Sun., May 15th, myself, Thomas, and BillR got together for a trip up the logging roads N. of Hwy 7, between the villages of Agassiz and Hope. Bill and Thomas were in Bill's lifted YJ, out for its' first run of the season, and I was in my TB, of course.
We hadn't been on the forest roads in the area since last summer, when the 2 main ones, Ruby Creek FSR and Garnet/American Creek FSR, were quite busy with construction traffic for a twinning of the main power lines that run across the mountains. It was nice to see that the work is now finished in the 2 watersheds north of Hwy 7, and the roads are now much quieter, with no logging in those valleys, either. The downside, of course, is that the winter storms have done some damage to the roads, which probably won't be repaired until a new timber cut opens up, but that's why we drive 4x4s, right? Most of the blowdowns have been cut through by ATVers and 4x4ers where they were blocking the trails, so they weren't any real challenge, but each of the branches of the roads ended in washouts much too deep to attempt, even with Bill's short, very lifted old Jeep.
On the Ruby Creek system, we explored all of the branches, stopping at the point where each one was no longer passable. We saw no wildlife, other than a few piles of recent bear scat, and by the time we were done there, it was time for Bill to drive Thomas back home, so he could catch a few ZZZs before going on shift at 10PM.
I had no such obligation, so I said my goodbyes to the guys, and headed a few km further east, to the Garnet/American FSR system. Conditions were much like those at Ruby Creek, though there was much more bear scat in evidence. I managed to get over the pass between the 2 creeks, but at just 11km from where the American Cr. FSR returns to pavement, came to a blowdown across the road, with a mudslide 80 meters further along, followed by a 5' deep x 15' wide washout just beyond that. I took that as a definite sign to backtrack the way I had come, call it a day, and head home for supper. Altogether, I cruised about 60km (40mi) of deteriorating logging roads today, so the truck and I are feeling a bit jostled and dusty.
Here's a few shots from the day: