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Britannia Beach FSR

7K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  Trev23 
#1 ·
Never have I truly explored the great outdoors. Nor did I ever truly appreciate the place we live in. The majority of my teenage years was spent indoors, glued to a screen. In random parks or short walks into the bush to drink and smoke. Its not that I wasn't active, but something about getting out their and experiencing the rare oddity that is the great outdoors just didn't tickle my fancy. I suppose the only thing that has changed my vantage point over the past year has been going to work from 6-2 and getting a taste of what my 30's was going to be like. Quite the scare. With a glimpse into my future, I decided that before the door is locked behind me and their really is no escape, I'd adventure and see what all the buzz about living in Beautiful British Columbia is really all about.

Tuesday after my work day ended, I ended up at a friends house. Quite the outdoorsman, a beer drinker, sport watching, plaid wearing Buddha bellied Canadian. A regular lumberjack if I've ever seen one. Hoping that some of his manliness would rub off on me. So we set off towards Squamish departing from East Vancouver. I was excited. A real adventure! Throughout the day and into the evening, I realized that real adventure meant real danger and very real consequences.

Not more than 600 metres after the town of Furry Creek, before Britannia Beach lies the Britannia Beach FSR. Up that is an abandon mining town, A massive pit, old generator building that's somewhat standing, a dam and some beautiful scenery. Never have I laid eyes on undisturbed, peaceful nature. Absolutely breath taking. And somewhat informative. Neat to see the ways of the old. Using water running through pipes all along the mountain to power, essentially giant alternators for power throughout the mine. We got 10k up one of the mountains and were facing the valley (That's were the pictures of my truck were, and the pit was right before it.) Stood around their for a little bit and decided to head home before sunset. The path we were on was quite narrow and the cliff looked quite uninviting. Paired with my inexperience of off road driving, I decided to reverse the 50 feet back into the pit. That didn't excuse my novice move of not checking both my mirrors. and about 10 feet later. Whoooossshhhhhh. A popped tire. Panic shot right through me and I felt myself sweat instantly. I've never popped a tire before that. I was frantic. But my guide assured me it was nothing that was going to kill us. So I relaxed. The next action was changing the tire. All fine and well for someone who has a spare tire.... And a Jack....

Before I go on. I know, "What were you thinking?" "Have you not read the novice rules sticky thread?!" I assure you I have, I just like to think the rules don't apply to me. I have gotten myself a new set. Slightly bigger then my old set. 260$ for 5 tires on rims with 60-80% left! So now I have 3 spares and will be sure to always pack a jack when I leave.

Moving on. The only option was to roll down the road on a rim, 10K. And that I did. Needless to say the rim is toast and the tire was almost wrapped around my axle. But we managed to escape the forest and land on the side of the sea to sky by 8 P.M. I called BCAA and 4 hours later we made it back to East Van, were my truck slept that night.

And that was my first real off road adventure. I must say, through all the bad luck, and ill preparedness. I had a blast. Definitely stoked on the next time.

Thanks for reading, Have a great weekend.
Jason

(Cant figure out how to use photobucket with this album, or facebook. I just cant, hope this works)

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#2 ·
Your photos aren't working, but thanks for the story! That road was one of my first 4x4 adventures too, and a great place to get hooked!

It's probably a good thing that you discovered how quickly everything can become a royal pain in the ass out there, but I'm glad nothing too serious went wrong. You can never be too prepared!

Enjoy your newly discovered playground of the BC back country! Keep it good out there, lots of zones are getting shut down because of irresponsible users, don't be a bad apple!
 
#3 ·
haha sounds like a adventure for sure, i always have a compressor, patch kit, and jack and of course a spare tire. I don't know how many times I've had to use them but it never seems to be for me lol.
 
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