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Pemberton and back on May 29.
- Thread starter Farp
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Farp
Active member
Thanks, Ron.
The detour was about 8 km from the end of the pavement. On the way back we got hit with an unbelievable torrential downpour that lasted for about an hour. We were so wet and cold that when we got to the detour we decided to stick to the main FSR hoping that the roadwork would be completed, or, as it was 7:00PM, the workers would have gone home and we'd be able to find a way past what they were doing. When we got to roadwork site they were still working on it but we saw we could make it through so we just sort of ignored them and kept going. At that point we were uncontrollably shivering and definitely suffering from hypothermia so turning back and riding down that detour hill wasn't really an option.
I can't say for sure what created the problem with the road but it was likely a spring run-off washout.
Here's the map of where the detour route is. the blue is the main FSR and the green is the detour.
John
fastlane
Member
What a day!! Sorry to hear of the injuries to BB!
As the original group of 15 something bikes split up a few times here's the saga of our splinter factions ride!!
The detour took us all at the back of the group by surprise as we were just following the pack like lemmings diving off a cliff. The red GS650 (was that Dragonbomb??) battled on that steep rocky section so he, myself and Chilliwack Chris headed back to the construction crew blocking the road. Road was ripped up and the crew blocked us. Unfortunately the GS650 then aborted the ride while Chris and I headed back to the detour and made it up to meet up with a bunch still getting up. Seven of us then headed north and a highlight was seeing a black bear shoot up a tree right next to the road.
We then split up - me up to Sasquatch pools with Neil and Kevin (on KTM640 and 690) and Eric on his 450 while Chris, Colin and Steve continued on to Pemberton - (where Steves KTM 950 died and had to be BCAA flat bedded back to Surrey!!)
The 4 of us had a great hot soak in the pools before heading off North again. I took the lead and the other 3 fell back to escape my dust. I was following a GPS track made previously by someone else so at a fork in the road I went straight. For a second I considered waiting for the others but Kevin had been that way before so I assumed that was the beaten track..... but they went right, and when a storm hit I stopped to suit up and waited 10 minutes for them. I decided they would be OK if there had been an issue, as there were 3 of them together, and as it was raining and getting late decided to head on alone the final 70km to Pemberton. (Tip for the future - Always wait at road forks!!)
So I was really surprised to come across Neil stranded at the road side on this KTM 690 with his second electrical problem of the day. (Their route had obviously rejoined my road). However Kevin was carrying all the KTM tools and was speeding on ahead on his 640. Eric was meanwhile racing after Kevin to stop him to bring back the tools for Neil. Kevin was seeing a headlight in his rear mirror so thought the guys were keeping up so was gunning it even faster!!! I think they were nearly in Pemberton by the time they stopped! Meanwhile Neil was using my KTM tools to fix his bike. We eventually all made it to Pemberton for coffee and fill up (gas and food) at the McD.
Riding south on the Sea to Sky was amazing. We hit an electrical storm of note with a lightning bolt right overhead and a crack of thunder and ozone smell. We broke through the pouring rain near Squamish where we stopped for coffee again and the had a great ride home through the S2S twisties where we really enjoyed testing the limits of all 4 bikes.
I did 498 km! door to door and got home at 9pm. That was a very varied long ride and a great day with a good crowd of guys! That's the great thing about this sport - it NEVER turns out as planned!
At the top of the detour route - safety and help in numbers!
What a view - Harrison Lake
KTM 690 wiring issues
KTM 950 on flatbed in Pemberton
As the original group of 15 something bikes split up a few times here's the saga of our splinter factions ride!!
The detour took us all at the back of the group by surprise as we were just following the pack like lemmings diving off a cliff. The red GS650 (was that Dragonbomb??) battled on that steep rocky section so he, myself and Chilliwack Chris headed back to the construction crew blocking the road. Road was ripped up and the crew blocked us. Unfortunately the GS650 then aborted the ride while Chris and I headed back to the detour and made it up to meet up with a bunch still getting up. Seven of us then headed north and a highlight was seeing a black bear shoot up a tree right next to the road.
We then split up - me up to Sasquatch pools with Neil and Kevin (on KTM640 and 690) and Eric on his 450 while Chris, Colin and Steve continued on to Pemberton - (where Steves KTM 950 died and had to be BCAA flat bedded back to Surrey!!)
The 4 of us had a great hot soak in the pools before heading off North again. I took the lead and the other 3 fell back to escape my dust. I was following a GPS track made previously by someone else so at a fork in the road I went straight. For a second I considered waiting for the others but Kevin had been that way before so I assumed that was the beaten track..... but they went right, and when a storm hit I stopped to suit up and waited 10 minutes for them. I decided they would be OK if there had been an issue, as there were 3 of them together, and as it was raining and getting late decided to head on alone the final 70km to Pemberton. (Tip for the future - Always wait at road forks!!)
So I was really surprised to come across Neil stranded at the road side on this KTM 690 with his second electrical problem of the day. (Their route had obviously rejoined my road). However Kevin was carrying all the KTM tools and was speeding on ahead on his 640. Eric was meanwhile racing after Kevin to stop him to bring back the tools for Neil. Kevin was seeing a headlight in his rear mirror so thought the guys were keeping up so was gunning it even faster!!! I think they were nearly in Pemberton by the time they stopped! Meanwhile Neil was using my KTM tools to fix his bike. We eventually all made it to Pemberton for coffee and fill up (gas and food) at the McD.
Riding south on the Sea to Sky was amazing. We hit an electrical storm of note with a lightning bolt right overhead and a crack of thunder and ozone smell. We broke through the pouring rain near Squamish where we stopped for coffee again and the had a great ride home through the S2S twisties where we really enjoyed testing the limits of all 4 bikes.
I did 498 km! door to door and got home at 9pm. That was a very varied long ride and a great day with a good crowd of guys! That's the great thing about this sport - it NEVER turns out as planned!
At the top of the detour route - safety and help in numbers!
What a view - Harrison Lake
KTM 690 wiring issues
KTM 950 on flatbed in Pemberton
Last edited:
chico
New member
Wow what an epic day of riding pemberton and back I really enjoyed the fsr cruising and of course the great company A bit of a rocky start pardon the pun.who knew they wanted to tare up the road that day.Beautiful weather on the way up and the return trip was good until about an hour from the end and the sky turned black then thunder lightning and pelting rain the road turned into a muddy river what an experience just couldn't stop thinking about it all day thats when you know youv'e had a gret ride.Thanks John for posting up and all my other riding partners for a great day
greenboy
New member
What a great day, long and exhausting and a bit of an unexpected end for me, but I'm glad I went.
I was with Fastlane for parts of the day, on and off actually, along with Neil, Kevin, Colin, Chris and Eric. Our subgroup started out attacking that unexpected rocky rise together, and then separated and reformed a few times throughout the day. I couldn't have asked for better company. At Pemberton my 950SE decided to have a bad hair day, and the electrics died. Had a similar warranty issue just 9 months ago, I recognized the problem right away but no clue how to fix it. At least the 950 was kind enough to die at Pemberton and not somewhere before on the FSR.
Lots of obstacles today and frankly the rocky hill was the least of them. The tow truck driver was a pretty decent kid, but talked non-stop from Pemberton to Surrey when all I wanted to do was pass out with fatigue.
Got home stupidly late, and discovered my rear brake pedal had let loose too, the bolt where it pivots no longer cinches up.
The more I ride the 950 the more I realize I miss the reliability of my old KLR (case in point, Colin's KLR started out the day with a dead battery and jump starts required at every stop, but as the day went on it fixed itself). Not going back down that road though, I want something smaller and WWWAAAYYYYY lighter.
Thanks John for organizing even though I barely saw you. I'm learning more and more every time.
Steve
I was with Fastlane for parts of the day, on and off actually, along with Neil, Kevin, Colin, Chris and Eric. Our subgroup started out attacking that unexpected rocky rise together, and then separated and reformed a few times throughout the day. I couldn't have asked for better company. At Pemberton my 950SE decided to have a bad hair day, and the electrics died. Had a similar warranty issue just 9 months ago, I recognized the problem right away but no clue how to fix it. At least the 950 was kind enough to die at Pemberton and not somewhere before on the FSR.
Lots of obstacles today and frankly the rocky hill was the least of them. The tow truck driver was a pretty decent kid, but talked non-stop from Pemberton to Surrey when all I wanted to do was pass out with fatigue.
Got home stupidly late, and discovered my rear brake pedal had let loose too, the bolt where it pivots no longer cinches up.
The more I ride the 950 the more I realize I miss the reliability of my old KLR (case in point, Colin's KLR started out the day with a dead battery and jump starts required at every stop, but as the day went on it fixed itself). Not going back down that road though, I want something smaller and WWWAAAYYYYY lighter.
Thanks John for organizing even though I barely saw you. I'm learning more and more every time.
Steve
Chilliwack Chris
Member
That ride was lots of fun. I'll do that again. Thanks for organising it Farp. DID ANYONE FIND MY LICENCE PLATE?
I was expecting an easy ride down a forest road and figured i'd be home by 6 o'clock, wrong. The detour up the rocky hill was easy, but lots of people (me included) didn't know why we had to go that way so we tried to go through the roadwork, but there was no road and went back to the rocky hill and 7 of us made it to the end of the lake and some of them went to the hot springs and Colin, Steve and I made it to Pemberton at 3:00 or 3:30 for fuel and Mc Ralphs and tried to get Steves bike going and it didn't want to start so Colin and i got out of there at 4:30 -5:00 and got back to the Sasquach inn after 9:00 soaking wet and got home at 10:30
Like i said it was lots of fun and i'll do that again. See you on the trails
Thanks guys from Chilliwack Chris
I was expecting an easy ride down a forest road and figured i'd be home by 6 o'clock, wrong. The detour up the rocky hill was easy, but lots of people (me included) didn't know why we had to go that way so we tried to go through the roadwork, but there was no road and went back to the rocky hill and 7 of us made it to the end of the lake and some of them went to the hot springs and Colin, Steve and I made it to Pemberton at 3:00 or 3:30 for fuel and Mc Ralphs and tried to get Steves bike going and it didn't want to start so Colin and i got out of there at 4:30 -5:00 and got back to the Sasquach inn after 9:00 soaking wet and got home at 10:30
Like i said it was lots of fun and i'll do that again. See you on the trails
Thanks guys from Chilliwack Chris
highwaychile
New member
hi, I am heading uo east harrison sun june 5, any latest word on road conditions? if not i'll post what I see, Ill be 2 up, DL650 stock tires, not the best off road mount but should be fun. where is the hot spring mentioned here? thanks Mike
SouthPoint
Member
Do you mean WEST Harrison?
highwaychile
New member
DOH! yes, west harrison, thanks for correcting me. Ive been on this route about 3-4 yrs ago on an XR650, easy on that and it was later in the year. look forward to getting out.
SouthPoint
Member
The turn off to Sloquet Hot Springs is about 8km +/- past the end of Harrison Lake. If you go there, it's not the best place to leave your bike as you have to walk down a trail to get to the springs. Lots of yahoos in there. I have never wanted to leave my stuff.
If the road construction mentioned in this thread is complete, there is a fairly rough section of road that starts approximately 3/4 of the way up the lake. It is about 20km long. I think you may find it a bit too rough for two-up riding and someone may have to walk some of the rougher hills. I don't have any experience with two-up riding, so that's just my opinion.
As for EAST Harrison, you can go through to Boston Bar (it's a really nice trip) but you will be turned back by snow. That route likely won't be clear until the end of the month.
If the road construction mentioned in this thread is complete, there is a fairly rough section of road that starts approximately 3/4 of the way up the lake. It is about 20km long. I think you may find it a bit too rough for two-up riding and someone may have to walk some of the rougher hills. I don't have any experience with two-up riding, so that's just my opinion.
As for EAST Harrison, you can go through to Boston Bar (it's a really nice trip) but you will be turned back by snow. That route likely won't be clear until the end of the month.
highwaychile
New member
thanks SP, yeah glad I'm not on back, she is tough but if its too much, we'll find another , bringing grub for picnic. thanks for the tip on leaving a bike , I'm not big on that either,
W RON
Member
There are two hot springs on the West side, I can't recall the name of the other one. There is good over night camping and a much nicer springs, and it is safe to leave your bike and camping gear while you're soaking. Because you do have to pay a few bucks to camp. Great place don't miss it.
Skookumchuck H/S St. Agnes
Ron
Skookumchuck H/S St. Agnes
Ron
SouthPoint
Member
If the main road is open and you decide not to go through the rough section to the hot springs, there are a few nice places where you can get down to the lake for a picnic.
WRON is quite right. The hot springs at St. Agnes are MUCH nicer and cleaner. Also safer to leave your bike/gear as you can get your bike much closer. Only problem is, they are about half way between the end of Harrison Lake and Pemberton. It would make a nice two-up trip coming in from the Pemberton end.
Last time I was down to the hot springs at Sloquet, they were dirty. Lots of garbage and discarded clothes. It looked to me like you could get a nasty rash in a place you don't want to be scratching.
Have fun! The weather will be great.
cheeseburger
New member
Last time I was down to the hot springs at Sloquet, they were dirty. Lots of garbage and discarded clothes. It looked to me like you could get a nasty rash in a place you don't want to be scratching.
Dang, was that just last weekend? On the (admittedly few) occasions I've been down there they've always been clean and well-kept. Yahoos up in the campsite, though.
highwaychile
New member
OMG there was a lot of traffic on west harrison, felt like Canada 1 at times. I had a change of plans, we hit Harrison for lunch on a deck, then 20km of dust and traffic on west road, went up the hemlock ski hill crazy tight paved road 1/2 way up, good fun, motards will love that road, upper 1/2 has new ball bearing gravel. hell of a nice day, weather, food , ride.
Like other areas, if I do this again I'll try to pick a weekday, or real early in the AM, to avoid traffic. I'll bring a more dirt worthy bike and look for beat up roads. reminds me of taking duffy lake road last year, wow, a lot of traffic comparo to years past, thats life I guess. gotta go further out I guess. thanks for info all.
Like other areas, if I do this again I'll try to pick a weekday, or real early in the AM, to avoid traffic. I'll bring a more dirt worthy bike and look for beat up roads. reminds me of taking duffy lake road last year, wow, a lot of traffic comparo to years past, thats life I guess. gotta go further out I guess. thanks for info all.
highwaychile
New member
hi Ron, I was on a DL650, back home I need to thin the herd, selling a bunch of stuff just need to clear house, the DL is going up for sale soon, have a Guzzi Quota ( never sell that one) , KLX650, ATK 605 ( soon 4 sale) , Triumph T-100C taking it to the grave... Tri T-100 daytona, BSA 650 T-bolt, those gotta go, XR400, SL100, SL90, just bought a XT225 for the lady friend, might of forgot about one or two...
i know from past rides the south end is busy, as you get north it thins out, very cool area. Mike
i know from past rides the south end is busy, as you get north it thins out, very cool area. Mike
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