PIC HEAVY Last day of vacation was Sunday, planned to get up at 0500 hours and hit the road and do stuff. Yea right. 0500 hours, the alarm went off, and I curled back up with two warm cats purring next to me. 1100 hours....finally up and coffee-d and out the door. Its pissing rain, PERFECT day for a fire by the river. So off I went up the Sea to Sky 99 Hwy to Squamish Valley FSR. new warning signs at the start of the 70km FSR log jams the size of several tractor trailers are all over the river the road was flooded only days prior. I chatted with some local loggers who said the river rose over 15 feet plus and flooded and washed out the road for about 10 kms this FSR is normally hardpan , the river washed away all the clay and sand and left the rocks as well , the river raged thru the forest floor , wiping it clean of everything, even the moss off the trees 4' up more coming
Continuing on, the stench of the end of the spawning season filling the air the piles of washed down trees grew larger and more frequent fast flowing river. This was 15 feet higher just recently all around me, moss. Green moss, hanging moss, moss moss. panoramic more
River debris the debris is getting greener.......I suspect that Mud Creek at KM 24 has blown out again, taking out more forest with it. Continuing on. Note that the river came right over the road....... the river tore thru this area too, not discriminating. Moved trees and HUGE stumps clean outta the earth and pushed them thru the forest. This used to be a little spawning channel....(still is) more
As i neared Mud Creek @ KM 24, I could see more and more rock and mud flow bulldozed off to the side of the FSR. All this stuff flowed thru the forest and then took Easy Route down the FSR. Rounding the corner to Mud Creek......and WOW.......complete and utter devastation.......500% larger blow out than the one from several years ago!!! the road you see here was hastily put in place just a day before by the logging companies, to allow evacuation of workers, motorists, hunters etc. This is a temporary road for now. When this creek blew out, there was NO road left, thats approx a 50' drop. approx 475' wide , 40- 50 ' depth. Last years was about 200' wide and only 25 or so feet deep that 1" thick wall x 50' long x 10' diameter iron culvert you see entombed in the mud? thats actually the culvert from over 4 KM UPSTREAM , at an old logging spur crossing. most of the mud debris got washed downriver already. One of the loggers said the first day the mud and rock and gravel flow almost touched the other side of the river. The water level has also dropped 15' since the rain surge
The mud was still slumping off the 60' high embankment.... carrying on, and BACK to safety so i wouldnt get stranded on the wrong side, I checked out an old camp, the one where I built the debris shelter and the BC Crew had a winter camp several years ago. The shelter is long gone, the rain is still here though.....everything wet and muddy. M.O.O.B.S Gen 4, Heavy Juggers getting the fire prepped. Tons of silver maple around. Burns hot. With a little diesel/gas helper. more
ah toasty warm, despite the POURING rain. This time last year....... dry and -30 Celsius a pile of wet leaves on top keeps the rain deluge out and reflects the heat back into the fire. It burns off eventually and smells AMAZING tendrils of mist clouds or smoke? they loom over us..... nothing like the smell of burning leaves. Or the sight either
tools reflected in the fire snack time. I eat whole, shells and all. Roughage! cold local beer. The mushroom grows on that same tree, in the same spot , EVERY year , like clockwork.... getting darker quickly. Up The Fire! ah warmth! the Jeep, lurking about like a wild animal. Probably has LandCruiser for dinner on the mind......eh ANDY THE AUSSIE! use your Esee knife HARD and put it away wet. Its really ok! it will be fine!
after several hours of hot fire, cold wet pissing rain and darkness, i doused the blaze and headed out. Chest rigs rock for carrying the woods/survival loadout, esp when driving....very comfortable to wear.... Damn that camera flash hurts the eyes after being in darkness.... thats it.......got in late and then went to work today. UGH!! Thanks for stopping by.
Great stuff Bushy, man wish we could get some of that wet here, between the drought and fires we are in poor shape in Georgia.
Fantastic work with the camera Bushman! It did that epic flood thing here way back at the beginning of the year, 25-36ft water walls, had the same kind of effect on the forest floor too. Almost feel a certain kinship with you beer swilling Canadians...I grew up just a few miles from our very on Mud Creek, used to ride bikes there and catch catfish all day. PS: He's right about the chest rigs, for vehicle or kayak or stalk hunting under a grille suit, they rock.