Tulameen Country

Our day started off well. We were heading out for the Sowaqua FSR with a radio chat planned for 2pm. We made excellent time to the Abbotsford Starbucks and then on to Hope for fuel and some lunch supplies. Our next stop was exit 192 on the Coquihalla at the start of the Sowaqua FSR. The road looked quite good and we started off with high expectations. Well, less than a kilometer along the road we encountered rock slide - rocks of all sizes strewn across the road from the cliff above. Though blocked, we thought we could see a path through the rocks and so we seriously considered pushing through. After making it a few meters we got hung up on some medium sized rocks, not even the bigger ones. and so after this reaching an impasse so quickly we decided to call it! Now that was a disappointment. In an ATV we likely could have made it over the rocks but not in our truck. So now what?

Reviewing the maps further up the highway I skipped past the next one as I had talked with the logging company who stated that they had a locked gate there, that left the Tulameen FSR at mileage marker 228 – not all that far on the freeway, so off we went and soon we were there and trying to decide which branch of the first fork to take. This would be an often repeated decision during the day’s events. We also spotted a new road frequency which we had to program into the radio, so that delayed us a bit. After pondering the choices for a while, Geoff spotted a small sign showing us the correct branch and we were soon on the way in. The road was well maintained with the snow cleared and piled up along the sides for the first number of kilometers. That was good as I really didn’t want to get stopped at the start again.

We noticed that the map showed a loop route which we could take allowing us to stop in the town of Tulameen for a breather. So we set off on what seemed the less major road first which coincided with the plowed road. All was good as we started south into the alpine country and we had little trouble with the road. The area had a very different feel to it compared to the more coastal areas we have been doing so that was a refreshing change but it did tend to make the place look a bit less photogenic – at least on this first trip – I will need to develop an eye for this style of backcountry.

At the southern end of the loop we came to another fork, the left set off for Tulameen, the right on a dead end trip far to the south. With it being still very early we chose to try the right branch first, it was a good thing as some of our best photos were found down this leg. After driving a while we came alongside the Tulameen river for the first time and soon spotted a small side road leading to a lovely little camping spot. We got out and explored the site a bit – it would be a nice area to camp with the river just behind the trees – the sound of the river was refreshing. Continuing down the road, we came by a small stream where a short spur led to what looked like an equipment storage area. So we left the main road and followed the road that paralleled the stream. At the bottom I found a few interesting photo ops and Geoff explored the abandoned equipment. Then it was back to the truck and on to the main FSR. Soon we came to a small forestry camp site - Sutter Creek. Here the Creek cut a narrow gorge through the shale and with the high flow offered some excellent photos. We decided to explore the area on foot, our goal was to get to the gorge. We soon found that the bank was so steep that we needed a rope to climb down from the campsite to the edge of the gorge. Fortunately we had one and we were able to get real close to the water and the shear walls of the gorge for some intimate photos. This spot deserves a return visit. After exploring the site and making our way across some deep snow drifts we packed up and continued on down the road.