(warning...this post is picture intensive...click on any picture to enlarge)
It was a beautiful day for traveling...blue sky and sunshine; gotta
like it! I took some pictures along the way...
Remember this place, Rob??
After a short stop in Kamloops
for lunch, we continued onto Salmon Arm, where we stopped to fill up with
water...I dashed into the Save-on-Foods store (the water fill/sani-dump was
conveniently located in the same parking lot). 
We arrived at the big gravel pit near Three Valley Gap (about 20 kms
west of Revelstoke) at about 3:30. This
is where the GPS/ATV Ride is being held this weekend...and would be our home
for the next 8 days.After checking out the “upper level”, we chose a more secluded and level area down below. Other than Mario (Gusola), we were the first ones to arrive. Once Ralph got leveled off and unhitched, we backed in in front of him and started our set up.
A little while later, Jeff and Marlaine (Mohr) arrived and decided to set up by us...Mario also decided to move down with us...and Orval (Kliewer) would be arriving tomorrow with Edith and his grandson, Travis...we would have ourselves a nice little group. Although the main area for camping was “up top”, it wasn’t far to ride our quads up.
Shortly after all of the others had headed off for a ride Wednesday morning, Steve and I went into Revelstoke in search of a new water pump for the trailer. Last night when I went to use the water, the pump would only make a strange noise...and not produce any water.
At our third stop (there are no RV service places in Revelstoke), we finally found the right model of pump and headed home. I took the opportunity of “being in civilization” to text our boys...no internet or cell service for the next week is going to be tough on me!
Back home, Steve started the work of removing the old pump and
installing the new one. All went well
until he asked me to turn on the pump...nothing! After a few choice words and a lot of trying
to figure out what was wrong, he finally discovered that the “winterize” lever in the
utility area of the trailer had been turned to on...oops! He figures that he must have accidentally
turned it instead of the “city water to tank fill” lever after filling up the water
tank in Salmon Arm. He has never used the “winterize” lever before. Okay...well, we now
have a spare pump.It's a bit of a tight fit getting at it...
The rest of Wednesday afternoon was spent reading...with our chairs set up wherever we could find shade...there wasn’t an awful lot of it!
Wednesday night Jeff set up the movie screen outside, Ralph got out his laptop and we had a bit of a lesson in MapSource and entering GPS co-ordinates. "3ValleyAl", organizer of the event, also popped by. He lives and works (electrician) at the Chateau at Three Valley Lake...
Thursday our plan was to go out for an ATV ride, however John and Joyce
(a couple of the hard workers putting on the event) had gone into town and were
picking up ice for the others. They were
expected back around 10:30 but didn’t arrive until about 1:00. By this time, it was way too hot to go for a
ride...it was over 36C in the shade and in the mid 40’s in the sun. So we spent our day visiting....and trying to
stay in the shade!But by 4:00 some of us were determined to go for a short ride up the mountain behind camp, so Jeff, Mario, Ralph, Steve and I headed out for a 2 hour ride. There were some great views from up there...this is Three Valley Gap (Lake and Chateau)...
Still lots of snow up in the mountains...
Friday we were all up early...5:30 for us...as we wanted to get out early for a ride...before it got too hot. Steve took lots of pictures...
Trees down across the road...
Incredible views...
Thankfully there was a bridge across this creek...
Friday night we all went up to buy our “GPS Hands”...Mario, Steve and I
went together on 3 cards; a total of 12 markers to find...
...and Ralph and Sheila were very ambitious...they each bought 6 cards; thats 24 markers for each couple to find!
That night we all spent our time marking GPS co-ordinates on maps and/or Mapsource and getting the info either entered or downloaded onto our GPS’s...all in preparation for the start of the “hunt” tomorrow morning.
Saturday morning, Jeff and Marlaine and Ralph and Sheila were
already up and gone by the time we left...and it was just after 7:30 when
Mario, Steve and I headed off. We were
going for our first marker which was the farthest away...a long 35 mile road
ride before we turned up a narrow road.
We really didn’t have much trouble finding it...that was a great ego
booster! After taking a picture of it
and recording the serial number on the form (“our hand”), we were on our way to
the next co-ordinates.
Another find...this one was on an old run-down log cabin...a very cool area...
The road went by Wap Lake...
Another marker was near this beautiful waterfall...
All started out well with the GPS but towards noon, it started acting really "squirrelly"...it would constantly re-calculate, freeze up and generally not act properly. Steve was getting very frustrated with it...to say the least! He had heard that there was a huge solar storm happening this weekend that would affect some of the satellites, so he figured that maybe that was why it was acting up. Later on, we learned that some of the others had problems with their GPS as well.
We ended up finding 8 markers today...we figured the remaining 4 could wait until tomorrow. The contest started at 6:00 a.m. this morning and all riders had to be in and accounted for by 6:00 p.m. Tomorrow everyone has to be back by 3:00 so that “3ValleyAl” can tabulate the results in time for the presentations at 5:00.
Sunday morning the three of us headed out just before 8:00...of course, the others were long gone by this time! Especially Marlaine and Jeff...I think they left at 5:30 a.m.!!
We had no problem finding our final 4 markers and were back in by 11:45...just in time for lunch and to relax the rest of the afternoon. We also managed to beat the rain...many others were not so lucky though.
Here we are up another mountain...and at another marker find...this is Mario and me...
Steve relaxing...a little wet out there...
At 4:30 we were summoned up to the final presentations...a little early in the hopes of taking advantage of the lull in the rain....
Ralph and Sheila won the event and will have their names engraved on this trophy...
Ralph and Sheila won first place...$150. They also won second place and a night at Three Valley Lake Chateau...
Mario won the digital version of BC Backroads Maps that he really wanted...
Jeff and Marlaine won a set of glasses...twice...
Orval won a salad spinner...
We won a Can Am vest...too bad it wasn`t a Yamaha one...
...and a baseball hat...
The rain started up again towards the end of the presentations (Steve is making good use of the vest we won...
That evening, those who were spending another night came down from up top and joined us around the campfire...I think Steve counted 23 altogether...
Monday morning a bunch of us decided to go out for a ride...there were 2 markers that Jeff and Marlaine hadn’t been able to find so we started our ride looking for them. The first one was up on the mountain behind camp and turned out to be on a low-lying log partially hidden by brush...we figured Jeff and Marlaine had trouble due to the rain and cloudy conditions.
The second one was up on the side of another mountain in the opposite
direction down the road. As it turned
out, it had been cut down by brush cutters clearing the power lines. “Eagle-Eye Edith” just happened to notice the
bent piece of metal that was the marker lying on the road under some weeds...good
eye, Edith!Come on up Ralph and Sheila...
Love your t-shirt, Bob...
We went through a few creeks...
We made it up to the tower. Great views...
We had our lunch here...
Then it was onto Liver Lake and Kidney Lake...
And we`re off up to another powerline tower...
This one was very overgrown...Jeff, Orval and Steve climbed up to get a better view...
And we're off...
We had had another great day of riding! That was 5 awesome days....and enough for now!
Tuesday morning, everyone else in our camp was leaving...but we had decided to stay one more night. We wanted to take the opportunity to visit 3 Valley Gap...a very picturesque place on 3 Valley Lake that we have passed many times enroute to Alberta but had never stopped at. Before everyone left, Steve got a group picture....
We were getting low on water and Steve really wanted a shower, so he loaded the 5 gallon water containers onto my quad and rode down to the river to fill them. When he got back, he set up his outdoor shower....
We're all by ourselves now...
It was just after 12:30 when we arrived at 3 Valley Gap ...just in time
to go into 3Valley Lake Chateau for lunch in the dining room overlooking
the lake (forgot to take pictures in there).
Our timing was excellent because no sooner had we ordered when a tour
bus of people arrived for lunch...whew!After lunch we wandered around the grounds of the Chateau....
...and then headed to the Heritage Ghost Town. In 1961, Gordon and Ethel Bell started the Heritage Town of Three Valley Gap,. They had witnessed the demise of many historic buildings and while others seemed unconcerned, the potential loss of history worried the Bells and they began to rescue what they could so future generations could enjoy and learn from the past. The buildings now on-site at 3 Valley had to be disassembled, moved and then reassembled...quite amazing...
Inside the Saloon...
Inside the Carriage House...
The dentist office...now that's a scary looking fellow!
...then the Railway Roundhouse....
Prime Minister Trudeau's rail car...
Steve went inside a haunted car...
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