return to pinnacle lake

as a mad send off for mary, who was certainly one of the gang, the four of us decided to hike to pinnacle lake.  it was also kinda a send off to summer and a chance to do some awesome.

the 4 awesomers

so mary, kris, louie and i piled into louies truck and headed past cherryville and to the trailhead for the 7 km-ish hike to pinnacle lake.  these are their stories...

1st run in the snow

sunday was time to see how much snow was in the mountains. we could see it from our window at home, but mike, kris and i needed to experience it for ourselves. 1st hand.

going up beaver lake rd.

pinnacle lake. wow.

Saturday morning.  time to go.  picked up mike, brian and kris and off after a bit of packing and shopping, head towards cherryville and ultimately, we hope, pinnacle lake.

We got to the trailhead about 1ish, and after a little repacking, we were off.

the 4 adverturees.  im leonardo.

It wasn't a steep trail, for the 1st hour anyway.  we were in and out of the forrest and passed through some big avalanche chutes.

thats where we are going.

beaver lake, in white.

Monday was a holiday. So a few of us decided that the best way to celebrate remembrance day was to go and have a fire and cook hotdogs. there may also have been a gt racer involved.

the rec site.  rhymes with white.

We were tho only ones up there.  didn't have 1st tracks, but it was all good.

louie's truck and truck 2.

Lunch was buffalo smokies from the butcher in winfield, and truck-a-q sauce.  mmm mmmm  good.

a fj40 snow wheeling by the lake.

some cool frosty views.  the island we camp on is off to the left.  not sure how long the snow will last up there, but it looks like winter is officially here.

the guys and the fj40.

It had snowed all weekend, and it was no surprise that there was about 5 inches of snow up there.  slippery roads on the way up, but we all made it up and down all good. 

biking, 4x4ing and firewood.

Saturday, I dusted off our bikes and Christine and I went for a little rip up on some trails on Quail Ridge. Felt good to pedal, but I hate breaking in my ass at the beginning of the season.

Sunday was firewood day. Tom and Rita and I went up Postil Rd for some wood. then we used the wood to cook some chicken and some potato/oinion packets that Tom and Rita brought. Delish...

We chose a dry sopt, but there were many spots still not dry. It was 26 degrees, so it felt mega-hot since it was the first really minty day of spring. I wished i had shorts.

toms and i both wished we had shorts. so muc, in fact, we sat in this snow to cool off. our asses got wet.

the repercussions of sitting in the snow. and the best way to dry off. it didn't take long in the heat.

on the way down, we went up. tried to get into bullman lake, but there was still too much snow for a stock truck full of firewood.

it was sweet. and we'll do it again next weekend. stay tuned....

got sidetracked on an adventure by another adventure!

So, mike lau and i were headed up to postil lake for a calm relaxing bbq. We sure didn't get too far when we ran into tyson and friend. They here having a little problem at the same spot as the log bridge problem i had a few posts back. we drove up and saw the o-so-familiar situation.

After he got out, we decided to meet at the mud pits for a short little rendezvous. No problem. Except the trail was no longer mud, it was an icy rutted mess. But we made it.

following dood on the way. had to stop for a tree

Then the "hey, why don't you guys come with us on this next trail?". Sure. lets go. What an epic trail. as usual, i had the smallest truck but the biggest sense of adventure. weird how those things go hand-in-hand. also how trips with tyson and damage to my truck also go hand-in-hand.

bumper bumping


some minor on the trail repair


how it's done


about this time, mike and i decided we could not commit to hiking 25 km out of the bush due to a totally destroyed truck, so we let the built trucks cross a mad ditch and we went the other way. up to postil lake for a nice mellow fire and some hotdogs. good times.

postil lake

hot dogs

mike and his bb gun, and a fire, and a 4runner, and awesomeness

Nov 5. so you say you need some firewood? and some snow?

10am. saturday. steve calls. i thought he was dead. he wasn't. turns out he lives in white rock. but he makes a special guest appearance when he calls asking if i wanna go get firewood with tim and him. yes i do. so i pack up the chainsaw, mixed gas, and random other stuff, and off i go to meet them.

we head up beaver lake rd, aiming toward flyfish lakes. a place i've seen on the map often enough, but never fully busted into. today would change all that.



about 1/2 way up we hit the snow. about 4 inches, so not really enough to make it dumb, but enough to make it a bit more fun. we got to the forest site no problem, and proceeded to get a fire going. then i break the recoil on the chainsaw and begin field stripping it on a snowy picnic table. after officially giving up, it works. funny how that works.

the lake is totally frozen over. not enough to walk or drive on, but enough to remind us that snow wheeling time will be here oh-so-soon.



the forest site here is minty mint. good spot to camp and fish in the summer, avec a canoe.


after filling the backs of our trucks with wood and watching our sweet campfire run its course, its time to continue on. always a better option that turning back. After the camp spot, the road quickly becomes a trail. some big frozen puddles we broke through, some we didn't. but is was 17 km of awesome.


We finally ended up at haddo lake. its a much bigger lake but was also in the process of freezing over. also, only a short jaunt back to the main road and, bob's your uncle, back to 2wd.


logged some sick new trails. got tons of firewood. didn't break anything.
sounds like success.

hydraulic lake, nov. 2010

what a trip. not much to say. i'll let the photos do the talking.

it was not snowy in kelowna, but the roads went from this:


to this:


and finally ended up like this:


there was some of cooking and eating like this:



steve playing in a sand pit off the KVR


kris contemplating if we should move in or not.


we left, the cabin was just too far to commute.


a good trip, but only because i didn't have to sleep in a van partially submerged in a freezing creek. Steve's van (and the occupants) slept in the van/creek until morning when i was woken up from sleeping in a warm bed to go rescue them.

more tales from the truck

hydraulic lake... what a sweet little spot.

we (kris, sven and I) drove up here sunday. well, sven drove until his truck would go no further due to traction issues, then he hopped in the 4runner.



It was not the usual daredevil mission, but anything is better than nothing. The road up is a little slick, but not so bad. at the top is Hydraulic lake, which is also a reservoir for kelowna. The water level seemed to be low, but sine this was my 1st visit, it's only a hunch. There are actually a few different lakes. all frozen over now, but with a dubious thickness of ice. There are 2 forestry campgrounds at the top. we chilled at the 2nd one and had a small fire. good chance to axe and saw some stuff up. getting the fire going was a challange, until we got the right wood. then it was all good.



we only chilled at the top for about an hour, then drove back down. i do believe that this camping are will be a spot for a possible winter camping trip and snowshoe adventure.

terrace mountain, the long way around, and up, and down

star date nov 9th, 2009. just kidding, i think star trek is lame. but it was nov 9th. once again, kris and i decided to go somewhere cool. armed only with a general sense of direction but a good knowledge of coolness, we set out in the mighty truck. we decided to try and make our way up terrace mountain. thats where the biggest fire was this summer. i also heard of an abandoned mine that was in the area. that was all we knew, but we brought headlamps just in case we found the mine.


The mission began just off bear creek road. we saw lots of guys/ladies (its hard to tell when everyone has helmets on) ripping it up on dirtbikes. we checked out some of the trails on foot, and just when we were about to give up looking for the mine on the lower part of the mountain, we found it. We suited up (aka, turned on out flashlights) and began to adventure in. the welcoming party was a puddle of calf deep stinky mine water. then a big rat. we took a few pictures in the mine, then busted out of there. thinking there might be a bear or something worse. maybe an angry troll.



anyway... after the mine we continued up and up and up. into the land of ice and snow and dreams of winter tires. we took the long way around when we made one of those accidental on purpose decisions. the road was primo. until we got to the huge dead end. it was a dead end to rival all others. the road should have kept going, but didn't. our choices were to return and go up a different way, but it was a long drive back and we might not make the top before the darkness came. so we decided to follow a small dotted line on the map. clearly not a road, but our will power changed it into one! and after a medium size detour and 1 or 2 more dead ends, we were reunited with the correct road.


Then we saw the fires. we knew that the area had been badly burned during the great summer fire of '09, but we saw some big fires on the mountain across fintry valley. they were absolutely no threat to us, and we assumed that they were controlled fires set to burn off dry fuel/pine beetle kill. we left them alone and they left us alone.


so, we were back on the road, almost to the top. we spun up and down a few sketchy hills and the rocky summit was in sight. so was the steep switchback road that we couldn't believe was a road. even from a distance, it looked steep and very very sketchy. It was.

we made it part way up the road, which had about 20 cm of snow. There were tire tracks, but when they became quad tracks we got out of the truck. it was WAY too not drivable. even for us. having come this far, we obviously couldn't just turn around. so we hiked the last 2 km to the top. it was cold. there was snow. lots. the top felt like a blasted waste land, but with a crappy metal shack. we hung out there long enough to take some pictures and to say that we had been there.



then we walked back to the truck and drove back down.



The way down was uneventful (by our standards) and every road we took was the right one. or close at least. we saw some deer, some mountain goats and some very crazy tracks that must have belonged to a liger or something.


sadly, this adventure has taught me that adventures must be more mellow until i have tires more equipped to deal with the inevitable snow. but then... watch out. stay tuned for more adventures, even mellow ones can be sweet. trust me, i know adventures.