Epic adventures here in BC Canada

Today’s Church Of The Woods adventure

2000 feet elevation gain from sea level , 10 km round trip, 20 to 25 % FSR grades, black bear, C-Rations, old mine portals , old vertical ore cart railway, 45 lb webbing loadout.

Loads of pics loading !

 

2 & 1/2 km up - 1 & 1/2 hours into the long uphill slog - it’s morning coffee time (I started hiking at 0615 hours )

Instant coffee with a cafe au lait satchet.



Time to keep going up

 

Finally got to where I had planned to go……. The old incline ore cart rail that goes straight down the mountain at a 45 deg angle. When it was in operation (1915 or so ) hundreds of swing ore carts (self levelling as they descended the steep mountain) were hauled up and down by a massive 2” thick steel cable and a even more massive winch- one the size of 2 car garage, anchored in a massive concrete bunker , both to the concrete floor with 3” thick massive bolts , and huge anchor cables secured to even bigger anchor rings imbedded in the walls, back wall, and roof.

nothing much left now



The winch bunker.


you could park 3 tractor trucks with 53’ trailers inside of here….. just to give you an idea of the size of the massive cable winch


if I recall right, these DEEP pits were filled with oil , to lubricate the massive spoils of winch cables (each spool held upwards of 6 kms of 2” cable )


one of many massive 3” diameter winch base mounting bolts. These go about 5’ deep into the concrete.


1980 feet above sea level here. Not even a quarter of the way up the mountain .

 

Carrying on to another adit / portal nearby. It’s been dynamited closed decades ago, i think in the 1980’s



Mmmm wild berries



time for some C-Rats ! 1/2 lb tin of liver spread and hardtack .


I decided I wasn’t ready for tinned liver spread yet….. instead I boiled water and heated up a 2 lb pouch of spicy garlicy rice and beans , and mashed spuds with veggies.


BIG ol titanium mess tin. Makes the Esee Mess tin look like a cigarette case


boil and soak


took me about a minute to plow thru both pouches of food. Almost done


I filled one of these 38 gram cafe au lait empty sachets at home with powdered peanut butter. Sealed it with the vac sealer. This stuff rocks!!


add a tiny amount of water, stir, and spread on the hard crackers . One 38 gram sachet will cover 4 hardtack crackers with peanut butter.


Add instant coffee to the cup , and hot water, mix well - peanut butter mocha time! Easy cleanup - waste nothing

 

Explored around the old incline rail some more, before heading down the steep FSR .




FRESH black bear hind paw print in the dust .


About 1 & 1/2 klicks from the Jeep, is a MASSIVE three story house sized boulder that has a cave under it. I was too tired to scramble up to explore it, next time. It’s big enough for a SUV to stay dry under the boulder. Might just have to build a cool shelter there soon! Maybe enclose it with logs, put a cheap hot tent stove and chimney in it……..


almost at the Jeep. These heavy equipment are working waaay up the mountain, buildjng log landings , skidder roads for the upcoming logging season



black boots, heavily caked in road dust from a long hard slog. My feet are beat



Great day out.

 

Today’s Adventure

4500’ elevation gain, 60 degree skidder road, great views

but first, a hike , sorta , not really….wasn't feeling it today. So instead I had a brew up in the woods above the ocean

First Nations cedar tree, harvested of bark


webbing rig - 8 pouch setup


new tool


rocking the BCB INTERNATIONAL hard anodized cup and enclosed solid fuel burner today. Bigger cup means bigger cup of Joe and food





I normally never buy this stuff. It’s expensive- $5 CAD for like 4 bites. But I wanted the tin - a plastic lid snaps on tightly - PERFECT for carrying butter or cream cheese


it was tasty , but not $5 tasty. I could make this exact dish at home in bulk for cheap


not feeling the hiking vibe today, heading out

 

Drove up the highway to Squamish to load up on cheap diesel - only $1.78 a liter!! (Yea I know that’s pretty bad….but it’s $2 a liter in Vancouver )

And somehow I ended up driving up a FSR . Key word here is UP

 

Up and up for several hours, 4 Lo , Lo Lo range in many steep 40 to 45 degree grades.

came across an old powder magazine / water tower structure . Heavily fortified steel doors , water pits inside the magazine , raised powder storage areas . Water tower for the logging trucks back in the day to refill their 500 litre water tanks , to spray water on the brakes while descending the mountain for hours with 50 tonne loads of logs

 

Drove further up the mountain FSR.




came across a new skidder road off the main trunkline. Blasting tubes , crimps everywhere, freshly graded with a massive bulldozer .

I’ve seen steep roads before. But this one was insane . Almost 60 deg grade according to my inclination meter.



I had no issues crawling up the steep grade, the diesel engine purring like a kitten, a steady 1800 rpm’s . Center axle diff locked, 4 lo , in Lo Lo crawler gear. The rear LSD occasionally kicking in on the loose gravels . But I decided to walk the road for a bit. Parked the rig, chocked all four wheels with big boulders and walked up the steep grade. Saw an off road motorbike guy at the top, trying to walk his bike down. He was literally sliding downhill.
We stopped and chatted, he told me the skidder road gets even steeper further up, he had lost traction going up and dumped his bike. There was two massive bulldozers up top , tethered to each other with 2” thick cables . Road dead ended in a pile of fresh blasting rubble. Buddy didn’t even attempt to ride down , until he got below where my Jeep was. He was seriously sketched out by the steep grade. I did a full 60 point turn on the new grade, aired my tires down even lower and hugged the edge of the road away from the drop . Eased the Jeep down and back to the trunkline .

a flatter section on the steep incline . Only took 15 min to do multi point turn around

Descended the main trunkline back to the highway, aired up the tires with my PowerTank and headed home.


I was seriously impressed with the Jeep today. it saw SEVERE duty in high temps , rough roads, steep grades . It climbed non stop up very steep rough roads all day long , and purred like a kitten the entire way. Full ester Redline synthetic 15W50 engine oil, MANN oversized oil filter, Redline synthetic C+ fluid in the 5 speed auto tranny, and in the transfer case , 75W140 differential gear oil in both diffs for the win.

 

Still envious of those views ya hoser!

 

I've snowmobiled up there.. pretty sure there's a challet at the very top!!

 

MEGA ADVENTURE TODAY!

845 km round trip .

Calcite Creek wildfire - sweep of the FSR for 27 KM’s , including spur roads, looking for campers - to advise them the Province Of BC firefighters were shutting down the backcountry due to wind shift. Membership in the local 4WD association has it perks - we often get free range of closed off backcountry areas, as we are extra eyes / ears and well versed with the provinces backcountry routes. Thankfully no long weekend campers were this far up by the fire .

Then it was on further east all the way to Hedley BC, to attempt to get up to the old mine buildings on the side of a 55 degree Rocky Mountain , about 5300’ above sea level .

epic epic day.

but I’m more impressed with how well the Jeep performed! Sustained high temp run on the highways, low and slow up 25 plus KM’s of steep grades in high 30 - 36 deg temps.

let’s not forget a late lunch at 4500’ feet - overlooking a wildfire smoke filled valley - smokies fried up on my Trangia 27 HA cook-set

teaser Pics



Billy goat road climb on the open range grazing lands



listen to that diesel purr

 

My day started out very early, full fluids change on the Jeep. Redline hi-temp synthetic ATF for the tranny, transfer case, power steering. RedLine 75W140 synthetic gear oil for front and rear diffs, plus Redline LSD friction modifier for the rear diff. Mann oil filter , LiquiMoly Leichtlauf High Tech 5W-40 synthetic oil for the engine. Mann air filter. Synthetic brake fluid. Coolant top up.

then it was time to head several hundred KM’s east to assist with persons head count in the backcountry, with local First Nations PeaceKeepers, BC Wildfire - in the backcountry area of the CALCITE WILDFIRE .

several of the backcountry FSR’s were closed to the public. I signed in , headed up almost 30 kms of trunkline and spur roads, on the eastern side of the wildfire. Goal was to do a people headcount and advise of the Notice Of Closure and Evacuation Notice for the immediate back country. Thankfully (mostly due to the closed FSR at the entrance) there was no one camping up the backcountry areas.

Met up with a BC Wildfire crew on their way out. Lads looked frikkin exhausted. Chatted a bit , then carried on.

pics!


Calcite Creek fire just over the ridge to the west

 

While up in the backcountry area, I found some great camping spots for the fall , once the fires dwindle down and campfires are permitted again.



Billy goat road heading up the Crown grazing lands


aspens everywhere


carrying on the to the final dozen or so KM’s of spur roads.





got to an high ground observation point and glassed all three valleys for vehicles / campers. Made notes of which trunkline and spur roads I covered and headed back down the mountain towards the entrance.



stopped at the creek to wash the sweat and dust off , and to cool off. It was hot!



chatted with the crew at the entrance to the closed off FSR, then headed out further east on the main highway. Going to be a long day of adventure.

 

Long sustained highway speeds up and down steep grades, in 35 deg heat. Diesel engine purring like a chubby cream fed kitten.

stopped in Princeton to get cheap diesel (1.68 cad a litre!) , filled the tank and two 20l jerry cans. Grabbed a much needed coffee and headed further east on the old Hedley Road for Part 2 of my adventures today




Time to crawl up a very long steep grade FSR.

 

BBQ’s on the menu Lads!!


water treatment settling ponds from the mine on top the mountain


smoke from the Calcite Creek wildfire drifting a hundred KM’s east


time to stop for a late afternoon lunch. Despite running Redline hi-temp atf fluid in the auto tranny , and despite a big tranny cooler with fan, the low speed crawling up very long sustained grades in 35 - 38 degree heat for almost 40 minutes activated the Transmission Temp alarm - time to put her in neutral, pop the hood, and let the heat escape. Plus I was famished - been on the road / trails since the early AM.




I’ll be upgrading the transmission soon, with a very custom made oil pan with about 5 liters more capacity , and with external cooling fins . As well a custom stacked plate / tube transmission cooler with dual 20” DeRale cooling fans. As well, a 20” Derale fan mounted on the hood, with a cutout under it , to rapidly exhaust the engine bay heat when driving slow up FSR’s

 

LUNCHTIME!

Trangia 27 HA cookset, Trangia Euro fuel bottle, Smokies, cheese , mustard and Italian smokie buns!



Late lunch view of the valley from 5300’ up


the goal - get to that old mine site on the side of a mountain . Sadly access has been either dynamited (road destroyed ) or blocked off on top of the mountain further up by massive fencing and gates. There may still be a way to access it from the west , but it would involve almost 150 KM’s of old spur road / very steep grades , then mountaineering with ropes / harnesses / etc


One last hill climb - full on crawler gear - rear LSD working overtime . Jeep aced it .




Camping spot up top!


looking back down



Long slow descent of the FSR/Mine Rd in 4 Lo, all the way to the valley floor. Back onto the highway for a 4 hour drive home.


back near the Calcite Creek wildfire. It’s crested the ridge with the wind direction change.



Long drive home. I hate it when adventures end . Just want to keep exploring. One hell of a great day though. Got to work with multiple agencies, people, cultures. The sheer amount of mutual respect and pooling of resources , planning, organization was off the charts.

 

You live in sich a beautiful country!
Love seeing all you pics of the endless forests and mountains.

 

What’s the hottest temperature hike you’ve had there this year? Pics always look nice and cool. And I’ll throw you in a couple pics from Sunday to look at.