Friendly Lake June 15-17 2012

[lrp374]

I'm going up to Friendly Lake northwest of Little Fort June 15-17. The road is mostly paved ( 100km), gravel forestry road (12 km) and a rough bush trail for about 8 km. The last 8 km takes a little over an hour if all goes well.

The lake has fish to up to about 2 # but are wild so can feel much bigger. The site is very rough and has a flat area that should be able to park about 4 vans..If anyone is interested in joining me I can provide more details. I have a few pictures from my last trip.

[mararmeisto]

Sounds interesting. Been a while since I've been that way...

[lrp374]

Friday started as planned with a 9:00 AM departure for Friendly lake. 10:30 we arrived @ Lost Horse and discussed the trip to Friendly with a couple camped there. They advised us they had spent 3 days clearing dead-fall and brush from the road and felt about 1.5km of the 6.5km was left to do. We left with the knowledge that most of the hard work was done and they didn't go farther because of a large potentially deep “mudhole”.
Along the way we saw a great deal of work they had done. Cutting 10-15” dia. Trees and pulling them to the side with their winch as well as some snow in the bush and on the road. ( Very unusual for mid-June as we were only about 1450 meters) We finally arrived @ the “mudhole”. We stopped and looked at the crystal clear water that obviously had not been disturbed for a very long time. We could see the nice flat bottom and the water appeared to be about a foot deep. No problem and so off we went. Unfortunately the bottom was flat because of the gooey mud all slid to the bottom of the hole. Once into this mess the only possible action is petal to the metal. Luckily it was only up to the bottom of the doors and after some churning we arrived @ solid ground – facing an even longer puddle. This time we decided looking is not a good enough test. This “mudhole” however had a hard bottom as best we could tell and in fact was very easy to cross.
After a bunch of brushing and one tree requiring the Swede saw we arrived @ Friendly lake @ 1:30 only to find the camp site was one big muddy mess.

We returned to Lost Horse to camp and spent the night listening to the rain. Not exactly how it was supposed to turn out. Only 2 hours of fishing on the wrong lake.

The best part, however, we found out that ATV'ers followed us in and turned around @ the “mudhole” because it was to deep and they were sure they'd get stuck! No problem for the Delica!

[mararmeisto]

Looks like it was a good time getting in there. I would have liked to have come, but I'm only just this week finishing the expedition trailer (gotta have it ready for Sunday), so I wouldn't have had anywhere to sleep. I'll get back to the Kamloops area, just not as soon as I'd hoped.

[BCDelica]

Thanks for sharing you trip, snow patches in mid JUne! If I'd been in country I would been eager to tag along.

How was the fishing?

Ps, highly looking forward to fishing the hwy 24 area again soon.

[jessef]

Thanks for sharing Larry. Glad you got out of the sink hole.

I'll be working up in Kamloops at the hospital next month and ring you for some adventures.

[Mephisto]

@Mararmeisto: Why wouldn't you just sleep in your truck?? I just finished a trip down to Oregon and my girl and I had a great time in Chateaux Paj. Had to leave a little bit of gear outside each night, but all in all comfy and roomy, I did remove the rear seat armrests for more elbow room while in bed mode.

@lrp374: Everywhere is still muddy and or covered in snow still this year down here at the coast as well, it's just weird.

[mararmeisto]

@Mephisto I would love to sleep in my truck as it would save hauling around a trailer. However, it's a SWB and I'm 6'2" so there's just not enough truck for me to lay down. Expedition trailer now complete. Camping with Monty can now commence.

I was a submariner in the RCN for the last few years of my service, but now that I'm a civilian again I don't have to sleep that any more!

[lrp374]

We had only a little time to fish between driving and the rain but did catch 1 small fish for the short time we were out. Lost Horse lake must get fished quite a bit as the resident loon was after my fish as soon as it was hooked. I got it in the boat but the loon eventually got it when we released it a few minutes later. Dam loons - I hate feeding them.

I'll be in town in July until the 17th. Jessie - give me a call. I have evening and day excursions available as well as a few tools and a garage for repairs if necessary.

[Mephisto]

I haven't measured it, but I'd guess you'd have to be about 6'10" or 7' to be squished height wise, so your shorty should fit you just fine in bed mode. I'm 5'10" and there is easily a foot extra for me, I just use a jacket or something to fill the dips and throw a thermarest on top of that and viola, good nights sleep. I had my shorty for almost two years before I figured out it the seats folded flat to make a bed. Pull all the headrests off, put two of the headrests into the holes at the bottom front of the back seat, this will support the back of the front seat when you lay it back. Reach down beside the backseats on the outside and there is a lever that will adjust the angle of the back of the backseat, push the back of the seat down until it is flat. Next move the front seat all the way forward while laying the back flat, it should just clear so that it rests on the headrests you inserted into the backseat. I have two shortys and both of them do this, so it is not a year specific option.

[Mephisto]

Oh ya, pics of the trailer are a must, I'm about half way through my build, it's been on hiatus for the last ten months. Mine is a multipurpose trailer though, expedition/flatdeck/boat trailer. I'll probably still sleep in my truck and just use the trailer as storage, although I wouldn't mind building a pop up RTT like the maggiolina.