Whipsaw And Beyond - Day 4

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Towing the Unimog.

Before I move on to our motley crew, I want to recount the words that we recently heard from someone who has a personal recount.

I was at the Blue Lake resort the day that the plane went down. He buzzed over us a few times and we could tell he was having difficulties. I was with the Forestry fire suppression crew boss and he was relaying the bomber's position to the tanker base at Abbotsford. Unfortunately the pilot was unable to find any clear sky. He was reported overdue about an hour later and as I recall was not located for about three weeks.

Cabin Lake.

We had all pulled into Cabin Lake, tired but excited to be there. There were actual designated places here to set up the lights! I never knew how much of a difference picnic tables could make to people. There was no generator since it stayed behind with Danny, but we did have the grill. Bruce went to work looking for an alternate source to make his lights glow.

People scattered around making the best use of the space and allowing everyone to be close together. They were enjoying the beauty of the place Some chatted about running around to the other side and climbing to the top of the peak. I sat back and watched the action, thinking about how little effort we have to put into moving camp thanks to our big Suburban. We pull out a table & 3 totes and we're done.

Terry & his wife settled in under the trees, Kranium got his place picked out. Razman settled in near the rest of us, Bob & Rob, Nick & his dad, Sam & his wife, as well as with Beast & the others (forgive me on the names please still trying to keep track of all the new people!).

Skeeter-Free Zone.

I brought over our chairs and then gathered the kindling and made a fire, the peanut gallery of course putting in their 2 cents. But I did get it started and made it nice and smoky to help reduce the flying contingency, grabbed my bug zappers (now down to 1...Jordy managed to snap one) and sat down to enjoy the company. No marshmallows were left. They had all managed to disappear into the mouths of babes the first night. Must remember to grab several bags on next trip.

Strawberry fields.

Hunter made a quick trip up to see us and then back down to his vampire-free camping zone.

We all gradually slipped into our tents as the evening grew longer, some quicker than others. In the morning the sun would make the most beautiful sunrise. The whiskey jacks would be out again along with the little ripples in the lake from the fish. People slowly rose, and men did what they needed to do. Now you see, this is where the outhouse comes back in. Those that were there shuddered. I have camped in many places and now understand why there are some things in the great outdoors that are left best to nature to dismantle rather than lock them up in a box. Three words. HUGE BLACK FLIES. They were quiet until you sat down and... well, some things are best left unsaid.

Which way?

A few people had wedding receptions to go to so they scooted out ahead of us and the group became smaller.

The group was ready to go except for one vehicle. It was having a bit of difficulty starting. The Mog again needed some help, so the best old fashioned solution was found. They hooked up a rope and Terry's truck towed the Mog. We all started the convoy for the day and headed back out, waving goodbye to the lake, knowing we would be seeing it again soon.

Personally, the more beat up a truck is the bigger turn on it is. It means you can get to those places that will create those exhilarating experiences. It means you are simply living life and I'm proud to say even my Honda Civic has BC pin striping!! We continued back down the Mini-Whipsaw taking a few pictures along the way and figuring we were far enough ahead of the crew to have time to stop and place a geocache. We stopped and they were right there, so we made a quick trip up the side of the hill to place a lame parking lot 4x4 geocache and then continued on our way back down to where we had left Danny & Raymond. Geoff left us at this time and headed back to Tulameen to pick up his truck.

I knew I had only 10 minutes so I made quick work of cooling off and then got back up to the truck and we were ready to go Those with kids opted to stay in the skeeter-free zone. Personally I think they made the right call because at the next stop, they were at their absolute worst. Of the entire trip, the only thing I would change is that the mosquitoes would be nonexistent. Other than that my hat is off to the entire planning team for putting a perfect trip together.

It was 1:00 and we were headed on out down the Utilitz FSR, of which is a maze of trail. We had to wait for a moment while BushPiggy's bumper had to help out a certain orange...nope won't say it this time...get started again. People were doing gas checks and filling up with jerry can's and we were on the way down. However, someone didn't wait at the first turn where we turn left and that caused a bit of delay at the next stop. The twists and turns going through here weren't that bad, it's just not the easiest call to make out which way you're supposed to go. We made it through the uphill climb to the top of the highest elevation and worried about the Mercedes, knowing its radiator was overheating.

We finally had the last of the trucks and everyone was doing well and continued through the mountains taking in the scenery. As you go through this section, when you're about half way up the valley and can see down into it amongst the trees, there is a little lake down in there and we continued on until we made it to a clear-cut and had a moment of, "ummhhh there is a new road here. Uh-oh. Ok, stop and think. One left, one right. Do we flip a coin? No lets read tire tracks and do it the old fashioned way." In the end, we did make the correct decision the first time.

We made one more stop to make sure everyone was ok and then headed into Boston Bar for gas, beer, ice and to say goodbye to a few others. Kelly & Jessica were off to home and wouldn't be making the final leg with us. It was kind of sad realizing how many had started and how many couldn't finish and see the last of the beauty with us. Jordy & I were looking most forward to this section as we hadn't been here before. It's also a section where, instead of leading the pack, we would be falling behind, due to our meandering nature when seeing beauty for the first time (and placing a few geocaches).

Everyone filled up with gas (however the one gas station has the slowest pumps on this earth) and we gathered at the trolley waiting for everyone to be ready. A conservation office approached us, garnering a few nervous looks from the group wondering if there would be trouble. No, he had been following the thread on the forums and was waiting for us. He simply was there to protect the forests in the forest fire season and asked us not to have any fires. An awesome guy. We thanked him and we were all ready to get started on our way down the Nahatlatch.

Granite rock.

The granite we saw here was huge, chunks the size of the Suburban sitting by the side of the road, the waterfalls cascading on both sides of the road. Views in and out of the river below, every time you pass one beautiful scene you came across another. There was no end to it, we kept hoping that we'd find the guys at one of these so that we could stop and enjoy the waterfall for the night.

I don't think we've ever gone so slow on a road that is in good shape, but I couldn't get enough of it in. I wanted to stop and feel every drop of water coming down and taste it, I wanted to just stay in the middle of it forever and never leave. But we had to keep going. Then we came upon the bridge that crossed the crevice that used to be traversed by a cable car. I much preferred the bridge.

Alanna was playing with the dogs, throwing the sticks in the water and you could tell the pleasure it brought them. Sass came over and told us not to make dinner, they had enough food. I said if they had bug spray I would. LOL. My toes say thank you! We now had the smallest group of the entire trip. Not sure if that is what made the difference for me, or it was spending the time with the group for the last few days and I was finally comfortable enough. That night was amazing for me, I started seeing through to the true side of everyone, and how unique this group was. How lucky Jordy & I were to have been invited to come along. I got to speak to everyone on a one-on-one basis that night.

Litle Rob getting dosed by Bruce.

The night came out, the mosquitoes died away and we all settled in for a short summer's slumber. Jordy and I deserted camp at 4:30 am in the morning. One downsite to sleeping in the Suburuban is heat. In order to have airflow you have to roll down windows. Well, then bugs get in. What's worse, bugs or heat? Well we opted to leave but not for Clear Creek hotsprings, but for home with no bugs! We'll be headed up to Clear Creek soon enough again.

Thank you all for an amazing time, new friendships and memories.

PS next time keep me AWAY from the pepper please. LOL

- Kris Wheeler

Here are some videos from the trip:

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