WONDERMENT IN THE WILDERNESS - The Chilko Experience - The Chilko Experience ...
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WONDERMENT
IN THE WILDERNESS The Chilko Experience
Written by Bridget Williams / Photography by Craig Sutherland
It was so quiet that I could hear flesh tearing from bone as one time to reflect on my five days at the Chilko Experience this past
of nature’s predominant predators, standing upright in the water September, which was followed by a trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming
less than 50 feet from the nose of my kayak, gorged on sockeye a few weeks later. Comparing the two, I can state with absolute
salmon. At that moment, grizzly bears outnumbered humans as certainty (and with my apologies to Wyoming and Montana), that
I watched, my mouth agape, as a mother bear roared in protest this was the most soul-satisfying wilderness adventure that I have
as one of her cubs snatched a freshly snagged salmon from her ever been privy to. While wildlife is abundant in the Chilcotin
mouth and triumphantly tromped back to shore. Engrossed in throughout the year, from August through October it is estimated
a moment of motherly camaraderie with this mighty creature, I that one million sockeyes complete a 500-mile journey to reach the
was brought back to reality by a firm warning from my guide, spot where the Chilko River meets glacier-fed Chilko Lake, making
reminding me that bears are capable swimmers and to maintain a easy work of scouting sleuths of bears.
respectable distance. After watching the family dynamic play out There several routes for rambling about in this remoteness, but
for some time, we paddled on in the misty morning, observing I am now at a point in my life where I prefer indoor plumbing over
bald eagles soaring overhead, spying additional grizzlies on the roughing it. At the Chilko Experience, which occupies 25 of the
opposite shore of Chilko Lake, and enjoying the solitude afforded five million acres that comprise the Chilko Valley (approximately
by this pristine parcel of Canadian wilderness. 150 air miles north of Vancouver), I was able to have the best of
For decades, I have regarded the area in and around both worlds: enjoying the greatness of the great outdoors by foot,
Yellowstone National Park as the bellwether for all that I love about water, ATV and horseback, and then having the luxury of returning
the great outdoors. I mention this only after having had some to the comfortable confines of my expansive log home.
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The Tower House
Carl's House The Main House
The adventure begins with the arrival. Although it is possible the area was worth checking out. He heeded the advice and was
to get to Chilko Lake by driving eight hours along mountainous instantly smitten. The romance was rekindled in the late 1990s
roads from Vancouver, I’d advise opting for the 90-minute when Phil returned to Chilko Lake for a fishing trip, prompting
charter flight in a prop plane. While in flight you can spy verdant him to purchase a derelict guest ranch for what was intended to be
mountaintops peeking out from thin blankets of white clouds just a vacation home for his family. Some things, Phil soon decided,
roiling about like the froth on a witches’ brew, as well as taller are simply too special to keep all to yourself.
naked peaks wearing tiaras of snow that sparkle like diamonds Referring to an endeavor as a labor of love is done so often
in the sunlight. Awestruck as I soared above the creeping glacier that the sentiment is often lost, but at the Chilko Experience, I
fields, I felt intoxicated by the thought of what laid in store in can think of no better way to describe Phil and his wife Anne’s
the coming days, and wondered how anything as luxurious at the level of involvement and enduring passion for what they have
Chilko Experience could come to be in this remoteness. created. Phil makes no bones about the monumental effort it
Phil Huston, founder and jack-of-all-trades at the Chilko took to build and then operate a property of this scope in such a
Experience, met us at the grass runway strip, located a short and remote area. “You have to be resourceful and self-sufficient,” he
bumpy ride away from the resort (stretches of unpaved roads are said. For emphasis, he pointed out that five tons of gravel were
a given in the wilderness). A native of Kansas who now lives in crushed on site for the roads, and the nearest grocery store is
Omaha (his next-door neighbor is Warren Buffett), Phil first heard three hours away by car. The property, which can accommodate
of the Chilko region in the 1970s, when a hitchhiker he picked up a maximum of 22 guests at a time, derives ninety-five percent of
on the way back from a car camping expedition in Alaska told him its energy from the sun.
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Hiking with BooBoo on trails above the
Chilko River. Photo by Bridget Williams.
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Construction commenced in 2002 and took five years. An suite boasting an exquisite canopy bed crafted from 800-year-old
architecture buff, Phil jokes that he had to build seven homes on Juniper logs. A lighthearted hand-painted mural in the Main House
the property so that Anne, a former Miss Nebraska and Miss World took 10 days to finish, and depicts fly fishing bears with human
finalist, and now an antiques aficionado, could empty out a warehouse characteristics reflective of important people in the Hustons’ lives.
of furniture and accessories she’d collected over the years. The four log An architectural marvel, the 2,500-square-foot, three-story,
and three timber frame homes were built by Pioneer Log Homes one-bedroom Tower House was built as a private residence for
and featured on the HGTV show Timber Kings. Phil remarked Phil and Anne, but has since entered the lodging portfolio due to
that the entire project was carried out with “a handshake and no demand. Built onsite without plans and at a cost of $1,400 per
bids.” “I have never had so much fun in all of my life,” he reminisced. square foot, Huston refers to the Tower House’s head carpenter as
Sharing only a blue metal roof in common, each of the guest “the Michelangelo of logs,” and beams with pride as he recounts how
cabins are uniquely outfitted in an eclectic and rustic fashion the sinuous deck rail was carved with a chainsaw.
with custom-built furniture cozying up to a mix of antiques Phil is on property all season (June through October), and
hailing from different continents and periods. Positioned near the likens a stay at Chilko to an “estate experience”. “You get to deal
entry of each building at the Chilko Experience is a brass plaque with the owner like an insider...it’s like going to Disney as a friend
naming both the builder and the sentimental name given to each of Walt,” he explained. The Chilko Experience operates like a
structure. I stayed in Carl’s House, a two-story, two-bedroom family compound, with Phil and Anne joining guests around the
cabin designed by Phil so that his friend Carl, a paraplegic, could communal dinner table each evening. Phil’s mandate to the chef
experience the beauty of the Chilcotin. that “flavorful, upscale food be served in a casual fashion,” results
Situated at the head of a verdant lawn that terminates at a 10-acre in a diverse and abundant lineup of hearty fare apropos for fueling
lake, the Main House, also called Tim’s House, is a central gathering myriad outdoor pursuits. During dinner, guests chat with Phil
place where guests congregate for meals, socialize at the lower level bar, and his affable and über-organized general manager, New Zealand
and connect with the outside world, as it is the only place where Wi-Fi Native Craig Sutherland, about what they’d like to do the next day,
is available. There are two guest rooms in the lodge, with a third-floor based on their interests/abilities and weather conditions.
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Chiko Lake is largest
natural high-elevation lake
in North America.
Chendi at his homestead. Muir Lake Axe throwing at the
Chilko Experience.
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Night sky above the Main House
Opportunities for making oneself temporarily inaccessible are these is Chendi, aka Frank Tannenbaum, a Philadelphia native
hard to come by these days; at Chilko they come in spades. With who came to the area in the 1970s and has been living off of
just 1,000 stalwart souls spread out over 32-million acres, don’t the land in the same picturesque plot ever since (and in spite
expect cell service until you return to the Main House. During a of several deportation attempts by Canadian authorities).
day-long fishing expedition, we traveled the entire length of the Sporting a Santa-style beard, often shoeless if the temps are
50-mile Chilko Lake (the largest natural high-elevation lake in above freezing, and amazingly sane to those of us who could
North America), and didn’t see another soul. Stopping at an inlet, not imagine living in such a primitive fashion, Chendi tends
Phil led our group up a loosely defined trail over spongy moss- an organic garden, pulls driftwood from the lake for building
covered rocks to Muir Lake, a secret oasis ringed by mountains materials, has a cell phone and internet access, fashions and
that is open to anyone who knows its whereabouts. We could sells beautiful kitchen implements from exotic woods, and
just discern the rumbling echoes of a 200-foot waterfall obscured would give the Dos Equis pitchman a run for his money as the
by acres of pine forest. A 1980s-era cabin built by a family who most interesting man in the world (albeit for different reasons).
leased the land from the park service sits at the edge of the lake. I arrived at Chendi’s compound wondering how anyone could
Phil unbolted the cabin’s door and pulled out two volumes of a log live so simply, and departed feeling slightly envious of his
book; I felt like I was joining a naturalists’ equivalent of a secret simple subsistence existence.
society as I added my name to the registry. The Chilko Experience is an adventure adaptable for people
Later that day we dropped anchor at a popular fishing spot of all ages and abilities, with Phil and his staff committed to
where a newbie fisherman in our group snagged a bull trout on delivering each guest with a once-in-a-lifetime experience tailored
his first cast. I was content with checking out bear and moose to their interests and expectations. “Mountains, glaciers, rushing
tracks along the shoreline with Anne, and picking up flat rocks rivers, pristine lakes, soaring eagles and wildlife have lifelong
to skip along water so blue and clear it prompted me to reminisce substance. Connecting people to nature at the highest possible
about a snorkeling trip in the Grenadines. level is my greatest enjoyment,” said Phil. All-inclusive rates at the
Because he is so immersed in the local community, Phil Chilko Experience begin at $2,950 per person for 3 nights/4 days.
knows the most colorful places and people to visit. Among For more information visit thechilkoexperience.com. sl
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