Canada Bridge River Mototrek ADVenture: A Change of Plans

A Change of Plans

After lunch and and enjoying the views and tranquility of Mowson Pond (more of a lake if you ask me), my next goal was to tour up to Gun Lake.

But first, my maps told me I had to drop down in elevation to Carpenter Lake. Boy oh boy that was fun and beautiful.


The pictures I took here don’t tell the whole story. Despite the cloud cover and the serenity of the lake, it was HOT and HUMID. It was about 2:00 in the afternoon now (remember, I got a late start).

I made my way along the Southwest Shore and passed by the Gun Creek Campground. A really nice BC hydro rec site that is FREE to stay at. More on this place later. But, I made a mental note of this place as there is an old town site nearby that was covered by the reservoir when the Bridge Rive was dammed. I wanted to visit this place if there was time.



From there I found the Slim Creek Mainline road that went back up in elevation towards Gun Lake. Again the views were stupendous. In fact, I came around a bend and there was a clearing of trees next to a huge drop off looking up into the heart of the Bridge River Valley. Whoa!! I had to stop and take some pics and do some aerial photography. All I can say is wow. I refer folks to see the video presentation of my trip to fully grasp the wow factor. My pics and even my aerial video don’t really capture the full emotion that I experienced. Just another storybook scene. I really felt like I was in some magical place. And the truth be told. In my mind, I really was.







I didn’t feel the vibe when I reached Gun lake. Again, there was a mass of activity with quads, cars and lakeside cabins. All beautiful and such. Don’t get me wrong. I was really wanting more of a solitude experience. I looked at my maps and briefly considered going up the Slim Creek Forest Service road into a deep fjord-like canyon. I was unsure the road would be big bike friendly or not and it was an in and out excursion. I had plans to see GoldBridge and Bralorne and hopes of going over to Seton Portage by the end of the day. Soo, I opted out. Turns out, I think I should have gave it a go. According to Google maps, it looks to be pretty awesome up that way as it skirts the southern edge of the Chilcotin Mtns and heads into the heart of the coastal glacial fields. Damn... 20-20 hindsight. I wish I had tried this. Something to try next time.





Next on the tour was a brief kiss with Downton Lake and a view of the Downton Lake dam. Tons and tons of bear scat on the road in this area. Soo much fresh poo, that I was surprised that I didn’t see a little black bear ... or in my dream, a nice Grizzly cross the road to the lake.



I could see Mt Truax behind the dam and that was where I was heading. Through Gold Bridge and the town of Bralorne.

As I was running low on fuel, I was able to get gas at a self service fuel station in Gold Bridge. I was having some issues with it as, it appeared that one had to create an account first before one could pump fuel. It was all confusing to me. To make things worse, the LED display was quite dim in the afternoon sun and was very hard to read. Fortunately, a first nations gent was walking by... pushing a wheeled cart up hill actually. He stopped by and gave me a hand and some good instructions. He was giggling a bit, as he immediately knew the issue I was having. I thanked him and moved on.

Not much to really see in down town Gold Bridge. It has a population of 45 people, a pub and a hotel. The real treat lies in the road going up to the mines in Bralorne. Along the way there, some incredible views can be had looking deep into the gorges and coastal mountains.



At one particular pullout, there is a historical marker that recants some of the history of the mining in the area. From this vantage point, the views were remarkable and worthy of a several minutes of staring into the immense mountain and gorges and the Black Bird River below.





In any event, I made my way into Bralorne. I was running short on time and it was still miserably hot and humid, even at this altitude. I had my cameras rolling and even took a tour of the mining museum, all with my GoPro. Unfortunately, I later learned that despite being on and recording, I got no footage. This has happened to me before. Some malfunction of the camera. As a result, I am missing all my video, pictures and footage from this part of my adventure. Bummmer!!

Stay tuned for more...