whats latin for adventure?

this weekend it was time to check out a new lake.  mike had been talking about it for a month or so, and we believed him that it was cool, now we just needed to experience it for ourselves.

we got prepared for the adventure by opening a keg at mikes on friday night for his birthday.  happy birthday dood.  thanks for the party.

saturday, it was time to get going in the direction of away from it all adventure.

going up bear creek

sunday, back to the bush

time to return to the trail that mike, dave and i had to abandon last weekend due to lack of a chainsaw. this time we would have a chainsaw, and a hero chainsaw operator on a mission from gad.

we pretty much made a beeline for the daedfall that held us up. first was the greasy hill climb, which was no problem now that we knew what the deal with it was.

soon we came to the first blockage.  mike went to work with the saw while we (mostly louie) cleaned up the result.  

mike and louie.  the road clearing crew.

a 4runner friday

friday night my neighbour and trusty backyard mechanic mike and his buddy dave says to me "we are going 4bying at 6:00. wanna come?" i said "yes". so off we went up oyama lake rd. about 5 k up the road, we left the road in favour of some sweet trails none of us had explored. these are their stories...


first was a greasy uphill.  time to use the 4wd.  dave didn't have quite enough momentum had had to stop and air down half way up.  i learned from him and fully committed in 2nd gear.  the rain made it sketchy but pretty doable.

a weird place to stop, but not much choice.

getting stuck for the last time in 2012

With only 3 days left in 2012, there wasn't much time left to get stuck. Saturday, we decided to give it a try. Ian, mike and I headed up to beaver lake for some ice fishing, and i figured it would just be best to get stuck right away and get it over with.

last stuck of 2012.  ian was not surprised.

After getting the truck out, we had to find a way to get all our stuff, including firewood, from the road to the lake.  its a road in summer, but a trail in winter.  While we deciding how to get 60 pounds of firewood and everything else to the lake, a dood showed up on a snowmobile.  a trade was made.  2 beers for the transportation of the firewood.  he turned out to be a cool guy that we hung out with on and off throughout the day.

we were fishing in the rich neighbour hood apparently.

There were a few other people out fishing on the lake.  we didn't feel bad when we found out we weren't the only ones not catching any fish.

some new friends of ours having a good time in the rec site

mike checking for fish.  no dice.

We drilled 3 holes and made ourselves comfy.  not as comfy as if we would have brought chairs.  they are on the list of things to bring next weekend.

our spot.  no big tents here.  just holes and firewood.

the frosty shore of beaver lake.

didn't realize there was a rally going on in the area.

chilling with our new friends.

We took dood's snowmobile out for a spin.  drank some beer, and pretty much did everything but catch fish.  that doesn't really bother us.  we'll be out again next weekend.  you should come.

stoked for greystokes

It had been a while since an adventure up into greystokes. Last time was the first mission with the first truck.  check the original adventure here. That means it was time to go again. Mike and I hopped into truck 2 and met louie. together, we headed up hwy 33 and then into the hills. There was no snow on the pavement, but, as with our first time up into the area, it changed drastically as we headed up.

up into the snow.  starts off gently.

We took a different way up then last time, at least for the first bit. We had firewood and firearms in the back and thought that heading up to the snowmobile cabin might be a suitable destination.

more snow

and right after the snow and ice and lack of roads turned us around.

Our dream of reaching the cabin was thwarted when the snow got too crazy and the road became a trail.  for snowmobiles.  We Pushed on as far as we could and got about a km from the cabin, but couldn't get closer without a %100 chance of getting stuck and having to dig.
 

some cool sunny views down the valley.

We ended up on a little side road and decided that was the place to set up.  Time to get the tire going and squeeze off a few rounds.

louie and the sks.

logging definitely dominated the landscape once we were higher up. I have mixed feelings about this situation. It obviously makes a mess, but the logging roads make the area accessible to us.

the clearcut logging was pretty obvious

.

Around 4:30 the sun was obviously sinking and it was time for us to get going.  An uneventful drive down.  some cool views and another new road.  Not sure what next weekend holds, but it will probably be cool.

some new tracks around beaver lake

today we had time for a quick rip around beaver lake here ya go...

The first thing mike and i did was run into my neighbour.  all the 100's of km's of road, and we run into someone i know.  He was out for a rip with his dog.  We were out for a rip with some fire wood.  a good match, so we convoyed.

following bob along a new to me rd around beaver lake area.

parked for a bit.

After a bit we stopped for a fire.  we dug out a foot of snow and got it ripping.  it was cloudy but not too cold.

our cooking spot.  we had smokies, of course.

some shooting ensued and after smokies and a box of ammo and some general hanging around, it was time to head back.  this sweet spot was only 14km from my front door and very worthy of returning to on a future adventure.

you should come.

the dog.  he was friendly and awesome.

saturday to aberdeen

Saturday... why not go on an adventure. a well rounded adventure that includes, but is not limited to the following; 4x4ing, fishing, canoeing, pelletguns, campfires and exploration. so thats what we did. packed up the truck with mike lau and headed up beaver lake rd. to aberdeen lake. i'd never been there before, so thats always sweet. the weather was threatening rain, but we headed out anyway, and 75% of the day was rain free.

after beaver lake rd, we took some of the roads less traveled by.  the first one was a trail that tom and i had been on before.  a short trail from beaver lake rd. to haddo lake.

up the road to haddo lake

the haddo lake dam

After leaving the haddo lake dam, it was time to hit some new trails.we randomly arrived at the haddo lake rec site.  a small little site that is certainly worth a visit in the future.

the rec. site.  a big rv was there, but i left it out of the picture

Then towards aberdeen lake. some of the roads were a little rough, and i'm not sure how we would have found our way without the backroads map book on the gps. best invention ever.  We got to the dam at the bottom of aberdeen lake and decided that was the place to chill.  We lit a fire and out came the pellet guns.  good times were had.

mike in the rain, by the fire, near the lake, with a bag.

we got into the canoe to try for some fish, but we were only on the lake for 25 minutes before the spitting rain turned to pouring rain and headed back to the shelter of the trees.

no trip is totally complete without a random drive by from a random car. here's  a bmw that rally'd by. 

About 5 o'clock it was time to make our way back out. we tok a few new roads and ended up back at beaver lake rd. without too much trouble.

and the road gets a little smaller

we stopped quiclky at doreen lake to check it out. we had been there before, but we felt we needed to check it out again. we also stopped at a random slash pile to cut a bit more firewood. can't get enough of that wonderful stuff.

doreen lake rec. site.

It was another successful weekend of missioning. there is still maybe one or two canoe trips left before fishing involves an ice auger. you should come. it'll be fun...