July Long Weekend '08 - Roche Lake

[BC_FJC]

Originally Posted by Enigma

And where is everyone else's pictures? Hmm? Hmm?

Check out Craig's Flickr page.... Looks like he is in the process of loading them...

[Scalp]

Originally Posted by Fantom

So where's the write up Bill?

Coming, coming: the sqirrels ran off with it last night.

Besides, your mother dresses you funny.

[Scalp]

ROCHE LAKE TRIP June 28-July 1/08.

The following members and guests enjoyed another great wheeling trip:

Mat R & Erika, Dan M & Marie, Garry B & Marie-Chantal, Jeff S with daughter Brianna, Sue & Shane D with daughter Alexas & dog Jessie, Phil S with daughters Maya and Andrea, Aaron K & Carolyn with her son Skylar, Glenn BJ74 from Victoria, Rob Millson, Gary T & nephew Geordie, Craig E, and Bill W.

Aaron went up early on the Friday and we understand there was a huge traffic jam on the freeway near Langley. Most of us came up Saturday and were shocked by the huge numbers of trailers and camper-vehicles at Roche Lake campgrounds. Fortunately, the farther we went into the park, the fewer we saw. The road to Ernest Lake had some mud holes and ruts, just enough to discourage the Hyundai SantaFes and Ford Exploders.

Our base camp at Ernest Lake had its good and bad aspects. Good that a nice breeze off the lake kept the mosquitoes down; good that it was not surrounded by dead pine trees; good that the fishing was easy for anyone that actually knew how to fish. Bad that most of the campsites were sloped, thereby us coining the terms “Thermarest creep” and “pajama wedgies.” Bad that most of the shoreline was swampy with leeches. Bad that there was a lot of old toilet paper strewn liberally over the area. Overall though, it was not bad. Good that Rob Millson slept inside his BJ60 with the tailgate down and thereby keeping the mosquitoes away from the rest of us. Thanks Rob!

Sunday most of us went out on a great circle run starting with Bulman Lake where the mosquitoes were much bigger and way more aggressive: word had it that Jeff got out to take a leak and got stung twice before doing the job! Next onward to the Frisken Lake area, John Frank Lake, and back to base camp. A big thanks to Dan for showing us around the area even though suffering from motor overheating. Also many thanks to Mat for being a conscientious trail leader and making sure Aaron didn’t get lost as much as the last trip.

Vehicle problems amounted to engine overheating on Dan’s V8- 40, Power steering leak on Marie’s BJ60, brake hydraulic leak damage on Craig’s rig, and electrical problems on Garry B’s FJ that damaged his VHF radio and blew fusible links. CAUTION! Always wear eye protection while working under your vehicles due to falling rust, mud, brake fluid, oil, antifreeze, and tools.

Monday, I stayed in camp and vegetated while most others went out wheeling. Mat will write up that day’s events.

Top wildlife spotted: giant Osprey nest on power line transmission tower.
Funniest wildlife spotted: little chipmunk dragging a whole bagel across the road.

Heading home, some members went over to the Fraser Canyon Highway and were blocked by a fire started by a flaming tour bus that not only turned itself into a crispy critter, but also incinerated the Jackass Mountain hillside. Glenn and Bill came down the Coquihalla and avoided another freeway traffic jam by taking highway 7 to Vancouver. The Second Narrows bridge was closed both ways as well, because someone was threatening suicide there for most of the afternoon. Hey… welcome back to civilization….Stop the world, I want to get off….
Still, a great getaway trip.

~Bill

[Scalp]

Ever since I got that Brazillian Wax job, I haven't been able to stand up!

[Scalp]

Summertime and the liv'n is easy....
HELP! MY SHORTS ARE CAUGHT IN THE HAMMOCK!

[Scalp]

Osprey nest on transmission line

[Scalp]

Up close - there are young ones in there....mom is hovering above!

[Scalp]

And the giant marshmallow award goes to....

[Scalp]

And now, my artsiest picture....This symbolizes the random particle physics vapour trails traced by subspace warped quarks (anomoly phased) in CERN collider parallel universe matrix.
Thank yuh, thank yuh very much...

[Fantom]

Since Bill went to all that effort I might as well throw in my .02, here goes nothing:
On Monday we left Bill at camp to keep the squirrels at bay and headed off bright and early at the crack of 11:30am in the woods. We turned off the trail between Ernest and Roche lake just before Black Lake and headed North to the powerlines but not before getting rid of that annoying bling bling aluminum skid plate on Garry's FJC. Shortly after meeting up with the power lines I chose to venture off the beaten path into smaller trails (which until now have been unexplored by us). The trail proved to be easy but tight and the shiny new FJC got some custom pin striping (sorry Garry I tried not to laugh as I drove through it). Had a nice leisurely swamp crossing and ended up at White Lake which had some nice old cabins, a great view and a nice creek to cool off by and have lunch - since we all worked so hard. We met up with Moore-Richardson Rd (FSR) then veered off to the East by Woodland Creek. The views only improved with the journey. We found some more abandoned cabins and barns, no shortage of cows, and stopped for many photo opps. The FJ had some more electrical issues but we decided not to call BCAA and fixed it. We finished the trail off by coming back on the George - Monte Creek FSR and back across the ATV trail to Ernest. The evening was spent recapping the highlights of the trip, fixing the brake issue with Craig's Jeep and relaxing. On Tuesday the group divided up, Bill and Glenn took off first, Garry, Craig and myself were next and Aaron was left at camp (he had the most stuff to pack). We caught up to Bill and Glenn at the trail head and kept going. Since none of us were in a rush to get back to "civilization" we took a detour at Quilchena (off 5A), through Hamilton Creek IR and across to 97C eventually. on the way through it we took lots of pics and stops, saw 2 bears (in different locations), had some late lunch, put out a smoldering camp fire, tried to use Garry as bear bait for better pics (and failed), then were off to Merritt for fuel, air and the much needed Strabucks coffee. Garry took off and Craig and I went on a leisurely drive on the Coquihalla taking the bypass and getting pressure washed by the torrential downpour on the highway. Managed to add a deer to the list of animals seen and finally took Hwy 7 home.
A big thanks to all that came, and to Gerry for being such a great sport and not crying about the amount of damage this trip caused to his truck (not many would have been so relaxed). I hope everything can be fixed easily enough and no other damages were found. This was a fun trip and I would consider very successful, nobody got lost, everyone made it home with only minor damages, and everyone had a good time.

[Scalp]

Good write-up Mat!
You got the job!

[Fantom]

Sure, but the question is can you afford me, I am easy, just not cheap.

[tjflex]

The funny thing; Wed morning, got up, started of to Steve's to fix rear brakes, got 3 blocks from home, sailed right through intersection (full of traffic), lost front brakes.

As it turns out, somewhere on the Coq by-pass, a branch ripped the zap straps of a front brake line, causing it to wear against tire. Yes Mat, that burning rubber I was smelling was the steel brake line on the rubber.

So, I spent today throwing up the rest of my camp pics. July Camping 2008 - a set on Flickr

[Fantom]

HOLY CRAP! I am glad to see that you survived. Good thing it happened in town at least and not in the bush (not that there ever is a good time to loose your brakes).
So I am finally uploading pics from the May long weekend trip to Roche! I should be able to do the ones off this trip later this weekend.

[Scalp]

[quote=tjflex;3457094]The funny thing; Wed morning, got up, started of to Steve's to fix rear brakes, got 3 blocks from home, sailed right through intersection (full of traffic), lost front brakes. QUOTE]

Glad to hear that you are safe and sound, no ugly accident on that intersection.

Craig, I really think you should send some of your pictures to Todd Kaderabeck for publishing in Toyota Trails mag. He is always looking for excellent pics from this area.

[prado t]

Craig , HOLY shit I am happy you are alive, shayzen It really is time for a cruiser now !

[tjflex]

Brakes fixed, all is well.

Mat, very good at getting last trips photos up. Even I got mine up (this trip) in a timely manor.
You've got some very nice shots there too.

[canucksafari]

Nice pics everyone. That bear should looked like it had a tough winter. Dan, it looks like you need a rad shroud to help you draw air through the rad.

[Scalp]

Speaking of Dan....

[Fantom]

In the process of uploading pics right now! They should be ready in an hour or so. Happy viewing.

[Scalp]

As usual Mat, great pictures!

[canucksafari]

As usual you've posted up a nice selection of great pics Mat. Those old Petro Canada oil cans are collectables. Looks like Bill got too friendly with a tree.

[Fantom]

Thanks guys, it took me a while to find the time but at last I managed.

[Fantom]

I think this is one of my favorites from the trip:http://http://www.flickr.com/photos/...7606028594985/

[Scalp]

Originally Posted by canucksafari