Capturing the Art of Nature
Garnet Creek Almost
I keep trying to revisit a very scenic location far up the Garnet Creek valley. We got close today but then the truck threw a tantrum and forced us home.
Category
Serendipitous Discoveries
2015
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Several years ago Ethan and I managed to drive the Garnet Creek FSR all the way from its start on the Lougheed highway, through some narrow roads and across to the Talc Creek FSR and finally ended up at Harrison Lake. It was a challenging drive but we saw some amazing scenery. I have tried to get back there a few times since but was always stopped short by wash outs. So today I thought we could try again.
Our adventure began much as usual with a stop for 1) coffee, 2) fuel, 3) dried meat then it was onto the highway and a quick drive to the start of the Garnet FSR. At the beginning were some notices about construction that we stopped to read and set the radio to the road frequency. Then we started up the bumpy start of the road. We quickly made our way up to the section which in winter presents a tall wall of ice and is usually very beautiful. Today we came across a notice warning of steel plates on the road! The road was disappearing and the gaps were covered by plates. That could be a bit disconcerting but we drove over them with little further thought. Before much further we came by a side road leading towards the creek. Here we stopped by the base of a transmission tower to gather some photos. Geoff noticed a smell of gasoline and so we checked our spare tank and noticed it on its side and leaking. So we secured it in an upright position and continued on. We found a partially obscured road leading down the slope which we followed to just short of the creek. We parked and walked along the broken remains of the road the rest of the way to Garnet Creek and there we enjoyed a very pleasant view of the almost dried up creek.
Once we had looked over this area we returned to the truck and carefully turned it around in the narrow road way for the climb back up the slope to the main line. The truck seemed a bit sluggish but we got up without a problem. We continued on and came to the main fork with one branch continuing up Garnet Creek and the other leading to American Creek. We came to see Garnet so that was our choice. I wasn’t sure how far we would get as last time it was only a short distance. Today the road was in better shape and we continued in past all the old washouts. We took the lower fork of the next split and followed it a short distance to its end which left us a short walk to Garnet Creek. Here we parked and got out to explore the creek. It is an amazingly beautiful location with a nice rocky beach alongside the creek, a waterfall on the left and a lovely gorge to enjoy to the right. A great place to camp and explore in detail. I grabbed a number of photos and then we returned to the truck and started up the other branch.
This one followed the old route on the map and gained some elevation as it made its way up the creek valley. Eventually we passed an old gate and now the road got quite rough in places with some challenging cross ditches to get past. We had a bit of clearing to do and even a tree to saw and move. We were getting past the really rough area and I could see the tone of the road changing to be the area I was hoping to get to. But then the truck flashed up a problem – low battery! Not at all what we needed. We checked for a blown fuse but found nothing and so we decided we had to turn back and not risk getting stranded out here. We had the spare battery but we didn’t want it to run out while we were not on pavement and it seemed like the alternator was not functioning.
We got turned around and started back. The cross ditches seemed to be a bit easier on the return but it may have been only because we felt desperate and needed to get back now. In Geoff’s concern for the battery he misjudged a large rock that he was sure he drove over on the way in, I was sure he drove around it. Well this time he drove over it and it hit the exhaust pipe in such a way that it cracked the exhaust manifold! Now we had the pleasure of scaring the bear’s two valleys over! As we were low on battery we had shut down as much power use as possible which included the A/C which meant we had the windows open. This was fortunate because in the quitter moments Geoff heard a repetitive swishing sound as he drove along the road. We stopped to check and sure enough he found a gash in the sidewall of the front tire! So here we were still back in the bush with three issues to over-come. We decided to leave the tire as long as possible and deal with it when the battery finally gave out.
We made it through the rough road and then just as we started down a steeper section the truck shut off and Geoff had to maneuver the beast down the slope without power steering or power brakes. Fortunately it wasn’t too steep and it leveled off where we coasted to a stop and 150 feet from the gate. Here we worked on swapping in the spare tire and swapping the batteries. We got it done an under an hour and started the truck. Things looked fine again except for the noisy bear deterrent. We made our way along the road and down to the end at the highway all without further incident. Here we reviewed the battery level on our second battery and decided it was still in good shape so we turned on the A/C for the drive home hoping we could make it back before the level got too low.
Well the drive home went smoothly, we didn’t even get any noticeable looks from people we passed considering the racket we were making. The battery level dropped a fraction of a volt but nothing to be concerned about. Once home and unloaded I did some testing of the power systems and determined that it was the battery isolator that was the cause of our problems. The main battery side of it was not working correctly. It was currently faulted closed but I suspect it was an open circuit and flakey earlier which is why we were having changing issues. So I by-passed it for now and will replace the unit once the manifold is replaced. I do remember being concerned about the unit when it was installed as it was rated for less amperage than the alternator could supply and I think it was cooked over time. It just goes to show that sometimes one needs to go with one’s gut feel and not always the ‘expert’. I will replace it with a larger unit.
So in the end I got closer to the scenic location but still missed it by a kilometer or two. I guess there is always next time. Though I suspect this road is on Geoff’s avoid list now.