Amphibians in quiet pools feel every subtle climate change.

Chorus
Tsʹilɂos, of mountains wild and deep blue waters cold,
Chilko winds and Tchaikazan carve the stories never told.
Grizzly tracks and bighorn paths where fir meets alpine snow,
We’re only passing through its heart—may it forever freely flow.

Verse 1
From the edge of Coastal rain to the dry Chilcotin wind,
This valley holds a hidden treasure where two climates blend.
Coastal rainforests, icefields high, and lowland marshy floor,
One protected passage to Tatlayoko Lake’s stormy shores.

Verse 2
The Homathko River runs free from Tatlayoko’s windy shore,
Down through Waddington Canyon where the rock walls roar.
Mosley Creek brings wetland dreams, a maze of pools and sedge,
All of it bound for Bute Inlet at the continent’s far edge.

Chorus
Homathko winds, Tatlayoko blue,
Rainforest to plateau all in view.
Mosley’s wetlands, icefields high,
Old growth forests reaching for the sky.
Keep this valley wild and wide,
Deer and salmon can still ride the tide.

Verse 3
Hemlock drips in coastal shade where the valley narrows down,
Dry Douglas fir and open aspen rise where slopes turn brown.
Old growth stands give winter shelter when snow lies deep and slow,
Extensive wetlands, quiet ponds, let the migratory waters flow.

Verse 4
Mule deer climb to summer ridges, moose feed in the marshy bends,
Mountain goats on cliff and skyline, grizzlies walking river glens.
Salmon run the Homathko, bringing ocean fire upstream,
Feeding bear and eagle, forest soil and every hidden stream.

Chorus
Homathko winds, Tatlayoko blue,
Rainforest to plateau all in view.
Mosley’s wetlands, icefields high,
Old growth forests reaching for the sky.
Keep this valley wild and wide,
Deer and salmon can still ride the tide.

Verse 1
Called Klinaklini from the native word for eulachon grease,
Grease Trail through the mountains where old trade never ceased.
A true wild stretch of river, no marked trails to show the way,
Just the middle reach where the watershed breathes and sways.

Verse 2
Here the river runs between the ice cut walls of rock and rain,
Upper Klinaklini’s channels twist through gravel, sand and plain.
It’s a valley bottom lifeline in the rugged Coast Range stone,
Carrying cold mountain water toward its estuary home.

Chorus
Klinaklini, wild and free,
Grease Trail river running to the sea.
Between the icefields and the clouds,
Grizzlies walk where no road crowds.
Keep this valley whole and strong,
For birds in flight and the old trade song.

Verse 3
This is a flyway for migratory birds that ride the wind,
A major route, resting where the river bends and thins.
Grizzly bears move through valleys on their quiet, searching run,
Linking dry plateau and coastline, spring to berry ripened sun.

Verse 4
No easy road, no signs to point the way,
Only maps, navigation skills and true wild days
So let this hidden corridor stay rough, intact and wide,
For salmon, bears, and the beating wings that ride.

Chorus
Klinaklini, wild and free,
Grease Trail river running to the sea.
Between the icefields and the clouds,
Grizzlies walk where no road crowds.
Keep this valley whole and strong,
For birds in flight and the old trade song.

Verse 1
Where the Nechako Plateau falls away to painted stone,
Rainbow Range lifts lava domes the glaciers have carved and honed.
Ancient shield volcano, slopes in rust and gold and green,
Coloured flanks remember fire beneath the ice scarred seams.

Verse 2
On the eastern edge the Turner lakes lie high and cold and clear,
A hanging chain of mountain bowls all spilling toward the sheer.
Hunlen Falls drops clean and single from that last blue, silent pool,
A white thread plunge to Atnarko’s floor and canyon walls.

Chorus
Tweedsmuir wide, where the painted mountains rise,
From Turner’s lakes to Hunlen’s falling sky.
Shield volcano, river, peak and plain,
Nechako border to the coastal rain.
Keep these ranges wild and whole,
For every hoofprint, wing and ancient soul.

Verse 3
Atnarko River cuts its way from glacier down to rain,
Bella Coola’s deep cut valley holds the memory of that strain.
Musclow Lake and northern headwaters meet the Nechako edge,
North and south Tweedsmuir span plateau to mountain ledge.

Verse 4
Here the park is full of ranges where big wildlife lives and roams,
Caribou on snowy plateaus, goats on broken alpine domes.
Mule deer, moose, black bear and grizzly, cougar, wolves, wolverine,
Find a refuge in these valleys, coloured peaks and lakes between.

Chorus
Tweedsmuir wide, where the painted mountains rise,
From Turner’s lakes to Hunlen’s falling sky.
Shield volcano, river, peak and plain,
Nechako border to the coastal rain.
Keep these ranges wild and whole,
For every hoofprint, wing and ancient soul.

Verse 1
Lower Dean runs cold through cedar shade and rain,
A steep walled Coast Range corridor cut by ice and strain.
From the inland ridges westward to the salty breathing tide,
This conservancy holds the last long bend before the ocean wide.

Verse 2
Chum salmon come home on autumn currents from the far sea,
Silver backs and mottled flanks pushing hard to spawn and lead.
Gravel beds and side stream channels glow with restless, beating tails,
Life returning to the river in a thousand scarlet veils.

Chorus
Dean River running to the sea,
Last mile where the salmon still run free.
Grizzly tracks on the stony shore,
Ocean’s heart beating inland once more.
Hold this corridor deep and long,
For fish and bear and the river’s own song.

Verse 3
Grizzlies pace the river’s margins where the ripples flash and foam,
Pulling salmon from the shallows, feeding up before the snow.
This is one of few deep valleys cutting all the way on through,
Letting bears move coast to interior on a path the salmon drew.

Verse 4
Hemlock, cedar, Sitka spruce lean close above the flow,
Old, rain dark coastal forest where the moss and lichen glow.
Eagles, owls and river birds share the scent of fish and rain,
In a narrow, guarded ribbon where machines don’t drown the wild’s refrain.

Chorus
Dean River running to the sea,
Last mile where the salmon still run free.
Grizzly tracks on the stony shore,
Ocean’s heart beating inland once more.
Hold this corridor deep and long,
For fish and bear and the river’s own song.

Verse 1
Out on the West Chilcotin where the lava plains roll wide,
Itcha Ilgachuz rises like an island from the tide.
Basalt flows and high plateaus, lakes and wetlands stitched between,
Grassland, forest, muskeg shining in a thousand shades of green.

Verse 2
Itcha Range and Ilgachuz are old shield fires gone cold,
Built by the Anahim hotspot as the plate kept drifting slow.
Rounded domes and eroded canyons, lava shoulders scarred with snow,
Colourful, gentle sloping summits watch the spruce and willows grow.

Chorus
Itcha Ilgachuz, wide and high,
Shield born mountains under Chilcotin sky.
Caribou trails over lava and snow,
Bighorn and wolves where the west winds blow.
Keep this upland wild and true,
For every hoof and paw that’s passing through.

Verse 3
This is caribou country, shallow snow and lichen plain,
Largest southern woodland herd still roaming in wind and rain.
Moose and mule deer in the valleys, bighorn sheep on rocky spines,
Mountain goats on broken ridges where the cloud and sunlight rhyme.

Verse 4
Wolves, cougars, black and grizzly bears move through this crown,
Following the highland trails where rivers tumble down.
Here the uplands keep their stories in each hoofprint, wing and track,
Holding space where the shield volcanoes rise and crack.

Chorus
Itcha Ilgachuz, wide and high,
Shield born mountains under Chilcotin sky.
Caribou trails over lava and snow,
Bighorn and wolves where the west winds blow.
Keep this upland wild and true,
For every hoof and paw that’s passing through.

Verse 1
On the Nechako uplands where the low clouds hang and drift,
Entiako holds its pine and spruce in one unbroken gift.
Sub boreal woods and wetlands, lichens sifting through the snow,
Fawnie Mountains on the skyline where the granites slowly show.

Verse 2
This is winter home for caribou on quiet lichen ground,
Tweedsmuir–Entiako herd circling in a shrinking round.
They nose through wind scoured forest breaks where horsehair lichens cling,
Moving soft between the trunks while wolves and moose share everything.

Chorus
Entiako, deep and still,
Caribou forest on the snowy hill.
From Fawnie peaks to Nechako’s line,
It guards this web of fur and pine.
Keeps its winters wide and slow,
So hoof and paw can cross the lichen snow.

Verse 3
Moose grizzlies, wolves and black bears, muskeg, lake and stream,
Coyotes, lynx and red fox hunt the forest’s twilight seams.
River otter, mink and marten, beaver, muskrat, squirrels red,
All the small and secret movers keep this tangled web well fed.

Verse 4
Grizzly, wolverine and fisher roam this untouched lowland shield,
Blue listed like trumpeter swan on quiet winter fields.
Nechako River’s altered flow still whispers at the park’s far rim,
Kokanee, trout and whitefish turn the cold dark lakes within.

Chorus
Entiako, deep and still,
Caribou forest on the snowy hill.
From Fawnie peaks to Nechako’s line,
It guards this web of fur and pine.
Keeps its winters wide and slow,
So hoof and paw can cross the lichen snow.