BC backroader
Member
- Messages
- 21
- Location
- Abbotsford, B.C.
Adventure time this long weekend. (July 30-Aug. !st)
A couple of weeks ago, I was invited by members of the Hummer Owners of BC to join them on a 2 day excursion along a well known BC 4x4 trail, known as the Whipsaw. I'd last driven the route about 20 years ago, and thought it would be great to join them, especially since the trail traverses some beautiful alpine parkland terrain, and has overnight camping at a pair of high country lakes, all of this in historic gold rush territory, as well as possible Sasquatch habitat.
Since the organizer of the outing had to work Friday night, we didn't set off till noon Saturday, after meeting at the local Cabelas parking lot. Less than an hour into the trip, that famous "Murphy" interrupted things. The lead Hummer pulled over at an off ramp and stopped on the shoulder, so our 3 vehicle convoy halted to diagnose the loss of charge that prompted the stop. A 2 week old alternator had seized, throwing the serpentine belt off. While the driver, Chris, started to remove the offending part, the second H1 driver, Ken, headed back to the nearest town with an open parts store to pick up a replacement. The old one was out by the time he returned, and a quick look showed that it was not going to fit. This time Ken piled into my H3 with both the bad unit and the wrong replacement, and we headed back to the store, hoping they had an actual match, which they thankfully did. Back to the parked H1, and the correct unit was installed in about 20 minutes, and we were rolling again, after a 2 and a half hour delay!
We made good time the rest of the way, reaching our turn off to the trail an hour and a bit later, 100 km into the Cascade Mountains. As we were airing down tires for the run up the forestry road to the trailhead, a fire crewman pulled up and informed us that the nearby Garrison Lake fire that had been burning away from our target area had changed direction that morning, and made access to the trail and lakes too dangerous to travel.
Change of plans. We opted to head further east, to another trail that headed into high country, though not as scenic or challenging as our first choice. We drove on, in heavily smoke laden skies, to our alternate, and had camp set up by dark. No campfire, of course, since there's been a total ban for more than a month, due to our extreme hot weather and lack of rain for more than 6 weeks.
I awoke at 5:30 AM to the sound of rain on my tent fly, so breakfast and breaking camp was a soggy affair. Now we chose to go explore an 1885 era gold rush townsite in the area, which was interesting, as the BC Parks Service has set up a self guided walking tour through the site, with explanatory signs telling the story of the ruins, and of some of the gold rush characters involved in the towns history.
With the wet weather, and the heavy pall of smoke everywhere in the area, we called it a day after lunch, and headed back home, with plans to return to our original target in a months time. My tent's drying in the underground parking, and I'm looking forward to trying for the target again, as well as meeting up with my new friend, Vinny, the rescue pit bull.
A couple of weeks ago, I was invited by members of the Hummer Owners of BC to join them on a 2 day excursion along a well known BC 4x4 trail, known as the Whipsaw. I'd last driven the route about 20 years ago, and thought it would be great to join them, especially since the trail traverses some beautiful alpine parkland terrain, and has overnight camping at a pair of high country lakes, all of this in historic gold rush territory, as well as possible Sasquatch habitat.
Since the organizer of the outing had to work Friday night, we didn't set off till noon Saturday, after meeting at the local Cabelas parking lot. Less than an hour into the trip, that famous "Murphy" interrupted things. The lead Hummer pulled over at an off ramp and stopped on the shoulder, so our 3 vehicle convoy halted to diagnose the loss of charge that prompted the stop. A 2 week old alternator had seized, throwing the serpentine belt off. While the driver, Chris, started to remove the offending part, the second H1 driver, Ken, headed back to the nearest town with an open parts store to pick up a replacement. The old one was out by the time he returned, and a quick look showed that it was not going to fit. This time Ken piled into my H3 with both the bad unit and the wrong replacement, and we headed back to the store, hoping they had an actual match, which they thankfully did. Back to the parked H1, and the correct unit was installed in about 20 minutes, and we were rolling again, after a 2 and a half hour delay!
We made good time the rest of the way, reaching our turn off to the trail an hour and a bit later, 100 km into the Cascade Mountains. As we were airing down tires for the run up the forestry road to the trailhead, a fire crewman pulled up and informed us that the nearby Garrison Lake fire that had been burning away from our target area had changed direction that morning, and made access to the trail and lakes too dangerous to travel.
Change of plans. We opted to head further east, to another trail that headed into high country, though not as scenic or challenging as our first choice. We drove on, in heavily smoke laden skies, to our alternate, and had camp set up by dark. No campfire, of course, since there's been a total ban for more than a month, due to our extreme hot weather and lack of rain for more than 6 weeks.
I awoke at 5:30 AM to the sound of rain on my tent fly, so breakfast and breaking camp was a soggy affair. Now we chose to go explore an 1885 era gold rush townsite in the area, which was interesting, as the BC Parks Service has set up a self guided walking tour through the site, with explanatory signs telling the story of the ruins, and of some of the gold rush characters involved in the towns history.
With the wet weather, and the heavy pall of smoke everywhere in the area, we called it a day after lunch, and headed back home, with plans to return to our original target in a months time. My tent's drying in the underground parking, and I'm looking forward to trying for the target again, as well as meeting up with my new friend, Vinny, the rescue pit bull.
