Harrison > Seton > Boston Bar Dirt Trip

[Farp]

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I rode up to Harrison Hot Springs today and talked to the people who run The Old Settler pub. They gave us the green light for meeting there on the morning of Wed, June 9 so that's where we'll congregate to start the ride.

After Harrison I rode up to Lytton to check out the railway bridge. The bridge is quite long and the walkway is clearly marked "Pedestrian Traffic Only". The walkway is fairly narrow and it has some short but steep ramp-up sections that might be a bit challenging to push the heavier bikes up. The bottom line is that it would be a hell of a lot easier to pack extra gas than push your bike over and back across this bridge, so I recommend that the idea of crossing the river at Lytton be dropped. A part of dual-sporting is taking what you need and being self-sufficiant. So make sure you carry enough gas to take you 240km and let's get on with the ride.

This Sunday, Eagleguy, Fastcat, and I are going to check out the washout on Harrison West. There is a small chance that we might be able to find a way around it. I'll post up what we find out when I get back on Sunday, or perhaps on Monday at the latest.

John

 

[KidCallahan]

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I would like to add my name to the Confirmed List. Should be a good time and I look forward to meeting all of you.

Callahan

 

[Farp]

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KidCallahan worte:

I would like to add my name to the Confirmed List. Should be a good time and I look forward to meeting all of you.

OK Kid, you're on the list. If I recall correctly you said you were interested in camping. North (Rick) is going to be camping and I think Waltermitty is too so that makes 3 for the campground.

Please see the first post in this thread for the up-to-date status of the ride.

John

 

[wjm]

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Can I join you and eagleguy tomorrow?

Bill

 

[Farp]

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Sure thing, Bill, glad to have you along. We're meeting Trev (fastcat) at the Sasquatch Inn at 10:00. Eagleguy pm'd me a few days ago saying that if the weather was bad he would cancel, so I still have to confirm with him. But regardless, rain or snow or whatever, I'm going for sure, so we'll see you at the Sasquatch tomorrow morning.

John

 

[North]

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Farp wrote:

Sure thing, Bill, glad to have you along. We're meeting Trev (fastcat) at the Sasquatch Inn at 10:00. Eagleguy pm'd me a few days ago saying that if the weather was bad he would cancel, so I still have to confirm with him. But regardless, rain or snow or whatever, I'm going for sure, so we'll see you at the Sasquatch tomorrow morning.

John

What bike's are you guys riding on this recce? If finish work early tonight / this morning, I was thinking of goingfor a ride on my GS on Sunday.

 

[motorambler]

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Rickster, you should have no probs riding the West Harrison FSR on the big GS.

 

[North]

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Thanks,

I just don't want to slow anybody down.

 

[Farp]

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North wrote:

What bike's are you guys riding on this recce? If finish work early tonight / this morning, I was thinking of going for a ride on my GS on Sunday.

Hey Rick, hope you can make it. I'll be on my CRF230L, and Steve (Eagleguy) will be on his GS650X Challenge, I'm not sure what Trev (Fastcat) will be riding, or Bill (Wjm) but it doesn't really matter, this will be a "C" route all the way. You won't have any trouble on your GS.

We're meeting at the Sasquatch Inn at 10:00AM.

John

 

[Farp]

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North wrote:

I just don't want to slow anybody down.

Don't worry about it. I'm still recovering from Thursdays ride with Arthur; had enough of goat trails and mud-bogs for one week. Tomorrow will be a leisurely FSR ride and we won't be hanging it out by any stretch of the imagination. Tomorrow I'm looking forward to sight seeing and smelling the flowers - crossing it up is the furthest thing from my mind, and I know Steve feels the same way.

John

 

[know_fear]

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Rick and I managed to get our bikes up the hills at 54 Km. but we jammed out and turned around rather than go down the next nasty spotat 56Km. Next time I'll ride something lighter.

What did you find at the washout? Is it passable?

 

[North]

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know_fear wrote:

Rick and I managed to get our bikes up the hills at 54 Km. but we jammed out and turned around rather than go down the next nasty spotat 56Km. Next time I'll ride something lighter.

What did you find at the washout? Is it passable?

I decided turn around on hill, when I should of just rode down it. Thanks again for the help know_fear. The GS is a bit harder to man-handle on a hill than my 530. :help

And,any pictures of the wash-out and how much farther was it?

Anyways, it was a great day of riding for me. But I was falling asleep on the way home. :cf2:

 

[fastcat1100xx]

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Thanks for the supplies and the help with the broken chain link
and case damage.
I will be carrying JB weld from now on and extra link(s),
even though I will be riveting my next link with my RK chain press tool.
Maybe I can help someone else out down the road.

Cheers
Trev

 

[Hamon]

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I'll let John get into what this means for the planned ride, but I'll show you what I found of trail/road/washout conditions. Others have better pics of the washout, but here's what I've got.

The washout itself is not bad, and with a few helping hands, it would be passable for pretty much anybody:

The problem, however, lies in the number of trees they felled to keep people from accessing the washout:

That was the tame side. Others have pictures of the other side, which would be a bit more of a hassle to get through.

That's pretty much the trail side of things. On the riding side, the eventful part was captured by this chain, normally seen on a Husqvarna TE610:

It shed its master link and launched itself into the case, taking a chunk out and causing the bike to leak oil. JB Weld to the rescue (something I'll also be putting in my kit)!

But, in the end, a good time was had by all, and tomorrow I get to clean the dust out of my soul.

I leave you with the amazing Rick.

Travis

 

[Farp]

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Sunday morning Eagleguy (Steve), Travis (Hamon), Trev (Fastcat), Bill (Wjm), Rick (North), Dean (Knowfear) and myself (Farp) met at the Sasquatch Inn for a ride up to the west Harrison washout. We wanted to see if there was any way we could get past it for the two day dirt ride. After seeing the washout and road conditions leading up to it we decided that this is not a viable route for that ride.

The road was in good condition for about 54 km up the road from the Sasquatch then it got progressively worse until we got to the washout, which was about 78 km up. The govt has been recently doing some work on the road, blasting some of the rougher spots and the road is now covered with loose and broken rock.

I rode up here last summer and the road is in much worse condition now than it was then. The only section of any difficulty last summer was a steep hill topped with a rocky bluff at the northern end of the lake. The rocky bluff has been blasted away and that section will be much easier to ride once they get it cleaned up, but for now there are a lot of steep sections covered in loose rock and with cross ditches every hundred yards or so. This is definitely not big bike friendly. For those of you who are going on the two day ride, however, take note - I was informed by someone who has ridden most of our intended route that there could be sections as rough as this on the two day ride, but the sections will be much shorter, not the 20 km or so that we experienced yesterday. But be forwarned, if you have the choice of taking a smaller, more dirt worthy bike on the ride then that's the bike you should choose unless you are confident of riding your bigger bike through "C+" terrain.

Here is the GPS track of where we went:

There were some stream crossing to negotiate on the way up. Here's Dean and Bill doing some motorboating.

The road got progressively rougher until we came to this at the washout:

And to make their point clear that they don't want anybody trying to get by the washout this is what they've done.

And here's what the washout looks like:

And here's what happens when a hard steel chain breaks and slams into a soft aluminum engine casing:

The oil was leaking badly out of the gash you see here. This could have been a minor disaster as we were 80 km from nowhere and for the last 20 km the road was a 4 wheel drive track. But we are dual-sport riders and we ride prepared. A new master link solved the broken chain problem and a JB Weld patch solved the oil leak. As soon as the JB Weld cured we were on our way and we all made it back just as happy as tired, dirty, dusty dual-sporters can be.

John

 

[motorambler]

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Great stuff, guys! :clap:

 

[westcoast]

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Farp wrote:

For those of you who are going on the two day ride, however, take note - I was informed by someone who has ridden most of our intended route that there could be sections as rough as this on the two day ride, but the sections will be much shorter, not the 20 km or so that we experienced yesterday. But be forwarned, if you have the choice of taking a smaller, more dirt worthy bike on the ride then that's the bike you should choose unless you are confident of riding your bigger bike through "C+" terrain.

John, Do you know where these rough sections are? Are they along the East Harrison road or up Big Silver creek ? In any event, the smallest bike I have in my arsenal is my 07 KLR.

Very nice job on the pictures and report, by the way. I can't believe a couple of jeeps went through there earlier in the year

Bryn

 

[Farp]

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Bryn wrote:

Do you know where these rough sections are? Are they along the East Harrison road or up Big Silver creek ?

I haven't personally ridden the proposed routes so I can only repeat what I was told. The sections in question were on the KooKipi and Nicoamen FSRs. There was also some question about the Hat Creek/Botanie routes.

Travis (Hamon) rode his KLR right up to the washout with us so the routes in question are definitely rideable on a KLR. I was more concerned about bigger and more street oriented bikes such as a Vee Strom or an R1200GS. I've seen Hamon and Cheeseburger muscle their KLRs through some unbelievable gnarly sections so it's the combination of the bike and rider that must be considered. A noobie on a KLR might have some problems on our trip whereas Hamon and Cheeseburger would find it a piece of cake. It's just the basic rule of dual-sporting - know your limitations and ride accordingly.


John

 

[Hamon]

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I've ridden the Kookipi/Nahatlatch FSR twice, once a couple years ago during my first year of riding, and the second time last year with my bike loaded down with 2 weeks worth of camping gear/whatnot (last day of a trip up to Inuvik). Both times were somewhat challenging, probably moreso when I had less experience, but in no way impossible.

There are two "challenge" sections, one being a washed-out creekbed with fist-sized loose river rock and the second being a fairly steady steep uphill. I personally would say pretty much anyone on a KLR should be able to make it: some just may drop their bike a time or two.

Travis

 

[Farp]

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Thanks, Travis, there's nothing better than first hand information and experience.

John