Adventuring in B.C.

This day we lounged around a bit and cooked breakfast before we headed out... The campsite was a in very nice setting so I was in no hurry to leave...

We pulled out eventually and followed the Thompson canyon towards Lytton, before we got there we pulled off and took the Nicoman FS up over the mountain, a lot of switchbacks greeted us on the way up..

Once it leveled off we were a ways up and had some great views of the Thompson Canyon..



There is quite a bit of work going along this road, it looks like they are stringing a power line from one of the many power projects going on in B.C. ... On this section they are widening the road, right now it's quite narrow with a shear drop off on a bend..

This kind of stuff makes the road more interesting, it's too bad they have to go and ruin it...

We headed for Boston Bar for lunch at a fairly grubby restaurant with leaky ceilings {never again} and then headed up the Nahtlatch FS towards Harrison Lake....

The Koopki connector was a neat road, semi unmaintained with nice views... This pictures was at the top of a steep choppy hill...

Down past the bottom of the hill we came to the first washout, a couple Jeep CJ rigs had just come through and one of them hadn't quite cleared the logs and was trying to pull log splinters out of his front tire sidewall...

We came up to the second washout and there was Lex Luther {Mark} working to improve it... He has spent a lot of time prepping for the Big Trailie ride and is trying to make these B-sections into C-sections for the benefit of the some of the bigger machines on the ride...

This truck tried out his improvised bridge and was able to flex across with no damage...


Mark decided he had enough of the roadwork for this week and rode down to Harrison lake with us... He said he would return next weekend to do more, talk about dedication, I hope his ride is a big success...

After Harrison we rode the Louheed for a ways before jumping on # 1, that was a big mistake... Just before Burnaby the traffic backed up and we were stuck in slow with no way to go for about 45 minutes... We had hopped into the right lane to exit back to the Lougheed when things picked up... It turned out that an accident had pinched the road down to 1 lane and that was the right lane which we were now in... With out further incident we made it to Fastlanes place for the night...

I was up early at Lanes and helped him fix a front flat on his KLR before heading to the ferry {Carson and I would like to thank you and Toni for the generous hospitality you provided}.... We made it to Nanaimo before noon so I decided to bomb it homewards and try for the 4PM ferry, this I made with 10 minutes to spare... That brings us to the end of another successful trip, thank you guys for tagging along...

Home Again

We logged 4150KM and the bike performed flawlessly... I did notice that it was burning a bit more fuel towards the end which was caused by my air filter being very dirty... I did carry an oiled spare but I was too lazy to change it, so other than having a chain roller drop off there was no issues...
The weather was fantastic for the whole time, it isn't often where you can ride around BC for 10 days and miss out on the rain... Everything missed us this time, the thunder showers happened ahead of us and were dried up before we got there... The worst one we had the whole trip was on the likely road and it happened after we were in the tent for the night...

So we'll look towards next year...

Next years ride will be more off the beaten track so fuel range and self sufficiency will be more to the forefront...

Great photo's David!! Next time I'll be riding along. It was good to have you and Carson stay over. It's always a pleausre to have a master LC4 expert and tire mender in house!!
I'm planning on heading up Vancouver Island in early October! See you then.

Thank you!

Great RR David, awesome pics. In my past in BC , I may have put a knobbie on 1/100 of what you rode.

Glad all went well and no serious challenges. WELL DONE

gale

Sounds good Lane...

Hi Gale,

Never mind B.C., you have one of the best riding areas in N.A. at your doorstep...

Just after getting back to the Island we did a local ride, Ted who could not make the interior ride because of other commitments joined us for the day..


We first did a hike to an ancient tribal cave...

The trees on Vancouver Island dwarf what we saw in the interior..



The entrance way to this cave is very large..



The guys notice a strange growth on this log...

It looks like a bright orange Conk...

Still some snow in the hills...

Stewart Lake...

These mountain peaks are remnants of an extinct volcano, the mountain was much higher in the past before the whole thing crumbled in... The highest crag in this group is around 7,100'



Upper Bonanza River



The last ferry home...
f

I know and even though retired , I do not have enough time to ride this area which for me extends way south in NM and all the way up to Montana. I plan on riding until I am at least 110 so may have enough time to do it all

later, gale

But not as hot as the +53 I photo'd in Zagora Morocco (on my way M'hamid in the Sahara desert), mid October. I was told it reached +62 in August

Fantastic! Thanks for taking us along.

I also appreciate spots and locations I recognize. It's snowing like a bastard here and some of the sunny BC interior shots are nice therapy right now. Is there any adventurer in the west alive who hasn't got several shots from that viewpoint pullout above Osoyoos for example? I love seeing that just as much every time because it puts me there right now.

Great RR! It reinforces the point that even though I would love to explore the world, there are alot of roads in my own back yard I have yet to roll across.

Hi gunnerbuck,

Great RR report and thats why I love living in BC because of all the awesome places to go riding. It was nice meeting you and look forward to riding with you again



After I would spend all this time fixing the crossing then a 4x4 would go through a tear it up. lol

Wow back from the basement, thanks for the kind words... B.C. has a lot to offer beyond the beaten path...

My favorite part of the province to ride is the Chilcotin/Cariboo... We do a trip in every year to run the favorite routes but also make sure we take on something new each time to expand the horizons...

Lex, we'll have to plan a expedition sometime as you like to take on the same kind of riding that my group enjoys... Next year maybe look at some routes on the North side of HWY 20 towards the upper Nechako...

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Hey gang... please keep me in the loop. I agree. The Chilcotin Cariboo Plateau is one of the best...

I plan on going back again next year. Rode solo that way the past 2 years. Sure would be nice to ride with some others for safety reasons.

Great report! Thanks...

good stuff. -->thanks for posting

You would be welcome to join us but my only worry would be your bike... A few years back we had a fellow on a GS 12 {full knobby equipped} on one of our rides and while 90% of the time he did just fine, it was the 10% where the big bike was a struggle... On day 1 that bike went from showroom condition to being totally thrashed with broken lights, scratched panels,bent foot controls, bent boxes and broken instrument lights... The GS is really just a street and gravel road bike, a smaller DS platform is a better choice for going into the back country beyond the groomed roads...
I have seen skilled riders take those big bikes through some pretty rough stuff without incident but at the same time it wasn't much fun for them. It's also demoralizing to have to ride a big bike for hours at skill level 9 while the others around you on the smaller bikes are riding at skill level 5, you tire much quicker and that is when accidents happen...

The point of my spiel is for you to bring a more suitable bike, but if you figure your one of those highly skilled (Jimmy Lewis type} guys on GS 12 then go with that... Get in touch towards next summer when we're working on a plan...

Understood... I guess I should've asked to be born in a much smaller size - like normal folks. I should probably should complain to my parents. The smaller bikes are too uncomfortable for me to ride any distance.

I'm content being a VOB ... Victim-Of-Biology

You might see me next year. You can't miss me, I'll be the sasquatch-like guy with my bike on its side, full of scratches, broken lights, and totally trashed... just like all the other GS's out there ... all the time I'll be wishing i had a better built, smaller bike like normal people. I know that those smaller bikes are indestructable, ... they never get scratches or get bent up or ever take a fall.. bullet proof :huh Nothing new for me. My bike sucks.

Nothing wrong with the bike if ridden as per its design and very proven for its long distance comfort... Probably the best nasty stuff bikes out there for a large framed guy would be the 950 Super Enduro or the HP 2 of which I believe both have been discontinued...

Stick with what works for you, having a large build may mean the GS 12 is less of a handful for you to throw around, so you'll be able to handle it better in the rough stuff than Joe average... Just prep your bike with good tires and keep the luggage load light and think about some soft bags rather than the big tin boxes...

Nope, the little bikes never fall {at least once a day},bend or break {at least once a trip} or get scratched up {video evidence}:

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