Although it has been a few years since I did it last - here is some information which maybe helpful.
Anahim Lake is the last place for fuel, limited groceries and supplies. Avoid the water as it is has high iron content and tastes terrible. Grandma's Corner Service sells fuel and is right near Christensen Road, which is the road to take out of town to Gatcho Lake about 70 km to the north. Christensen Road heads north and then northwest and becomes the Dean River Road, passing by the Poison Lake Rec Site and continues north following the Dean River drainage, which is a world class Steelhead fishery. About 5 km past Agodak Lake (check your GPS), there is an obscure turn-off to the right which is the Gatcho Lake trail (near N52°56'18", W 125°40'34"). From this turn-off, Gatcho Lake is about 7 km north up a narrow trail that follows close the lake just before coming into an opening and eventually a few buildings, and remnants of a past settlement and I believe a graveyard.
Here you should first see the Mackenzie Heritage Trail, which to the east is a walking trail to Eligut Lake. The motorized bypass we took in 2013 and 2010 is called the Krestinuk's Wagon Road trail, which intercepts the Mackenzie trail at the west end of Eligut Lake. Near that junction is where the 81 hit some soft ground pictured above.
In 2013 we camped at Gatcho Lake before tackling the Krestinuk wagon road. The Krestinuk wagon road is only about 15 km which took us a day and a half to get through. The start of the Krestinuk wagon road may be hard to find - I remember it being up a small hill and to right. This trail will be narrow and very overgrown, and it is slow going. Given the narrowness of the trail the only place to camp is the an opening identified by large boulder in the road. This is the only spot wide enough to camp along the entire trail. Proceeding the next day I remember we encountered a a big long bog of deep watery mud, which most of us powered through without getting stuck. The other direction is a different story, as there is an underground stream on a uphill section, which we were warned about about, but we all got stuck. Going west to east I don't recall we got stuck there. When nearing Basalt Lake (check GPS) look for a sign and ATV trail down to the lake that has interesting basaltic columns.
Anahim Lake is the last place for fuel, limited groceries and supplies. Avoid the water as it is has high iron content and tastes terrible. Grandma's Corner Service sells fuel and is right near Christensen Road, which is the road to take out of town to Gatcho Lake about 70 km to the north. Christensen Road heads north and then northwest and becomes the Dean River Road, passing by the Poison Lake Rec Site and continues north following the Dean River drainage, which is a world class Steelhead fishery. About 5 km past Agodak Lake (check your GPS), there is an obscure turn-off to the right which is the Gatcho Lake trail (near N52°56'18", W 125°40'34"). From this turn-off, Gatcho Lake is about 7 km north up a narrow trail that follows close the lake just before coming into an opening and eventually a few buildings, and remnants of a past settlement and I believe a graveyard.
Here you should first see the Mackenzie Heritage Trail, which to the east is a walking trail to Eligut Lake. The motorized bypass we took in 2013 and 2010 is called the Krestinuk's Wagon Road trail, which intercepts the Mackenzie trail at the west end of Eligut Lake. Near that junction is where the 81 hit some soft ground pictured above.
In 2013 we camped at Gatcho Lake before tackling the Krestinuk wagon road. The Krestinuk wagon road is only about 15 km which took us a day and a half to get through. The start of the Krestinuk wagon road may be hard to find - I remember it being up a small hill and to right. This trail will be narrow and very overgrown, and it is slow going. Given the narrowness of the trail the only place to camp is the an opening identified by large boulder in the road. This is the only spot wide enough to camp along the entire trail. Proceeding the next day I remember we encountered a a big long bog of deep watery mud, which most of us powered through without getting stuck. The other direction is a different story, as there is an underground stream on a uphill section, which we were warned about about, but we all got stuck. Going west to east I don't recall we got stuck there. When nearing Basalt Lake (check GPS) look for a sign and ATV trail down to the lake that has interesting basaltic columns.
