From epedersen@uniserve.com Fri Jun  2 11:50:09 2000
From: Ed Pedersen 

John,
This is a write up I did for my companies newspaper highlighting 
a trail ride a co-worker and myself did a couple of weeks ago.
Feel free to post to your site and re-post to the list..


The river pic is the Ashlu River, 


and the Jeep pic is Maude Fricket Creek.
Thanks John...



					A Jeep Day 



Contributed by Ed Pedersen
Reliable Parts Ltd.
Coquitlam Phone Room

B.C. is a beautiful province full of mountains which are traversed by Forest
Service roads, a 4-wheeler's delight.
In and around Greater Vancouver are numerous main logging areas which beckon
those of us who are fortunate to own 4X4 vehicles. To the north-east is
Harrison Lake, a 30 mile long lake with world famous Harrison Hot Springs
located on it's southern shore: in the eastern Fraser Valley is Chilliwack
Valley, a 40 mile long dog leg shaped valley with icy Chilliwack Lake at the
end of the road, serviced by a large Provincial campground. Both of these
areas offer untold miles of active logging roads, as well as overgrown spur
roads,
some which were first used in the 1920's.    
To the north lies Squamish, gateway to Whistler and Blackcomb ski resorts.
All of these areas are prime playgrounds to be explored by Jeep. On a rainy
Sunday in May, Ron Patrick (Coquitlam counter sales) and myself loaded up my
Jeep and headed north to the Squamish Valley for a day's fun of poking
around on the main forest  roads in two of the side valleys. On the first
one, the Ashlu,
we were treated to a roaring river swollen with a weekend's worth of rain,
trying to force it's way down a narrow canyon.
Twenty miles in and several thousand feet in elevation we were stopped by
snow drifts on the road. Good time to stop for lunch and take a few pictures
of the glacier filled valley. Heading back down we came across a curious
black bear standing in the middle of the road. He looked at us for a little
bit, then sauntered off into the bush looking for a place to hide.
The second valley we tried was the Elaho, made famous in the newspapers
recently due to the demonstrations by groups against logging in the area.
This valley has been logged for a long time, and, consequently the road has
been pushed in to about mile 30. It's also a trail head for many hiking
trails into the mountainous region, most notably the Stein Valley.
The scenic highlight of the Elaho Valley, besides the narrow canyon gorge
and wonderful wide valley vistas, was Maude Fricket Creek. This is a wild
river that catapults itself off of a 30 foot rock face, then crashes noisely
under the logging road and caroms off it's rock lined banks into the canyon.
To stand on the forest service road bridge at the base of the falls, is like
standing in the middle of a wall of water..everything in your mind tells you
to run away and save your skin..it's that awesome, and that scary!
All in all a wonderful way to spend a rainy weekend day !


Ed Pedersen
Vancouver Canada
ICQ 23536957