Grey Creek Pass

[Brewmaster]

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Thanks for the vote of confidence. If you see a big black Honda broken down on the Sunday of the August long weekend, stop and offer a beer. It'll be me!

We're driving out from Langdon, and plan to camp near Kimberly for the night before taking the pass and carrying on to Castlegar the next day. Any good suggestions for a nice secluded campground around Kimberly? It's going to be tough due to the long weekend but we're not picky.

Thanks for the note.
:hb:

Kelvin

 

[Jaeger]

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Brewmaster wrote:

Any good suggestions for a nice secluded campground around Kimberly? It's going to be tough due to the long weekend but we're not picky.

Off the top of my head, I think the only campground is the city one on the St. Maries Road - which is on your way to Redding Creek and the pass. You MIGHT be able to reserve.

I'd just pick a side road once on the St. Maries road and camp there. Swim in the river if you need to wash up - lots of locals spend the days in the river hanging out along the edges.

 

[Brewmaster]

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Just looking on Google. Is that the campground just west of the golf course?

I will try there first and if not then I'll take your advice and find a spot by the river.

Thanks,

Kelvin

 

[Jaeger]

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Brewmaster wrote:

Just looking on Google. Is that the campground just west of the golf course?

I will try there first and if not then I'll take your advice and find a spot by the river.

Yeah, I go by it all the time and can't even remember the name.

The road skirts St. Mary's Lake and the upper and lower river both. There is some camping at the east end of the lake, I believe, although it wasn't a prepared campground the last time I went over to look. There's a nice spot where the old logging bridge used to cross, but you wouldn't know how to get there if you haven't been before. And then there's the spot where you leave the St Maries Road to head up Redding Creek. Right at the bridge a lot of people camp on the weekends. Other than weekends it is mostly deserted, but if you hit it on a weekend, you'll have company.

I'd pick any of those over an organized campground, unless I wanted the use of porcelain and a hot shower.

 

[CrunchyProd]

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Riverside Campground is the name. Space may be tight but you never know. Lots of beautiful spots.

www.kimberleycampground.com

 

[Chad M]

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Los wrote:

Anybody been over graycreek pass this year?Or rose pass? cheers Los

Hi, we just got back from a three day Kootenay run which included a trip over the Rose Pass from west to east. Holy crap, it was like riding through a hedge for 30 kms! There were times when you couldn't really tell you were headed down the side of mountain until you tried to brake. You literally couldn't see another bike in front of you 10 feet away. There are some pretty good climbs on the west side, loose rocks, and a downed tree that you must stay to the right of... through the mud!! The water is only a couple feet deep at the crossing right now, but a word of warning, climbing out of the east side of the river is tricky... only one out of three were able to climb without assistance (2 KTM 640 Adv and 1 XR650L). Plan on having some wet feet. There was a poster a couple back that looked like he might try the Rose on a VStrom??? Huge mistake, the 640's were alot to handle and we used every inch of the MT21's and 606's! IF I ever felt the need to tackle it again, it would be on real dirt bike with a face shield. One of the guys has the track from Crawford Bay to St. Mary's if anyone wants it. Send me a PM and I'll get you in touch with him.

 

[mcmxcivrs]

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Chad M wrote:

Hi, we just got back from a three day Kootenay run which included a trip over the Rose Pass from west to east. Holy crap, it was like riding through a hedge for 30 kms! There were times when you couldn't really tell you were headed down the side of mountain until you tried to brake. You literally couldn't see another bike in front of you 10 feet away. There are some pretty good climbs on the west side, loose rocks, and a downed tree that you must stay to the right of... through the mud!! The water is only a couple feet deep at the crossing right now, but a word of warning, climbing out of the east side of the river is tricky... only one out of three were able to climb without assistance (2 KTM 640 Adv and 1 XR650L). Plan on having some wet feet. There was a poster a couple back that looked like he might try the Rose on a VStrom??? Huge mistake, the 640's were alot to handle and we used every inch of the MT21's and 606's! IF I ever felt the need to tackle it again, it would be on real dirt bike with a face shield. One of the guys has the track from Crawford Bay to St. Mary's if anyone wants it. Send me a PM and I'll get you in touch with him.

I've seen that little thin line on the backroads maps and wondered about it. Now I know its not for me.

I'll be doing the Grey Creek road in August as part of my long meandering trip out to Nakusp for the Hot Springs Rally. How is the powerline route on a bigger DS bike -F800GS with full gear loaded? Or should I stick to the main road as I have in the past?

 

[Chad M]

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I've been over the Grey Creek Pass 4 times now and though I've heard of the powerline "short cut" I've never been on it. If you are looking for roads the calibre of Grey Creek, definitely head over to Ft. Steele and continue east up the Bull River road, keep to the right and up the Sulpher Creek Road, then another quick right, which ultimately turns into the Hartley Pass. Great FSR! Once you get back down to the pavement on the west side, turn right and you'll come out right at Fernie... just in time for lunch.

My little group of friends is from the southeast part of Alberta and we only get out there 1 maybe 2 times a year, so slowly we're finding the big DS friendly roads/trails.

 

[Jaeger]

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mcmxcivrs wrote

I've seen that little thin line on the backroads maps and wondered about it. Now I know its not for me.

I'll be doing the Grey Creek road in August as part of my long meandering trip out to Nakusp for the Hot Springs Rally. How is the powerline route on a bigger DS bike -F800GS with full gear loaded? Or should I stick to the main road as I have in the past?

I passed a van towing a travel trailer over the pass last Tuesday. That should be your hint that you aren't going to have any trouble with the Grey Creek Pass.

When guys talk about the power line route - local guys anyways - they're talking about the 4x4 service road that goes along directly underneath the actual power line. As in, the access the linemen use once they're in the general area of where they need to be, so they can get right up to the power poles and underneath the lines.

You could ride a Harley decker over the Grey Creek pass without any problem. Or a chopper, if that sort of weirdness suited you. At least, during the summer and fall.

 

[aebbern]

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mcmxcivrs wrote:

How is the powerline route on a bigger DS bike -F800GS with full gear loaded? Or should I stick to the main road as I have in the past?

I did the powerline shortcut last year and it was pretty easy (on a Husky 610). My buddy just did it this year on his F800GS with another guy on a V-Strom, it was a bit of work but no drama. I'd say go for it if you are riding with a buddy.

 

[Floe]

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Anyone want to ride gray creek with me sometime soon? I just moved to Creston and I want to find people to ride with.

 

[Jaeger]

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Floe wrote:

Anyone want to ride gray creek with me sometime soon? I just moved to Creston and I want to find people to ride with.

Sparkle, myself, and a couple of other guys are from the Kimberley/Cranbrook area. Happy to ride it with ya - but I guess that would involve escorting you back over once you'd already gotten here...

 

[Floe]

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Jaeger wrote:

Sparkle, myself, and a couple of other guys are from the Kimberley/Cranbrook area.  Happy to ride it with ya - but I guess that would involve escorting you back over once you'd already gotten here...

Or we could take the pass going west and we could do timed runs down the East side of the lake

 

[250ccforme]

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mcmxcivrs wrote:

.
I'll be doing the Grey Creek road in August as part of my long meandering trip out to Nakusp for the Hot Springs Rally. How is the powerline route on a bigger DS bike -F800GS with full gear loaded? Or should I stick to the main road as I have in the past?

East to west would be the easier way to do the powerline. West side is steeper and looser.

 

[mcmxcivrs]

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aebbern wrote:

mcmxcivrs wrote:

How is the powerline route on a bigger DS bike -F800GS with full gear loaded? Or should I stick to the main road as I have in the past?

I did the powerline shortcut last year and it was pretty easy (on a Husky 610). My buddy just did it this year on his F800GS with another guy on a V-Strom, it was a bit of work but no drama. I'd say go for it if you are riding with a buddy.

I'll most likey be alone since no one has accepted any invites to join me so far. Thus,I don't want to get into anything too technical and end up in a mess. Might just stick to the tried and true unless I do end up with company.



I expect to be going through that way most likely on August 11. I'm leaving Calgary on the 10th with the destination plan of Nakusp for the 13th.

 

[Floe]

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mcmxcivrs wrote:

aebbern wrote:

I expect to be going through that way most likely on August 11. I'm leaving Calgary on the 10th with the destination plan of Nakusp for the 13th.

I'm probably game for joining you. I'll get back to you on here

 

[DualSport855]

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I agree about the power line cutoff. I did it Sunday east to west, very loose and steep and overgrown, been there, done that, got the t-shirt and it didn't fit, next time just the main FSR for me.

DualSport855

 

[mcmxcivrs]

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Went over on the 11th as planned. Stuck to the main route since I was solo. Hit a major rain storm at the top and had to ride down the switch backs on the west side in slippery greasy conditions. Good fun, kept it on the tires. Biggest concern was the lighning flashes.

 

[koots_roots]

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my girlfriend and i hiked up sphinx mtn. today which is accessed from the powerline route on the grey ck. side (it is about 4km up the spur which takes off from the main at around 7km. two up riding with no pegs was a little tricky in the looser spots but not so bad. the hike was about 1.5 hrs up with a rewarding view on top, recommended if you have time and want to stretch the legs.

while i was unloading the bike, a guy stopped to inform me that bridge a few kms (~3) up this spur will be yanked tomorrow AM. not sure if you can bypass this by riding right under the powerlines. he did say there will likely be some quad/bike friendly route openned up just north of this bridge.

 

[Sparkle]

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My riding has been pretty sporadic lately....mostly I feel like going, but I'm short of elbow-grease. Yesterday, after a few faux pas in the kitchen and generally being "in the way", the CO suggested I go and play somewhere.....on my motorcycle. So I packed a few pieces of left-over pieza, and some diet-pepsi, my insulin, and started out for.......somewhere.

I didn't have a plan...but I've posted a few GPS tracks and often wondered how they would really work if someone didn't know the road and really used them. As I rode, I keyed up the GPS and went to my stored tracks, and selected Grey Creek pass.

http://www.dualsportbc.com/forums/attachment.php?id=4059

It came up with a map of the track on the gps, asking me if I wanted to navigate? Well....shucks....I'm going in that direction anyway, and I selected yes. It asked if I wanted to start from the beginning, or the end, and I selected the beginning. Even though I know the road well, I was resolved to follow the GPS track.

Here's a pic of my setup showing the navigation arrow.



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Once I was committed, I knew I had go all the way to finish following the track, but I was comforted in that if I didn't have the beans to come back the same day, I could always find a motel and make the return in the morning. In the meantime...I started to feel pretty good. Fresh graded gravel on the east side made it interesting, and even exciting now and then. But that's what XT500's do best...sit-down dirt track fashion. Eventually I met up with all kinds of equipment, graders, trucks, backhoes...all doing their jobs. The backhoe had the road completely dug up for a new culvert, and when I came along he quickly filled in a spot for me to pass.



In the meantime, the GPS pointer was indicating a path directly down the road, and even indicating the angles of the upcoming turns....if I took even a slight deviation off the road, the arrow immediately indicated a course correction....great stuff.







At Grey-Creek I made my customary phone call, and then went for gas and a tour....nice day over there too. For some reason I've always thought there was gas pumps at the Gray Creek Store....Well, maybe there used to be, but there's non there now. I went south the the Lakeview Store about 8 km but there is gas also 13 km north at Crawford Bay. That's where I found some cold beer and a burger and used the cash machine at the Credit Union just in case.




In the end I decided I still had enough reserve to get me home without staying over andI rolled in the driveway about 7:30PM, still in daylight. I drove about 260 km total and when I took my tank off to clean my bike this morning there was less than 1 liter left. That equates out to roughly 130 km's per tank. The first thing I did was the air-filter...


Sparkle