Capturing the Art of Nature
Sumas and Fraser Rivers
An easy drive along the rivers with many new sites to explore
Category
Serendipitous Discoveries
2010
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I was looking forward to getting out a few times after Christmas as I took the week off with that expectation in mind. Today I had Nicholas available to drive for me and as he is my least experienced driver we needed to travel easier locations. I decided to try Sumas mountain and then along the Fraser for some water views followed by a run up Mt Woodside. Our first stop after fueling up was Starbucks for a warm coffee but when we drove through the parking lot it was over full and not a spot to park, so we just kept driving and skipped the coffee. Our first destination was Sumas Peak so we set out for it.
The road on the south side of Sumas Mountain was reasonably good, the first section presented the rapid growth Abbotsford is experiencing - a lot of it on the slopes of the mountain for the million dollar views. It was a bit convoluted to get to the Sumas Mountain road from the south but we made decent time and were soon climbing the south flank for the saddle point along the spine of the range. We took a few side roads along the way to seek out some views but didn’t find any good spots. We soon were on the actual road that went to the peak only to be stopped by a locked gate. The peak was closed for the winter! Very disappointing, so we returned the way we came exploring a couple more side roads on the way down. At one point Nick needed a stretch and pulled over onto the shoulder. On departing he found he was stuck! I had him get out and lock the hubs and with that in place the return to the road was no issue – a good learning experience for him.
Once off the slope we drove towards Chilliwack and found a park along side of the Sumas River. It was a dark skies designated park for the local astronomy club. I found some pleasant views of the river with Sumas Mountain as a back drop. Nick got quite excited as he spotted a new duck for his bird watching program. After gathering a number of images as I walked along the river bank we returned to the truck and set off for lunch in Chilliwack. It actually being lunch time and being near a restaurant, we decided to eat at one rather than buy a lousy sandwich, though more time consuming, it was a nice pizza. Our next stop was the Fraser River north of Chilliwack. As we approached the river we spotted a sign inviting us to a regional park that borders the river, so we accepted the offer and made our way to it. We pulled in to the boat launch area and took a walk along the bank; I was able to locate a number of decent views. Once done with the park we continued along the river and stopped at a sand bar where we were able to get down to and walk the river bed. There were some interesting exposed items of interest to shoot.
Once back at the truck, we continued east along the river and soon came upon an access point where we could get the truck onto the river bed. We had a short water crossing to get across and then we had a huge area to drive shared with other 4x4’s and numerous ATV’s. It was a big area with all sorts of users. We drove upstream to where we had a phenomenal view of the river further upstream. The location was incredible and offered some spectacular sights with the silvery colour to the day and the sun peeking out sporadically to give a glimmer to the river. I will need to come back here regularly under different lighting conditions as it was so lovely.
We then returned to the road system and continued our way east through the sloughs. They are quite numerous and extensive through here and offered many possible spots for great photos but I wanted to get to Mt Woodside so we skipped past some lovely areas. This area definitely needs a visit in the Spring when the new growth is fresh but still small. – So much to do and see in this region, it is quite over-whelming.
Soon we were crossing over the Fraser to Agassiz and then on to Mt Woodside. Just after turning onto the FSR we stopped to lock our hubs. There we met a chap named Gary. He is a paraglider and was hoping for a lift up the mountain to the launch point. So we re-arranged a few items and loaded him into the truck. This being Nick’s first drive up a steep road, I was concerned how he would fair. He did quite well on the steep slope up the mountain and was enjoying the drive. Soon we reached the branch to the launch site and made our way along it, at the end the road is quite steep and the high front of the truck made the road invisible for a few yards, It gave Nick a bit of a scare descending that segment but he did it and without any incidents.
Once at the site we parked and Gary set out for the launch site. The view was amazing but we were soon engulfed by cloud. There were brief openings that gave us glimpses of the valley below but the cloud was getting thicker with some freezing rain hitting us sporadically. After waiting about 20 minutes and sunset coming, we decided to head back down. Gary returned to his truck with us somewhat disappointed he didn’t get a chance to fly today. Part way down we broke through the clouds and I had some great views of the valley to capture. So I did manage to get some photos from the hillside.
At the bottom we said good-bye to our guest and set off for home. We did take a brief detour at DeRoche where I noticed a logging road on the map. It was being actively logged and so should be a viable road to try another day. As we made our way to Mission, we came upon a detour off the highway due to an accident. The detour ran parallel to the highway and we had a view of the accident scene from across the fields, it looked like a car had driven into a gas station. We were soon back on the highway and approaching Mission. After re-crossing the Fraser Nick needed a break from driving so I took over and finished the final leg of the journey for us. A great day with several nice locations scouted out for future visits.