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I had hoped to spend the day climbing a hill in the Lost Creek area east of Stave Lake. And so my planning include getting the summits identified and coordinates loaded into my gps. Then to head on out and pick one that looked like we could hike it. Geoff was able to join the adventure along with his two older boys and so we were mostly ready for the adventure. Now all we needed was a cooperative nature with a dry day. Alas nature was not cooperative and the day had showers throughout the morning.
Despite the weather, the day was exciting and full of adventure. We set off for the usual spots when setting out for the hills and soon we were approaching the start of the Lost Creek FSR. This area used to be a huge hangout for those shooting guns at targets. It had gotten crowded with shooters, often too close to each other, and so last year the area was closed to target practice. On arriving we noticed a distinct lack of vehicles in the area! That was quite a relief.
My first summit was to be Weatherhead Peak and we drove straight to the side road that the maps show as leading up the slope. Well just in from the start is a new gate, locked and annoying. So it was on to the next lower peak. It looked possible but the rain quickly dampened our interest. So we decided to head out to the twin lakes side road. This offered a few options as the area was open to target shooting but the road had a huge diversion on it which prevented the truck from accessing the lakes. New roads on the south side were now there so we took the turns which got us on the newer roads. Driving these along the side of Alligator peak was interesting but we were above the lakes and they were not easy to access from them. So when we reached a difficult cross-ditch we decided to forego further travel and try for the old road that did snuggle up on the larger lake.
We back tracked and then continued on to where the old division had stopped me earlier. Today the ditch was well eroded and travel across it quite easy. So on we went and soon we were pulling into a small spur that ends at the lake. Here we arranged the truck and took a few moments to rest before setting up a tarp as the clouds continued to remind us we were in their territory. The boys were having fun running around, exploring a small pier over the lake, tossing rocks in the lake and eating some salmonberries and wild blueberries.
The day did improve as noon came and went. We cooked a nice hot meal over our stoves and ate enough to be satisfied for the day. Done with food, it was back to skipping stones on the lake and doing a bit of target practice in the only area not restricted. Ben managed to fall in the lake and get his pants soaked. That was OK since we had a change for him, except we soon saw that that did not include a second pair of shoes! Once we had tired of the area we packed up the tarp and gear and started back up the short spur to the twin lakes fsr and saw another vehicle waiting to come down. Not sure how long they had been waiting but they moved out of the way as we came up and then they quickly took our spot by the lake.
Well we were done with the lake and so we decided to explore the rest of the side road to see what we could find. The road continued around the lake and onto some views of Stave Lake below us. The road was quite over-grown in places but we were still able to push through and over some deep washouts. The last time I was here was back in 2009 when we were able to get to a nice viewpoint overlooking Stave Lake. Today, we continued along the road to find the spot but were stopped about 600m shy of the location. At the time, we weren’t sure of how much further it was so we decided to stop pushing forward. The place we did stop at had a bit of a view of the lake and to add interest a good sized garter snake to amuse the boys.
We turned the truck around and started back, on our return we had to push a tree out of our way as the angle to get past it didn’t work as well in this direction. Then we came to the worst of the washouts and got stuck trying to cross. Well, I guess this is why we have the winch so I ran out the line and got ready to pull us the few feet needed to regain traction. Geoff plugged in the control cable and clicked the button, nothing. He tried the outward direction and that worked. The needed inward motion was not happening. Not the best feeling. I tried a few more re-plugs of the cable and jostling of the connector. That seemed to work and now we had a usable winch. A few more minutes and we were across the stream and on our way again. The road was definitely much rougher than 9 years ago but we had fun exploring the area and as it was now getting on, we decided to head on out for the day.
Well, it didn’t get me to a summit but I was able to review the summits and I am now ready to try for a hike later in the summer. My two grandsons seemed to quite enjoy their adventure and they saw a number of new things so the adventure continues.