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Gold Bridge/Tyaughton Lake/Southern ChilcotinGold Bridge AreaJuly 3-9/07 Written by LadyDeanna and Trapper Dan Well we were going to go, and then we weren't, (since we had family coming on Sunday). At the last minute, Trapper Dan called me at work, and we decided to go for it. After getting all packed and loaded we left the house around 2am... Yes that is right 2 AM... we had NOTHING packed, since we had cancelled the idea!! We got into Gold Bridge, just as the day was getting warm, grabbed a bag of Ice and headed out to Gwyneth Lake to set up camp and catch some SLEEP... What is that? After getting the tent all set up, and having some "brunch" I took a nap, and Trapper Dan went out on the float tube in search of the big one.  Gwyneth Lake, looking over at Green Mountain. After a nap, and some dinner with the "BUGS" we turned in early so we could do a big ride day on Thursday... Green Mountain and Truax Mountain Valley. Up early, this time breakfast was enjoyed in the tent vestibule "without" the bugs! And off to Green Mountain!   View of Downton Lake and Gun Lakes from Green Mountain The snow was still too low to make it up to the top of Green Mountain, and the "rocky" trail going up was a RIVER from the run off. Defeated, and not HAPPY... off we go to check out the valley behind Truax Mountain.  Looking at Truax from Green Mountain. We head in behind this mountain range next. Taking the road through Gold Bridge, and back along the north side of the river, on Grey Rock Road, checking the GPS, at a few extra turns off's NOT in the Backroads Mapbook... We finally find the right turn-off and head up. Up, and UP! Driving along on beautifully-kept logging roads (even though they say deactivated) we were surrounded by mountains on either side, Mt Truax (2880m) Bender Ridge on the right and Mt Williams (2785m) and Mt Bobb (2833m) on the left. I feel like a little pea, in this huge valley of Mountains!! We came across this cabin, not sure if it had something to do with the old Grey Rock Mine????? 
 We finally come to the end in the road....possibly Mt Fergusson straight ahead? PICTURES just do not do anything justice on this WHOLE trip...Everything is MUCH bigger than the camera can catch!  To go back to Gwyneth Lake, we took the detour route, out to Kingdom Lake, and through Bralorne, out the east Hurley road to the main Hurley and back to Gwyneth Lake. Since we have tried Green Mountain, and got in behind Mt Truax all in one day (total 130km for this day), I finally convince Dan that tomorrow we should move to Tyaughton Lake, and try some riding up behind there. We had never heard of Quadders riding there, but did know of snowmobiling, and horseback riding. But there must be quadding trails?? Dan spent some time in Gold Bridge YEARS ago, but had never ventured up Tyaughton Lake... so off we go! We went into town early in the morning and grabbed a TREAT (ice dream) at the store, and asked about the riding up there. Advice was good! I bought the South Chilcotin Backroads Mapbook, and off we went in search of a forestry site half way up Tyaughton Lake, Friburg Rec Site. Since we got here early and set up quickly (not having to run from bugs; there are hardly any here compared to Gwyneth!!), we decided to go for a bit of a ride up Big Sheep Mountain and leave the real exploring for the next day! We found all the right turn offs to get to Big Sheep, but the road soon became very OVERGROWN. We found this very odd... but tomorrow we'd realize WHY... there are much bigger and better places to see.  After leaving Big sheep, we just rode around for a bit, all alone out there (LOL)... when all of a sudden Heidi and Teddy, our dogs (who ride on the back of my quad) started whining. We are being taken over by some speed demon (LOL, just kidding Bill). I finally pull over, and they pull up beside me, and call me a "MIDDLE OF THE ROAD HOG!!" LMAO Well I never!! Who expects to have traffic problems out in the middle of nowhere...YES I was in the middle of the road! We pull over to introduce ourselves, and talk quading!! They spend a LOT of time up here, and told us the places to go. We agree to meet them at Swartz Lake the next morning and ride with them. (they were camped up past there, and we were at Tyaughton). Unfortunately, we did not realized how long it would take us to get to Swartz Lake, and we were VERY LATE!!! They went on without us, but we saw fresh wet splashes through mud puddles, so we tried to catch up, but no one could ever catch up to Bill... LMAO On we went in search of China Head Mountain (the trip we planned to do with our new friends, Bill and Anita). Unfortunately we did not catch up to them, and we came to a junction that we just did not know which way to go. So we turned around and just decided to try some of the side roads in this area we were.... OH YA, I forgot to mention, that since we packed up in such a hurry, and left our house for this great adventure at 2AM in the morning... I FORGOT TO ADD THE RIGHT MAPS TO THE GPS!!! Hence a lot of old fashioned compass work was done on this trip! We have since bought a much BIGGER GPS, and have all of BC maps loaded in it!  Thought we hit the top, when we came out onto this knoll... catch I said knoll.. there was more to come! 
 Looking over at Red Mountain  On top of another knoll... we marked it! LOL  On that same knoll, looking over at Poison Mountain... our next destination! 
 Going up Poison Mountain This is a lot steeper than it looks, since I have the dogs on the back of my quad, I was a bit back heavy, and had three wheels of the ground at one point going around that snow! KEEP ALL FOUR WHEELS ON THE GROUND!! 
 On top of Poison Mountain... 
 Riding on top of the world! I am just a little speck riding along the top of Poison Mountain, from one peak to the next. 
 We decided we did not want to go all the way back on the Mud Lakes road, and that we would follow the Poisonmount Creek road down to hook up onto the Noaxe Creek road. IT IS IN THE BACKROADS MAPBOOK!! On our way, we found this old cabin, and a pile of core-sample boxes, and then ran into our friends again. They said they know the area well, and do not know of a road that leads back out to Noaxe... but we are determined die-hard quaders now... LOL  Our friends rode with us for a bit, trying to help us find the road we were looking for and showed us this other cabin, which we would have never found since it is off the road. We finally split up at one turnoff, hopeful of our plan, but it was not the right road. We used the mapbook, and the co-ordinates off the GPS, and did some figuring, and determined the road had to be very close to 4 km from the Yalakom... so we drove to the Yalakom, and clocked out 4 km's keeping our eyes peeled!! (We were determined to find this route, since it would save us HOURS off the return trip) Just shy of 4 km's we came across this big field on the left, with a bit of a lean-to built... Dan rode around the edges of this field and FOUND A ROAD... We followed it for quite a ways; we were about 2km's from our waypoint at Mud Lakes turnoff, VERY CLOSE (and very close to Noaxe by our calculations), BUT THE ROAD ENDED!!!!! Damn, it was 9pm now, and we have to go all the way back around the long way!! Coming around the lakes, (Swartz Lake, and Mud Lakes) the road is just trail, and all I could think of (riding in the dark by now), was if a bear comes out on the trail I am just going to punch the throttle and keep on going, if he doesn't move we will have some quad repairs to do... LOL Dan rode point so I would not have to run any grizzlies over... LOL He usually lets me ride point, so the dogs and I are not eating the dust, and so I can set a pace comfy for me... but this night I accept eating some dust! We finally got back to our camp at 12:45 AM... With over 170 kms on the quads, and 14.5 hours of riding, I didn't even want any long overdue dinner. We washed off some dust, and fell into our sleeping bag; what a day! Well, we headed home the next morning... and we are determined to go back and explore some more!! There is a lot more to see. We have kept in touch with our friends we met, and they have sent us some pictures of other places in the area... In fact they are UP THERE this weekend!!!! Hopefully one day we will be able to meet them up there, and they can be our tour guides. LOL Thanks Bill and Anita! 
 In the 3rd Pic, they left their quad there (that little speck almost half way across!!!) and walked the rest of the way!!! I don't think I could ride that, not sure Dan could either, as he has a bit of a fear of heights, and Bill said it was about a 1000 foot drop there! Well maybe not drop, but never ending "ROLL"!! But I guess you never know until you actually try... I think they said this is up the Relay Creek area, just before Dash Hill?? This would be an AWESOME PLACE to group ride!!! * * * * * * * * Sorry, I couldn't sleep last night, thinking someone must KNOW something about this road that came to an end. And I thought if I added the map to the trip report, maybe just maybe someone might respond with INFO!! If you can help, send a PM to LadyDeanna. 
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