Anderson River FSR - South

I first found this region two weeks ago with Geoff when we took a quick look in the northern branch of the river valley. The colours of the leaves were just starting to change back then, so here we were two weeks later and I was expecting some nice colours and a chance to explore an entirely new area. It has been over two months since Ethan was on a major driving trip, so I was hoping he would find the area interesting and the driving a challenge for him. The weather looked to be perfect for the activity and we left home expecting a good drive.

The drive to Abbotsford and on to Hope went quickly and without incident. There are a number of spots along the highway between Bridal Falls and Hope that I have passed numerous times that keep calling out to me and I keep wishing we would have the time to explore them. I guess I will need to plan a trip to the area lest they never get seen. In Hope we topped up the tank, bought some subs for lunch and called home on the radio. They could barely make me out even though I was line-of-sight to the repeater. I figured that we had to have an antenna issue so I got out to check it and sure enough the loading coil had come loose. Once it was tightened I had great reception for the trip. I sure am glad we were able to solve that quickly as it would have been less obvious in the hills.

We left Hope and made a b-line for Spuzzum and the FSR entrance. There are a number of access points to the Fraser River in both Yale and Spuzzum that I would like to explore but it seems to always be the wrong time to get down there and see what they might offer. Perhaps we are just in too much of a hurry to get places and should really just take the time to enjoy the trip to the place. Once across the river we quickly set off up the FSR. The first section of the road seemed unchanged from two weeks ago looking down slope but looking up, one could see more colour in the leaves. We stopped at a couple of places to gather some photos. Then the road leaves the Fraser River and heads straight east through a very narrow valley. It was a very scenic section and we stopped in a couple of spots to photograph. The small creek looks like it might be worth a slow walk along its banks to see what sights might be discovered.

Once through the narrow gap we made our way up the slope and soon came to a plateau with a forestry weather station. We stopped to look it over – not much different than my home set up except it has tougher built equipment – needed for the harsher winters. Our next stop was at the high point of the road as it moved to the next valley. Here the colours were deep in reds and oranges and was in fact the most colourful point of the trip. I gathered a good number of shots from this location and even a few more on our way home later. 

We next came by the burned out building that Geoff and I first saw last trip. While Ethan looked it over I noticed a lovely purple coloured shrub that I explored from a number of angles. It was a lovely mixture of reds, purples and greens. Once done with the shrub we continued along and down into the Anderson Valley. We crossed the river and chose the right branch leading to the southern portion of the river and virgin scenes for us. The mountains in this area have a large portion of exposed rock faces and the peaks are generally completely exposed which gives a unique feel to the place. I quite liked the look of some of the better known mountains-they would make a great outing for a rock climber. As we continued along we came to a major branch and chose the right arm again this one re-crossed the river and led to the hills along the southern flank of the river. We continued for some distance heading south-east and soon came to an active logging area. We continued on past to a blind valley where we collected a nice variety of images of the slopes and their interesting colours. At one stop we found a large collection of mushrooms which had their own notion of beauty.