Late summer run to Chilko Lake area (Chat)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Fantom

Fantom

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Jun 1, 2006
Threads
336
Messages
5,169
Location
Port Coquitlam
Website
www.flickr.com
So I know this has been in the talking stage for the past couple of months and Glenn (Island) and I sat down at the Christmas party and talked a bit more about it.
The Idea:
Realistically a 10+ day trip starting with a highway run up to Williams Lake, then some play time around the Fraser River and Chilcotin river junction, then larger FSRs to Chilko lake area and finally the main portion of the trip is the exploration of trails there. There will be some contact with civilization as there are places there to get very expensive fuel and food but for the most part we're running solo.
When:
End of July, while it's still warm.
The "restrictions":
I hate to do this but here it is: Kids on a trip like this would be a bad idea for obvious reasons. We would like to limit the amount of vehicles so we don't have a huge convoy and every obstacle takes 1/2 a day (that way we'd be stuck there for a month). Vehicles that are maintained, fully functional, well equipped, and preferably not totally stock would be my first choice. We'll see how close we come to that.
Since we are going to be close to civilization for the first 1/4 of the trip those that want to do just a 4 or so day trip are more then welcome, the 10+ day trip should be limited to around 7 trucks tops.
This will be a trip full of the usual exploration troubles, which are: dust, mud, gravel, sand, rocks, shale, sun, heat, rain, wind, snow, ice, lighting, thunder, long days, hard trails, easy gravel FSRs, u-turns, likely many u-turns, good people, good times, likely some troubles, good food, by the end lots of canned food, amazing scenery, boring stretches, interesting conversations, long stretches of not showering or shaving, and with any luck the off-roading gods will smile upon us and we will all make it back all right. You've been threatened and warned. So who is really interested, don't give me maybes until you're sure you can. Glenn and..... I guess I, are kind of "organizing" this little run.
I will keep reminding everyone as we get closer to the date (which has not been set yet).

EDIT: so the dates we are looking at are:
July 25th to August 9th

So far the list of confirmed going is:
Glenn-BJ74
SquamSquatch
Fantom
Maybe:
canucksafari
 
Last edited:
Chilcotin ’09 Trip

Here is a suggestion for the dates for the Chilcotin ’09 Adventure next July 2009. Taking the last week in July and the first week in August straddles the August long weekend. That should be the warmest weather, which uses up 9 working days of holidays for 16 days away from work. July 25th to August 9th.

I will find out about diesel, gasoline and basic food availability in the general vicinity of where we are heading. Fishing is good and so trout maybe on the menu as often as we can get it. Canned and freeze dried will be at the bottom of the grub box. We will have time for day hikes and for those not inclined they can tend camp.

I will call the Forest Service in Alexis Creek to get better local information, including points of interest not commonly known.

Will keep you all posted.

Glenn
 
More to come

Glad to see there is early interest in this trip.

I will do more local research, before we begin laying out a route plan. So far - I think Junction Sheep Range (for wildlife-Bighorn Sheep), Farwell Canyon (hoodoos, pictographs, sand dunes), Fish Lake (fishing), Taseko Lake (remote beautiful, great wildlife potential) are on the list, as well as Chilko Lake (the largest, and highest freshwater lake in North America), Chilco Lake is very windy, so camping there should be away for the Lake.

If anyone else knows of other interesting destinations, please chime in. The Chilcotin is a huge area, so we need to be a bit selective and we may decide to do other areas in another year.
 
BC Maps, Chilko River, Hanceville, Alexis Creek

There is a drivable trail that runs from hanceville (aka lee's corner) along chilco lake thru to tatlayoka and into tatla lake. There are a couple of receeding glacier's near tatlayoko lake and you can walk around the lake shore finding fosils .
 
I grew up at chilanko forks ( aka puntzi ) a decommissioned pine tree line ww2 air base from the 1950's , at one point in time it was massive covering many sqaure miles and it was a u.s. funded and operated base. It had a 6000 ft long asphalt runway (still there today.) As a kid my father would driive us up there and in the middle of absolutley no where there were all these paved roads buildings and air port. There is one fellow who was a cook from the base and stayed behind when the u.s. packed up and left, and he told my father that when the us army returned to the states that they buried tanks and jeeps and other equipment . as kids we often went up there on our dirt bikes and played we found all kinds of equipment lying around.

http://www.pinetreeline.org/site32.html

http://www.pinetreeline.org/photos/puntzi/puntz101.jpg
check out these generators
http://www.pinetreeline.org/photos/puntzi/puntz108.jpg
 
Last edited:
chauniganl lake looks interesting ...

I guess we should check out chaunigan lake on out trek -- looks interesting (anything looks interesting looking my window right now)

Mt. Tatlow in background 3,063 m (10,049 ft) at the lower end of Chilco and Taseko Lake - about 25 km to the south from the lake


Chaunigan Lake Lodge - Video
 
List - thus far

Fantom
Glenn-BJ74
Scalp
Gary T
Prado t
Toynut (part of the trip)
SquamSquatch
Granit Grinder
archaeology_student

When things get firmed up in June or so, we should rationalize fridge /freezing capacity. We should consider turning some into freezers - maybe when the first batch of ice runs out. Along with fuel - I guess ice stops are on the list.

Anybody got a reasonably fast water filter kit - maybe to strain out some of the lumpy mosquito larvae
 
Rippin'- Jetboat Tour

For those intrepid Chilcotin adventurers – Is there any interest in a Jetboat tour of the Fraser or Chilcotin Rivers. If there a minimum number interested (don’t know how many persons or cost) I would be willing to make an inquiry and find out some details. I would guess maybe 6 as a minimum. Maybe we could arrange to be picked up close to our campsite.

I have been on the jet boats on the Rogue River in Southern Oregon and they are a BLAST.

Check out the video below:

Cariboo Chilcotin Jetboat Adventures, British Columbia, Canada. Jetboat tours on BC's Fraser River, Chilcotin River, Chilko River
 
Chilcotin trip

Think it was 2 years ago we kyaked Chilco lake. Extremely windy and dangerous.
Did the big loop around the lake after kyaking the other end. Comming out towards Gang Ranch is a huge burnt area that goes for many hours although the fishing in the creeks was excellent. The nearest indian village had the cheapest fuel in the province.
The natives post a lot of signs about respecting the enviroment and leave large hints about what can happen to your property if you don't meet expectations. Also there are a bunch of restrictions on where you can camp on chilco. Basically don't expect to get the more scenic camp spots. There weren't many off road excursions to be found near the end of the lake.
But definately one of the most beautiful lakes in the province if you have a boat.
Taseko is the one to go for explorations, it has a bunch of mine roads that climb well above the trees some over 8000ft with stunning views, great beach camping, lots of off roading with virtually no one around.Have a look at the maps and compare it to what is available on the Chilco side. I never got to explore much of what was there. But the road does go around the lake. Not a round trip though.
Saw pics of the Surdel 4wheelers who were in there 30 yrs ago. To do the trip then they had to have fuel flown into the end of the lake. The pics are still the most spectacular i have ever seen. Would like to back and find some of the spots especially the ones on the top of the mountain looking onto endless Glaciers in the coast range.
Also includes a couple of formidable creek crossings depending on the weather.
It also looked like one of the local 4wd clubs have been fixing the road which can be rough but not to challenging. Unless the cribbing they installed gave way. There is also a public cabin but when we went through there were hunters occuping it. Rumor has it that there was a trail through the mountains to goldbridge but that it has slid in. Horse packers in the area are very active in the mountains surrounding. Not sure if they come down to lake but suspect they do.
The bottom end of the lake has some good trails and camping on the lake also.
Was thinking of doing a 4 or 5 day trip into that area around the long weekend, maybe for some who can't get the long stretch off.
Mike
 
There are rumours of a trail linking Taseko to Goldbridge but everyone I've talked to that talked to the locals said it was only for horses, although I have on several trips encountered locals that told me there way no roads to certain places but I managed to get there anyways. I definitely would love to try and find a way through and finally answer the question.
 
Taseko

Had heard that the trail was opened during the war then not maintained.
I did a horse pack from the goldbridge side into the mountains over a 9000ft pass then down into Spruce lake over 3 days. Mind boggling views. The road did go to the bottom of spruce lake at one time but the bridge was taken out. The horse packers take out more of the roads all the time and are restricting access even to hunters.
There was lots of mining activity in the whole area, lots of history and abandoned mines. Would like to go back and spend a couple of days exploring.
Unless you have a boat Taseko is got to be some of the best scenery and access in that area.
It is back in a fair ways from the nearest fuel though and has to be planned for.
Mike
 
I agree with HZJ, the Taseko Lake headwaters is the best place for wilderness exploration. I spoke to a BC Parks biologist based in Alexis Creek who has travelled all through this area. He said there is a good camp at the southern end of Upper Taseko Lake, which has a sandy beach. (See bottom of picture attached). From there we can day trip up (south) along the Taseko River and explore tributaries, such as Honduras, Amazon, Rowbottom, Granite, Powell Creek, Battlement Creek. Some he said access the foot of glaciers. Continuing southeast the trails hit the South Chilcotin Provincial Park, which prohibits motorized vehicles, so access through to Gold Bridge is not possible. So it’s a ‘one way in and one way out’ trip for Taseko Lake headwaters. Its remote.

Panoramio - Photo of Taseko Lakes from the air

Fuel is available at Nemaiah Valley, which is about 80 clicks from the southern end of Upper Taseko Lake (fuel run is 160 km). I think a range of 500 -600 km should be fine, but this depends on how much exploration we will do so I am bringing all the extra fuel I can pack. This trip would be a challenge for gassers, which is why everyone says to bring lots of fuel. If we base camp, then maybe the gassers can ride shot gun with the oil burners for the day trips.

After that we can check out Chilco Lake, through Ts'yl-Os Park, Tsuniah Lake, Choelquoit Lake and then onto Tatlayoko Lake.

This will be a great trip
 
IIRC Lee's Corner is the last place to get fuel on the way in.
Depends on how much exploring you want to do, but climbing to the tops of 3 or 4 of the high spots will suck a fair amount of fuel.
Not sure of exact distance, but all gravel and the road along the lake is a slow go towards the end. Was definately watching the fuel gauge on the way out. But we had also explored some of the north end of the lake.
20 extra liters on top of a 90l tank for the diesels for sure if you want to explore.
Mike
 
Once we figure out when all interested can meet for a beer and talk about the trip then we need to figure out how many are going, what types of fuel and how we can maybe bring extra fuel. It is going to be trip that will be taxing on all resources, water, food, fuel and alcohol :).
Speaking of a meet, I am back in town today and should be around most of the month, Glenn, how's your schedule? any idea when you are back on the mainland?
Also I would like a head count of those interested, can you all PM me and let me know the following:
1)definitely going for the whole trip
2)definitely going for a part of the trip (if so then which part, beginning or end)
3)number of people in your "party"
4)truck type and fuel type and condition of truck (stock, modified, mechanical condition, etc.) I don't need a full list of what you have done to the vehicle but we need to asses how far and what type of trails we are sticking to, if we end up with mostly un-locked stock trucks we're not going to be going too deep.
5)and finally for those who are interested in going but are unsure if they can yet.

thank you
 
Nemiah Valley Services

I called Nemiah Valley - they have gasoline, diesel, bulk propane and concession supplies (snacks no food). I did not ask about the 1 lb bottles, if they have them they will be expensive. You can get them in Can Tire - welding section they are cheaper than in camping - last time I checked.

During the summer Nemiah Valley is open 7 days a week, but often close early Friday - so they can head to town.
 
I would sugest stocking up in williams lake prior to heading out west, there is a crappy tire in town on the left hand side of the hwy ( 20) just before you go up the hill. There is a safe way and save on foods as well in town.
 
Suggested July 25 (Sat) McIntyre Lake Rec Site Rendezvous

I have not talked to Matt since his return from Europe about the trip. I am trying to hook up with him soon. I suggest we meet at McIntyre Lake Rec Site Saturday July 25th. McIntyre Lake Rec Site is about 40 km west of Williams Lake just north of Hwy 20. . I am open to suggestions on a better place to meet. We can hit Williams Lake on the way there and load up on supplies – there is a Safeway, Save-on-Foods and Canadian Tire in town.
Sunday we would head west 80 km to Lee’s Corner (Hanceville) and top up our fuel before heading south to the Taseko Lake FSR.

I don’t know what the Rec Site is like, but it’s the only rec site on the map along Hwy 20 before Lee’s Corner I can find. A list of those committed for at least part of the trip is below.

Fantom,
Glenn-BJ74,
Scalp
Gary T,
Prado t,
Toynut (part of the trip),
SquamSquatch,
Granite Grinder,
archaeology_student
Mike McT (part)

If anyone else is interested in at least part of the trip please let us know here. I think a range of 600 km should be fine. I will be carrying extra diesel just in case someone need extra. As Mike (HZJ) says above somewhere “ Taseko is got to be some of the best scenery and access in that area”.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom