This is a great hill to test a cooling system! On the top two switch backs my temp got up to 185 rather fast and I started keeping an eye on it. As that happens I heard a slowly growing roring howl, I actually thought it was a big rig with its fan locked it was so loud.......nope that was my fan engaging. It was freaking amazing! Foot to the floor in 3rd up a steep grade and the temp dropped from 185f to 168f when the fan disengaged. It was quite a suprised and very welcome one. It did it once more on the last hill as I crested with a big smile. I have got zero cooling issues!
Now I get to go back down the other side of the mountain 14% grade for 4 kms. I stuck the truck in 2nd and just let the engine control speed at about 25-30kms/hr. I'm not in a rush and loaded like this I can feel the brakes strain to stop this thing. So slow and steady.
I got down to carpenter lake, it's man made and has a large earth dam at the end. It's cool becouse you get to drive through a tunnel then straight out onto the bridge over the spill way.
As you turn towards Lillooet there is a small BC hydro or forestry recreation site. These are camp grounds set up in the 70's and 80' if I'm not mistaken for residence to go camp in non maintained remote areas for free. This one has 3 spots in a little corner shielded from the ever present winds coming down the valley. Here we picked a spot and set up camp, got the ARB rtt all setup and small fire going to cook dinner.
I stopped at my local specialty Butchers and picked up a 23oz rib eye steak for dinner. It's the most expensive non cooked steak I have ever bought and I planed to cook it over a camp fire
. Got the fire going to the steak on soon after. As the steak was sizzling away I got the $1.49 instant mash potatoes going, it's like ying and yang lol. The steak was soon flipped for another 5min and then off into tin foil for 5 min to rest. When I cut into it.....perfection med rare and my god was it bloody good. The fat rendered on the fire into this crispy smoke candy fat and all I could think about was.....yep that was worth it!
View from camp
Next morning
Breakfast.
Spent the rest of the evining at the camp fire letting all the stress of the last year just slide away. Having a baby has been by far the best experience of my life but as all parents know it comes along with new stress and worry. I topped that off with all the issues with the Isuzu.
Sunday we started early about 5:30 am. I made a breakfast of bacon and blueberry pankaes, marveled at the fresh bear prints in my camp site from the night.....did not hear a thing lol.
Got the dishes done camp packed up a nice 45min hike with dog done and we where on the road by 7:30. We drove east towards Lillooet and small community on the Fraser river.
Before town there was a turn off to a road that always intrested me on the map the West Pavilion FSR. This road will take you about 180kms north where it joins a Web of other roads all through the centre of BC. One turn off about 100kms up takes to Big Bar Ferry a current action ferry (no engine) just tell power of the water to move it and your car across the Fraser. I had been wanting to try it out for years. So what better time. We headed down the fairly well maintained road that twists it's way from 500ft elv to 4000ft and back down. The road from the west Pavilion is the Big Bar ferry Rd. It goes from 2500 ft to 800ft in about 2kms.......very steep in some sections to the point I would not be comfortable doing it in the wet.
I got the ferry and turned off the truck to wait. The opproator on the other side sailed across to puck me up. I was his second customer of the day it would turn out....it was 11:30 am by this
