Camping. Hope BC. Easter 2009 April 10th @10:15am till 13th.

[TardisDeli]

Hello All, (and a special Hello to any "Alberta Boys Bound for BC" joining us).

Camping Trip for Easter 2009 April 10 to 13. Rain or shine.
Need low altitudes due to packed snow & recent snow blocking roads. So...
Silver Skagit Provincial Park, south of Hope. Camp at top of Ross Lake, 49th parallel.
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explor ... gs/skagit/

DEPARTURE TIMES: IKEA in Coquitlam at 10:15 a.m. Friday April 10th (Good Friday)
All welcome: 2wd (main road fine, just gravel), 4wd, even left hand drives. Child & pet friendly.
We will be at there nights of Friday 10 April and Saturday 11 April. Easter Sunday night is tentative as we might try a different area on the way home, and some might leave to join family Easter.

NOTE re GPS: please DO NOT post GPS co-ordinates for this trip, you may PM to anyone who cannot read a map, but I know the GPS points on the various maps & charts do NOT match.

RTFM = Read the Frak'n Map. BC "Backroad Mapbook: Vancouver, Coast & Mountains; 1st Edition. Pages 15, 5, 6. (On sale $20.00 MEC, or Superstore Presidents Choice $21.)

DRIVE: towards Hope (approx 2 hours from Vancouver). Just a few km west of Hope at township of Flood, take exit 168 (Last FUEL, Last Food & water), go south on Silver Skagit forestry service road, this road is part of the Trans Canada Trail, so expect horses & bicycles & logging. We follow the road all the way to Ross Lake (a flooded forest hydro lake) at the 49th parallel, about a 1.5 hour drive. Excellent gravel road, flat & wide, could be done in 2WD but is easier in 4WD. Camp at the top of Ross Lake, at the provincial park. Unsure if overnight fee as site unstaffed till May 1. The group area is large and flat and not under the trees, so we can circle the wagons:
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[].(fire).[].....Put tarp(s) over the deli's, tied to vans, with untarped area over the fire.
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BRING:
FRS radios (borrow from a buddy if you havent got yours). Bring BBQ fork to toast campfire food. Bring food to share around campfire. Bring Water, it's boggy lakewater, very low water levels. Bring own toilet facilities, as sites not open till 1 May. Bring own firewood, as park laws prohibit gathering any wood, not even dead blown down branches. Pack it in, pack it out. Ranger patrols road, hunting aliens hiking their way to freedom.

TO DO: Lots of hiking and biking trails up the nearby peaks. I have hiking guides so Felix can lead a hike. Bring sturdy shovels for 4WD track washouts.

COMMUNICATIONS: FRS channel 5sub22 "Tardis Deli". Marine VHF Channel 16 (aka 156.800) for calling "Tardis Deli" or "Whaler Nautique"(aka Jay), chat on Marine VHF Channel 69 (aka 56.475). Ham Radio 2 meter Band, channel ?? VA7CUP "Teacup" for Christine, or VE7JKW "Jay". CB ? (ours was stolen, anyone else?). Cells unlikely to work past Silver Lake.

LOST? Those who can't convoy with the group: Silver Lake is nearer to Hope, on the same road, thus easier to find on your own. http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explor ... silver_lk/

EXCERPTS FROM THE BC PARKS WEBSITE:
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explor ... gs/skagit/
"The Silver/Skagit Road, which joins Highway #1 three kilometres west of Hope, provides access to the Park. It is 37 km from Highway #1 to the entrance portal and a further 23 km to Ross Lake Reservoir and the Canada-USA border.
The Silver/Skagit Road is a well maintained, loose surface road that provides access to several active logging areas before the Park entrance. Motorists are advised to drive with extreme caution and to use headlights at all times. Watch for wildlife and be aware of logging trucks and other industrial equipment. Extra caution should be taken after rain when road surfaces can become muddy and slippery.
The Skagit River is susceptible to extreme water level velocities during the spring and summer run-off season."

IKEA DEPARTURE: IKEA in Coquitlam at 10am Friday.
Underground Roof height is 7 foot 6, but lots of open air parking outside building (looking towards the freeway).
Go inside IKEA cafe after 9am, buy the $1.00 breakfast of scrambled eggs, 3 sausages, hashbrowns). Buy 2, now you're full. Princess Auto is 2 blocks away for last minute tow straps, stainless steel camp dishes. KMS tools across street for last minute generators. Well, after all that shopping, time to go back to IKEA for the lunch special of Chicken Caesar Salad $4.99 , hot dogs $.50 cents, cinnamon buns $1.00 (or $1.50 with coffee). Hey, lets just camp here, there's a nice stream and picnic table on site, and shopping cart races are way more fun than muddy overgrown 4wd tracks that scratch my beloved Tardis. They now sell beer & wine in IKEA cafe. All that's missing is the campfire. Hmmm, next time...

Do we want to try a group Potluck Easter Dinner on Saturday??

Bon Appetit, Christine and Jay, Your Delica Community Camp Folk.

[Erebus]

DRIVE: {snip}Camp at the top of Ross Lake, at the provincial park. Unsure if overnight fee as site unstaffed till May 1. The group area is large and flat and not under the trees, so we can circle the wagons:

I'll have to remember to remount my awning. BTW, Ross Lake Prov Park is near New Hazelton (Smithers). This appears to be Ross Lake Ecological Reserve.

COMMUNICATIONS: FRS channel 5sub22 "Tardis Deli". Marine VHF Channel 16 (aka 156.800) for calling "Tardis Deli" or "Whaler Nautique"(aka Jay), chat on Marine VHF Channel 69 (aka 56.475). Ham Radio 2 meter Band, channel ?? VA7CUP "Teacup" for Christine, or VE7JKW "Jay". CB ? (ours was stolen, anyone else?). Cells unlikely to work past Silver Lake.

Can anyone confirm that the real CTCSS tone for "sub22" is 141.3Hz? My FRSes don't do tones, so I have to put it into my handheld other radio. For ham, might I (VE6FVD) suggest 146.520 simplex (the national calling frequency). And I would suspect Marine 69 is 156.475, not 56.475, and I trust it is simplex? I don't have a marine radio, just use a tuneable other radio. Not that I can see there would be a problem to use 16, given where we will be. And before anyone asks, yes I have a marine radio licence. Why wouldn't I, living in Alberta where anything over a foot deep is considered a lake?

There is a ham repeater in Hope (atop Thacker Mtn., which doesn't officially exist) "147.080 Mhz, +.600 with CTCSS tone 110.9 hz" I'm guessing it is actually on Hope Mtn, at 6000', which should give some coverage to the south, but probably not down to Ross Lake. So using both this frequency and 146.520 simplex should do it.

EXCERPTS FROM THE BC PARKS WEBSITE:
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explor ... gs/skagit/
"The Silver/Skagit Road, which joins Highway #1 three kilometres west of Hope, provides access to the Park. It is 37 km from Highway #1 to the entrance portal and a further 23 km to Ross Lake Reservoir and the Canada-USA border.
The Silver/Skagit Road is a well maintained, loose surface road that provides access to several active logging areas before the Park entrance. Motorists are advised to drive with extreme caution and to use headlights at all times. Watch for wildlife and be aware of logging trucks and other industrial equipment. Extra caution should be taken after rain when road surfaces can become muddy and slippery.
The Skagit River is susceptible to extreme water level velocities during the spring and summer run-off season."

{from same parks website} There are three separate campgrounds in this park, Silvertip at 42 km (43 sites), Ross Lake at 60 km (88 sites) and a horse camp at 54 km with 11 pull-through sites (near Whitworth Meadows). There is parking available for 2 vehicles at each site. There is no extra parking available. The gate is located at Kilometre 58 and is closed and locked during the winter months only (Oct to May) yearly.

That sounds to me like the Ross Lake site is closed until May 1st. Or is the group camp road before the gate?

Do we want to try a group Potluck Easter Dinner on Saturday??

I like the idea, but probably can't really contribute anything other than appetite and a bottle or two of wine; I'll be leaving straight from work Thursday noonish.

Looking forward to meeting some of you again!

Erebus from Calgary

[TardisDeli]

Hi Fred Erebus,
Glad you can join us. You win for furthest distance driven to have my Rice Crispy Squares.

Answering your questions in order:

Skagit Valley Provincial Park is proper park name (why are there so many places with same name).

Ham Radio channels: I will check into, & PM you, you are probably only person besides us using it.

Of the 3 campsites in the park, we are planning on the site named Ross Lake at 60 km (88 sites) (the farthest south you can drive before you fall in the huge lake). When we recce'd it, the gate did not block the group site, just the damp dark individual sites.

Potluck campfire contribution of wine grapefully appreciated by me.
Cheers, Christine and Jay.

[delicat]

Hey guys,

Just to let you know that myself and little Maceio will be joining the party for the full 4 days. At first I was really tempted to go camping in the Okanagan, hoping the weather would be better but I don't really know Hope that well, I might have to watch Rambo again to familiarize myself with the area!

Everytime I drive by Hope I'm always impressed at how steep the mountains are but seems like it's always raining so I just keep on driving.

So, since Christine has done so much work to find a location and organizing the event then I won't argue with the location. But Christine, nice sunny Okanagan...

And do we always have to "circle the wagons"? Can we change it into a triangle or...?

David

[TardisDeli]

Salut Delicat,
I am happy to change location to Okanagan, but I don't have time to drive there to recce a spot, before this Friday.

I got a report from a delica in Shuswap that the back roads had 2 to 3 feet of snow, and even with his deli in 4 Low and lots of "determination" on his part, the road was not passable.

I would have loved to have done the Kettle Valley road off the Coquihalla, but presume the hills there have as much snow as we found 2 weeks ago in Chilliwack back roads, which defeated even the whole herd of delica's.

So if anyone has checked roads elsewhere in the last week, please suggest it.

Otherwise, my plan defaults to Silver Skagit, because A) many people have never been there, B) it is low level road.

Christine.

[jessef]

We shall attempt to join thy caravan.

[pedro]

I'm gonna have to sit this one down I have to go to williams lake and get my inlaws ready for summer, and the wedding , and the firewood , and........................ endless list of "to do"! have fun for me and make sure to take LOTS of pics. Pierre and Mary

[TardisDeli]

Hey All,
How about we all go camping to Williams Lake, chop firewood for Pierre, camp on their acreage, and our deli's can carry furniture, they're moving there in a few weeks and getting married. It's not the Okanagan, but it's different.
Christine.

[Erebus]

That sounds like work ... ewwww. It's a bit of a detour for me. But heck, I'm game (not gamey as so many people claim).

[pedro]

hahahahahahahahahahahahaa you guys are funny I would still not be able to convoy with you for mary works until 8;30 on saturday! And frankly it is a big detour compare to the hope plans( and hope is warmer as well). but give me a summer and our place will be ready to be the official delica pitstop on the cariboo hwy thanks for the offer christine later pierrot

[fexlboi]

but give me a summer and our place will be ready to be the official delica pitstop on the cariboo hwy

We will come past in the end of May

Anyway, Dino is ready (almost, just need to install the new speakers) to go with you guys where ever we end up. Ross Lake is fine with us. We always can move to a new camp spot if we find something after our exploration trips. Hiking would be really nice too, so Christine don't forget the guide book ;)

Cheers

[dfnder]

I will try to keep tabs on where the group ends up as I might be able to drop by on the way back from Sun Peaks where I'll be skiing with family and celebrating easter.

[Golf Cart]

Everytime I drive by Hope I'm always impressed at how steep the mountains are but seems like it's always raining so I just keep on driving.

David,

I fish in the Skagit during the open season. It can be coming down in buckets in Hope, but once you drive through the pass into the next valley , you can have pure blue sky. You are on a gradual climb through the whole trip to the lake ( Its really Ross Reservoir) Oya, bring skeeto repellant. If this warm weather continues , chances are there will be lots of them thirsty lil buggas.

[FalcoColumbarius]

Hi guys,

I think I will not be making this engagement as I have a couple of fires to put out. I expect a good photographic report so I can live the experience in pictures... smiles.

I spent a lot of money last year, this year is about making more money. By the way, I should be starting a TV show at the end of May that will go on for ten months, in which case I will be limited in my excursions.

Have fun!

Falco.

[konadog]

I should be starting a TV show at the end of May...

Are you the star? Is The Miss Lil' Bitchi in it?