South Chilcotins 2014

Camp at Tyax, that's what we're planning to do. Warm showers are good this time of year. Too bad the hot tub in the spa is closed for maintenance :(

Chatted with biggles604 and looks like we're planning the same rides so can hook up for a shuttle up to start of Taylor to save an hour of pedalling.

Too bad the hot tub in the spa is closed for maintenance :(

And the espresso machine is out for repair. What is this world coming to?

If anyone is planning to ride Alphagetti on Sunshine Mountain above Bralorne, don't bother. Only about the top 5% of the trail remains, the rest of the trail is gone in a mess of cut block debris crossed by a bunch of new roads.

yeah I hit that up in Aug. It actually wasn't that bad aside from the huge mess at the top of the clearcut - just sporadic deadfall from there down.

If I'm back that way next summer, I might run the saw for a couple hours and get it open again. Nice trail.

Chatted with biggles604 and looks like we're planning the same rides so can hook up for a shuttle up to start of Taylor to save an hour of pedalling.

cool! looking forward to having you preview each section of ridgeorama for me :)

Too bad the hot tub in the spa is closed for maintenance :(

And the espresso machine is out for repair.

:censored: that

Love camping at tyax. 20 bucks for a tent up to 4 people i think, hot showers, free SUP and paddleboat rental on the lake, plus theres always nice like minded bikers to shoot the shit with whilst fighting off cramps.

it sounds tempting. we were originally going to camp at spruce lake, but likely won't have the time to justify it. the other campgrounds in the area sound a bit more rustic, so might be a nice middle ground… but does tyax have draft beer? that might seal it

does tyax have draft beer? that might seal it

yes if you don't mind getting ripped off…

yeah I hit that up in Aug. It actually wasn't that bad aside from the huge mess at the top of the clearcut - just sporadic deadfall from there down.

If I'm back that way next summer, I might run the saw for a couple hours and get it open again. Nice trail.

Ran into a dirt biker who is also a local at the trail head, he said they will be cutting a new trail that goes off the other side of the ski run.

We rode a section of the Alpha trail lower down but it was short before we crossed another new road. We could see through the trees to yet another cut block. After the first one we didn't want to do that again.

I knew it had been logged last year but had thought someone from the BRVTA might have cleared it this year. I guess they figure there isn't enough left to save and have written it off.

cool! looking forward to having you preview each section of ridgeorama for me :)

:censored: that

it sounds tempting. we were originally going to camp at spruce lake, but likely won't have the time to justify it. the other campgrounds in the area sound a bit more rustic, so might be a nice middle ground… but does tyax have draft beer? that might seal it

Rode RoR on Friday for the first time, a lot longer, and a lot more hike-a-bike than I realized. We cut the light a little tight by starting too late. Just had a bunch of stuff to do in the morning that burned up time.

Don't think the Tyax lounge has draft beer, although they do have some interesting bottles.

The Bralorne pub also doen't have draft right now either, they are replacing their lines (and maybe draft system?).

yes if you don't mind getting ripped off…

Pretty sure I drank draft beer there in the summer, unless they just poured a can / bottle into a glass. Yep it was expensive, but, Tyax isn't exactly right on the beer truck's delivery route.

I read craft beer… we had a few big craft beer bottles and some wings. It was a bit over priced for what we got. Friday I felt like I was in a retirement home. Friday ride was one of my best rides ever, all of it was ours (at least it felt like it). tailor, camel pass, high trail and lick. I love that place so much! Saturday gun to Spurce and back, we saw lots of riders that day. I'm back this winter for sure.

Heads up to anyone heading up there, as InaCycle mentioned in the S. Chilcotin photo thread we saw 5 Grizzlys in 2 days.
http://bb.nsmb.com/showpost.php?p=2836667[HTML_REMOVED]postcount=83

Be bear aware; our friends from Colorado thought we we kidding about the bears.

Day 2 we had a mother with 2 cubs walk up on our group as we were packing up after a creek crossing. Likely she didn't hear us due to the sound of the creek.

~~~~~~~~~

News story from the weekend about a sheep hunter killed in the Kananaskis area of Alberta, he just stumbled across a mother griz with cubs and a deer kill.

Calgary man mauled to death by mother grizzly bear while hunting in Kananaskis Country
http://www.calgarysun.com/2014/09/09/calgary-man-mauled-to-death-by-mother-grizzly-bear-while-hunting-in-kananaskis-country?google_editors_picks=true

~~~~~~~~~~

Bear Safety from BC Parks
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/misc/bears/bearsaf.html

Safety Guide to Bears in the Wild from BC Enviroment
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/documents/bearwld.htm

We didn't see one. Maybe it's because I launched a bearbanger over looking the meadows. It was loud and echoed for a while. Must of scared them off thinking hunter maybe around…

The SLRD is doing a survey regarding the use of the Hurley River Road, in an attempt to make clear to our MLA's just what people are looking for from the road.

The survey is open to residents, business owners and 'regular users'. If you have any input, feel free to fill one out. The link is at the bottom of the following email from Debbie Demare, the SLRD rep up there. Her note contains some interesting background on the Hurley.

I think it is important to make the MLAs understand what kind of economic impact the late opening of that road had this year.

"As you know this spring, MLA Sturdy and MLA Tegart, in response to many complaints from area residents worked to make some changes with the Hurley River Rd. As a result of their efforts the Hurley River Rd. was brought under one Ministry, FLNRO (Forests etc).

This will ensure consistent management of the route, improve road safety for summer travellers and importantly, legitimize off-road vehicle use. This initiative came from the community and lots of benefits will flow to residents including opportunities to promote local economic development.

What was not included in this change was the ongoing snow clearing in mid-late spring. This caused a reaction from our travelling public. The MLAs were quite surprised by this, I personally put it down to the fact that the community wasn't discussing snow ploughing in their letters originally, they were discussing the condition of the road. Additionally, in the work the MLAs were doing over the winter to address the Hurley River Rd. condition, it was my expectation that they would increase the budget somewhat to address both the spring opening (via snow removal) and improved overall maintenance. However, given that the importance of a spring opening (via snow removal) was not included in so many of the letters written, and that it is the FLNRO policy not to remove snow on an FSR unless it is the only access to an area, let to general set of misunderstandings between MLAs Sturdy and Tegart; the FLNRO ministry and our community. In any case, the MLAs feel they don't understand the consensus of taxpayers in this area on how this road should be maintained. As a result I agreed to do this survey to see if we can develop that consensus through information gathering.

Here is some additional factual information regarding the Hurley River Rd.
1. The annual budget for road maintenance in 2014 is $71,400. There is also a one-time transfer from MOTI to FLNR of $80,000 for 2014 that will be used for resurfacing from 18.5 km to 23 km on the Pemberton side of the pass. The tendered bid came in at over $90,000.
2. The average cost of opening the road in the spring was close to $30,000 from 2007 through 2013. The road was not opened until later in June in 2007 due to avalanche risks and it cost over $80,000 in 2012. If we take those two years out is has averaged a little over $20,000 for the other 5 years.
3.The average cost of grading the road once from end to end will be around $17,000 this year. $3,000 up to the bridge on the Pemberton side, $11,000 from the bridge to the 9 km marker on the Gold Bridge end and $3,000 to the bridge at 1 km on the Gold Bridge end. With 3 grades in the middle and 6 grades at each end the cost will be around $69,000 this year. FLNRO had to use a water truck for one of our grades this year which added an additional $1,000. Road/weather conditions can vary these costs annually.
4. Other costs that FLNRO will have to cover over time for safety include bridge maintenance/repairs and brushing. spent around $15,000 on bridge repairs around 5 years ago and spent around $30,000 brushing the road from Gold Bridge to the pass a few years back as well. These costs usually come up every 5 to 10 years and the bridge costs could be higher than what was spent 5 years ago. Several sections along the road have inadequate surfacing material as well. Using the 2014 bid as an estimate it would cost around $20,000/km to resurface other sections along the route.

Thank you to FLNRO for supplying this information.

Please complete this survey thoughtfully.. IT IS IMPORTANT and it will MAKE A DIFFERENCE! We will leave the survey open until October 19. "

Click on this link to take the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DCYVNG6

Debbie

From the desk of:
Debbie Demare
Director, Electoral Area [A]
Squamish-Lillooet Regional District
demare87@gmail.com
250-238-2248
www.debbiedemare.com

^^^^ you guys are wanting the early snow removal option, correct? it has a place for regular user from USA, so I'd be glad to fill it out.

Yes - we got lucky this year with a weak snowpack that melted out early, but some years there won't be any access until August.

Thanks!