Capturing the Art of Nature
Chehalis and Fleetwood
Being unsure of where the snow would allow us to go, we opted to try the Chehalis area and then drive the road along the east side of the valley. Despite the weather it was a good choice.
Category
Serendipitous Discoveries
2012
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It has been over a month since my last visit to the hills thanks to the weather and I was getting a bit frustrated. All week the forecast was showing a mixed bag for the day and so we were hopeful that it would turn out well for the drive. Well along comes the morning and the forecast for the day had worsened but still offered some hope. So despite the light drizzle we set out for the Chehalis area. We hoped the road would be clear of snow as their seemed to be some year-round logging going on.
Our drive to the Harrison Mills area went much as always except for the increasing amount of rain. Finally reaching the start of the FSR we could see only thick cloud above us and little hope for improving weather. We made our way up to Elbow Lake and there we came across one party of campers enjoying the location and the rain. We stopped for a few photos and then continued on. The road was indeed clear of snow though we could see deep pockets not far from the road and most side roads were covered. A few kilometers past the lake we came by a lower side road that we had not travelled before and so we decided to explore it, the snow wasn’t too deep and there were some ruts we could follow. This area offered a number of branches which we tried. One ended at a clearing with an upside-down camper that was full of bullet holes, Geoff of course had to add a few. Not far below us was the Chehalis River so we followed a path down to the river and there we enjoyed a lovely view of the river running through a mini-gorge. It is definitely worth returning to.
Returning to the truck, we tried a few more branches and eventually came by the truck which had made the ruts. It was parked and the driver was not to be seen. Its position made it a challenge to turn around but eventually we squeaked by. Done with the side road we returned to the main line and continued along. Eventually we came to the active logging area and one logger was indeed moving logs just off the road. The road clearing ended at this point and the road past the area was deep in snow and not drivable! A side road Geoff had been on in the Fall and the one he was hoping to drive today, was right in the midst of the clear-cut and not cleared of snow. It was a lot less exciting to look at with no trees around it, so we decided to head back and find a spot for lunch.
Just before the prison we turned up a side road and followed it along to an overlook. Along the way we drove passed another camper where someone seemed to be staying for the long-haul. Driving pastthe camper we reached the end of the road and stopped to eat lunch. Once done with lunch we set off for the Fleetwood road which was the FSR on the far side of the Chehalis river. This road has seen us drive past for years so it was about time to explore it. I wasn’t sure how the snow level would be but we thought we would do what we could.
Surprisingly we made it the whole way in to the washout that blocked access to the connector back to the main Chehalis road. We also found that the area had a large number of side branches which climbed up the side of Mt Keenan – one of the Hemlock ski-hill peaks. Those roads were deep in snow and so we could travel them only a short distance. We did come across an old mining area at one point where we found an old decrepit shack and a pile of core samples. It was worth scouting on foot so we spent a bit of time walking through the snow looking over the mine area. We didn’t find a mine shaft and so it may be worth a return visit when the snow is gone to look further.
Once done with the mine we drove back exploring a few other short spurs, by now we had a bit of sunshine interspersed with snow and rain. Though the sun was brief it did wonders to liven up our mood. Finally done with the portion of the area we could travel we returned to the pavement and set off for home. Though the weather limited our opportunities, we still had a fun time seeing some new sights, several of which warrant return trips. On arriving back home we learned that they had had a lovely sunny day, just as it was forecast! We just didn’t stay home to enjoy it.