Starting from the recreation area's day-use parking lot, Zosia and I walked to the west end of the campground to cross a bridge spanning Vicary Creek near its confluence with Racehorse Creek.  Both creeks were raging torrents, and we already had serious doubts about the feasibility of fording Racehorse Creek safely.  Spirko's trip report mentions a shallower crossing further upstream, and we continued westward along the south bank in vain hope that we would find such a spot.  Eventually, we had to concede that fording Racehorse Creek was out of the question on this day, but we were not yet ready to give up on ascending the hill which looked tantalizingly close.  Consulting my GPS map, we spotted a major road to the west that appeared to cross over to the north bank of Racehorse Creek, but of course, we were not absolutely certain if a bridge existed there.  Furthermore, this would lengthen our approach considerably, but we had all day and were up for an adventure.  Getting to the road would not be easy though.  While there are numerous cattle or game trails running along the south bank of Racehorse Creek, they become increasingly intermittent further upstream (west).  More than once, we had to climb high above the creek to avoid either impenetrable deadfall or eroding cliffs.  We eventually veered away from the creek and ended up in a series of large cut blocks.  Besides the usual slash and ankle-breaking logging debris, we had to tiptoe through numerous swampy sections which added to the unpleasantness of hiking through the cut blocks.  Ultimately, we reached the road as marked on the map, and to our great relief, the road crosses Racehorse Creek on a good bridge.  In retrospect, we could have driven to this bridge from the forestry trunk road, and I have earmarked this area for future exploration.

On the north side of Racehorse Creek, Zosia and I followed the road for about half a kilometre before turning onto an ATV road (orange marker "229").  This is actually the same ATV road found by Spirko and mentioned earlier in this report.  We followed the ATV road for a little less than a kilometre before abandoning it at a hairpin turn to go up yet another cut block.  Thankfully, this one was drier than the ones south of the creek, and we soon picked up a cattle trail which we followed across a shallow ravine.  On the other side of the ravine, we entered an open meadow at the base of a forested ridge that winds up the west and northwest sides of Horsefly Hill.  Ascending this ridge was straightforward, and we had no further difficulties climbing up to the high point of the hill.

Just as Zosia and I settled down for a lunch break on top of Horsefly Hill, an ATV rider named Derek and his dog, Kona, came up Spirko’s route from the east.  He had started from Dutch Creek to the north and, as such, did not come from the aforementioned eastern terminus of the ATV road.  Having just started ATV riding and being unfamiliar with many of the routes in the area, he could not confirm if there was another bridge over Racehorse Creek east of Horsefly Hill.  Although Kona was eager to play “fetch” with us, Derek convinced her that it was time to leave, and they promptly departed to let us finish our lunch in peace.  Zosia and I discussed our options for descent and ultimately decided to simply back out the same way we came rather than risk having to ford the raging creek if we were not lucky enough to find another bridge to the east.

Zosia and I had no trouble descending the same ridge we ascended, and we even ran into Derek and Kona again when we regained the ATV road.  Back on the south side of the creek, we were a little more efficient at finding cattle trails through the large cut blocks, but we ran into some route-finding problems later when we re-entered forest and stayed too low in the valley.  We then tried staying on higher ground and ended up in another series of cut blocks which were again quite swampy, but at least there were fewer ups and downs and less deadfall.  We finally re-entered forest near the last bend in the creek and soon connected with the good trails close to the first bridge.  The remaining walk back to the day-use parking lot was easy.

In retrospect, Spirko's route probably makes the most sense as long as fording the creek is feasible.  If water levels are too high, then the bridge further north would be the simplest access, and the entire ascent can be done along the ATV road perhaps with the help of a bicycle.  There is still some merit to the ridge route that Zosia and I climbed, but it would be much easier to drive to the western bridge than to muddle on foot along the south bank of Racehorse Creek.

	At the start of the hike, Zosia crosses a bridge over Vicary Creek right at its confluence with Racehorse Creek.
	Zosia searches in vain for a suitable place to ford Racehorse Creek on this day.
	Zosia makes her way through the tedious slash of several large cut blocks.
	Zosia is relieved to find a good bridge along a forestry road to cross over to the north side of Racehorse Creek.  Horsefly Hill is visible in the distance through the trees.
	Here is a more complete view of Horsefly Hill from the forestry road.
	Zosia crosses a bridge over Wintering Creek.
	Zosia turns off from the forestry road to follow an ATV road.
	The ATV road crosses Salt Creek on this bridge.
	After abandoning the ATV road, Zosia ascends an open meadow toward the forested ridge at left.  The top of Horsefly Hill is directly ahead of her.
	The forested ridge presents no significant challenges.
	Higher up the ridge, there are good views of the High Rock Range to the west.
	Zosia crosses a slight dip to reach the northwest ridge of Horsefly Hill.
	Zosia ascends the final stretch before the top.
	Zosia reaches the top of Horsefly Hill.  Visible on the horizon at far right is McGillivray Ridge.
	Zosia and Sonny stand on the high point of Horsefly Hill (1871 metres).
	An ATV enthusiast, Derek, and his dog, Kona, descend the east side of Horsefly Hill.  Visible on the right horizon is Thunder Mountain.

Here is the view to the southeast from the top of Horsefly Hill.

 

Here is the view to the southwest from the top of Horsefly Hill.

 

On the descent, Zosia follows a convenient cattle track across a ravine.

Here is a last look at Horsefly Hill from one of the cut blocks on the south side of Racehorse Creek.

 

	Sonny stands under a natural arch. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Total Distance:  16.6 kilometres Round-Trip Time:  7 hours 55 minutes Cumulative Elevation Gain:  527 metres GPX Data