Trip Reports
Solo Backdoor: AKA The 555 Ride
Sorry no photos...
Read related articles 666 and 777
First Time Solo:
Just weeks after Vancouver had record breaking amounts of rain, to the
point where a house in North Vancouver slid 25m down towards the
Seymour River, I left to ride solo to Squamish by way of the Coquitlam
Watershed. I left home in East Vancouver at 5:00am and headed to the
Port Coquitlam. I was cold and wet from the humidity by 5:40am and I
stopped for a well-deserved coffee break. After warming up and trying
to ignore my upset stomach from too much acidic coffee and without food
as a buffer, I headed down Lougheed Hwy to Pinetree Way. Here, 22km
from home, I took a left. I biked up Pinetree Way without a map and
ended up biking too far up into a development. I thought that Pinetree
Way just turned into Pipeline Rd but I was mistaken. I retraced my
steps and realized that my route was further east. I biked across a
city park to Pipeline Rd and followed it north along the west side of
the Coquitlam River. At about 30km from home I came to a gate and
guardhouse. I knew I would have to bushwhack past this, as to avoid
getting caught, so I headed down to the river and crossed it into the
woods. I followed the River upstream for about 500m and then crossed
back at an old overgrown branch road. This brought me to the main
Watershed road. I followed this road to the Coquitlam Dam and crossed
over the dam, to the East side, on the road. There are some beautiful,
old and strange buildings here that were made stranger by the silence
and solitude. I was prepared, at anytime, to throw my bike and myself
into the bushes to avoid being caught. I had at this point traveled
through the Capilano Watershed three times and had been caught once so
I knew it was a possibility. The road follows the east side of the
Coquitlam Lake rolling up and down the way many lakeside roads do to
accommodate the contours. I later found out about an archeological dig
that happened in 1981 when the dam needed repairs and the lake level
was lowered to facilitate this. See "Early Human Occupation in British
Columbia" ed. by Roy L. Carlson, Chapter 16, "Coquitlam Lake: An Early
Lithic Component in the Lower Mainland", by Milt Wright. Some stone
aged tools were found at the delta of the first creek north of the dam
on the east side of the lake (Blakeny Creek, ironically named after the
GVRD’s chief forester). Apparently these tools do not match
the Fraser Valley Stone aged tools that are found to the south. They
have a more interior peoples tool style. All the tools at this site
were made from Garibaldi igneous formation stones. This means that the
stone these tools are made of may have taken a similar route as mine to
arrive here. I found a great article, which I highly recommended, about
the history of this watershed. Titled "WAKE UP VANCOUVER!" it was
written in 1993 by Will Koop. I'm sure it can be found on line still.
Koop writes, "Until road building began in 1972, other than it's
southern most extremities, the Coquitlam was an untouched watershed.
It's magnificent low elevation old-growth state was the last of its
kind in existence in the Lower Mainland. In 1973 an area "(287 acres)
in size, the largest on record in the three watersheds. The next year,
1974, cut block 3-3, (91 acres), was added on to it. And in relation to
this area, northeastward up the Cedar Creek drainage, the GVWD
clear-cut an additional (826.3 acres)." logging was sold as a solution
to the rampant fires and pests. As Koop mentions the coast at this time
was covered with continuous old growth forest that had not been
affected by fire or pest as evidenced by the average age of these
forests at hundreds of years. One other thing to mention about the
watershed that is generally not known, the water outflow from the
watershed is 94% controlled by BC Hydro, a private company. There is a
huge tunnel that connects the southwest end of Coquitlam Lake to the
north end of Buntzen Lake. This water is then used in a hydroelectric
project between Buntzen Lake and Indian Arm. Only 6% (as of 1994) of
the outflow is used as GVRD water supply. Ok back to the ride. At the
end of the lake the road drops you down to the Coquitlam River at the
head of Coquitlam Lake and you cross it on a bridge. The road then
follows this river on it’s western side to a labeled branch
road called Flyin Branch. I took this branch up towards the west and
had to cross some major flood damage, right at the start, to the point
where I wasn’t sure I would find the road again. Eventually
the road becomes quite well maintained and brings you up to the top at
Coquitlam-Hixon pass. There is a large fence across the road here. I
seem to remember that is about 6m high. Just before I started climbing
it I saw a dog run off into the woods. I couldn’t figure out
what a black dog would be doing up here in February. I then realized
that I was a bear cub. Still, this is a strange thing to encounter this
high up in February. It was just before noon and 58km from home. This
is a fast way to get access to Bonnycastle and Meslilloet without the
need for boats. I believe the pass is at about 2,200 feet. And you can
start from here up to Barnes Lake below Bonnycastle. Strap some skis on
your top tube! The descent from here was upsetting for me as I was
going to lose the 2,200 feet and the road was rough enough that I
couldn’t really go that fast on a fully unsuspended bike. On
the way down towards the Indian River I passed a point on the road that
branches off towards Norton Lake, a point that had taken me a day and a
half to reach on numerous other occasions. I was only seven hours in. I
could easily make it to Norton Lake in a day and possible to Joseph
Lake. You could conceivably climb Meslilloet completely self-propelled
in a weekend. When I got to the bottom of the Hixon Branch road at the
side of the Indian River I ate my lunch. I knew it was only 35km to
Squamish but I was already getting tired. The road up to the 2,600 foot
pass was a bit soft and took a bit out of me as I was already feeling
tired, but soon I was riding on hard snow. The snow made the going
easier but I was still at a very low elevation and I knew that it meant
I would be walking soon. The snow became deeper and deeper and I
struggled to keep pedaling until it was taking more out of me than it
was worth. The cross ditches on this road were huge. I had driven down
it from Squamish a couple of times before and the ditches were not
there. I had to climb into them and then struggle out of them; they
were at least six to ten feet deep each. The recent torrential rains of
January and flooding did a real number on this road. The snow was up to
my shins and I pushed my bike up through it towards the pass. As the
snow got deeper and deeper the light was fading lower and lower. By the
time I reached the pass the snow was above me knees and the moon was
casting a beautiful white glow on this winter wonderland. It was four
days before the full moon. I was way behind schedule by now and if not
for the moon I would be in total darkness. This point is 85km from
home. I tried to ride down the Stawamus road as soon as it steepened
enough and was rewarded with numerous wipeouts. Great wipeouts that
planted me face first in the snow; I was having a blast cushioned by
the soft snow. Eventually I could ride longer and longer until I was
riding on a thin crust of snow covering the road. The snow continued
almost all the way to Squamish, much lower than on the other side of
the pass. In total I walked my bike 8km through the snow but I was
still able to call home from the Taco Bell at 8:30pm, 15.5hrs and 96km
after I had left home. I ordered two full meals at Taco Bell. I usually
would go to the Brew Pub but I never made it that far into town. The
total trip if completed would be 160km with a 2,200 foot pass and a
2,600 foot pass touching down at sea level each time in between, also
you gain and lose 1,000 feet between Squamish and Home. I had made the
plan to call home when I got to Squamish for two reasons. So Nola knew
that I had made it there OK, and in case of chickening out so I could
get a ride. Nola and Cudrah (my dog) picked me up at 9:15 and I happily
got a ride home with them.
Second Time Satanic