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Exploring the Britannia Mine and Mt. Sheer Town Site

45K views 44 replies 23 participants last post by  VanBCguy 
#1 ·
Most tourists travelling along the Sea to Sky Highway between Vancouver, BC, and the Whistler ski resort are unaware that their route is taking them past one of the worst polluted mine sites in North America. Seventy years of mining activity has exposed the ore to air and water, resulting in chemical reactions that create concentrated acidic, metal-contaminated water. From the mine, this water, or acid rock drainage, made its way down to Howe Sound, killing marine life in the immediate vicinity. But just like the tragic shipwrecks that provide divers with interesting dive sites, the historic and infamous Britannia mine operation has left a wealth of mining remnants for four wheelers and other back country explorers to find.



http://bc4x4.com/tr/2010/mount-sheer/

The article includes a link to a 360-degree panorama of the generator building. Check it out!


...lars



 
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#2 ·
great trip report with some cool images Lars. I remember going up there a few years back. come to think of it, I think it was a WWU run the board used to have a while back. we didn't explore as extensively as your trip but it's always cool to see remnants of old mining towns. didn't know there was a swimimg pool! how cool was that to see...
 
#3 ·
ive been iching to go back, i remember as a little one heading up there, I gota bring the wife with me for a two day trip, really show her some of our history..
 
#4 ·
Based on what Swivelhead posted in another thread, you should go on the weekend when the company that owns the place isn't working. Then there'll be less chance of being spotted and raising the ire of the company. Also, go soon while the gate's still open.

...lars
 
#6 ·
oh wow that looks amazing i was showing my dad the trip report last night he was amazed on how many structures were kind of still standing. I think i might take a burn up there this weekend with my dad and check it out looks pretty cool i love exploring things like this
thanks lars for the trip report :)
 
#8 ·
thanks lars! Ive sent you a PM for more info on places to stay in the area, our date is set for july 23rd-25th. we will be bringing the quads to make traveling the area a little easier and quicker (the canam can travel alot rougher and steeper terain than the jeep can even do)
 
#9 ·
Awesome!
I'm working on a movie right now and we are filming around the main building down by the highway - so I've taken the time to explore inside (yes, up the 230 steep stairs all the way to the top!)

I might add, please TREAD LIGHTLY and be safe up there. The whole area is under strict environmental controls (acid mine drainage water purification) and lower down is also a heritage site, so tampering with anything or taking anything home would be considered bad taste (the water is also bad tasting.. har har)... of course, if you are reading this you are probably a responsible individual so if you see someone else acting irresponsible, say something!
 
#11 ·
would love to head up there this spring and takes some photos of the area,
anyone want to go?
and how do you get there, ive never been but would love to go explore.
 
#12 ·
i was reading all this and went to my parents house and asked them if they have heard of this place and my mom said are you joking. i was like what ???. and she said that i have been there when i was younger and that we hiked up there. and that my grandmother grew up there and her dad worked in the mines. i guess she was in the paper last year about it. huh. so now i want to go up there even more. can you still drive it ?

doug
 
#13 ·
Can you still drive it? I don't see why you wouldn't be able to. I haven't or seen anything about any road closures uf there. But as one of the photos of my TJ from lars shows, even in April, you get to a certain elevation point and you hit mega heavy wet snow that'll stop you in your tracks. The one pic of my TJ is as far as I could get before there's a curve that goes around a deep basin (Jane Basin is it Larry?)...the snow was running off the mountain side at a 45* angle and if I tried to push through, I risked dumping the TJ over the edge.

Personally, I'd wait til the weather gets warmer and drier to try getting up there because the historical areas only get better the higher you go.
 
#15 ·
Hwy 99, go through Furry Creek, go up the hill and at the top of the hill, turn off at the FSR sign on the right (the pic where I'm trying to straighten the sign out with my TJ parked beside me) that's posted in lars' link in the 1st post. If you go down into Britannia, you've gone too far.

I can't remember the name of the FSR on the sign in the pic (anyone?) and I didn't take GPS points. I just followed lars. I've been back since though and it's easy to find.
 
#17 ·
Don't quote me on saying that the gate's still open like it was last year, but it's worth a try. It's an amazing area.

If you do get up there, take the left fork when you get to the first split if you want to go up where we were. Taking the right fork leads you somewhere else cool that I haven't had time to explore yet. But maybe someone will pop in and post up where that takes you and what you'd find.
 
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#19 ·
dont you love a swb!

yesterday yet again i was getting razzed about being a 6foot 3 250 pound guy in a samurai.
the old guy in question drove a v12 triton, "why dont you just buy a real truck":cwm23::shakehead:

"sigh" just keep thinking about the time last season when 2 guys in a "F.A.T"
(that stands for "fat ass truck") said "you seen any bears" sure i said.
they jumped asking "where! where!" somewhere your truck cant go...
"why the hell not?" your trucks wayy to long and far too wide for the quad trail.:laugh:laugh:popcorn
 
#22 ·
Well... lets home nothing happens for a bit. I wanted to do some summer exploring. The girlfriend and I spent all of a saturday exploring two weekends ago, and barely scratched the surface.

The snowline turned us back way before the mines
 
#23 ·
http://alanabertini.com/FileUploads\docs\Makin_Lands_Feature_Sheet.pdf

In that link there is a photo showin all the sold parcels. The closest one at the top of the hill does not cover or block the FSR in anyway(the FSR is not even visable in the photo). It does cover the hydro access north of the FSR, I dont think there is anything to worry about wih this. There is alot of timber being pulled out of Furrey and Brittania drainages as well so there will always be a road:) Plenty of more exploring to do up there this summer. I was up to the basin a few times last summer but did not continue up past it. Does any one know the condition of the road up past Jane Basin?(obviously with no snow). I also walked for a few hundred feet up the old road towards the 2 lakes but it looks as though most was washed away when they made the "slight" error in the blast of the dam.
 
#25 ·
yeah you are right that is the fsr in the middle if lot 13. who knows what will happen. I would think that would be the last area to be developed but you never know. perhaps they will reroute the fsr or have a gate at the end of whatever neighbourhood will be there. only time will tell, in reality how well do we think a 4000 person neighbourhood will do in the makin lands, considering all the land for sale in britania beach that has sat unsold for years. next time i am at my gf's work i will ask the person in charge of fsr's for the slrd what they plan on doing.
 
#26 ·
ok so i asked my gf what the deal is and she will check at work on monday with the roads guys. as far as she knows there is alot of "industrial" work happening up furry and britannia creek as they are starting to re-harvest the 2nd growth timber in the area. this is good for us since they will have to maintain access to the road. as well access to "parts unknown" needs to be maintained, whatever that means.
 
#28 ·
They are going to be keeping the gate closed for the meantime as far as I have herd down the grapevine. Apparently they will re-asses access come summertime. Due to the budget cuts they cant afford to maintain all the gates in the provience so basically if that gate gets busted up again it will take awhile for it to get fixed(unless the forestry company working up there fixes it). They are planning on permanently deactivating certain fsr's in the provience as well to save on the mainainence costs(i thought they already did this with the water bars but apparently they will literaly dig up large sections of road, large tank traps, bridge removal and tree platings down sections of the old roads), havnt been able to find a list yet but if they log/mine/power project on it it probably wont be closing. Had something to do with old roads that had bridges on them but no active industrial use, provience still has to inspect and maintain the bridges which costs quite a bit apparenty,
 
#30 ·
I work at a marina in Howe sound, and since the clean up of Britannia Mine, I Have noticed two things, a very rapid increase of marine vegetation, and an increase of crabs, prawns & shrimp. There is a local pod of Dolphin in the sound now (which is very new). A killer whale was seen in the sound as well.

HAHA; I work less than 30 mins away, and I've never been to the mine..
 
#31 ·
i grew up in gibsons before it turned into yuppie hell....and as long as i can remember there have been dolphin sightings randomly in howe sound....i also heard that they stopped using creasote on pilings and it has caused the herring to return and everything else down the line
 
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