July 2020

It was a windy night overlooking the east edge of the Coast Mountains and nearing the end of the Coast Mountain Bike Route. I had spoken to Skyler few times and never asked him if he attempted to follow these old trails and roads showing up on the backroad mapbook. All the heavy stuff was moved to the backpack, leaving the bike (including the frame bag) as light and maneuverable as possible.

On the downhill the trail faded in and out and I got the feeling that the main horseback trail is somewhere else. I often examined my track but in general, with the fat wheels there was barely a footprint.

Once reaching the main trail it definitely seemed that the horses had the run of it, lots of flopping but surprisingly with letting some air out I was able to roll over everything with few stops to let the brakes cool off.

The trail turned to road and continued pleasantly toward Tatlayoko Lake. I was zooming in with the camera and looking at the photos - there did not seem to be many signs of a trail on the other side.

I didn’t meet anybody from the Alpine Adventure Outfitter here (Brycewell) and they would have surely known some of these trails. I continued toward my planned route. There was a missing bridge and I sat there for a bit, walking up and down to see if the creek could be crossed in the morning. I thought likely yes but I have to cross a bigger river later which would likely be impossible without a packraft. Any return trip would also require an early morning crossing or few days wait if it rains.

and with a Throne and a Table, the Tatlayoko south campsite was definitely a good place to stop, there may be a trail on the other side of the lake, avoiding the big river crossing. The area is as beautiful as it is inaccessible.

It was a great ride along the east side of the lake but looking at the valley I wanted to go up, there definitely doesn’t seem to be a trail.

Tatlayoko Lake has the coolest PO I have ever seen and it was open! The postmaster was the camp cook at the Pellaire Mine when it was open. She and a customer also know the area and if there were any trails they have long been left for nature to reclaim but I was starting to think that going on some roads would not be that bad after all. Why push and pull and lift your bike when you can ride to a nice and free rec sites.

A polish man had finally found time to get out this summer and fish at more lakes in the area. Cochin Lake

I had failed to get to Tatla Lake general store for the 3pm deadline yesterday but I arrived today with plenty of time. The store is only open on monday/wed/friday so I was out of luck, the restaurant was open however and this is the first restaurant meal since the A&W in Lillooet about 26 days ago.

There was also internet and I looked up more cycling options, if there only was a way to connect those in-and-out roads into the Coast Mountains and avoid riding the highway, there was only one way to find out.

I went up Valleau Creek to see if I could possibly connect to the other side at Tatlayoko Lake and set up camp on the way up.

It started raining in the morning and I was quite soaked either way from sweating or from the wet vegetation. It didn’t look promising

I was hoping it would get better at higher altitude but the trail is completely lost to deadfall. I left the bike and continued on foot, thinking I could camp for a night up in the alpine but even on foot there was way too much going under, over, inbetween or around trees.

Then I did the next best thing - going back for another burger! I made it to the restaurant just before the second round of thunderstorms and had a much more manageable mountain to deal with - a mountain of fries. My reputation of a hungry cyclist was not well established and big thank you to all the nice staff and the Italian cook!

I still dont know why I wanted to be off of the highway - it’s really a great ride.

For an evening camp I opted for the Miner East Forest Service Road which turned out that hasn’t been driven in at least several years. The evening ended by walking on the overgrown road and killing as many mosquitoes as I can before caving in and putting on a head net. I couldn’t reach the lake and went camping covered in sweat and DEET as is sometimes the case in BC.

There is a road going up to Perkins Peak and it would be well worth the detour at least to escape the mosquitoes