riding in Spruce lake.

[trail worker]

I'm going to be doing a 6 day backpack/ride at the end of the month to spruce lake, friend i'm heading up there with says theres great riding if you can bear the grunt up to the top of some of the peaks...then 8000 feet of verticle on the way back down.
anyone been riding up there,and what should i expect?I'm guessing dry,dusty...

[brian]

I think the end of this month is too early. Never been but the people I know that have usually go in August/September. There's still alot of snow in the mountains espically at that elevation. The snowlone right now is probably about 4,000 feet.

[trail worker]

hmm,i know he went last year around this time and all was well,as well as in october(last fall).he told me it was almost warmer and nicer in spruce lake as opposed to vancouver at that time.
well,i guess i'll be riding down 4000 foot descents then.:(

[LeeLau]

May/June might be a bit early.

Check out - http://www.leelau.net/2003/Sprucepart1/spruce1_2003.htm

we'll be riding up there in September.

[ATN]

That looks very cool Lee. I'd love to that someday.

15 minutes before sunset you finished part 2? Were you carrying lights or just chanced it?

[j tizzle]

woot woot! i rode up there on my blue rigid kona hahana back when i was in grade 4....whoa damn that was like a whole lotta years ago.. i was planning on doing it again this summer, cept imma come thru from williams lake...on a dual slalom bike 8)

[Smoke]

Originally posted by trail worker
I'm going to be doing a 6 day backpack/ride at the end of the month to spruce lake, friend i'm heading up there with says theres great riding if you can bear the grunt up to the top of some of the peaks...then 8000 feet of verticle on the way back down.
anyone been riding up there,and what should i expect?I'm guessing dry,dusty...


I bet your friend says he has a 10" schlong, too.

You might get 5000 feet if you go later in the summer, but you'd be lucky to get three right now. The top of Windy Pass is 7200', and the low point at the end of the trail (several hours away from there) is well over 2000'. Snowline is currently at around 3000'. I would think that there is still some snow in the hollows at Spruce right now.

I was just in the Kootenays, and we got caught in a blizzard at about 3000' on the Paulson Pass. About 4" of snow on the road, and it's been snowing at the higher elevations all week.

[wes side 7]

Word I heard is that Spruce lake trail and lake are clear of snow. As well the trail up to hummingbird lake is also clear. Past that, there will be snow as you head towards Warner pass.

Much drier up in the southen Chilcotins as compared to any similar evevation on the coast or the Whistler area.

We're heading up to Spruce at the end of the month too. Hope to climb Mt. Sheba. I won't have my steed with me but if I see some riders up there I will shout out to ya. :thepimp:

[Ned]

Loose lips sink ships... keep it in mind wherever you ride... especially in the good places.

[Smoke]

Originally posted by Ned
Loose lips sink ships... keep it in mind wherever you ride... especially in the good places.

Oh yeah....right. Spruce Lake......big secret.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

What did you do to Clack when you were here? He looks kinda damaged.

[wes side 7]

Originally posted by Smoke
Oh yeah....right. Spruce Lake......big secret.
.


Plus, ol' gordo wants to turn the southern Chilcotins into mining and forestry central.

Get out there while you can, then fire a email to him saying that nature is better than a strip mine.

[ES-OH-ES]

Spruce is awesome, but I bet its not really good to go yet, its still early. As of 2 weeks ago the Hurley wasn't even opened. I don't know if its opened yet, but if its not, (or just opened), you can bet that the trails aren't in ideal shape to say the least.

[Ned]

Originally posted by Smoke
Oh yeah....right. Spruce Lake......big secret.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

What did you do to Clack when you were here? He looks kinda damaged.

Senor Loose Lips himself speaks.

If I were around you right now you'd be feeling the backside of my hand... boy.

[Ned]

Originally posted by wes side 7
Plus, ol' gordo wants to turn the southern Chilcotins into mining and forestry central.

Get out there while you can, then fire a email to him saying that nature is better than a strip mine.

Your singing to the choir bubba. I worked for a lot of years in both those industries and know the processes well.

[wes side 7]

Originally posted by Ned
Your singing to the choir bubba. I worked for a lot of years in both those industries and know the processes well.

Wow, you're in the choir? I'm impressed. Are you still working in those industries? Maybe you can get some work when they take away the park desgination and make it "open for business".

As for the Hurley. It has been plowed as of at least a week ago, and reports are that it has been graded up to 17km. Squamish forest district has a road report section on its website.

http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/dsq/Engineering/roadinformation.htm

[trail worker]

awesome,thanks for the link.
we'll be driving up in a very capable suzuki samurai and older jeep.
thanks again for the link.

[Smoke]

Originally posted by Ned
Senor Loose Lips himself speaks.

If I were around you right now you'd be feeling the backside of my hand... boy.

Pfffft. Don't worry about it. So long as you continue with your self flagellatory riding style you won't have to worry about the shuttle hordes invading your dirty little secret.

.....unless I can get Gordo to sell me the road after the loggers get through with it.

And you can call me "The Dude", or "His Dude-ness", or "El Dude-er-i-no"

[white ri0t]

^^THE BUMBS LOST LEBOWSKI
http://www.eng.buffalo.edu/~hulme/lebowski.html

And where hasn't Lee ridden??? Christ!

[Smoke]

The dude abides....

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/lebowski.html

[Uncle Duke]

Originally posted by Smoke
.

I was just in the Kootenays.

did u hit the oso negro?

[Smoke]

Originally posted by duke
did u hit the oso negro?

For a couple of minutes, but then all the hippies pissed me off so we left.

[white ri0t]

Very un-dude statement.

[Oldfart]

Them roads in the Chilcotins which give us access to many of the horse trails and some of the trails themselves, like Cinnabar, are logging roads and roads built by mining companies to get drill rigs up there. We all live in wooden structures (most of us) and ride and drive metal things. We have to get that stuff somewhere. Not that the Chilcotins shouldn't be left to be a park or that resource companies couldn't work the land in a more benign way. The only things they strip mine are coal and latterites really. I don't think there's any of that up there. Would have been found and developed already. I've ridden up there a bunch of times. You can find drill sites all over the place if you know what to look for and I do.

[wes side 7]

Oldfart, I assume you are replying to my previous post. I never said that forestry or mining were wrong. They are an important part of a resource dependant province like BC. They bring less money than dope growing but still contribute. What I did try to say was that most of the southern chilcotin has been touched by either by logging or mining. The southern chilcotins are a unique bio geoclimatic area, and it would be a joke if this present government took away its park designation. As you said "them roads were either logging or mining roads". Don't you think there is enough damaged land up there? Maybe we should leave a little bit untouched so my son can see what the real southern chilcotins looks like?

[Uncle Duke]

Originally posted by Smoke
For a couple of minutes, but then all the hippies pissed me off so we left.

yea theyll do that...you gotta grab the bagel+ coffee and git..

[Smoke]

Originally posted by diggs
Very un-dude statement.

Well, it's a very complex case. A lot of ins, a lot of outs.

[leverfingers]

It's too early. Period. And don't worry too much about the masses, they don't do 6 hour rides with 5 hours of climbing. Also, unless you go with someone who knows or you have horseshoes coming out of your ass, you might not find much untill you've been up there a time or two. So, the crowds are filtered. Not to mention the fact that the 6 hour ride is a short one. I would imagine that you could ride up to spruce lake from below, like how the horseback riders get there, but to do any kind of loop involves mtn. passes which are snowed in right now. I checked, right now, before I started writing this. Also, there is a large Grizzly living right by the trail at one of these passes (I've met him on several occasions). So, yes, I, like many others don't want to see you there, but I shouldn't be there either by that argument. If none of this turns you back, then, by all means, enjoy the ride, and if you're the type that goes back for more, then you too will keep a tight lip about it.

[Uncle Duke]

Originally posted by leverfingers
So, yes, I, like many others don't want to see you there, but I shouldn't be there either by that argument. If none of this turns you back, then, by all means, enjoy the ride, and if you're the type that goes back for more, then you too will keep a tight lip about it.

thats it Im going too, and Im telling 4 friends...

[trail worker]

the guy i'm going with used to guide up there,so he knows his way around.
I'm sure i'll have a good time,wether it be in the rain,sun,snow or hail.

[Moose]

Went up there a couple of years ago on the May long weekend. Myself and Chris were the first ones trying to get to Spruce Lake that year. We didn't go in via Tyaughton but from behind Gun Lake. Forgot what the name of the trail is. The riding was 11km of hell. Okay actually the hike a bike up the alpine meadows. When we reached the tree line above the alpine we were only about 2-3km from the lake and were stopped dead in our tracks by snow. It was at least 3 feet deep and crunchie. The ride back was alot more fun but like Lee said you might want to think about a later date.

Also there is an outfit there that will float plane you into some of the lakes in the area.

For a more scenic drive in take the Hurley as the Carpenter Lake road is one of the most boring road I've been on.

But if you are into an epic ride. Do the Highline between D'Arcy and Seton. It's about 50km there and back. Killer climbs and some of the best scenery around.

Moose

[synchro]

Originally posted by LeeLau
May/June might be a bit early.

Check out - http://www.leelau.net/2003/Sprucepart1/spruce1_2003.htm

we'll be riding up there in September.

Let me know when you go, I will join you on this little escapade.

[Purecanadianhoney]

Originally posted by wes side 7
Oldfart, I assume you are replying to my previous post. I never said that forestry or mining were wrong. They are an important part of a resource dependant province like BC. They bring less money than dope growing but still contribute. What I did try to say was that most of the southern chilcotin has been touched by either by logging or mining. The southern chilcotins are a unique bio geoclimatic area, and it would be a joke if this present government took away its park designation. As you said "them roads were either logging or mining roads". Don't you think there is enough damaged land up there? Maybe we should leave a little bit untouched so my son can see what the real southern chilcotins looks like?


Canada (including BC) are NOT resource based economies. This is a very common misperception and actually results in the Canadian dollar being devalued worldwide (there is a strong preference in world markets for technology based economies, resource economies are perceived to be weak). Canada is a SERVICE based economy, in terms of gross profits, percentage of labour employed etc.

Just thought I'd clear that up for everyone. :)

If people are interested in helping preserve the Chilcotins (one of the most amazing areas in BC, IMO) Please join the Western Canada Wilderness Commitee
http://www.wildernesscommittee.org/

[leverfingers]

I usually drive the highline, then over mission pass to carpenter lake. Got to ask around tho, as the highline is a ROUGH road. I used to live up that way, otherwise I would go the hurley. Last time on the highline (I drive a full size chevy van) I blew two tires.