Sunday, June 26 to Thursday, June 30, 2022 (ATV/BC Annual Poker Ride, Logan Lake, BC - PART 1)

Sunday morning we were up early, as usual, and after our coffee, it was time to get moving! We finished our pack-up, hitched the fifth-wheel to the trailer and were all ready to pull out of our site. One slight problem, though, was a fir tree with branches that got in the way of the trailer...so after a couple of tries, Steve told me to get in the truck and drive while he pulled the branches back out of the way as best as he could. Luckily we made it without any damage to our trailer. That little bit of drama really didn't put us too far behind...it was exactly 9:00 a.m. when we left Peace Arch RV Park and made our way over to the TransCanada highway east. As you can see, it was a fabulous travel day with lots of clear blue sky! That's Mt. Baker, in Washington State, looking magnificent...

All the rivers are running very high right now...this is the Fraser River as we head towards Hope, BC...

Just past Hope, we take Highway 5 north...The Coquihalla...this main traffic corridor through the province was completely shut down last November with the devastating floods. Roughly 20 sites along 130 km/81 miles of the highway were damaged or washed away, including 5 bridges where spans completely collapsed or were almost demolished by the atmospheric river. It is amazing how quickly they managed to get minimal repairs done to get traffic flowing again but there is a lot of road construction as they continue to get it completely finished.

A repaired bridge span...

At many spots along the way, you can see how the power of the water changed the course of the river, leaving debris along the way.

This road now ends at the river... 

Waterfalls along the highway....

The Great Bear Snow Shed, from here it's a long steep climb to the top...

Still climbing...

The last time we drove this highway we had just retrieved our trailer from Tunkwa Lake Provincial Park after our evacuation from the wildfires. As with much of the Pacific Northwest last summer, BC was on fire as were many areas on both sides of the Coquihalla Hwy as we made our way back to Surrey (Vancouver area). We saw helicopters with Bambi Buckets dropping water on hot spots.

Burned areas...

So sad to see so much wildfire devastation go on mile after mile...

An accident had traffic going south backed up for a long way. It appears to have only involved a semi...hopefully the driver is okay. If you're a fan of the TV series "Highway Thru Hell" these are three of  Jamie Davis's tow trucks...

They have a nice camping spot down there in a burn area...

Approaching Merritt....

We left the Coquihalla at Merritt, taking highway 5A to highway 8 and finally, highway 97C north towards Logan Lake. 

It's a beautiful drive along this route...

Mamit Lake...

After filling up with fresh water in town, we arrived at the huge field at the junction of highway 97C and 97D where the Logan Lake ATV Club is hosting the 2022 Poker Ride. It was cancelled last year due to the heat dome and wildfires in the area, and in 2020 due to COVID. A few others have already arrived...

We're mostly setup, Steve will off load the quads tomorrow...

The event is a week long starting Monday (June 27) with various guided rides throughout the week and the Poker Ride is on Saturday (July 2). Steve and I are both volunteering at the event...Steve is in charge of Security and I am helping out at the Registration Table. Steve met with the fellows who had volunteered to be on the Security Team and arranged a schedule. I went over to help out where I could getting things set up at the registration table.

One great thing about this event is re-connecting with ATV folks that we haven't seen for a long time! Here is Gary (from Cowichan Valley ATV Club on Vancouver Island) and Rita and Mario (from the Powell River ATV Club). 

The "big tents" have gone up and lots of people have started to arrive. Some come for the whole week, others for just a few days. We expect the majority to arrive Thursday and Friday for the main event. What we found interesting at registration were the number of folks arriving who had not pre-registered.

Wednesday (June 29) Steve and I decided to join the group on a guided ride...of course, it was a rainy day so Steve didn't bother with a GoPro video. However we did a short Relive Video showing our GPS route...click here if you'd like to watch it.

With Don leading and Mike the tail-gunner, we're off...

Our first stop was at Leroy Lake. Steve climbed the hill to get a few pics...

Turning to his left this part of the lake is more of a marsh...

This is the Antler Lake Recreation area, however it's about a 20 minute walk to the lake, and we're here to ride!

Dot Lake....

Gypsum Lake...

We stopped at Chataway Lakes Resort and spoke to the owner. Although not busy now, he was expecting lots of folks for the Canada Day long weekend. It's a very rustic fishing resort. 

The Chataway Lakes area has remained relatively unknown. The dozen lakes that make up the Chataway group are not famous for particularly large fish, nor are they particularly large themselves. Wild native Kamloops Rainbow Trout nurtured by some of the best spawning creeks in British Columbia average one to 3 pounds, while some of the back lakes give up five pound beauties. The Lodge and Cabins are built of logs. The housekeeping cabins are well maintained and offer seclusion and a restful view of the lake. First and foremost, we are very rustic. There is no plumbing in the cabins, nor in the campsite. Taps for drinking water, are located in close proximity to all the cabins and campsites.

Walley and me...

Walley, our ride leader Don, and me...

Billy Lake...

Just shy of 4 hours and 80 kms, we were back at camp. A great ride...even if it had pretty much rained all day...at least it didn't pour! Thanks for a great ride, Don!

We did a lot of hanging around the tent area chit-chatting with everyone. Steve, Dave, Gary and Mario...

Roz and Cindy at the registration table...Cindy was in charge of registration and what an amazing job she did. Helping her out made me realize just how much work goes on "behind the scene" in preparation for this event. Not to mention, Jane, being the President of Logan Lake ATV Club, who was instrumental in organizing the whole event! There were about 291 attendees...a record attendance!

Thursday (June 30) there was a breakfast...complete with waffles, scrambled eggs, and sausage, bacon and/or ham. I went over and helped out where I could. Suzanne, who owns a catering company in Kamloops, did a great job organizing all the food. 

Here is Cindy and Debbie working on warming the waffles...and that's Chris on the left taking care of coffee. Chris is the President of ATV/BC and his wife, Jane is the President of the Logan Lake ATV Club. Jane worked hard on organizing this whole event and it was great! She and Suzanne were up early this morning getting breakfast started!

Breakfast is served!

Steve is joining another guided ride this morning. Here is Chris giving instructions to all participants...there's a large group so there are 2 separate rides.

Everyone is lining up to go...

 That is Jane on the bottom left...looking like she's on a mission!

I'll pass this over to Steve to tell you about his ride...

I don't recall the name of this lake where we had lunch. There was a family camped here when we arrived. They were probably horrified to have been invaded by all our machines.😂

Nature was calling so I walked down the road a short ways and discovered another lake...

Steve edited down a GoPro video of the ride so if you have a spare 34 minutes...😉 Unfortunately it seems the picture quality degraded a bit when converting the video to You Tube...

This little guy is so cute...he has training wheels on his little motorcycle!

Lots of time socializing with everyone! In the foreground, working on the registration table, Carol, Debbie, me and Cindy. Sitting behind us (in front of the T-Shirt table) are Gary, Rita, Mario, Sue and Doug (on phone)...and in the background are Lance and Jane deep in conversation...

Since we had new front tires put on the truck and the rear ones rotated, we needed to have the wheels re-torqued before we head home on Sunday. We thought we could get it done at the Kal-Tire in Merritt but then we realized that we arrived and we leave on a Sunday and they are closed! Luckily Jane came to the rescue and contacted, Al (Vice-President of the Logan Lake Club) who just happened to have the required torque wrench. Thanks Al!!

Yup, more socializing! Gary, Mario, Jane, Chris and Doug...

Getting ready to be in the Canada Day Parade in town tomorrow!

This guy flew over us a few times during the week...

Mark stirring the chili that's for dinner tonight. Behind him are Steve (you can only see his legs and feet, LOL), Mario, Rita, Mike and Doug...

Suzanne getting ready to serve dinner...(and it looks like Chris is getting ready to take a picture)...

The line up for dinner has started...

Dinner time! At our table are...Debbie (in black), Mark, someone whose name I cannot remember, me (with my mouth open, of course!), Greg (Debbie's husband), Chris and Jane...

Dinner ended with a beautiful rainbow that lasted for about an hour!

And that concludes Part 1 of our week...stay tuned for Part 2!