Capturing the Art of Nature
Anderson Valley and the Tsileuh
Capturing the beauty of the hills can be a very relaxing pursuit as one drives through nature, until a challenge presents itself.
Category
Serendipitous Discoveries
2016
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Constant rain has kept me out of the hills for two months! It has been a very frustrating time to be missing the sights, sounds and smells of the hills. Today was finally a sunny day on a Saturday and we were both able to pack up and head out for the gravel roads of the mountains. It has been a very long time since my last visit to the Anderson area next to Spuzzum – two and a half years. Time just shoots by so much faster than one can comprehend. But at least we were back. Our day began with Geoff’s arrival at the house, we then scrambled to load the truck trying to remember everything we would need. Once loaded we made our usual stops and were soon on the highway heading east.
As we approached the Alexandra Bridge I was getting anxious to actually get onto the roads, it felt good seeing the peaks from the highway but being on them in a few minutes would be so much better. Just past the bridge we came by the entrance to the FSR and turned onto it. A short way in at a wide area there was a truck parked with an empty trailer, so we knew there were some ATV’s ahead and to keep an eye out for them. We tuned in the logging road frequency on our radio and soon were off for our adventure. Our first stop was to enjoy a look down on the bridge we just crossed. It is quite impressive being so high above the river.
We decided to drive the larger section of the road system and set off for that area, passing many signs warning of homes below the road and not to shoot firearms in their direction. We soon were wending our way up the narrow gorge through the eastern range that forms the Fraser Canyon. At the far side the road splits and there we saw a locked gate. We checked it and though it looked locked the chain was actually not secured. But I really wanted to go the other way and so we started up that road but soon came to a small mudslide across the road. Though not really very big it was enough to stop us dead in our tracks. The truck just dug into the dirt and couldn’t get over the debris. We didn’t feel like digging it out so we turned back to the gated road but while we had been contemplating the slide we heard an excavator across the valley. It was obvious that they were the ones closing the gate and we didn’t want to take a chance that they would actually lock it while we were on the far side! So we returned to near the start of the road for another fork that climbs to the ridge of the range along the Fraser Canyon.
It is in this section that the hydro construction crews were busy two years ago building a new power line. We enjoyed the benefit of the improved roads and though we had a bit of snow on the road near the crest it wasn’t deep enough to block us. If it had been the day would not have been very encouraging. But we had the whole valley before us and we followed the main line north down to the river and back up the far side to the end of this ridge and the final transmission tower before the line took a long dip to the far side of the East Anderson branch. It was a nice viewpoint so we set up our stoves and cooked a nice lunch. By now we now had come across the two ATV’s and a small bear cub but otherwise we were completely alone. So nice.
Done with lunch we started back and saw a red truck parked below us so we found the spur that led to it and discovered it was a truck we had seen before in the area collecting tree branches to ship east for Christmas ornaments. The driver was not near so we continued past and explored the road a ways further before turning back. We continued our backtracking down to the river where we stopped to gather some photos and then it was back up to the ridge and another spur. This side road is the one we were on the last time we were here. It brought us to an area with some nice small lakes that we found very pretty. Unfortunately not far along the road we encountered over grown trees which Geoff started clearing with the chainsaw but we also had deepening snow and decided we wouldn’t get much further so we packed up the saw and drove back to the mainline far below. Here we stopped on a large mossy rock that I enjoyed taking photos from years before. It is a very pretty spot with some nice views of the Fraser River below. Done with this road for today we crossed back over the Fraser and through Spuzzum and turned onto the Tsileuh Service Road. This one continues north along the west side of the canyon and soon we had some nice views of the old Alexandra Bridge and other portions of the Fraser. As we continued along the road we encountered a new challenge - freshly fallen rock with sharp edges which was threatening our sidewalls. Eventually we were blocked by a washout that seems to have been the same one that stopped me the previous time I was here.
Well it was still a nice spot to enjoy even if we didn’t get to any new section of the road. As it was now getting on in time we decided to head down to the highway and return to the town of Hope for a coffee at the Blue Moose. It is always a refreshing spot to get a quick refresher before continuing the drive home.