As I type this we are drive back from the Chilcotins, a little bit earlier than planned, forest fires are burning on three sides and the road back to civilization closes in an hour (there are only 2 and the other has been closed for a few days). The country here is AMAZING, bigger and remoter than anywhere I have ever been. The plan for today had been to get on a float plan at 9 am take a 20 minute ride to a remote lake in the backcountry, then use the next 10 hours to ride out… needless to say were supper bummed out, but we definitely made the sensible decisions.
… SO up until this point in my life forest fires never really affected me, although I have always seen the carnage on TV, but being so close to them has left a lasting impression. At the general store we overheard a helicopter pilot saying the fire in Lillooet was climbing the hill faster than he was, not something I would want to be near. Huge respect for all the fire fighters and forest workers working around the clock on limited resources to get these fires put out. Two helicopters loaded with buckets just flew overhead, and plane just sprayed fire retardant a few hundred feet away from the road. Can’t see that road being open for long, glad we made it out.
Although one could truly say that “the shit has hit the fan”, the trip was worth it. We camped at Tyax Resort, a world class heli ski outfit (packages in the tens of thousands of dollars) in the winter and luxury relaxation in the summer. The lodge, which had a nice rustic beauty to it is entirely built of logs and defiantly fits in with its surroundings (note the main entranceway). The lodge offered a great twist to our lake swims… a nice hot tub after a cold dip!
The ride yesterday was as good as it gets; huge climbs, beautiful views, big vertical descents, and a little hike-a-bike thrown in to keep things honest. Those views shouldn’t come without some blood, sweat, and tears (a little, too much, and none that I saw…). After reaching the top of one of the passes we noticed a helicopter flying vary low and carrying what appeared to be a net. Upon further investigation we learned that it was removing camping gear for a large group of campers that had been staying in a remote cabin (for those you who have seen the bike movie “the collective” it’s the one that appears in the second segment of the movie… yeah those are the trails we rode yesterday suckers). I’ll let the pictures and video say the rest for the ride. Again, a big thanks to Penny and Duncan for taking us on another sweet adventure.
Chilcotins from Ben Crook-Hanna on Vimeo.
Tomorrow it’s off to Whistler to meet up with Pickard and Jared. Can’t wait to see the boys and hope to get some good riding in as well. Won’t hurt to get to see/ride the 2010 Giant bikes line up either!
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