03-Jun-2003 --
This is the first of two confluence visits I made today.
Despite both being almost "drive to" confluences, you'll
see from the narratives that doesn't mean they are
trivial to get to. Also, although the distinction of
Primary vs Secondary confluences is necessary for the Project,
this one, which is Primary, and the second one of the day,
51N 122W, which is
Secondary, are both about equal in terms of effort needed
to reach the confluence.
Both of these confluences were previously visited by
Frank Majcenovic, and
my narratives will make more sense if you read Frank's
narratives first.
Zeroing the odometer at Cache Creek at the intersection of
Highways 1 and 97, I headed East on Highway 1. AT 32.1km,
I turned North onto Deadman - Vidette road. At 47.8km is the
junction with the Deadman - Cache Creek road.
Photo #3 of
the Deadman river and the rock formations was taken just
north of the junction.
At 52.8km I turned left onto road 552-20. AT 55.3km this
road comes to a fork, which is where the tree with the "43"
painted on it is located. The left-hand branch has a sign
on a tree that reads "Sky Hi Lodge". I took the right-hand
branch, and at 56.9km crossed a small creek via an old
bridge with a "STOP CAUTION" sign.
I continued up the gravel road, gaining elevation. In
Photo #4,
taken from this road, you can see the Deadman - Vidette road
going through the valley, from lower left towards the center,
and near the center you may be able to make out where road
552-20 branches off, just next to the pasture, with the gravel
road making it's way through the forest beneath the rock bluffs.
At 61.2km, I took the left-hand branch at a fork in the road,
and did the same at a fork at 63.3km. At 65.1km I turned right
onto an older road. This is where my path to the confluence
differs from the one Frank took. He continued along the
road, until he "crossed the N51 latitude along the road", at
which point he "still had 680 meters east to confluence".
Although the other roads, almost from Highway 1, had been gravel,
this old road was much rougher, and would require a high-clearance
vehicle, and in some conditions, 4-wheel drive(which I have).
There were sections where people(maybe hunters or farmers?) had been
on this road when it was somewhat muddy and soft, so there were sections
filled with ruts. Further along, small trees and bushes are growing
in the middle of the road.
At 65.1km the old road ends at a clearing from some old logging
activity. I parked at this point, which is only 249 meters from
the confluence. A few minutes walk across the clearing, along
some trails likely made by cattle, and through the woods brought
me to the confluence.
My GPS put the confluence
within about 10 meters of the tree shown in Frank's photo.
After taking the confluence photos, I drove back the way I came, stopping
along the road where I took the photo of the valley to have
some lunch, before proceeding to
51N 122W.