I'm heading up the Whipsaw trail expedition that will take place the first week of August 2016 with possible inclusion of the "jeep trail" also.
These are easy to mild, multi day, scenic trials with self sufficient camping on the trail required. Suitable for all Land Rovers.
Watch this space for details.
Moderator edit July 18...
Quote from: Matt H on July 14, 2016, 10:19 AM
So I'm making an executive decision to move the trip location to the Crowsnest Pass/Beaver mines area. It's really nice there with lots of trials to explore like the racehorse pass. This will allow more folks to participate for the weekend only if they wish. John and I were out there several years ago.
I would rate the Whipsaw as easy to moderate and the Jeep Trail as moderate. Not much for overgrowth or such, but some technical sections. I've attached GPS tracks for both from when we did them in 2012. They can be both done in single long days (each), but two days each makes a lot more sense, IMO. Don't plan to do the Whipsaw on the long weekend, as the campsites will be packed with people...
Here is a link to the trip report from 2012. We did some other stuff as well. Lot of options to make a long or short trip as desired. http://www.landroverscene.com/forum/index.php/topic,4508.0.html
Brilliant. Thanks for the info John.
As soon as we have a head count of interested parties I can arrange a rendezvous area and finalize timing.
Meanwhile I will research the trails etc.
Great info Jon. Thanks.
Matt, you can mark me in. One Disco 2.
Keith D. told me he was interested in this one.
So this event is now set for the first week in August.
Any interested participants may post up here as this will be main source for information regarding the trip. I'm planning on doing the two trails (whipsaw and jeep trail) at a leisurely pace, with plenty of time for sightseeing.
That'll be a great trip Mat!!!! Looking forward to hearing all about it ;)
I was searching the web for trail start. I see Princeton as one start point. What is the Jeep Trail? I can't locate it. Any GPS routes would be helpful.
How many km is the total route ( for fuel estimates)
Last trip pictures looked great. I don't see dead fall. So, no chainsaws. As for fishing, I think I am ready. I have already got few trouts last month. Getting good at it.
Quote from: B-Red on July 03, 2016, 04:30 PM
I was searching the web for trail start. I see Princeton as one start point. What is the Jeep Trail? I can't locate it. Any GPS routes would be helpful.
How many km is the total route ( for fuel estimates)
Last trip pictures looked great. I don't see dead fall. So, no chainsaws. As for fishing, I think I am ready. I have already got few trouts last month. Getting good at it.
The GPS tracks are attached to my post above.
Unfortunately, I will need to bail on this one. An emergency trip ate up too much of my vacation time. :'(
John, Can you please remind me where the steep rocky bit was (I think where you had the flat on the slope)? Was that the jeep trail?
Quote from: binch on July 04, 2016, 03:47 AM
John, Can you please remind me where the steep rocky bit was (I think where you had the flat on the slope)? Was that the jeep trail?
I tore a sidewall on the Whipsaw. My fault, not the trail's... I think it was on Falcon hill, or close by, at least.
I'm going to upload the GPS file again inside a ZIP file. Some browsers do not like downloading GPX files directly and may be causing some problems.
Here is Dave Blair's online trail log for the Jeep Trail on the Hunter Range: http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1237600
Rough itinerary for the trip will be to camp at a regular campground around the Enderby area Sunday night.
Do the Jeep trail Monday, stay at the same campground Monday evening.
Travel to the Princeton area Tuesday and camp at a campground that evening.
Wednesday and Thursday we do the Whipsaw trail camping rough overnight on the trail.
Thursday evening we camp at the same campground as Tuesday.
Friday, head home.
Long way to travel so I've given plenty of time to drive out and back. We will be in and around lots of towns so there will be plenty of opportunity to refuel and resupply.
All vehicles will require front and rear recovery points and carry its own recovery gear.
Can I have a show of hands of those attending please.
If interest is low I may head out to the crowsnest pass and spend the week camping and running trails like the racehorse in that area.
Much closer.
I think I am going to have to stick to weekend long events. Taking a week long off is tough. So will be staying within the 4-5 hr drive radius for this summer.
Emad
Who do you have going so far Matt? Last I heard it was Yoda, Dave, yourself and Emad.....
This is a good trip that you have organized! Both of those trails were a lot of fun and John took us through some really beautiful country...... :)
He took us off the tarmac hwy and onto one of the gravel roads on the one day. I think it was on the Douglas lake road from Westwold(?) Great forested lands opening out into some okanogan type farm lands. We stopped along a lake (douglas lake I think) for lunch, and found the biggest patch of saskatoon berries I've ever seen!!! We fed on that for a good while... John, please correct me if I'm wrong on that info?
The campsite along the river in Endeby was a good one too....nobody else there...just us...nice and peaceful.
If you have one other vehicle with you...go for it! ;)
For the Jeep Trail, we camped at Cooke Creek. http://www.sitesandtrailsbc.ca/search/search-result.aspx?site=REC1743&type=Site It is across the road from the start of the trail. We also came in there via forestry roads from Three Valley Gap. It cut off a lot of distance, but was nothing enjoyable.
We drove as much gravel as possible from there to Princeton. It was okay, but the routing got mixed up around the 97C as the maps I had were not very up to date... We ran out of day and took the highway the rest of the route. It was either Salmon or Chapperon lake that we stopped at for lunch, near Douglas Lake, I think.
In Princeton, we stayed at the Princeton RV park, http://www.princetonrvpark.ca/. They have one end of the property just for tents, so it was not bad for a campground near a city.
Quote from: binch on July 14, 2016, 02:24 AM
Who do you have going so far Matt? Last I heard it was Yoda, Dave, yourself and Emad.....
If you have one other vehicle with you...go for it! ;)
Emad is out. Yoda is out. Dave is reluctant to thrash his brand new engine (if he gets it installed in time) on such a long trip with no shakedown time.
Changing location to the Crowsnest Pass/Beaver Mines area will allow Yoda (and perhaps Emad?) to come out for a few days and Dave likes the idea of a closer trail system too.
So I'm making an executive decision to move the trip location to the Crowsnest Pass/Beaver mines area. It's really nice there with lots of trials to explore like the racehorse pass. This will allow more folks to participate for the weekend only if they wish. John and I were out there several years ago.
Do you still have the trail maps you used John? The campsite next to the river was really nice.
You can get a map set here: http://albertatrailmaps.ca/ (my project) that covers all of the trails in the area. The local ATV club also publishes a printed map that you can purchase in the area.
If there are any specific trails or such, you want help in finding, let me know.
The campsite you are thinking of was found the first time the club did Racehorse and is at N49° 44.516' W114° 43.035' https://goo.gl/maps/m6ho1j2JiYt
I've also attached a file with tracklogs and waypoints from the four club trips we did to the area. There are some nice trails further south as well that Trevor and I did.
Ok. Back in. This is more achievable with the timelines.
What is the first day date and where do we meet?
Thanks John. Awesome trail info as always. Much appreciated.
I am planning on heading out to the campsite Saturday 30th July in the morning. It is accessed from Hwy #3 so we can meet up at Coleman? If your arriving later I can come back out to meet you and guide you to the campsite.
We will be using the same camping area all week as a base and traveling the many trails in the area. As such, if anyone wanted to bring a small, off road trailer or larger tent they won't need to worry about packing up often or dragging over rough trails. Resupply for fuel etc is not far away so we shouldn't need to pack too much in with us.
I'm taking my son Jason, and will be driving the Mighty Range Rover with the Sankey in tow.
If Yoda comes out I would guess he will use the 101 and perhaps his new tent trailer? He will maybe have his daughter with him too.
If Dave gets the 110 back together he will obviously be using that.
Are you using your Disco II, Big Red Emad?
Any others wanting to attend give me a shout and we will look out for you. With the base camp plan a person can just join in for a couple of days if they want and not need to spend the entire week.
Should be a really great trip. I will prepare a list of possible trails in the area and we can decide what we all want to do over evening campfire as we go.
The camp site is around 6 hr drive from Edmonton. I would head to Colman on Friday as it is the long weekend. I am running checks on Tigger and Bigred to see which one will be trail ready. My son Abdurrahim is planning on coming.
Thanks John for the GPS maps. Very helpful.
I will send an email out to see if some of the Edmonton trucks would make the trip for the weekend. Get a convoy going.
Cheers
Sounds good Emad, spread the word.
I had thought about heading out Friday myself but I work Fridays so by the time I got to the campsite it would be late and supper time for the mosquitos. So I will see you guys out there sometime Saturday afternoon. We will use the campsite listed in John's post. Should be straight forward to find due to his excellent maps.
Any trails that you particularly want to do over the weekend just let me know and we will try to get them lined up.
Getting excited now.
For those who are setting on the side lines.....some motivational videos:
First, make sure you get one of those outfits. You never know
https://youtu.be/mgQRUhGt8Ks
Matt is bringing out the Mighty Range Rover. It has four doors by the way. He did not do this in the Moab. You never know...he may get tempted
https://youtu.be/XWCvsT2M47Y
Now Alaska has this festival for 4th of July. Ours will be August Long Weekend. Get ready
https://youtu.be/KbMYzMUu06Q
And finally, there is always a way out. We play by the rules and observe land use bylaws and conditions. No need to make that final goodby kiss you know.
https://youtu.be/66CP-pq7Cx0
Been watching the Dukes of Hazzard again Emad? Lol.
You can definitely expect some new paint scratches from brush. Last time I was in the area some trails were seriously overgrown.
Links to pictures of previous club trips.
2007: http://s203.photobucket.com/user/alberta_land_rover_enthusiast/Race%20Horse%20Pass%2007/story
2008: http://s203.photobucket.com/user/alberta_land_rover_enthusiast/Race%20Horse%20Pass%2008/story
2009: http://s203.photobucket.com/user/alberta_land_rover_enthusiast/Race%20Horse%20Pass%2009/story
2011: http://s203.photobucket.com/user/alberta_land_rover_enthusiast/Race%20Horse%20Pass%202011/story
edit: I changed the thread title.
GREAT TRIP, That!!!! ::)
Those are great pictures. Showing the terrain that we will play in. I am now really excited. It's like MOAB and AMT in one package.
Got to figure which to take..B-Red or Tigger
Yes, so many trails to explore. Good memories. My old Range Rover looks almost new in those pictures. I wheeled almost bone stock with Yokohama AT tyres for years.
Getting ready for the Crowsnest trip. GPS way points all programmed into my Garmin (thanks to Red90) and now I'm getting the Mighty Range Rover and Sankey ready for the off. Thinking of taking my chainsaw, some trials were quite seriously overgrown with lots of deadfall the last time I was there.
I wonder if there is a fire ban on right now?
Really looking forward to this one. The trails have fantastic views of the Mountains and our camping spot is beautiful. If you're thinking of attending it's a really worthwhile area to explore.
Looks like there is a "fire advisory" down that area but I'm not exactly sure what that means....No fires, fires with care, limited fires.....?????
http://beta.albertafirebans.ca/ (http://beta.albertafirebans.ca/)
On a side note......Do you want me to send down you two soft shacles with Dave?!?!?! 8)
Also...would you like to use the SPOT emergency beacon for the weekend?
Quote from: binch on July 26, 2016, 01:18 AMLooks like there is a "fire advisory" down that area but I'm not exactly sure what that means....No fires, fires with care, limited fires.....?????
There is an advisory to the east of where they are going. It basically means nothing. https://www.albertafirebans.ca/AboutAlbertaFireBans.aspx
QuoteFire Advisory â€" Generally, this level is meant to inform that there is a high fire danger and that there may be certain types of restrictions on burning. It may be used as a â€warning†that a more restrictive fire ban may be coming if the situation does not improve. You may also see a fire advisory for short-term concerns like major wind events.
In any case, Matt is planning on camping in BC at the "Polesoptional on the Creek" Campground. So, look here: http://www.bcwildfire.ca/hprScripts/WildfireNews/DisplayBan.asp?ID=469#OpenFireBans No bans on campfires currently.
(http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa206/alberta_land_rover_enthusiast/Race%20Horse%20Pass%2007/100_0566.jpg)
If I hide Yoda's axe to avoid 'towering inferno' I'm sure we will be ok.
Love that photo. Worlds most sketchy tent anyone?
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Good one John!!! I remember that well.....forgot my tent poles I did...a. ::)
There is a Bear activity advisory in Kanaskis area due to the good berry crops. Be on the lookout.
Abdurrahim and I are driving down on Saturday morning. Targeting Coleman between 12pm and 2pm. We will be tenting.
See you fellows then.
Cheers Emad
Keep a clean camp and you won't have any trouble with bears ;)
Yoda and I will be setting out from Medicine Hat tomorrow morning. Dave is coming out of Radium and Emad out of Edmonton Saturday morning as well so we should all arrive around the same time.
If anyone else wants to tag along for a few days just show up at the campsite and we will make room. IIRC there is little to no cell coverage in the area. Remember this is rough camping with no facilities at all and you will need to pack in/out everything you need to live for the duration of your stay. There are small towns within a 30-45 min drive so it will be possible to resupply if needed.
Nice weather is forecast for the week so it should be a great trip.
See you out there.
I am grounded :-(
Can't make the trip URRRRR
What happened?
Work. Worked till 8:30 pm on Thursday and till 6 on Friday. Still did not get 50% done what needed to be done. Have to go back in on the weekend to catch up. Not enough hours in a 24 hr days I tell you.
Well we are all back from another great trip out to the Crowsnest Pass area. Lots of trails explored. Hiked out to the abandoned town of Lille. Visited the Plane Crash and takes some nice trail in the stunning scenery of the Rockies.
No breakdowns or damage (other than Pine striping) to report and everyone had a really relaxing time.
Dave proves that a Swiss Army knife really is the only tool you will ever need!
I spoke with Dave this evening....sounds like a brilliant trip. I hear there's not firewood left down in that area..... ::)
Matt, Any chance you can rotate those pics please ???