Capturing the Art of Nature
Siwash Creek & Anderson River FSR's
A return to Siwash from the north allowed us to explore most of the valley. Then it was on to the Anderson River area for a sneak peek.
Category
Serendipitous Discoveries
2010
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In August we drove the valley from the south end but we didn’t get very far up the FSR as it was far too over-grown for our truck to follow the road. So we were inspired to try the road again but this time from the north end to see how close we would be able to get to the furthest point we made in August. Our day started off well and we made good time to Hope but there we were stalled by the slow filling of the gas tank. It has been a problem for a couple of months but today it was really slow and we ended up restarting the process twice as we just couldn’t tell how close we were to being full. Once that was complete we headed up the Fraser Canyon to Spuzzum and the start of the FSR.
Two things I noticed upon entry were that the name of the road was Anderson River FSR not Catermole as the book shows and second that it was gated at 13km. So we proceeded with uncertain expectations. The road parallels the Fraser for a few kilometers offering a few viewpoints, but soon heads east through an extremely narrow valley, shared with a moderately flowing creek. Once through the narrowest section we arrived at a fork. Both choices seemed well used but the southern one had an open gate on it. The gate looked like it hadn’t been closed for quite some time so we felt fairly comfortable heading on in.
Soon after we started down the road we came to the first of many branches. The area seems well covered by roads leading to all areas of the valley and we were trying hard to select the branch that seemed most likely to reach the far end of the valley. We came upon some interesting features as we drove; the most noticeable was that autumn was indeed starting. Many of the maples had started to turn colour and offered us some lovely reds and oranges. It should be really nice in a couple of weeks. About mid valley we chose a road leading to the left and after making our way along it for a while we came upon a chap gathering branches along the side of the road. We continued past him but soon came to the end of the road. On our return we stopped to ask him what he was doing. He was gathering small branches for Christmas decorations – they are shipped to eastern Canada. He says he can fill his truck in about four half days of work netting him around 3 grand! Not bad for a pleasant romp in the back country.
We returned to the fork and took the right branch and after trying one other short spur we continued south until the road was once again too over-grown to continue. At this spot we were only about 2km from the place we stopped at coming north. We back tracked a few hundred meters to a wider cleared area and there we set up the HF radio for our 1:30 communication test. While we were setting up a group a dirt bikes and 2 atv’s came out of the narrow road having just passed through the section we couldn’t. They said that they had spent an hour building a small bridge for their atv to be able to cross a stream! I guess that would have stopped us even if the road didn’t. They eventually had to return back through the over-grown section despite the strong reluctance of the chap on the atv! Meanwhile I was trying to reach home on the HF radio but was unable to make contact. I did hear chaps in San Diego and one in Germany who were both working a contest. After 15 minutes of trying we packed up the gear and started back up the road.
On the return we stopped at a cliff face that had some lovely fall colours and I took a number of photos. It was here that Geoff spotted a large toad lurking in the grasses. I picked him up for a photo shoot as he was the largest critter we had seen so far today. A bit further along the road Geoff spotted some Grouse and since the season for them had just opened he grabbed is shot gun and set off after them. Unfortunately for him he didn’t get a good opportunity to shoot one.
As we neared the start of the FSR we took a major westerly branch which led us up the slope to the ridge that formed the eastern side of the Fraser Canyon. The road was well maintained as it was used to service the transmission lines that were snaking their way north. Though the ridge looked down on the Fraser, the trees and general topography prevented us from seeing down into the valley. We didn’t explore much of this road so there may be spots with a good view into the valley – a return visit is in order.
It was back to the main FSR where we came upon a hunter slowly making his way north, he was clearly looking for deer or grouse. Once back to the original fork we decided to try the north fork to see if the gate that was reported as being locked truly was locked. After winding our way up for a few kilometers we finally arrived at the gate. It was open and though it could be locked, it looked like it had been open for quite some number of months. That was encouraging. The area was looking quite interesting so we decided we would take a bit of time to have a quick peek into this area. Once again we were quickly faced with numerous forks to pick between. Selecting a major northern one we followed the Anderson River east for some distance and eventually had a great view of several of the Anderson Area Mountains. They have a distinct look to them – quite steep and barren.
As it was now after 5pm we decided we just couldn’t continue further in so we turned back home. It was disappointing in a way as we almost never stop traveling a road until it ends or is blocked. But time was marching on and we needed to get home. This Anderson River area is huge and offers many branches to explore. It will be at least a full day’s visit just to travel it. On our way back we stopped at a burned out building that we had noticed on our way in. The support timbers were still there along with crumped metal roofing, but everything else was gone. I wondered if it was the result of the conflict between the loggers and environmentalists that took place here around 6 years ago.
Once done with the building we continued on out and soon we were travelling south on the highway to Hope. Not very far along Geoff’s eagle eye spotted a mother bear and cub walking along the far bank of the Fraser so we made a quick detour to find a good view point of the pair. I took a number of telephoto shots of the two but they were too distant to get anything good. As they slowly meandered south along the river we returned to the truck and continued on to Hope for a good latte at the Blue Moose. The drive home went quickly and without incident this time. So we were home around 7:45, an 11 hour day of driving! A bit tiring but the sights were lovely and the area definitely worth spending more time in.