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Northern MigrationFort St John to the Fraser ValleyMarch 1-10/07 Written by Scrubbs March 14:40am (Northern Time) Holy sheep dip! This is way too early. I could have slept in for another half-hour, but the cat jumping off the dresser and trying to land on the wife’s head woke me up. Normally this wouldn’t bother me, except that it seems I was snoring last night, and the wife decided to sleep on the couch. As most married people seem to either a) seek their partners’ prone shape in the middle of the night, or b) stay as far away as they possibly can from each other, it seems I was in column "a". Meaning I was seeking a warm body that was no longer there. Meaning I was in the territory normally occupied by my loving wife’s body. Meaning that when the cat landed, I was rudely woken up, in a manner I care not to repeat. It seems (although this will never happen unless she decides to read this on Quads.ca, which is slim to none, tipping the scales more towards none then slim) that I owe her an apology for all the times this happened to her and I thought it was funny. I staggered out of bed and went and used the remote on the keychain to start the truck, and went back upstairs to get dressed. I took the rest of the luggage downstairs, and set it by the door. I went over to the couch, kissed the wife goodbye (hopefully NOT for the last time) and went out to a barely warmed truck after a brief stint in -19 degree weather. Hopping in the truck, I went through a brief mental checklist... Quad... Check, luggage... Check, Accessories... Check, Chainsaw... Check, Helmet... Check, Gloves, Backpack, Fuel tank... Check, Check, Check. Okay, good to go. Remember this mental check; it plays out further along in the story. I pulled out of the driveway and flipped the XM radio on. AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” was playing, and while I am not a superstitious person, I figured this was a bad omen. I flipped radio stations, and heard the mournful wailings of Steel Dragon’s “We all die young” coming from the truck speakers. Well hell, who needs music anyways... A few hours later, as I rolled through the town of Chetwynd, I took a last look at the Oil Patch service companies fueling up their vehicles, and themselves at the local 7-11. The roads through the Pine Pass were in good shape, being cleared of compact snow, and quite dry, which for this time of year is quite surprising. I rolled through Prince George at dawn, and breathed a sigh of relief at the lack of any signs of Oil Patch traffic. A quick stop for fuel, and I was again on my way. Nothing much happened the rest of the way, Quesnel, Williams Lake, a quick stop in Lac La Hache, 100 Mile House all rolled by at a pace somewhere between “how much further” and “are we there yet”. Anyone who is familiar with long-distance travel under their belt knows what I am talking about. Another quick fuel stop in Cache Creek and a few pops and I was once again on my way. It was about the entrance to the Canyon when I noticed the lack of snow on the ground. My pace quickened, as did the speed of the truck. It was a good thing the Highway Patrol had taken the day off, or I would have had to explain to the head office just where Boston Bar is, and what I was doing there... I arrived in the Valley at 5:00 and popped in to see my friends and my brother. March 2D’OH! It seems that the mental check I did at 4:40 am was missing a few items. My gloves and helmet did not make the same journey that I did. It seems that while I was driving south, they were comfortable on the top shelf of the closet they call home. I thought I had packed them the night before, but then remembered I had told myself I need to put them in the truck the next morning. Never have I felt closer to Homer Simpson. You Fraser Vallians have no idea just how lucky you have it. I have not seen mud in any shape or form since October 2006, and even the brief zip around the field was enough o put a huge grin on my face. Unfortunately, I forgot my friend lives on a dairy farm, and where there is a dairy farm, you will usually find Dairy Cows. I lived on a farm for 17 years, but for some reason, this fact escaped me momentarily. Right up to about 30 kilometers per hour this fact escaped me. Then it hit me. Really hit me. Dairy cows, well all cows for that matter, leave very large heaps behind them. Which, at 30-40 kilometers per hour, do not stay on the ground like we would like them to. When they are hit by a rotating tire, they have a tendency to “fly” through the air. This would not be a large problem, but “they” and “I” were trying to occupy the same space at the same time. Not as much fun as it would seem... March 3One thing I seem to have forgotten about the Valley, is the socked-in sky, with it's rainfall. One would think that this could bring a guy down, but it was okay, as we have plans on visiting Singleton and Bruickladdie at the Outdoor Show today. Does kind of make me wonder why I washed the truck though. Another brief mental check reminds me that rain is in scarce supply in March in Fort St John. A quick trip uptown to go to Greyhound to retrieve my helmet the wife was kind enough to send down and to find a rain suit at a local store. About 11:00am we drive to the Trade-X center in Abbotsford, and look for the ATV/BC booth. Meet Singleton and Smee at their booth. It turns out that Bruickladdie is in the booth next door. Drop off hats with Singleton and Bruickladdie. Have a good chat with all, and Singleton takes me outside where John is at helping with the ATV demo rides. Smee and Singleton working the booth 
John seems a little upset with a comment I made, so once Singleton and I explain what was meant by it, all is well (whew!! John is one big lad). John and I chat for a while, and it turns out that we have fairly similar tastes about clubs, volunteering, and moving forward. Say my goodbyes to John, and head back inside. Talking with Singleton, and see faces across the way that look familiar. Ask Singleton about them, and am told they were a few guys from the Quads.ca site. KPal was one of the gents. Introduce myself to the boys and have a brief chat with them, and then head off to find my brother and two friends that I came to the show with. Head back to the farm, and spend the rest of the day indoors with the friends, watching a few movies. Order a pizza. March 4WHOOHOO!! Time to ride Vedder Mountain. Six of us (5 quads,1 dirtbike) meet at Wal-Mart and head up to the Highway Department at the base of Vedder to meet with a few more guys. Keith, Brett, Clint, Tim, Myself, Jeff, Aaron, Mike, and MRC all do our introductions, and head up the trail. We start by following the loop road to a spot that over-looks Columbia Valley and stop to take a few photos. 
Tim has a bit of a problem with his dirt bike, more to the fact of deep snow than anything else, but stays with us just the same. 
Tim leads us from the lookout, along the back side of the loop road, and up to where the hang gliders launch from. 
We stop for about half an hour, quick bite to eat, and continue back along the road to where the microwave towers are. 
At the higher elevations (2500 feet) Tim is regretting tagging along this far, but does a good job of keeping his spirits up. I found it quite hilarious and got my jabs in anytime we stopped. Hey, what are brothers for anyways? We swung over the ridge from the towers, and dropped back down to the first section of the loop road, and headed back towards the trucks, where Tim and MRC loaded up their rides and headed home. The trail had been pretty rough, and some of the riders were beat at this time. Well, okay, Tim and the 5 yr old girl were beat at this time... 
The rest of us continued down the hill, and spent some time on the shores of Cultus Lake, and then went back up the hill to find some more trails. 
We found a spot that went over the ridge in a different spot, and played around for a few more hours, before heading back to the trucks, and then for home. March 5Take the day off and visit with friends and Family. March 6Meet with Glenlivet and Cindy at Harrison East at 10:00am (abouts) and unload the machines. We launch up the road, and come across some bridge work being done. 
After a short delay, we can go across the bridge, and head up the road to a logging camp. On the way, we came across a small water fall, and I took this... Spectacular, isn't it?? 
We continue riding (with me keeping a close eye on my GPS, I remember some of the fights Glenlivet and I had on the board!) and Glenlivet is nothing short of a good tour guide. It was quite an informative day, with a few little side jaunts here and there. One thing we do not come across in the north is many large deep ravines with good bridges on them. 
Along the way, we came to a spot where Interfor had a camp, but had "removed" it, and now only a barren flat spot was all that was left. 
Once we made it as far as we were going to, we turned around and headed back to the sand piles, and went another path up the hills. There was some really great riding there, and I was having so much fun, I forgot to take pictures! Once we stopped at the Clear Creek Hot Tubs, I remembered that I had my camera. I took some pictures of the tubs. 
(Not our beer cans) On our way home, we stopped at a view point to take a picture. 
A quick trip back to the trucks, with both of us low on fuel. But we made it no problem. Said goodbye to Cindy and Glenlivet, and happy I had the chance to meet them. March 7A nice quiet day. March 8Well, another early morning start, with a trip to Mission to meet Mike_123, Bruce, Conky, Rhino Bob and spend the day at Stave Lake. A slight drizzle while we all say hi (RB was at the trailhead on Sylvester) and off we go to meet RB. As we unload, one of the residents comes over to talk with Conky, and soon a Forestry vehicle approaches us. The driver stops, and Conky pulls his gun and tells the guy to screw... Okay, it wasn’t that exciting. They chatted, and Forestry left. They didn’t even bother to check my insurance, the bastards! At least then I would have felt justified in spending money on it. Oh well. Hoping onto the quads and Rhino’s we made a short trip down the gravel road, at which point, my pelican case with the camera in it came off my quad un-noticed. Luckily Bruce was behind and nearly ran it over, so he stopped and picked it up, returning it to me a short ways up the road. We made a turn off the trail, where RB got “momentarily delayed” and I ended up wedged by a large rock. Conky helped me get over, while Mike pulled RB out of the rut. Ran down some more of the trail, parts of which were wet and deep enough to get some water in my CVT causing my belt to slip. We came out on Stave Lake, and while trying to find a path to continue, played around a bit in the mud. At this point, I think all of us had gotten stuck at least once, some twice or maybe three times... We found our route, and played around on the beaches for some time, before heading back towards the trucks. A slight detour on our way back takes us to another area of Lake Shore. Back to the trucks, and down the road a click, and back into the bush we go. 
We followed a power line for a few clicks, this time in water deeper then I should be going, knowing that Outties don’t like water very much. Convinced Mike that he really did have to “leap” the creek, and (in a moment he may secretly wish he didn’t do) watched him create a rather large “splash”. At this point, he was quite soaked, so off we went back to the trucks. A few minutes of loading, some chatter, and another great day under my belt! March 9And yet another day of visiting. March 106:30 am. Meet Tim and head off for breakfast in Popkum at the Shell station (or whatever that restaurant is called) and enjoy a lecture from an elderly gent about the Lemur he saw outside the pet store in Chilliwack. We head up to the Sasquatch Inn to meet Jeff, Theresa, Keith, Aaron and head up Harrison West. A fairly uneventful ride, we arrive at Hale Creek where we stop for a bite to eat. 
Talk with a 4X4’r for a bit, then head back up the trail to the FSR where I see Tim looking at the underside of his bike. It seems that he “missed” a landing and caught the crest of a cross ditch. In just a few clicks, we climbed from 65 feet to 876 feet according to the GPS. Back on the FSR, and a quick blast brought us to 20 Mile Bay. 
We ate some more and decided to play for a bit. After the playing was done, I noticed the low oil light on my dash. Checked the oil and found it a bit low. Keith had a litre with him, so topped it up, but unfortunately the quad had gone into “limp home” mode, which did not allow it to go over 20 km/h. Tim and I decided to turn around at this point, as we did not want to hold the others up, or cause problems further down the road. I limped back towards the trucks for about 10 kms, and then shut off the quad. Doing what some like to call “the hokey pokey”, I managed to get the limp mode off, but we decided to continue home anyways, just in case. The last 19 kilometers were done in a rain storm, but was still a blast to ride. Loaded up the bikes, and went to the Inn for a burger and a beer. I must say, that it was appreciated that so many came out to show me the area. I never expected that sort of response to my trip. I suggest to anyone who rides, to try to link up with those down south, it would be worth your trip anyday, of that I am sure. If anyone ever makes it north, for any reason, be sure to look us up. Thank You Scrubbs |
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