Saturday, July 16, 2011 (New Denver, BC)

Weather permitting, our plan for today is to drive to Sandon, off-load the quads and drive up the Forest Service Road to Idaho Peak Lookout.  There were low heavy clouds over the mountains and lake when I opened the blinds this morning...hmmm...that didn’t look very promising.  However, when Steve returned from his shower, he reported that it was just fog and he thought it was going to be a nice day...and he was right!

This snow covered peak is our destination today...(picture taken from our campsite)...

There is the lookout on top...

We left for Sandon at about 10:30...and 40 minutes later, the ATVs were unloaded and we were ready for the 12 km ride up to the parking lot at the base of Idaho Peak.  The signs warn that the road is very narrow and windy; with few places to pass...extreme caution is advised.  And they were right...there is no way we could have driven the truck up but the quads were perfect and it was a great ride.  The views of the valley were just beautiful as we climbed up the mountain.  We decided that we would stop and take pictures on our way back down....okay...we made one stop...

About 9 kms from the top, we started running into patches of snow on the road. We passed a truck and camper that was backed into a cut-off on the road...for some reason, I was surprised to see anyone camping up here.  I don’t think I would have wanted to drive a camper up this road.

Well shortly after that, the road was completely covered in snow...no way could we take the quads any further.  So we parked them and brought out the backpack...maybe we would try walking the remaining 2.5 kms up to the top.

It was pretty deep snow and it was really hard walking, especially up-hill!  But for some reason, we kept on going...thinking that just around the next corner; perhaps the sun would have gotten through enough to have melted the snow.  Eventually, it had melted enough along the road edge to allow us to walk on the gravel but it was very wet and mucky.

See the road there?...Yup...it switch-backs up the mountain...

OMG...we have to walk way up there?...

The scenery is breath-taking!

Still not there...

The flowers on the south side of the mountain were just starting to come out...

We still can‘t believe that we are continuing on all the way to the top!!  The parking lot was completely snow covered with a cement barrier that was bare...ahhh...a place to sit and rest!  Okay, we made it this far...now the sign said the lookout was a further 1.6 km trail to the peak.  Well, we can‘t come this far without going right to the top!

This is the snow covered parking lot...we had to walk over that snow...

 

The trail was fairly narrow as it wound its way along the mountain edge.  It started off on the south side of the ridge which had no snow but it crossed over to the north side where there was still quite a bit of snow. 

For the most part, though, the trail was clear.  The trail started climbing as it weaved back and forth allowing for absolutely spectacular views of both sides of the mountain.  We met two fellows on their way back down the mountain.  They are tourists from Germany and are in the truck and camper that we passed down below.  They love BC and come over every year.  Instead of renting, they bought the truck and camper and store it when they return to Germany.

Oh my gosh!  Am I actually doing this?!!  I cannot believe that I am walking on a narrow trail, on a mountain ridge, up to the peak! 

We're almost there!

But we made it!! It took us just over 2 hours...

The views are incredible....Steve took lots of pictures.............

There is the campground...our 5th wheel is at the far left side of the picture...

There were some rather ominous clouds coming in from the south and one thing we have learned here is that the weather can change in a heartbeat.  So, I really wanted to get on our way back...mind you, I must admit that I didn’t feel completely comfortable up there (heights do that to me...and this was the ultimate in heights!!)  Oh yeah...and the sign at the parking lot recommended that you not be on the trail during a thunder storm!

The last part of the trail had been quite steep and I found going down to be challenging...just keep your eyes on the trail...and don’t trip...you wouldn’t stop rolling until you hit the bottom of the valley! 

After the initial bit, it got better and going downhill was so much easier (obviously!).  I was just concerned that my knees (which have been giving me some grief lately) wouldn’t hold out but they were fine. 

Down we go....

It took us a half hour to reach the parking lot...now a little snow to trudge through and then the wet muddy road edge all the way back down...until the deep snow again. Now that it was late afternoon the mud was worse from the melting snow. We met another couple of fellows on their way up and further down the road, a family that were definitely not prepared for a hike through the snow and mud...they were in runners. 

We were surprised at the number of people that had driven up and were playing in the snow...obviously not expecting it. 

Steve thought I looked hilarious going downhill in the snow...

It took us about an hour and a quarter to get back to the quads...yay...we did it!  After resting and having a snack, we headed back down the mountain. 

This is as picture of Sandon looking down from the mountainside...

Old home from better times in Sandon...

We got back to the truck at about 3:30 and as we finished loading the quads back into the truck, the fellows from the Germany stopped on their way out. They were absolutely awe struck with the truck and wanted to take some pictures. He said you would never see anything like this in Europe. We wished them well in their travels around BC and they were on their way.

Exhausted after a great day, once home, we were happy to get into our shorts and sit relaxing in our chairs.  We still marvel at the fact we made it all the way to the peak of the mountain...a very satisfying feeling! Our plan was to leave tomorrow but we still had too much to do to get ready so decided on Monday. You gotta love the flexibility of this lifestyle!

We were sitting chatting to our neighbours who had arrived last night.  Wes and Kim are a young couple from Nelson and are camping in a tent next to us...so it’s hard not to talk to them when they are right there. Wes moved from England 7 years ago and Kim was originally from Saskatoon. They had lived in the Turks and Caicos Islands for 4 years before moving to Nelson.

We all watched a bit of a thunderstorm come through over the mountains to the west...but it was nothing compared to what was to come. 

I had gone inside to get the burgers ready while Steve was getting the barbeque out and in from the southeast came some really dark clouds.  Yikes...looks like a good thunderstorm was headed this way.  And there was about to be a wedding in the gardens next door...the wedding party had just arrived...hmmm....they had better say ‘’I Do‘‘ really fast!!

Wes and Kim were just sitting down at their picnic table for their dinner when the rain started...come on over to our picnic table under the awning!  We joined them with our burgers but no sooner had we sat down when the wind started...well, the rain and wind was just too much so we all quickly retreated into the trailer. We had a nice visit with them over dinner...watching the thunder, rain and wind...it was just socked right in...you couldn’t even see across the lake!  It was close to 8:00 when Wes and Kim thanked us very much and left.  They were going for a walk and visiting a friend.

The rain had stopped and the storm had blown through...it had been quite a doosie!  It was now time for us to watch a little TV...we had had such a great day!