Cliff Kopas fell in love with the "wild country" when he was a boy, and he never got over it. Here are stories and photos from four memorable pack trips he took in the 1920s and 1930s, compiled by his son Leslie.

In his teen years, Kopas and a buddy packed out from the Chilcotin to Banff and Lake Louise. Later, Cliff and his young wife accompanied medics to remote Ulkatcho Indian settlements, where they met Clayton Mack, the famous Nuxalk hunting guide. In the third story, on horseback in the dead of winter, Kopas and Mack face howling snow and howling wolves. In the last story, three travellers in Tweedsmuir Park confront wasps, wind and grizzlies.

Cliff Kopas (1911-1978) was born and raised in southern Alberta. As a teenager, he undertook packhorse trips into the nearby Rocky Mountains. Then, in 1933, he and his first wife, Ruth, travelled by horseback along Alexander Mackenzie`s route to the Pacific Ocean. At Bella Coola, Cliff worked as a writer and photographer while supplementing his income as a fish guardian and bookkeeper.

In 1937, with his second wife, Mae, he opened a general store, which is still in business today. Cliff and Mae were active in the community and prominent in the completion of the "Freedom Road" portion of the famous Chilcotin Highway. In addition to Bella Coola (originally published in 1970), he wrote No Path But My Own (completed by his son Leslie in 1996).

Cliff Kopas' profile page

Leslie Kopas has worked in forestry and as a museum curator. He lives in Vancouver.

Leslie Kopas' profile page