Capturing the Art of Nature
Chiilwack, Folley & Chipmunk FSR's
It felt good getting back into the hills after a month of bad weather. We were greeted with snow & Ice! Winter has arrived in the hills.
Category
Serendipitous Discoveries
2009
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The rains in November set quite a number of records this year. Their most irritating effect was that they kept me cooped up and out of the hills. So today's trip was long anticipated and I hoped that my choice of location would live up to the urgent need of seeing some real back-country. I have been in the Chilliwack river area so many times that I have lost count but even so, there are new areas opened up and some areas blocked off with washouts. Today we actually had a mix of new and old. It was a fun day out there though I didn't actually get to do what I had planned - no surprise, I often don't.
We started off exploring an area just south of the Chilliwack River Road that exits just before the road crosses over the river for the second time. It was a new area for me though I believe that this is the place that Geoff and his friends often come to go camping in the winter. I don't think I found the spot he uses but I am sure I was close by it. The area has some new logging taking place so the roads were in decent condition and as such we were able to get up to some viewpoints quite quickly. The road had some icy spots but was generally clear and easy to drive. I found a couple of decent scenes but nothing was really calling out to me so far. The day just felt cold and dull despite the clear skies at this point. As we made our way down I did spot an interestingly shaped tree that I was able to position into a reasonable shot. We started up another branch of the road but soon came to a log that was pulled across the road. We contemplated pulling it aside but I really wanted to get to the main area of my drive so we turned back and set out for the Folley Creek FSR.
Folley Creek was bare of snow this trip and we were able to make some good time driving it. At one point we took a break to watch an eagle hunting in the river. As we reached the lake we tried a branch road I had not traveled before. It seemed to go a good distance up the north side of Ford Mountain and I enjoyed the drive though I didn't find much to shoot. We then continued past the lake and set out further up the valley. The road had some serious washouts and with the ground frozen, it was hard on the undercarriage as we scraped our way across some of them. They were getting deeper and being frozen and this still not my main target we decided to return and try it again after the thaw. As we came back to the lake I glimpsed the main waterfall mid-way up the far side of the lake and stopped to get a few shots.
So soon we were on the Chipmunk FSR. I was hoping to make a loop from the Chipmunk, to the saddle point on the ridge - upper section of the Bridal Falls FSR - overlooking the Fraser Valley and then on to Mount Thurston before returning to the Bench road and on out. The first section of the road was clear and I was hopeful we would be able to do the loop. But soon we were traveling in hard snow. The snow had melted and frozen a number of times leaving the ruts almost impossible to climb out of. Ethan was taking the road slowly at this point as he was still getting a feel of the situation and trying not to get stuck should he climb out of the ruts and end up in some deep stuff. So the slow descent into a cross-ditch with water flow didn't look too unusual until one studied the far side and realized it was a frozen slope of ice! Once the truck got the rear wheels into the water and the front ones on the icy slope we stopped moving. The ice on the front gave them no traction and the soft stream bed robbed the rears from any as well. So we were stopped! I figured we had two possible methods by which we could get out of here. One was to use the winch the other to put some chains on the front tires.
As we were contemplating the situation and pair of ATV's came back down the road toward us and realized they would have to wait for us to get out. They indicated that they got stuck themselves not much further up the road. So it looked like going on would be pointless - the loop was not going to happen today. That being the case I decided to use the winch as the easiest way to get out. So I dragged out the line while Ethan hauled the 20 foot chain out to a tree and soon we were joined and ready to pull. The winch made short work of the problem and soon the ATV's were on their way. We returned the cable to the spool and chain to the back and turned the truck around. We kept up a bit more speed on the way out and had no trouble getting off the road.
I decided to follow the bench road west and to drive the upper area of the Chilliwack region to see what tales it might tell. We made our way up through Ryder Lake and the Promontory before returning to the highway through Sardis. It was a pretty area of farms and views. So though we couldn't do the loop as I had hoped, we did explore some new roads and even used the winch for a legitimate recovery! Over all it was a very successful day. The number of photos taken was a bit down but then not every trip has the same level of quality. The trip did wonders for my sense of missing the back-country. Hopefully the roads will stay open a bit longer so I can get out a few more times before the snow shuts it all down.