JCE
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Yesterday (Sat 04-Nov-06) we set off for Canada to do Boundary Peak. We used the directions provided by buckyball1 at here, notes from Poison Ivy, and of course help from Bob and Geri’s web site (excellent!).
We entered Canada prepared with passports to help ensure a “no hassle” entrance and, later in the day, exit from Canada. Getting in was no problem – lots of questions about fire arms (“Do you have any fire arms with you?” ‘No’, “ Do you have any fire arms at home?” ‘Well, yes we do but we don’t use them.’, “So you didn’t bring any of the fire arms from home with you today, did you?” ‘No. But you can have a cookie if you want one.” “Have a good time in Canada (he didn’t take a cookie)”)
Using the directions mentioned above, we got to the dirt road and it had a very light coating of snow on it. We did bring crampons and snow shoes, in case we needed them. We drove to the park entrance and asked Claude if he spoke English, he said “A little” and we began to tell him we planned to hike. He asked “Mount Gosford?”, we said no, Boundary Peak. He said we won’t be able to drive to it, something about a foot of snow on the road. We told him we had 4 wheel drive and he said it wasn’t the snow but trees down on the access road. We were disappointed we drove all that way and kept asking him about the conditions and them realized he was talking about the jeep trail past the gravel pit were we planned to park anyway – so it wasn’t any problem for us. We paid our $5 and bought a map $2, US currency accepted with no problems and with the current exchange rate, we only paid a small amount more than if we had Canadian dollars. Off we were - following the directions from buckyball1 and the map.
As we drove on the initial roads, there was just a dusting of snow. We didn’t understand what Claude meant by a “foot of snow”. We as we drove more and more into the park, there was more and more snow. I’d estimate not much more than maybe 4-6 inches but the road did have some blow downs we had to go slow by and swerve around. As we got closer to the gravel pit (we didn’t know just how close we were), the road went up and we tried to miss some blow downs and we got stuck – the Pathfinder’s 4 wheel drive let us down. We couldn’t go up or even back down because of snow, ice and general slippery conditions. We spent probably 45 mins trying to get unstuck and FINALLY we were able to back down the hill. We cleared the small blow downs and I got up a running start and we got up and over the rise to then saw the gravel pit. We were already soaked and bushed from pushing and digging the snow to get the Pathfinder unstuck.
We parked, got out our brightest color hiking clothes (we looked like 3 hippies from the 60’s with our oranges, purples, blues, pinks, etc. – we didn’t want to get shot!) and re-read the directions:” Park in the gravel pit and look for a trail in the "lower right" part of the pit, NOT the trail going up the hill by the outhouse on the left side. You immediately cross a small stream and see a jeep trail with a "no ATV" sign. The jeep trail is clean if a bit steep early on.” This was clear enough but while we did go to the lower right, there was a jeep trail that kind of went straight we looked over and then saw the trail with the "no ATV sign" so we went back and went up that trail. It was a bit steep and there was several inchs of snow but it was easy to bare boot it. We continued up and saw where we think the original trail we were on would have joined in (see Bob and Geri’s topo here ).
Once we got up to the boundary cut, the snow was at least a foot deep, most likely more. Did I mention we brought snow shoes and crampons? Well the crampons (that we never needed) were on our back packs and the snow shoes (that we really could have used) were back at the car! It was a really nice day, so we just took our time and made our way over to our goal. We’d sink in sometimes to above our knees. The only tracks we saw was of a lone moose. We never saw a hiker or hunter the whole day on the trail Never hear a shot.
Once at the summit, the wind was a blowing and the snow was coming down – we didn’t stay long. Found the broken canister on the cairn and the ‘real’ canister in the woods on the USA side. Took some pictures and headed back. Driving out, we had no problems – just took it easy. We'll be back to do Gosford another time.
Entering the USA, we were questioned and the back of the car searched – they were just doing the job (guess we still looked like hippies!). Had dinner at the Porter House in Eustus (excellent!) and drove home. We saw two moose and one fox on the journey home. Overall a really fun day, even the getting stuck part (it would have been a different story if we didn’t get unstuck
).
Gin, Tonic, and Sidekick
Ps: Has anybody taken the other jeep trails shown on the topo? Is there a reason just about everybody goes on the “no ATV” trail across the stream vs. going up the hill at the outhouse or lower right and then straight? Just curious.
We entered Canada prepared with passports to help ensure a “no hassle” entrance and, later in the day, exit from Canada. Getting in was no problem – lots of questions about fire arms (“Do you have any fire arms with you?” ‘No’, “ Do you have any fire arms at home?” ‘Well, yes we do but we don’t use them.’, “So you didn’t bring any of the fire arms from home with you today, did you?” ‘No. But you can have a cookie if you want one.” “Have a good time in Canada (he didn’t take a cookie)”)
Using the directions mentioned above, we got to the dirt road and it had a very light coating of snow on it. We did bring crampons and snow shoes, in case we needed them. We drove to the park entrance and asked Claude if he spoke English, he said “A little” and we began to tell him we planned to hike. He asked “Mount Gosford?”, we said no, Boundary Peak. He said we won’t be able to drive to it, something about a foot of snow on the road. We told him we had 4 wheel drive and he said it wasn’t the snow but trees down on the access road. We were disappointed we drove all that way and kept asking him about the conditions and them realized he was talking about the jeep trail past the gravel pit were we planned to park anyway – so it wasn’t any problem for us. We paid our $5 and bought a map $2, US currency accepted with no problems and with the current exchange rate, we only paid a small amount more than if we had Canadian dollars. Off we were - following the directions from buckyball1 and the map.
As we drove on the initial roads, there was just a dusting of snow. We didn’t understand what Claude meant by a “foot of snow”. We as we drove more and more into the park, there was more and more snow. I’d estimate not much more than maybe 4-6 inches but the road did have some blow downs we had to go slow by and swerve around. As we got closer to the gravel pit (we didn’t know just how close we were), the road went up and we tried to miss some blow downs and we got stuck – the Pathfinder’s 4 wheel drive let us down. We couldn’t go up or even back down because of snow, ice and general slippery conditions. We spent probably 45 mins trying to get unstuck and FINALLY we were able to back down the hill. We cleared the small blow downs and I got up a running start and we got up and over the rise to then saw the gravel pit. We were already soaked and bushed from pushing and digging the snow to get the Pathfinder unstuck.
We parked, got out our brightest color hiking clothes (we looked like 3 hippies from the 60’s with our oranges, purples, blues, pinks, etc. – we didn’t want to get shot!) and re-read the directions:” Park in the gravel pit and look for a trail in the "lower right" part of the pit, NOT the trail going up the hill by the outhouse on the left side. You immediately cross a small stream and see a jeep trail with a "no ATV" sign. The jeep trail is clean if a bit steep early on.” This was clear enough but while we did go to the lower right, there was a jeep trail that kind of went straight we looked over and then saw the trail with the "no ATV sign" so we went back and went up that trail. It was a bit steep and there was several inchs of snow but it was easy to bare boot it. We continued up and saw where we think the original trail we were on would have joined in (see Bob and Geri’s topo here ).
Once we got up to the boundary cut, the snow was at least a foot deep, most likely more. Did I mention we brought snow shoes and crampons? Well the crampons (that we never needed) were on our back packs and the snow shoes (that we really could have used) were back at the car! It was a really nice day, so we just took our time and made our way over to our goal. We’d sink in sometimes to above our knees. The only tracks we saw was of a lone moose. We never saw a hiker or hunter the whole day on the trail Never hear a shot.
Once at the summit, the wind was a blowing and the snow was coming down – we didn’t stay long. Found the broken canister on the cairn and the ‘real’ canister in the woods on the USA side. Took some pictures and headed back. Driving out, we had no problems – just took it easy. We'll be back to do Gosford another time.
Entering the USA, we were questioned and the back of the car searched – they were just doing the job (guess we still looked like hippies!). Had dinner at the Porter House in Eustus (excellent!) and drove home. We saw two moose and one fox on the journey home. Overall a really fun day, even the getting stuck part (it would have been a different story if we didn’t get unstuck
).Gin, Tonic, and Sidekick
Ps: Has anybody taken the other jeep trails shown on the topo? Is there a reason just about everybody goes on the “no ATV” trail across the stream vs. going up the hill at the outhouse or lower right and then straight? Just curious.
