We have sunny, unseasonably hot weather here in BC right now, so I took advantage and got out for some exploration today. Earlier in this thread there was mention of Ruby and Garnet creeks, which triggered me to head that way today. I had some honey-do chores this AM, so didn't get away till about 2, and the temp was up to 31 C (90 F), about 15 C higher than average for this time of year. I took lots of water and soft drinks, and had the AC turned up all the way out there, but had to turn it off on the steep logging road up Ruby Creek drainage, as the H3 overheated, and I had to pull over, open the hood, and turn on the heater to get it cooled down again. It didn't lose any coolant, but stayed on the high side all the rest of the trip, so I may need a new thermostat. The joys of driving a 17 year old 4x4 !
I checked out many of the off shoots of the main FSR, most of which ended in washouts or at giant powerline towers, as there are 3 major lines that cross these mountains parallel to each other. I only met 2 other trucks on these trails, one stopped for a picnic, and the other looking for a route to nearby Deer Lake, in Sasquatch Provincial Park. I had to tell that couple that although the lake is visible in the valley we were in, the route to the lake was cut off by a washed out bridge, and the only access was via Harrison Hot Springs, about 30 km back around the mountains on the highway. I came back out the valley on an alternate trail, rough and overgrown, but a fun descent through the old forest.
Once back on the highway, I went a few km further east, to the Garnet Creek FSR, which had been severely damaged back in 2021 in our November storms, which flooded a huge portion of Sumas Prairie and caused terrible damage to major highways, rail lines, and of course many logging roads. I arrived at the washout site to find that it had been "sort of" repaired, making it passable to 4x4s, but not logging traffic. My target was to climb the pass near the headwaters to cross over to American Creek, and return to the highway on the east side of Hope. I made it up to the pass at 800m (2600') to find a deep snow patch right at the summit, next to a lovely little alpine lake, so I had to turn around and retrace my path back to pavement. In this watershed I never saw another vehicle anywhere, and also failed to see any wildlife, or even signs of critters, No tracks, no droppings, nothing at all. I did take a few pictures to share, and a couple of very brief videos showing Garnet Creek in full freshet from snowmelt.
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