RubiKon Adventures

Tales and travels of "GrizzLee", "Looksha Lori" & "Yukon Johann"


Friday, September 16, 2022

Canada Bridge River Mototrek ADVenture: Alternate Plans


Canada Bridge River Mototrek ADVenture:

Alternate Plans

So after all the fiasco of the road washout and a couple of more hours lost time, we regrouped and changed our plans again. Clearly, Blue Earth Provincial Park was out of the question. What do we do now? :hmmmmm

Looking at the maps, we decided to head directly to Kelly Lake (Downing Provincial Park). This meant getting back out on Hwy 1 and heading towards Lytton, and passing through Spence’s Bridge up to Cache Creek and jumping on Hwy 97 to Clinton BC. It was a long haul, but we’d be on hwy and moving faster.

attachFull4152117

All is well. Hmm... Not quite. As we made our way back to Hwy 1 and began heading north, we encountered signage stating road repair ahead. A little farther on we see that there is a one lane road near Jackass Summit. It seems that the Nicomen River Creek bridge crossing was wiped out due to the extensive floods, snow and rain we had this year. Signage indicated up to a 2 hour wait with restrooms available on the side of the road for those in need. A pilot car was to guide us for several kilometers past Jackass Mountain. Sigh?!?  More delays. I figured we’d roll into camp at midnight at this point. :becca

attachFull4152121
One Lane Bailey Bridge on Hwy 1. (not my photo ref: https://canada.constructconnect.com/?p=256502)

Fortunately, the wait through the re-construction zone wasn’t as bad as initially thought. After we got past Jackass summit, we made our way to Lytton and could see the smoke from the fires on the west side of the Fraser River by Lytton. Unknown to me, the entire area from Lytton though the Thompson River valley had burned last year. I was saddened to see all the devastation as I rode through this area. It is still a beautiful ride and very scenic, but the loss of the green trees was a bit much for me to digest.  As I was shooting video, I have no pics of this section of the ride.

We rode through Spences Bridge up to Cache Creek, making good time along the way as traffic was light and the sun was starting to set. I personally got into a grove, a “zen-like” state of mind as the sun was setting over the mountains and the shadows began to take hold in the valleys. We arrived at Clinton, fueled up and headed out to Downing Provincial Park (Kelly Lake). Upon our arrival, I was surprised to see this remote campsite full. We were able to secure the last camp slot. In my past travels, I have only seen a couple of others camped in here. So I was a bit surprised. My alternative plan was to ride up a bite beyond Kelly Lake and in the valley there is some dispersed camping by another lake. That would have been fine by me and maybe a better alternative. But we were here now and it was 8:00 and we were losing light fast. So up with the tents and we made dinner, tucked our bikes in for the night and went to bed. :snore

attachFull4152135

attachFull4152141

Stay tuned...

Alternate Plans

So after all the fiasco of the road washout and a couple of more hours lost time, we regrouped and changed our plans again. Clearly, Blue Earth Provincial Park was out of the question. What do we do now? :hmmmmm

Looking at the maps, we decided to head directly to Kelly Lake (Downing Provincial Park). This meant getting back out on Hwy 1 and heading towards Lytton, and passing through Spence’s Bridge up to Cache Creek and jumping on Hwy 97 to Clinton BC. It was a long haul, but we’d be on hwy and moving faster.

upload_2022-9-16_8-32-17.png

All is well. Hmm... Not quite. As we made our way back to Hwy 1 and began heading north, we encountered signage stating road repair ahead. A little farther on we see that there is a one lane road near Jackass Summit. It seems that the Nicomen River Creek bridge crossing was wiped out due to the extensive floods, snow and rain we had this year. Signage indicated up to a 2 hour wait with restrooms available on the side of the road for those in need. A pilot car was to guide us for several kilometers past Jackass Mountain. Sigh?!? More delays. I figured we’d roll into camp at midnight at this point. :becca

upload_2022-9-16_8-33-1.png
One Lane Bailey Bridge on Hwy 1. (not my photo ref: https://canada.constructconnect.com/?p=256502)

Fortunately, the wait through the re-construction zone wasn’t as bad as initially thought. After we got past Jackass summit, we made our way to Lytton and could see the smoke from the fires on the west side of the Fraser River by Lytton. Unknown to me, the entire area from Lytton though the Thompson River valley had burned last year. I was saddened to see all the devastation as I rode through this area. It is still a beautiful ride and very scenic, but the loss of the green trees was a bit much for me to digest. As I was shooting video, I have no pics of this section of the ride.

We rode through Spence's Bridge up to Cache Creek, making good time along the way as traffic was light and the sun was starting to set. I personally got into a grove, a “zen-like” state of mind as the sun was setting over the mountains and the shadows began to take hold in the valleys. We arrived at Clinton, fueled up and headed out to Downing Provincial Park (Kelly Lake). Upon our arrival, I was surprised to see this remote campsite full. We were able to secure the last camp slot. In my past travels, I have only seen a couple of others camped in here. So I was a bit surprised. My alternative plan was to ride up a bit beyond Kelly Lake and in the valley there is some dispersed camping by another lake. That would have been fine by me and maybe a better alternative. But we were here now and it was 8:00 and we were losing light fast. So up with the tents and we made dinner, tucked our bikes in for the night and went to bed. :snore

upload_2022-9-16_8-34-2.png

upload_2022-9-16_8-34-15.png

Stay tuned...

No comments:

Post a Comment