This all began last year when my good buddy Matt invited me to join him and 10 co-workers on a trip into the southern Chilcotins via a float plane with Tyax Air. I pleaded my usual case of "How far is the ride, is it tough, when etc, etc?", but in the end Matt simply said "Oh hey, you're booked, see ya there!" And that was it, I went, I rode and I loved it! This year Matt had told enough friends and family about how great our trip was that there were now 17 of us signed up to ride over the course of 2 days.
Read on and enjoy the pics from my trip,
Packing is pretty simple and I think that I have it down to a science. I look at the style of ride(s) that I plan on doing and then grab everything that I can from the house for that style of ride and the area I am going too. This trip I forgot to pack pants, really who goes into the bush with only shorts? I got cold, but the fire was my friend each night before bed. Ok back to getting there and the drive from Chilliwack to Gold Bridge.
It is just over 330kms from my place in Chilliwack to Tyax Lodge (approx. 20kms from Gold Bridge) and I can either go through Vancouver/Whistler or Hope/Lillouette and based on standard traffic, I have chosen to go via Hope each year. Hope up the Fraser Canyon to Lytton and then left on a secondary road to Lillouette, gas up here and then 104kms to Gold Bridge - this portion takes closer to 2hrs due to slower gravel road sections and scenery that is too nice to rush through. There was even some construction going on with a new section of asphalt being laid down.
Just outside Lytton
Construction Zone
The lodge at Tyax is undergoing renovations at the moment, so we had to be as self sufficient as possible - thankfully they just finished building new out houses and outdoor showers!
There are lots of camping spots at the lodge and they run $35 per night per site. With 17 riders, we had a whole section of the camp site to ourselves. 4 people did a Spruce Lake drop on the Friday, so they were a little tired when we all rolled in that night. It was a quiet evening of catching up and prepping for the first flight at 730 the next morning.
The fresh mountain air and sleeping in a tent always seems to wake me up a few hours earlier than need be, but I also always feel so refreshed! Time for last minute cross checks, packing / repacking of the back pack of choice for the day and then wait for your flight. We had 3 flights of 5 booked ($525 per flight = $105 per person) up to Warner Lake that morning and everyone was excited to get the flying portion underway.
Watching the float plane take off:
Inside the plane looking out during take off:
I spy an Ipod
Systems Check!
Once all 15 of us were up at Warner it was time to take in the views, build up our bikes and start the 50km ride back to the Lodge. The sheer vastness around you up there is awesome! Everyone was so happy that the weather was on our side and that we were all about to enjoy one hell of a great day of riding.
Thanking Dale for the trip in.
Not too bad of a drop off point!
The ride is single track and lots of it, from the get go, you are mountain biking - ups, downs, creek crossings, the works and sporting a shit eating grin the whole time!
The views are good too!
Dan and the 29er
Angela on the rocks
There were lots of little breaks along the way to recount tales of how rad the trip was - funny as we were only like 10km in and everyone was recapping it while forgetting the 40km to go still. Humming Bird Lake was our first full regroup of riders as we'd really spread ourselves out, I let the Yeti take a little dip to cool its tires.
At Hummingbird the group kinda split up to allow some faster riders to climb up to Spruce lake and take in the views, while the other half stayed on the Lower Gun Creek Trail. More and more single track greeted everyone as the day unfolded before us.
I was stoked to see the sticker on this bike!
Really I have to ride on that narrow strip of dirt? OK!
At about the 30km mark a few of us had a sweet hillclimb contest, most looked on going "Why are they doing this?" For us involved though it was an action that took us back to highschool and simpler times. The single track feels endless and the trail flows on for hours. A group this size is tough to keep tabs on, but we all had a successful ride with only ONE flat tire the whole day. That's better than an afternoon ride with Mike Levy this year.
Numbers for the day:
Total distance ridden - 50.92km
Average Speed - 11.3 km/h
Maximum Speed - 54.5 km/h
Ride Time - 4 hours 17 minutes and 21 seconds
Total time on the trail - close to 8 hours after all the stops
Flat tires - ONE!
Happy Riders - 15!
Showers and dinner back at camp were my evening highlights. We all gathered around the campfire telling stories from the day and the past. I am so glad that I got to do something like this with my friends. Thanks for the invite!
When I left Tyax, I wanted to take a peak at the town of Gold Bridge as last year I never stopped in. It is very small and perhaps has less of a population than that of Brule.
View all my Tyax pics here.
Learn more about Tyax and the packages that they offer by checking out their website - www.tyaxair.com
hope someone can tell me if they had any problems finding the trail head from the drop point on warner. i figure it's fairly straight forward, but wanted to ask.
does tyax have topos of the area?
bear bangers/spray a good idea?
thanks!!