Capturing the Art of Nature
Ruby & Garnet Creek FSR's
It being a month after our first visit, I was hoping all the snow would be gone and we could fully explore the area.
Category
Serendipitous Discoveries
2009
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I had never given much thought to exploring the back roads east of Agassiz for years and then last April I finally got out to explore Ruby and Garnet Creeks but it was too early in the season and we were quickly turned back by snow. So here I am 6 weeks later trying again and hopeful that the snow would be gone. We started out on Ruby Creek and retraced our path from April. The vegetation had grown up and what made for decent viewpoints in early April were now blocked by greenery. I was quite surprised to see just how much of the view was now obscured.
We made our way up the FSR and soon came to the place where we were blocked last time. Today the road was dry and clear for as far as we could see, so on we went. We did get quite a bit further along the Ruby Creek FSR but not on roads marked on the Topo map. We were eventually blocked by a washout and took a few moments to rest before retracing our steps to try a few other side branches. The accessible area was not nearly as extensive as I had thought it would be and soon we had exhausted the road. As we made our way out we were approached by another back country explorer, he asked if we had seen any black bear in the area and we gave him the bad news that we hadn't.
After that we decided to head straight out and so we made our way to the highway and set off for the next FSR - Garnet creek. Last time we barely got into the road before snow held us at bay. I really wasn't expecting to find much as the map showed even less road than Ruby Creek. We quickly made our way in and as we approached the place we were turned back in April we startled a young black bear who had been making his way along the road. He quickly turned around and ran up the road before diving into the under bush and down the slope to the creek. I guess the hunter we met earlier picked the wrong road for the day. Just past the place the bear left the road we came upon a beautiful cliff face that the road skirted along. The rock wall went straight up on the east and straight down on the west! There was a tiny streamlet creating a lovely little waterfall down the face onto the road.
We continued on and kept going much further than expected. We eventually came to a sign pointing out two separate FSR areas that we could explore. One was American Creek FSR. On checking the map we saw that the American Creek FSR continued on to the Fraser Canyon and would offer us a path out without retracing our steps, so we chose that and made our way over some rougher road. This part of the road travelled along the power lines and gave us a number of nice views of the area. At one higher point I tried my truck radio on the White Rock Repeater to see if I could reach it. Surprisingly I did work into the repeater and chatted with one of the club members who was mobile in White Rock. We then continued up the road try for the canyon.
Alas, only a half kilometer further along we came upon that white blanket that blocked the road once again! We were so close to the highest point of the road but there it was blocking our way. So we took a rest to eat a bit and then set off back the way we came. This was disappointing but not completely unexpected. We explored a couple of side roads on our way back but as it was getting a bit later and the light was no longer as good, we decided to leave the rest of the roads for another visit. The deep part of the Garnet creek was left unexplored and will need some serious attention in the future. We stopped on a fairly new bridge over a tributary creek to Garnet . It looked new enough that I am fairly certain that there is active logging in the area we skipped over today. So the roads will likely be fairly good and readily available on a return visit later in the year.
While on the bridge Geoff did a bit of target practice with his rifle. He seems to be a fairly decent shot - hitting a ribbon tied around a tree dead centre! Having the rifle does make one feel a bit safer in bear country. We made our way out while stopping for a few more photo ops along the way. So in the end, the Garnet Creek area ended up being much bigger than I expected and we didn't get to explore all of it. The road is definitely worth another visit - exploring the Garnet area and the American as we later learned that the American Creek FSR is washed out fairly early on and the only way to access the bulk of it is through this area. I will be back but perhaps next time on an ATV.