12-Jul-2003 -- After leaving 125-55, we still had plenty of daylight left, and thus decided to extend the trip in order to find 126-55.

I had originally enticed the crew into joining this trip by promising them a chance to go fishing. I had explained to them before we left home, that the next confluence might be on the lake, depending on which map we were looking at. Even if it wasn’t on the lake, it at worst was certainly within a few thousand feet of it.

We thus backtracked south on the Leo Creek FSR until we got to the Leo-Kazchek FSR (300 road). The maps we had showed us that we should pass very close to Kazchek Lake. Our plan was to stop and have lunch by the lake, and possibly put the boat in for some fishing. As it turned out we never did come close enough to see the lake and drove the 48 km to Middle River (Creek).

Middle River begins at the bottom of Takla Lake and it is here we crossed over to the south side. From there we followed the Leo-Sakenichie FSR (900 road) up the south side of Takla Lake. On the way we passed a number of creeks which are used by Pacific Salmon for spawning. These Salmon make their way up the Fraser River and into the Interior of Northern BC. Proof that Northern BC isn’t about logging and hunting.

There spotted a number of black bears on the trip, and at one point we actually followed a young cow moose down the road for about 2 km before she decided to move off into the bush.

We never did find a “great” place to stop and ended up having lunch at the end of the 900 road, 46 km from Middle River. From there we took the Hautete Road south which eventually turns into the Hawthorne Road. From our lunch stop to the confluence it was only about 25 km, and in fact we nearly drove right past. We stopped at an access road to the lake in order to get the GPS working, and found that we were less than 1000 feet away from the confluence. Following the access road east for about 500 feet we came to the lake shore, and to a cabin. There was a sign on the door telling us not to come in for a visit so we turned around and went back up to the road.

We again started off in a southerly direction, and quickly crossed 55 degrees. To our delight there was another lake access road right after, which we turned into. Checking the GPS we couldn’t believe our eyes. We were only 50 feet away from the confluence, and it wasn’t in the lake. Instead the confluence was buried inside good old Northern BC Bush.

After promising the troops that we could still go fishing, we strolled the few feet back down the road to the 55 degree line. From there we took an easy route through the bush, straight to the confluence. Considering how far we had driven, this turned out to be “one of those confluence’s you dream about.” Easy and quick!

The elevation was 2784 feet, and we were only a few hundred feet from the shore line (Tochcha lake), although you couldn’t see it due to the bush. The confluence was located on a very flat area. Evidence of Moose was everywhere. Unlike the previous confluence, this one did not have a lot of underbrush. The ground was mostly covered with moss.

After the confluence we took a drive up the East side of Babine Lake and then head home via the Jinx Road. In total the round trip was over 940 km in length. We didn’t get home until 2:30 am the next morning.

Unfortunately the troops let me know how disappointed they were because they didn’t get to go fishing. Since a promise is a promise, I made certain we went fishing the next day. But we will leave that tale for the next confluence.