Capturing the Art of Nature
Lost Creek FSR & Twin Lakes
Christmas was over and the weather was good so we set off to revisit the eastern Stave lake region
Category
Serendipitous Discoveries
2009
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It had been two years since I last visited the eastern Stave region and the prior trip was on Boxing day 2006! so I thought it would be a decent day to explore the area and note the changes that had occurred. It being a holiday, Nicholas my third son was available to join Geoff and me. So the three of us prepped the truck and set off for Mission and the roads beyond. Near Mission we encountered our first of many problems, I managed to blow a fuse on my power distribution unit, somehow the notebook was drawing excess power today. We found some for sale in a small general store just outside of town. The little store seemed to have a bit of everything and would be worth a return visit.
Back on the road the fuse blew a gain before it settled down, still not sure what was causing it but I was glad it stopped. Soon we arrived at the start of the Lost Creek FSR, we edged our way through a number of abandoned trucks having launched their ATV's. We were surprised that there was no snow anywhere to be seen! The last time I was here in the winter there was snow starting from before the FSR. Today we barely encountered any all day. We made our way to Davis Lake Park and stopped to grab a few images of McDonald Falls. It was here that I discovered I had forgotten my tripod at home. So I would have limited opportunities at the Falls today. We decided to explore the upper section despite not having the tripod. The flow was decent and I got a few shots but not of the caliber I was seeking, so after a short visit we returned to the truck and set off further up the road.
Once past the park we had our first view of Stave Lake, it was mist covered and offered some lovely mood photos. There was a branch of the road leading down toward the lake but as there were several groups of shooters doing target practice, we decided to leave this spot and continue on up and try the Twin Lakes branch and see if we could get some better views of the lake. Soon we arrived at the fork leading to the twin lakes and started up a steep rough section of road. It seemed a lot rougher than I remembered but it may have been memory or the stiffer suspension that the truck has. Once we got past the steep section the road was quite easy to drive and we quickly arrived at the larger of the two lakes. We parked in a small campsite and I started taking photos.
The lakes were frozen over though it wasn't a thick layer and I wouldn't trust it enough to walk on it. While I was shooting photos, Geoff set up a target for some practice with his riffle. He showed Nick how to shoot with it and Nick managed to hit the target a few times which pleased him considerably. I find it far too noisy for my liking and prefer to stay away when Geoff is shooting. Just as I was leaving the sun had heated up the surface enough to send up clouds of mist, so I was able to gather a few more photos with a different character.
We were back on the road heading to an overlook of Stave and we were soon stopped by a downed tree. Just the excuse Geoff needed to whip out his chain saw and clear the way for us. After a few minutes and a few cuts we were back on our way . I knew the viewpoint I wanted to get to and I wanted to get there while the light was good and the mist was still on the lake, so we moved along stopping as little as possible. But the road was to make travel a challenge. Soon the side brush was over-hanging the road making driving slow and difficult and we still had over a kilometer to the viewpoint. As we inched forward, we bent our ham antenna and when we got to the viewpoint we realized that we had lost the truck radio's antenna. We looked for it on our way out but didn't find it.
Now that we had arrived at the viewpoint I wanted to grab a few shots before lunch lest we lose the mist on the lake. I made my way out to the ledge I had hoped to take some photos from but time had given the trees additional height and bulk and much of the view was now obscured. Talk about a disappointment. I did get a few images but not as many as I had hoped for. The guys also came out and grabbed a number of shots. After a quick bite for lunch I made my way up a cliff face to see if that got above the over-growth, it did and I was able to get some clear views in the northerly direction.
On our way out the guys decided to do some brush clearing while I drove the truck. In the process, Geoff managed to snag a small tree trunk on his down swing and smacked it onto his head. It almost knocked him out and he was feeling a bit unsteady for a few minutes. Not to mention his new headache. After clearing the worse of the over-hang we had made our way past it and now we were able to quickly make our way back to the main FSR. Once there we decided to continue in and see what Salsbury Lake would offer us. We made good time getting to the lake, it also was frozen over but the ice was thin and definitely not able to support walking on. I grabbed a few more shots in the dimming light.
We decided to continue further down the road to see if the washout was passable and the way to Cypress Point open . Unfortunately the road was blocked and signs indicated that the way was still impassible in a vehicle like ours. So the Point will need to wait until I have an ATV to reach it. We took one more short detour on our way back to see if another view of the lake was possible but this spot didn't offer one and as the light was now marginal for my photography we decided to head on out.
The day was a success and I got a number of decent photos of the lakes. I was surprised by the lack of snow on the ground, this mild winter can sure be seen when you come up here. Nick had a good time, it's a shame he is working most week-ends and not able to join me on my trips. We'll need to plan some hikes this summer when he can take a day off.