Canada Bridge River Mototrek ADVenture: Heading Home

Heading Home

Having a hard time getting to sleep in the early hours of the evening due to the heat. However, I did manage to doze off into the night and dream. My alarm went off promptly at 5:30 am. I was a bit startled and briefly thought about rolling over and closing my eyes. But I had a long day ahead of me. Sooo I got up and packed my gear (tent, sleeping bag, pad, etc...)



I made some breakfast and headed out towards Lillooet. Awe, life was good this morning. The temperatures were in the 60’s F range and it felt good to ride in cool air. I was really digging the views down Carpenter lake in the Early morning sun.



At one point, I came around a turn and almost hit a doe deer and her babies. They were licking the road (calcite I assume). No pictures or video as they hurried up the mountainside to get out of harms way. Further on down the road I came across some sheep doing the same thing. Again, I didn’t have time to get my camera on ad running before they scurried up the mountainside into the trees.

Not long after that I came upon Marshall Falls. I made a quick stop here to admire them.







As I traveled down the lake towards Terzaghi Dam, it was hard to resist stopping and enjoying the immense eye candy. I had to keep my eye on the road. But I did a few more stops and looked out on the other side of the lake examining old logging cuts and contemplating if there are any accessible roads on that side of the lake to explore. Of course that would have to wait for another time... but still it’s nice to dream.











I was seriously thinking about heading up over Mission Mountain and over to Seton Portage and through Anderson Lake. I was severely tempted.

As I approached Terzaghi Dam, I made the turn to head up to Porcupine Bluffs. It meant riding through the tunnel and climbing up the side of Mission Mountain to a nice pullout.






Porcupine Bluffs is known to me, in my heart as Stairway to Heaven. The views from there are stupendous to say the least. It’s a place of peace and quiet and reflection. Although the Bridge River complex is an example of poor ecological planning and execution, it didn’t detract at all from the emotions I feel every time I arrive here. Looking at the pics, I think you’ll agree with me.

I decided to shoot some aerial video here to take home with me as personal memory and I included it in some of my video.

About those thoughts on going over to Seton Portage and Anderson Lake via the Highline road. I checked my maps, additional mileage and time it would incur. I decided that if I was to arrive home at a decent hour in my home state of Washington, I would have to forgo that leg. Bummer! As I am still a working man, I wanted to be home in time for a nice dinner with my wife and a hot bath with a good nights sleep to be ready for work the next day.

Soo I took off and retraced my route back to Lillooet from 2 days before. It is a great ride as well, but I had already seen this. It is worth seeing again of course, but missing out on the Highline road was a tough pill to swallow. Too much too see and too little time. I look forward to my retirement when time will not be an issue and my only worries will be fuel range.

So with that in mind, I retraced my steps and made my way to Lillooet, past Horseshoe Bend and the cliffy roads with the Bridge River flowing far below me in the canyon.

I took highway 12 back to Lytton and noted the fires on the west side of the Fraser River still burning out of control. Helicopters were buzzing around the mountain like mosquitoes. Sadly, when I arrived in Lytton, the entire town was being razed. The entire hamlet had been a victim of fires last year. Poor folks. It appears that the re-building process is happening. I’ll probably be back next year to witness the progress.

I had a non eventful trip down Hwy 1 to Hope. I then made my way to Abbotsford and crossed the Sumas border in Washington State. I was only an hour and a half from home now. I called my wife and she stated that she would have dinner ready, a warm bath waiting and that the gate and the barn door would be open when I arrived home. I love her so much. She has always been extremely supportive of my adventures. She can no longer ride with me on such trips due to her health. I always call her when I can and tell her she is in my heart and in pocket looking out upon the world as I see it when I ride. She excitedly looks forward to my pictures, videos and more importantly the descriptive stories I share on my adventures. Ever man should be so lucky.

Thanks for riding along with me.

~GrizzLee

Canada Bridge River Mototrek ADVenture: A Change of Plans cont...

A Change of Plans cont...

So I cannot show you much on the Bralorne townsite.

I crossed the Black Bird River on the Bralorne-Hurley Cutoff road and noticed a new, large mining compound has been built. There is definitely a renewed interest in precious minerals for sure. Further down I noticed a new tailings pond in the works.



Along the way I had a handful of water crossings as the heat was melting the late fall snow fast.




The picture quality is low as I took it off my video. But you get the idea.



I stopped several times to enjoy the beauty of this connector route.


The route follows along the base of Mt Noel until it spits out on the Hurley Forest Service Road proper.






I started on the Hurley Forest Service road with the intention of going to Pemberton and then over to Seton Portage via D’Arcy. I stopped in the shade to have a snack and enjoy some shade. Is was still in the 90’s F and humid. I was feeling a bit fatigued. I looked at my watch and it was 4:30. Google estimated 4+ hours to Seton Portage. It looks like sleeping in this morning finally caught up to me. I decided to turn around and go over to the Gun Creek Campground and see if I had time to explore the ghost town of Minto.



I arrived at the Bralorne-Hurley connector road and said to myself, “what the hell”, let’s ride this again back to Bralorne. So that’s what I did. Looking or Grizzlies.



I didn’t see any Grizzlies, but I did take a picture of my license plate J



I arrived at Gun Creek and decided that I had time to take a self-guided tour of the old Minto Town site.

Minto was an old mining town built in the 1930’s and is located at the confluence of Gun Creek and the Bridge River (Now Carpenter lake). The mining settlement was later used as a Japanese-Canadian internment center. It was destroy by a flood in 1949, just before it was buried under water from the Carpenter Lake reservoir. Lots and lots of artifcats can be found out here. In my short vist, I found a vehicle chassis, multiple building foundations, a 6 cylinder engine block, fire hydrant, old shoes, conduit and piping strewn across the old townsite. It is a pretty cool place to visit just for artifact finding alone. There is beauty here as well.








Afterwards, I went and made camp at the Gun Creek Campground. It was still hot and Gun Creek was overflowing the banks a bit with all the snow melt. It was running so high and fast, tha the campsites near the creek were roped off so that folks wouldn’t be heading to the creek (river?) and possibly get swept away. This is a real danger as for someone like me, as I had to draw water and pump it from there as I didn’t have any water with me. I found a safe place near the bridge along teh Carpenter lake Rd



After I set up my tent and cooled off with a nice cool toweling from the icy river water, I made my dinner. Actually, I boiled water and had some icy lemonade with my dehydrated mountain house meal. I spent the evening walking around the campground and reading my book. I then drifted off to sleep, never putting my rain fly on my tent and using my sleeping bag as a light blanket. It stayed very warm all through the night.




Next up, my last day and the ride home...
 

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...

Canada Bridge River Mototrek ADVenture: A Perfect Start To Another Day

A Perfect Start To Another Day

After the awesome evening, I found myself sleeping in a bit. I am normally an early riser, but this particular morning, I rolled out of my tent about 9:00. That was a great sleep that I haven’t had in a looong time.

The view out my tent was exceptional. To top it off, Loons were calling. If you have never heard the call of a Loon on a clear mountain morning on a lake such as this, you are missing out on one of life’s great pleasures of mountain camping



I slowly got up and made some breakfast. Oatmeal and coffee. Yummy.



Afterwards, I made a small campfire to burn my trash. It was at this point when I heard a quad coming up the road by the lake. A gentlemen came by and made the announcement that he was the local Fire Marshall. Oh no! I thought. With the extreme heat, I bet there is a fire ban. He informed me that indeed there is a fire ban, but given my small fire in an existing fire ring and the fact that I was in a damp area on the lake, he wasn’t concerned and stated that it was OK. In fact, he stated that the means by which I travel, he said it was a good idea not to have trash hanging off my bike in the bush.

He told me he saw me the evening before as I wandered down the side road of Marshall Lake to explore. He owns one of the cabins and was part of a group I saw on a deck overlooking the lake. He stated that I should have stopped in and he would’ve offered me a beer. At the time, I thought I may have been trespassing, so I didn’t hang around. I mentioned that I was going to Tyaughton Lake and he gave me some great direction with distances. When I checked the GPS, It was clear that it was wrong and I would’ve missed a turn and possibly ended up going up to mud lakes. From google, it looks like there is some roads through there and a possible route to get over behind Churn Creek much, much farther north. However, that is an adventure of exploration I may do on a smaller bike with a buddy. It looks pretty dicey up that way.

I packed up camp and ended up leaving around 11:00 am. This is unusually late for me. But hey, I was on vacation. So what’s the hurry?






As I made my way out of camp, I got one last look at Marshall Lake. I kissed it goodbye and moved on.

Before long I found myself high up in the mountains with great views looking south. I was able to get peek-a-boo views of Carpenter Lake in the deep fjord below. The mood, the silence, the smells and the view were so good, that I wish I could stay and sit to soak it all in for hours.



I soon found myself traveling along the Tyaughton River. It was running fast and cold. I came to a cattle crossing and a wooden bridge in a small gorge. Someone pinch me, I must be dreaming. Fantastic riding through here.



Soon after I found myself up on a ridge and dropped a bit into the lap of Tyaughton Lake. Traffic around here was unexpected. Quads and motorcycles were littering the road. Suddenly and without warning, I felt I was out of the wilderness. I made a quick stop to see Tyax Lodge. If I ever acquire wealth, I may consider staying there $$$. I made my way down in elevation and ended up at Mowson Pond. There is a nifty rec site there where I had a snack. I had unobstructed views to Mt Sloan, which rises above the Hurley road on the other side of Gold Bridge.

Stay Tuned...

 

Canada Bridge River Mototrek ADVenture (Movie)

Ok gang... I interrupt this written account with a pre-emptive video "Bik-u-mentary" of this trip. Spoilers for sure.. but I'll fill in the details.

I advise that you grab some popcorn and a beer. Sit back and watch the show in stereo on a hi-def display. Join me around this virtual campfire and share some tales.

Canada Bridge River Mototrek ADVenture: A Cool Ending

A Cool Ending

After parting ways with Dr K, I admit, I was a little blue. I was soo excited to have a riding chum this go around. However, as I entered the Bridge River Valley, most of that feeling dissipated as I had eye candy to distract me. Oh, and the heat. Boy oh boy was it hot. 97 degrees Fahrenheit (36 C). With my gear and heat coming off the bike, it was pretty intense, especially with the humidity out this way.

 

I stopped to shoot some drone footage and did take a few snapshots along the way. Stopping in the hot sun, was worse than riding with the breeze. So stops were going to be kept at a minimum.

Riding into the mouth of the Bridge River Valley is amazing. A road such as this is unlike anything one would experience in the United States. As a major thoroughfare in the states, it would have signage, speed limits posted and guard rails, etc.. None of this exists out here along a narrow road hugging the mountainside following the Bridge River far below. It is a really neat riding experience.

 

I soon found myself at Horseshoe Bend. This is a geological wonder and very scenic. When the glacial dams gave way from the last ice age, a barrage of water came rushing through form the mountains and slammed against the mountainside with incredible force. Out of the narrow gorge at high speed, it made a nice horseshoe type turn to push its way towards the Fraser canyon. Hoodoos and green glacial water make for spectacular viewing today. One can only imagine what it would be like today if the river hadn’t been dammed farther up the canyon.

 

Just a bit further up one can see the Yalacom river rushing into join in the fun. It joins the Bridge River from a side canyon at nearly 90 degrees and the road cuts right through the middle of the canyon creating a storybook scene.

From here I descended into the valley gorge and enjoyed a bit of a reprieve from the heat. The narrow gorge and ice fed river sitting in the shade made up for the heat higher up. I drifted off into a trance as the world around me seemed unreal and imaginary.

 

 

I did not see another vehicle until I came to the Terzaghi Dam at the head of Carpenter Lake. Then the temperature went up to the 90’s again. I suspect that the sun reflecting off the lake acted like a mirror and the valley gorge now had a east-west orientation and the afternoon sun shown straight down the lake.

 

 

There is a tunnel at the dam, just for grins I rode through it and shot some video. I then headed back up the north side of Carpenter lake. My destination, a snap decision, was to go to Marshall Lake. I saw a rec site on a map there and being that it was in the trees and at higher elevation, I was hoping it would be much cooler. In the mean time, I just couldn’t take it any more. I had to stop and take some pictures of Carpenter lake and share them with friends and family. The scenery was intense. I also had to take a pee. But that’s besides the point or what some may call TMI.

 

Just look at that view eh? Memories were being made and I was fortunate enough to capture them with my camera.

From there I made my way up off of Carpenter Lake up the mountainside to Marshall Lake. I arrived at a very small... very small rec site. Fortunately it was devoid of humans. I had it all to myself.

 

The sun tucked in behind the clouds, it was shady and a breeze was coming down the lake. For awhile, the temps dropped to 78 degrees F or so. It sure felt good.

A quick check of the lake and it was perfect to go for a swim. Afterwards I washed my clothes and hung them out to dry overnight. What a cool place to end my day. The sounds of the loons calling and the glassy smooth lake was a nice way to bookend my day. I sat by a little fire I made near the lake soaking it all in, wishing I had a cool one to wash it all down. But never mind that. I had mother nature stroking my all my senses and emotions ... it sure felt great to be alive and out of the hustle and bustle of my daily routines at home.

Epilog: 

I had set my tent up near the lake. Sometime during the dead of the night I heard something pounding around behind me near the lake and then I heard a big splash. I quickly grabbed my headlamp and looked out of the tent, but I couldn’t see anything. A bear, a deer, a moose? I dunno. But it was a big animal judging by the splash I heard. As I lay there trying to get back to sleep, I heard something else a bit later. Wolves on the mountainside howling. There were a few cabins farther down the lake from me and I heard dogs reply back in kind... echoing down the lake. The wolf howls were replied to in kind until the wolves disappeared on the other side of the mountain and their howling became fainter and fainter. I drifted off to sleep without further interruptions.