Capturing the Art of Nature
Lost Creek in the Snow
X-Ray vision would have helped for the drive out of the hills as the snow was coming down so fast!
Category
Serendipitous Discoveries
2016
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Xenial would not describe the state of the back country this afternoon! But this rushes the story so let me start with a little background. It had been almost 3 months since Geoff and I had been out for a drive through the back woods. His younger son has been diagnosed with cancer and the treatment plan has been rather consuming of time. But as the weeks passed by, we were both feeling a growing need to get out there so we decided we go despite the looming snow storm promised by the forecasters. We also felt the Geoff’s eldest son Liam was old enough to join us and that he would like the opportunity to play in the snow.
Our day began at a leisurely 9am with Geoff and Liam arriving ready to load up into the truck. We needed extra time than normal gathering the needed equipment and getting the truck loaded as it had been mostly emptied of our gear. Once we had found everything and felt we were ready we set out for the normal stops to gather coffee and fuel and this time a few extra groceries. We then set off for Mission and Sylvester Road to get to the start of the Lost Creek FSR which runs along the east side of Stave Lake. The drive up was clear of snow and we made great time along the roads.
Upon arriving at the start of the FSR we passed a number of parked vehicles which had unloaded ATVs. We noticed that the FSR was covered in packed snow and the first portion is a steep incline. We dialed in the road frequency on our radio and started up the slope. We had little trouble and soon we were making our way in, though we were now trapped in some deep ruts. This went along fine until we were faced with a couple of trucks coming towards us. We tried to pull out of the ruts as did they but neither of us were able to get completely free of them, our back-end just insisted on staying in a rut. This left us facing each other unable to pass. We suggested to the other drivers that we could get our chains on to get better traction. They happily waited for us to complete the task. It had been a couple of years since we last used them so we were both impressed that we got them on so quickly. Once on, we easily zipped out of the ruts and made room for the others to pass. I should say that while we were putting on the chains a side-by-side ATV zipped past all of us in the deep snow alongside the main rutted section of the road! They had no trouble with this deep stuff.
We continued in further passing a few small groups pulled to the side doing target practice or enjoying a bonfire. By now the ruts were getting even deeper and travel outside of them difficult. We went a few kilometers further and found a wide section near a side road with some steep slopes. Here we turned around and parked. We soon noticed that it had started to snow and the time had advanced to noon! As it was lunch time Geoff and I got our burners going and lunch cooking while Liam ran around the area playing in the snow. He was having a fun time but was unsure of what he was allowed to do out here in the hills. Geoff kept telling him that really he could do almost anything! Once the food was hot we enjoyed the warmth for the moment. After we had finished eating we walked over to the steep slope and there watched Liam do a number of slides on the tarp we had with us. He was definitely enjoying himself, though it had taken some coaxing to get him to come.
After Liam had slid the slopes enough we started back to the truck. By now the snow was falling fast enough that it was hard seeing very far ahead. But we made it back to the truck in short order and started back along the road which we had travelled earlier. About half way back we came by a group in a truck that flagged us down. They were on a short spur that was steep and icy enough that they couldn’t drive it. They were particularly worried about a large boulder just to the side of the road that their truck was slowly sliding towards. It wasn’t a long distance so we hauled out the tow straps and latched on to their truck and pulled them onto the main road. Meanwhile a pair of jeeps came by and had to stop and watch as we completed the task. They were having no issues with the snow. Liam thought it was a lot of fun watching his dad pull the other truck off the ice. But they were now facing the wrong way and the best spot to turn around was on the other side of the ice patch. So they drove back down and reversed but ran into the same issue. So we got to pull them across a second time!
Continuing on, the snow was falling ever faster and we decided to just head out, so we carefully drove the ruts until we were off the FSR. Once back to the paved road we removed the chains and noticed that what was bare and clear on the way in was now covered in a few inches of snow! This slowed us down considerably as we drove the roads back home. At times we were further delayed by some very slow drivers in front of us. We made it home with no issues but the snow was falling the entire way. Soon we were able to warm up in the house! A short drive in the hills but full of adventure and lots of fun for Liam.