Field trips 2.0

[BlackRockBigfoot]

1 hour ago, wiiawiwb said:

Got back a little while ago from a hike and bushwhack.  Went to a location, near a small pond, where I found a large print last October.  Almost no reason for anyone to be in this area. 

 

I decided to press further and head toward a larger pond reasonably nearby so I bushwhacked to it.  At first, it presented itself as small pond with lots of vegetation. The further I went, the more it opened up.  I was jawstruck when I finally was able to stand near pondside and see it. Wow---absolutely beautiful.

 

As fate would have it, the property is privately owned although there were no posted or no trespassing signs in the area as I made my way there. I think this area has a lot of potential.  Private and no outsiders (like me). I'm going to find out who owns it and make a pitch to be able to spend more time there. We'll see.

 

 

Gorgeous area!

 

 

[JustCurious]

wiiawiwb, it may be secluded, but it appears someone has a cabin or home across the 'pond'.  You can see a man and woman near the shore over there.  Looks like a nice lake, but I'm surprised there aren't docks all along the shoreline.  It could just be optics from a picture, but it looks like there is an island toward the right side.  That might be interesting to investigate if it's near your pond-with-track?

[Kiwakwe]

31 minutes ago, JustCurious said:

wiiawiwb, it may be secluded, but it appears someone has a cabin or home across the 'pond'.  You can see a man and woman near the shore over there.  Looks like a nice lake, but I'm surprised there aren't docks all along the shoreline.  It could just be optics from a picture, but it looks like there is an island toward the right side.  That might be interesting to investigate if it's near your pond-with-track?

These 2? They do look like people, guy appears to be wearing a vented back shirt?

Sweet spot Wii!

Then there is the Green Man caricature:

[JustCurious]

Yes, man on the left, woman on the right and what appears to be a rubber raft to the right of the woman and further back behind the raft what appears to be a human construction (small shed?).

 

I didn't see the green man....

[wiiawiwb]

Yes, there are some outbuildings at the southeast end of the lake and were several people there yesterday. That's how I found out it was private property. I heard voices across the water, made my way around the lake and went over to talk to those who were there. They were friendly, weren't taken back by my wandering in to talk to them, but did mention it was private property. I noticed there was a private jeep trail to access the property which had an open but chained gate across it.

 

From what I saw, it appears to be a little used property and with no accessible jeep trail except to that part of the lake.  No one lives on the lake. It's in an area I already go so it would be a huge benefit to be able to stay overnight particularly at the other end of the property.

 

It was a surprising find as I knew this pond was there but had never tried to access it before. We'll see if the owner, whoever that may be, will allow me to respectfully access parts of it.  Hopefully so, but if not, I'll try to find the general property lines and bushwhack to the area near the other end of the pond. I know this property abutts state land on the north and west sides, so I would be fine doing so.

 

Edited--I found the general property lines of the property so I have an idea where I can set up a camp. It would be in the woods on the state-owned side should I hear nothing back from the owner or not be allowed on the property.  It won't be on the water, nor have access to it, but will be in an area that I would hope to get some activity or response. I'm headed this afternoon to the County Clerk's office to search the deed and look at any property-line drawings or information.

Edited July 29, 2021 by wiiawiwb

[norseman]

12 hours ago, wiiawiwb said:

Yes, there are some outbuildings at the southeast end of the lake and were several people there yesterday. That's how I found out it was private property. I heard voices across the water, made my way around the lake and went over to talk to those who were there. They were friendly, weren't taken back by my wandering in to talk to them, but did mention it was private property. I noticed there was a private jeep trail to access the property which had an open but chained gate across it.

 

From what I saw, it appears to be a little used property and with no accessible jeep trail except to that part of the lake.  No one lives on the lake. It's in an area I already go so it would be a huge benefit to be able to stay overnight particularly at the other end of the property.

 

It was a surprising find as I knew this pond was there but had never tried to access it before. We'll see if the owner, whoever that may be, will allow me to respectfully access parts of it.  Hopefully so, but if not, I'll try to find the general property lines and bushwhack to the area near the other end of the pond. I know this property abutts state land on the north and west sides, so I would be fine doing so.

 

Edited--I found the general property lines of the property so I have an idea where I can set up a camp. It would be in the woods on the state-owned side should I hear nothing back from the owner or not be allowed on the property.  It won't be on the water, nor have access to it, but will be in an area that I would hope to get some activity or response. I'm headed this afternoon to the County Clerk's office to search the deed and look at any property-line drawings or information.

 

https://www.onxmaps.com/hunt/app?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIgpbHwJmJ8gIVpiCtBh38UAXAEAAYASAAEgKuFPD_BwE

[wiiawiwb]

Thanks Norse, your post just rang a bell. I use GAIA and have annnual subscription with them. I just looked up map choices and clicked on a few of the land boundary maps. Sure enough, it shows the property lines that I can use when I go back to the area. That's fantastic.

 

Thanks again!

Edited July 29, 2021 by wiiawiwb

[JKH]

Good looking out and respect for property, all. Sometimes the search for a good spot requires a bit of research.

[BC witness]

Adventure time this long weekend. 

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 a nearby days old 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 t he 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 there 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.

 

[wiiawiwb]

That's too bad about the late start, hiccup on Saturday, and eventual rain.  It's life and we all take bits of pieces of pleasure whenever we can.

 

It's a good idea to have like-minded people getting together for fun. The lead Hummer that broke down is one serious-looking unit. I bet he has a lot of money invested in it.  I can only imagine the problems if that alternator had seized when you were deep into the backwoods.

 

Hopefully next month will be a little more fun for you and the group.

Edited August 2, 2021 by wiiawiwb

[BC witness]

You're right about Chris' H1, it makes my H3 look tiny, and even dwarfs the stock tan coloured H1. He's done a lot of the work himself, fabbing up the roof rack and bumpers. It has a 6" lift and 42" tires.

 

It looks like we'll have a couple more Hummers along for the Labour Day outing. Hopefully all the wildfires will be over by then. It's been a terrible year for fires here in BC, with over 1000 already, with 250 still burning, and more than 500,000 hectares burnt, that's about 500 sq.miles, and includes 1 town that was totally destroyed. You can see the smokey skies in the photos, and in some places it was thick enough to reduce visibility to under 200 yards.

Edited August 2, 2021 by BC witness

[norseman]

14 hours ago, BC witness said:

Adventure time this long weekend. 

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 a nearby days old 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 t he 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 there 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.

 

 

 

[BC witness]

Yep, that seems to be the case way too often these days. The alternator in question came from NAPA, and failed in 2 weeks of use. The front bearing had seized so solid that the belt tore the pulley off the shaft. An hour later, at Lordco, since NAPA was closed, the body of the unit was still too hot to hold in your bare hands! We were just grateful that it happened on the highway, 20 minutes out of town, not 100 km into the mountains and 40 km off pavement.

[norseman]

1 minute ago, BC witness said:

Yep, that seems to be the case way too often these days. The alternator in question came from NAPA, and failed in 2 weeks of use. The front bearing had seized so solid that the belt tore the pulley off the shaft. An hour later, at Lordco, since NAPA was closed, the body of the unit was still too hot to hold in your bare hands! We were just grateful that it happened on the highway, 20 minutes out of town, not 100 km into the mountains and 40 km off pavement.

The sick thing is? It may do it again in 2 weeks, no brand is safe because they are all made in China! This is the price we pay for sending our manufacturing base to China.

 

Glad you guys were OK!

[wiiawiwb]

7 minutes ago, norseman said:

This is the price we pay for sending our manufacturing base to China.

 

 

Amen.