When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
The odd gods of the universe were in agreement and I was able to do this trip.
The route from my APRS GPS track less the trip to/from Lillooet to home by highway, about 1700 km or about 1056 miles with 800 miles off road.
The group consisted of 1 Disco, 1 new defender, 1 LR3, 1 P38 and 6 Defenders. 13 adults, one child and 2 dogs a Greyhound (Oliver) and a Mastiff (Roo).
Missing one Defender more on that below
My day started at 7:00 am, I tossed the electronics, food and shotgun in the truck and was on the road right on time a 7:30 for the 1.5 to 2 hour drive to Squamish BC where we were meeting up. This is a 137 KM or 85 mile drive, that last bit being very scenic As I reached squamish I realized I likely was short of propane so I stopped and picked up 2 more green bottles .
Meeting up with the group we had our 1st issue, one of the Defenders brake and headlights stopped working, After a 1/2 hour of troubleshooting they decided to go and have it checked out and meet up with us later. As we got ready to leave a second Defender did not want to start, and just for fun had some white smoke in the cab, this was determined to be a dodgy bit of fuel line that was leaking a bit which we could fix in camp.
From Squamish we drove to Lillooet BC for the a fuel up and the start of gravel, this was about 189 KM or 177 miles,of very pleasant highway driving.
From Lillooet we hit the Pavilion FSR heading for French bar creek, this is wide easy run FSR for the most part, although there are a few tight spots further up.
There was a major forest fire through here 2 years ago
Camp a French Bar creek was setup, and while we sat around our fire a mixed group of Toyota's and Jeeps camped on the other side, we had great fun try to decide what group was playing on their music, they quieted down nicely at around 10:00 pm. It was frosty when I went to sleep and warmed up to a balmy -5C (23F) by 8:00am. This turned out to be the coldest night of the trip.
The car in the one image was there when we got there and there when we left, but there are hiking trails in the area. More to follow.
After a chilly start in the morning with significant frost on everything we headed off for Gasard Lake. We left a 9:45 expecting be in camp by 5:30, and we would need the time as our tents and awnings were put away damp.
The 1st stop of interest would be China head peak at about 7000ft. We had a steady climb from around 3800Ft to that elevation with last bit being rather steep. The drive was great although I spent a fair bit of time in low range due to steep loose rock covered track sections.
And of course snow on the ground at any rate.
As we descended from China head towards Gaspard lake we ran into a gate, while this is not unusual this was on the main FSR with no indication of why it was closed. There were no forest fires in teh area of signage indicating a road closure, as is often the case. We looked to see if there was a bypass, which is very common, as the alternate route was 5 to 6 hours and we were well into the afternoon.
As it turned out there was a quad/side by side track through the trees, a quick drivers meeting to make sure everyone kept the speed down and tire spin to a minimum and we were off. The D130 went 1st as he is the longest followed by me.
We drove for about 20 minutes down the FSR and hit gate 2, once again there was a bypass that had been created prior that we used although it was tight for our trucks. Just after this gate (200 Meters) we found why there were gates there it was Big Horn sheep protective measure and only temporary. But I could find no mention of it on the Government websites no big surprise there.
09-26-2022, 02:17 PM
BC Roverlanders 8 days 10 rovers great fun
