The Deadman Valley runs north for over 50 km from the Trans-Canada Highway, a scenic drive, but also a good route to explore lakes, falls, hoodoos, and backcountry routes.   Each time we make the whole-day trip, we pick new points of interest for more exploration.   Last year, it was Deadman Falls, Sherwood hoodoos, and Snohoosh Lake (Deadmans Tour).   This year it was Deadman Falls, Deadman Gorge, and Deadman Lake.   On our next trip, we will paddle Hihium Lake and hike up to Split Rock.

We drove up the length of the valley right to the trailhead to Deadman Falls and walked to the brink of the canyon.   The river was rushing down to the edge of the basalt lava cliffs where it plunged 200 feet to the bottom of the gorge.   The sources of the Deadman River are the lakes and uplands meadows of the 4000 foot Kukwaus Plateau to the northeast.   The viewpoint on the north side of the gorge is at the top of sheer cliffs, making it difficult to get the full falls into a photo.   It is a spot to show lots of caution.

We followed the rim downstream to a side valley, then scrambled down a very steep slope to the bottom of the gorge at edge of the river.   There was clearly no way to work our way up the gorge to the base of the falls.   It was just a series of cascades surrounded by cliffs on both sides.   We scrambled back up the way we came.

On our way back down the Deadman Valley we stopped at the Deadman Lake Recreation Site for lunch before launching our kayaks for a paddle around the lake.

This lake is surrounded by forest and a complete circuit is only 3.2 km.   A mother loon had a hatchling on her back on the north end of the lake.   There are a couple of summer homes on the lake, but there was no one around on a weekday in May.

Lava flow cliffs and sculpted erosion slopes can be viewed along the 50 km length of the valley, all requiring further exploration, another reason to return to the Deadman River Valley.