Hi all,
Just came back from another little trip, the group was small and consisted of Robert C., Pawel and I (Marcin cancelled due to Ania being sick - at least that's the story).
We met at a Starbucks in Poco at 7am on Saturday and were finally on the road after last minute preparations by about 7:30. Heading straight for Harrison, through town and onto the East side of the lake, the traffic was light and there were only the occasional campers or hunters in the area. We headed straight North into the Big Silver FSR and passed a group of of teenagers with a broken down Jeep and some other vehicles that looked to be heading to Clear Creek. Onto Kookipi trail which was a very nice, laid back 2WD trail that cuts through a nice canyon with decent views. Encountered a hunter and his son in a full size Ford with a busted Shock mount and helped him out. We were heading towards our destination for the night which was Nahatlatch Lake, when we arrived we were shocked to find it over crowded with hunters, people picking mushrooms and apparently now cabins. Which was news to us. We headed to the far West end of the lake in hope of some seclusion and found an ok site a bit too close to the main FSR at the very end on the shores of the river. The trail past it is blocked by a gate. This was one of the first times ever we managed to arrive at camp at 4 so we took advantage of it by relaxing, getting lots of firewood and taking our time with everything. I found a near by waterfall and took pics of it. The night was cooler and the temps dropped to -1. The morning welcomed us with the same temperatures so after a filling breakfast and coffee we hit the trail again. This time we were aiming at the canyon, so back out the way we came in, then into what is called Westside Drive (which is a gravel trail) and along the West bank of the Fraser river. The entire trail was scenic, the temperatures were much higher, the terrain was laid back and 2WD all the way. Since we were taking it easy we kept exploring the little off-shoots towards the river to find a good camp site. A couple of u-turns and a couple of successful descents to the banks and we were satisfied with the results. One turn off gave us a different result then what we expected, at first it looked like a regular, random trail, then it opened up a bit and we saw a fairly permanent tent. Thinking it was some private property we entered cautiously and were hoping to find more river access. What we did find instead was a full scale grow op in the middle of the forest, granted when we got there it was all closed for the season, but we still felt the need to get lost fairly quick before the owners came home. Continuing along the path we found an abandoned ranch house and decided to stop for lunch. We found camp along the West bank opposite Hwy 12 and settled in for the night. As always we ate too much great food, prepared by Robert, and indulged in interesting conversations and how to solve the world's problems, which became easier and easier the more we drank. In the morning we were still too full to have breakfast so we hit the trail early and headed North along the shore into Lillooet area. We stopped for lunch on the shores of Fraser again and enjoyed the last hours of freedom. The rest was regrettably spent on paved roads and far less enjoyable. The trip was laid back, easy going, the trail was 2WD all the way, the camp sites along the canyon were amazing and the weather cooperated. Thanks to Robert for an excellent job of feeding us, Pawel for the guiding (even though he made me think I was doing it) and knowing where the good spots are.
Just came back from another little trip, the group was small and consisted of Robert C., Pawel and I (Marcin cancelled due to Ania being sick - at least that's the story).
We met at a Starbucks in Poco at 7am on Saturday and were finally on the road after last minute preparations by about 7:30. Heading straight for Harrison, through town and onto the East side of the lake, the traffic was light and there were only the occasional campers or hunters in the area. We headed straight North into the Big Silver FSR and passed a group of of teenagers with a broken down Jeep and some other vehicles that looked to be heading to Clear Creek. Onto Kookipi trail which was a very nice, laid back 2WD trail that cuts through a nice canyon with decent views. Encountered a hunter and his son in a full size Ford with a busted Shock mount and helped him out. We were heading towards our destination for the night which was Nahatlatch Lake, when we arrived we were shocked to find it over crowded with hunters, people picking mushrooms and apparently now cabins. Which was news to us. We headed to the far West end of the lake in hope of some seclusion and found an ok site a bit too close to the main FSR at the very end on the shores of the river. The trail past it is blocked by a gate. This was one of the first times ever we managed to arrive at camp at 4 so we took advantage of it by relaxing, getting lots of firewood and taking our time with everything. I found a near by waterfall and took pics of it. The night was cooler and the temps dropped to -1. The morning welcomed us with the same temperatures so after a filling breakfast and coffee we hit the trail again. This time we were aiming at the canyon, so back out the way we came in, then into what is called Westside Drive (which is a gravel trail) and along the West bank of the Fraser river. The entire trail was scenic, the temperatures were much higher, the terrain was laid back and 2WD all the way. Since we were taking it easy we kept exploring the little off-shoots towards the river to find a good camp site. A couple of u-turns and a couple of successful descents to the banks and we were satisfied with the results. One turn off gave us a different result then what we expected, at first it looked like a regular, random trail, then it opened up a bit and we saw a fairly permanent tent. Thinking it was some private property we entered cautiously and were hoping to find more river access. What we did find instead was a full scale grow op in the middle of the forest, granted when we got there it was all closed for the season, but we still felt the need to get lost fairly quick before the owners came home. Continuing along the path we found an abandoned ranch house and decided to stop for lunch. We found camp along the West bank opposite Hwy 12 and settled in for the night. As always we ate too much great food, prepared by Robert, and indulged in interesting conversations and how to solve the world's problems, which became easier and easier the more we drank. In the morning we were still too full to have breakfast so we hit the trail early and headed North along the shore into Lillooet area. We stopped for lunch on the shores of Fraser again and enjoyed the last hours of freedom. The rest was regrettably spent on paved roads and far less enjoyable. The trip was laid back, easy going, the trail was 2WD all the way, the camp sites along the canyon were amazing and the weather cooperated. Thanks to Robert for an excellent job of feeding us, Pawel for the guiding (even though he made me think I was doing it) and knowing where the good spots are.
