Capturing the Art of Nature
Hunter Creek for Lunch
A pleasant day in the hills with my son and grandsons
Category
Serendipitous Discoveries
2019
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I last visited the Hunter Creek area 2 years ago, back then the small power project was being constructed and I wasn’t able to drive the area I most wanted to see. So, it was time to try it again and see what was happening in this alpine valley hanging high above the Fraser valley. The boys arrived around 8:30am and we reloaded the truck with our gear and then set off for coffee, fuel and the back-country. We made good time along the roads, which allowed us to take a few minutes to visit Davis meats to pick up some of their amazing beef jerky. Then it was on to the highway for the Hunter Creek area.
We arrived at the start of the FSR to discover a few trucks parked with their ATVs unloaded and likely somewhere up in the hills, so we would need to keep a watch for them. After switching the truck to 4x4 mode we started up the initial section of road. Prior to the power project this was a very sketchy road with a steep drop-off, but the power project tamed the road and added barriers making it quite safe and boring. Once past the initial climb the road leaves the cliff face and heads into the valley. We followed the road into the valley and saw the power plant below us at creek level. The power project was in full operation and the roads were fortunately empty of construction equipment. We continued in and eventually crossed over the creek and continued along to the next bridge but here we spotted a water intake dam and so we took time to explore it.
The intake was just below the bridge over the eastern branch of the creek. It had a dam component but that was open and no water was being diverted here. This was an odd situation because the project had two intakes. The main one was up the western fork and this one gathered water from the eastern. After looking over the intake we packed up and crossed the bridge having decided to check out the other intake.
We soon arrived at the second. This one was smaller and simpler in design, there was no dam component and the water was diverted to a pipe with some spillage left for the creek itself. While there a chap and his son drove up in an ATV. We chatted for a bit and I showed him my map of the area. Meanwhile the three boys were down at the creek exploring where Liam managed to get a soaked foot and Ben a wet backside. Lots of fun for the start of the day. Once we had our fill of the river we set off for the road to the top ridge where I had planned to spend the bulk of our time. We back-tracked to where that fork was and started up the slope to the top.
The road was in good shape considering it had been 8 years since my last visit. We quickly ascended the steep road and soon arrived at the end where a tree blocked our path. The road past the tree was quite short and not that interesting so we backed up a bit to a wider spot where we settled in for a few hours. Once parked, Geoff set about setting up a campfire pit, the two boys were helping gather rocks for the barrier. Meanwhile I was busy scouting out supports for my wire antenna. I decided on tying it to a stump on the top of a slash pile and the other end up the slope to a tree. It worked very nicely and the centre was almost directly over the truck! Very good placement. I then set up my KX3 and amp and started calling stations in the Ohio QSO contest. I made a few contacts while the boys were busy getting the campfire going and lunch started.
The two boys were having fun exploring the area and the various steep slopes above the clearing we were parked at. I gave them each a UHF radio and they had some fun with that during their explorations. Soon lunch was ready and we settled in for a nice hot meal around the campfire. We all had enough to eat and then it was back to exploring, and radio contacting. After another hour the wind was picking up and we could see the clouds moving in with some rain, so we starting packing up and were back in the truck as the first drops hit us. I was surprising to not see any of the other ATV drivers while we were up there but as we came down we did spot the original chap heading up the fork that continues far up the main valley.
Once back down to the first road we stopped to gather a bit of wood for Geoff to use at home. He had spotted what looked to be some nice dry wood piled up next to the road and after cutting it, he loaded it into the truck. While working on the wood we finally saw the other ATVs, they passed us heading out to avoid the rain. Once the wood was loaded we continued back to the entrance, by now the rain was coming much harder. We made good time to the start and there we saw the others loading their ATVs back onto the trucks for transport home.
All was going well until a bit before Bridal Falls where Ben cries out that he needed a washroom now! Well we had a bit to go but we turned off at the Agassiz exit and drove in to the first service station and made Ben much happier. We then resumed the drive home stopping once more in Sardis to pick up some coffee for the final bit of the drive. A nice day with some interesting sights and a pleasant spot to hangout and eat lunch.