Hey dudes!
Last weekend was slotted for some exploration in the Shulaps Range, northwest of Lillooet in the remote country north of Carpenter Lake. I have been seeking the Holy Grail of a really long singletrack / quad trail / rough 2-track route up in that area for a few years now. Well, I still haven’t put it together, but the project is underway and this past weekend we rode a couple shorter loops that are pieces towards the final puzzle.
This is an area that shows up in the Backcountry Mapbook as covered in quad trails, many of them well up above treeline. Access is problematic, however, because the trails are NOT as shown on the map, and there is a mine up there (Blue Creek) that blocks access to others.
If others have input into good trails in the Shulaps (within the area south of Poison Mtn and north of Carpenter Lake) I would love to hear them. I know there are places where motorized trails go up and over through the alpine, but am still trying to access some of the trailheads.
I left work early on Thursday to head straight up to Lillooet, planning to meet up with the boys (ScottBC – KTM 450 and Dave – KTM 690) about dinnertime. Plan was to set up camp with good tarps for the forecasted rain, then ride full days on Friday and Saturday. Sunday would be a half day ride so we could get back to the city on time.
Gassed up in Lillooet, and this nasty little female was guarding the hi-test:
Second time I have seen a black widow (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_black_widow) in Lillooet, first was getting takeout pizza when Lillooet Pizza was still around. Can be nasty little creatures, if you are bitten and you die, it will be because your breathing stops – the toxin prevents your brain from telling your diaphragm to fill your lungs!
Got into camp about 6:30 right behind Scott and Dave with their trailer. They had already scoped the best spot at the rec site, so we disgorged from vehicles, tarped up for the rain, and settled in with wobbly pops.
Met up with two other riders that evening – Dave and Ian, both from Nanaimo on a Vstrom and KLR. Next morning we rode into the southern part of the Shulaps right above the rec site, up the Verbenkov FSR planning to get into the old jade mine at the top of Holbrook Creek. There is the loop as ridden:
Up the Verbenkov and into the fire area (burned in 2009), many many many switchbacks to past this mouldering heap, which did not make it out of the burn zone in time and was sacrificed to the fire gods:
Hydraulics burned, grapple all bent, glass on the lights melted – yikes! Trail turns from well maintained FSR to old mining road, but the firefighters bladed it last year so its not quite as interesting as it used to be. On this trail, you first hit the high country and treeline at about 2000m on an unnamed ridge on the east side of the range.
Dave strikes a pose here. In the background you can see where we are headed to, the jade mine was near the saddle between the two highest peaks to the right. With binocs it is easy to pick out the old mining road that heads up right into the snow.
Another half hour puts you at this lake:
Where everyone stops to admire my bike:
Its easy going to here, both the KLR and Vstrom (and their capable riders!) made it with no difficulty. After the lake the trail gets more challenging. Here are the boys above the lake where the trail becomes steep, loose boulder-hopping in a washed out area.
I thrashed on like the MAN that I am and pushed and sweated my bike through the loose part. Maybe whined like a little girl a bit. But eventually I got past so that most of the momentum was provided by the engine, not the pusher.
The sensible riders left their machines to continue on foot. Treeline has been left behind now, but the riding is easy past the wash-out.
That is until you get to this nastiness:
So now I am on foot too, but probably gained 300m of vertical and a couple km of horizontal on the others! I scrounge around for jade bits for a little while til the rest of the group catches up. I think we have all convinced ourselves to climb a mountain!
Here is the obligatory summit photo, at about 2600m. Damn cold up there! My map doesn’t have a name for this peak, but it’s a good one.
Would be a great place to spend a day with binoculars looking for grizzlies.
I believe this mine was the Birkenhead / Hell Creek Jade mine (http://minfile.gov.bc.ca/Summary.asp...ilno=092JNE063), which was a producer in the 1970s.
Back down to the bikes on the snow, I love going downhill on snow. Just seems so effortless!
Here is the valley below the jade mine on the way down, if you have microscope vision you can just see the hiking party coming down. I hopped on the Husky and coasted down in neutral with the engine off. Stealth mode!
I kind of need stealth mode because the stupid gas tank only has an 80 km range. After getting back on the bikes, we connected up with the Michelmoon FSR, which heads south then switchbacks very steeply down into the Bridge valley, where you zip across the pavement then get back onto the gravel in the Yalakom. Back to camp about 3:30 in the afternoon. Day 1 over, and a nice loop created. Previous time I rode this was just in-and-out to the lake, so getting up the peak and making a loop ride was a big plus.
Next up: Burkholder Lake singletrack, and some ass-kicking!
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Originally Posted by Mr. Sleazy
