Archive:2010 July 24-25 Lizzie Creek Cabin Workhike
Contents
Synopsis
In a distant land, in a hidden valley surrounded by snowy peaks, there lies a pretty little log cabin. One has to hike a long way along overgrown logging roads, across virgin forests and through the very Gates of Shangri-La to get to this magical place. The persistent traveler who endures all these hardships is rewarded by views of great natural beauty by day, and comfy shelter and a fire in the stove to gaze at from a cosy sleeping bag at night.
This little log cabin is, however, in peril. It had been in the care of great, yet mortal men who have now passed away into the Afterworld. It is slowly falling into disrepair, and the fact that the logging road leading to it is washed out means it gets few visits, and essentially no maintenance. It has been decided that the VOC would take on the task of helping it out a little bit, and so...
Lizzie Creek Cabin needs YOU!
Lizzie Creek Cabin is located near Lizzie Creek, above Lizzie Lake, in a valley on the Eastern shore of Lillooet Lake. It is at the beginning of the Stein Divide, which essentially extends from Lillooet lake all the way to the Fraser River near Lytton. There are numerous relatively straightforward but highly enjoyable peaks right above the hut, and despite the intro I wrote it is feasible to go there for a weekend (although 3 days would be preferable if one wanted to climb a few peaks, and 2 days would only make sense if one brought bikes for the logging road - which we need to clear of slide alder first). The drive is no longer than that for Phelix - one drives past Pemberton, through Mount Currie, and turns onto the 2WD mainline road which runs along the E shore of Lillooet Lake for about 16km. Shortly after the Lizzie Creek turn-off (after about 3km?) the road is completely washed out, and although it can be waded, it cannot be driven in any (even monster) truck. The rest of the road is in good shape but overgrown with slide alder, and about 10km in length. The road ends at an old abandoned campground by Lizzie Lake, from which a trail leads to the hut.
When a party of VOCers visited the hut this Easter, we found one of the beams holding up the roof cracked, and an impressive 3m of snow lying on the roof. We cleared most of the snow before we slept in the hut, and heard the roof rebound, relieved of all the weight, as we slept. The beam could do with some fixing before the next snow arrives. The outhouse requires a bit of tlc, some wood could do with chopping (for the stove). The 10km of logging road requires a good cleaning. There's a possibility of moving a log in place for the creek crossing, so that it could be au-chevalled without having to get one's feet wet. Basically, there is a *hit tonne to do up there.
Based on how many volunteers we get, and what kind of skill-set we assemble, I'd like to touch on the following 3 things:
- clear the logging road of alder to make it a more pleasant ski in the winter (it starts low enough to be snow-free for a long portion of the ski season) and possible to mountain bike in summer
- work on the hut itself - repair beam, work on outhouse, clean up, carry out any garbage/useless stuff, chop wood, any other work that we find that needs doing
- look into re-flagging the trail from Lizzie Lake to the hut
(more or less in order of priority)
- Is this trip Beginner Friendly? - this trip is beginner friendly. We need your man/womanpower. You need to be fit enough to make it up to the hut and back, ideally easily enough that you can actually do some useful work too, but hey - even your company and encouragement will help. We'll provide some tools for the logging-road clearing (the VOC owns some), and hopefully some for the hut maintenance as well. It will be fun.
The Plan
Details will be decided on as the time of the trip approaches. We could have some people drive up on Friday night (the drive takes a while), camp at the trailhead and commence work on the logging road in the morning. Some people will most likely opt to drive up on saturday morning though. We'll split up into groups and divide the tasks amongst us - some people will spend most of saturday slowly working their way up to the hut clearing the road, others may head straight to the hut to start work there. We'll work around the hut on Sunday morning, and then depending on how much more work the road needs some parties may head out earlier than others to do that as they go.
Gear Required
(I apologise, but I shamelessly stole this list from another trip - the core gear you need to go into the outdoors is almost always the same...)
Clothes
- 1 set of non-cotton clothes (just the one set)
- 1 additional warm thing (fleece / down jacket)
- water proof jacket (even if the weather is suppose to be good), ideally waterproof pants too
- toque (very important!!!)
- gloves
- sturdy hiking boots
- sun hat
- gaiters
- an extra set of non-cotton clothes might be worth the weight if the weather is going to be bad
- you may wish to bring some additional footwear to ford the creek - sandals, for example. Or neoprene booties if you have them (kayaking ones).
Shelter
- Some people will sleep in the hut, although we won't all fit inside and some people will have to bring tents. The hut officially sleeps about 8.
- sleeping bag
- sleeping pad
Miscellaneous
- sunscreen
- headlamp (very important!!!)
- lip balm
- sunglasses
- camera
- bug net (works way better than bug juice, plus it doesn't wreck the environment or your stuff)
- toilet Paper
- toothbrush
- lighter
Food
- stove + pot + fuel + lighter (or share with someone)
- thing to eat out of
- spoon
- lunch, Dinner, Breakfast, Lunch (or join a food group)
- water (at least two litres!!!!)
- water purifier of sorts or a friend with one
Pack
and a pack to put it all in.
Tools
If you own a saw, bring it. If you own a pruner, bring it. Axe, hatchet etc... bring what you can and we will share what we have. You may want to bring some work gloves.
Pre-Trip Meeting
The Pre-Trip Meeting will be at 7:00pm on Wednesday, July 21st at Spanish Banks(the bottom of Tolmie Street in Point Grey). The VOC weekly ultimate game happens then too.
- It is very important that you attend the pre-trip meeting as we'll be deciding on rides, food groups, etc.
The pre-trip meetring happened. The following describes what was decided, naturally subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances.
Sign-up
- Piotr Forysinski
- Anne Vialettes
- Kathrin Lang - ok with Friday if leaving after 7pm
- Matthew Baker
- Roland Burton - would prefer Friday evening
- Caitlin
- Caitlin's out-of-town friend Laurie
- Eva Rivinius
- Geoff Martin
- Rueben Schulz - would prefer to head up on Friday evening
- Cecile Repellin
- Nick Matwyuk - would prefer Friday evening (call if more info is needed)
- Dana Hoffmann
- Abdullah
- Veenstra
- Line
- Louise Dancoine
- Toni Stiegelmar
- Phil Tomlinson - maybe
- Eliza - likely
- Eliza's friend Gavin - likely
Numbers aren't capped, and we'll see how many people and cars we get... If we start getting to ridiculous numbers (over 40?) we'll cap it off.
Vehicle List
Sign up here if you have a vehicle, with the type of vehicle (2WD/4WD), number of seats available and where you are leaving from. A 4WD car is not needed for this trip as the roads are 2WD to within +- 1km of the washout, and this last been can be hiked or shuttled in Piotr's truck. Relatively high clearance 2WD cars might make it all the way anyway. However, there are quite a few kms of 2WD dirt to be driven, so bringing 4WD vehicles will make this easier, quicker, and put less wear and tear on the vehicles... Also include what tools you think you can bring.
Piotr's 4Runner (4WD hc), based on 1st and Victoria (5 seats total), leaving friday evening
- Piotr (a few saws, a hatchet, I might buy something to match the Veenstras' "Vlad", chainsaw borrowed from Ed.)
- Anne
- Louise Dancoine
- Matthew Baker (have a small saw if needed)
- Rueben
Nick's Jeep (4WD hc), based at Westminster Hwy and No. 7 Road (5 seats total), leaving friday evening
- Nick (No slide alder slaying equipment but would happily carry lots)
- Geoff (still have the hatchets and saws from the Brew Hut Reno)
- Roland 18:00 Fri@home; pruning saw + big clippers
- Phil (if he can make it)
- ...
Colin Vincent's 4Runner Monster (4WD h-erc), based far far East :-), leaving saturday morning
- Colin V
- Caitlin
- Caitlin's friend Laurie
- Cecile
- Abdullah
Christian Veenstra's V2 (2WD lc), based on Dunbar @ 21st, leaving saturday morning
- Christian
- Line
- Kathrin
- Dana
- Eva
Toni's Jeep (4WD hc), seats 2, leaving friday evening
- Toni
Eliza's Corolla, based in East Van, leaving saturday morning
- Eliza
- Gavin
- ...
- ...
- this car is likely coming but not 100% certain
Tents
The following individuals will bring tentage:
- Piotr + Anne (2man)
- Christian + Line (2.5man)
- Matt (2man)
- Rueben (2man)
- Roland (3man/woman)
- Eliza + Gavin (2persun)
That's either 11 or 12 spots. Given we currently have 18 participants, and the hut will sleep 8, that's tonnes. But wait and see,you never know what's gonna happen until friday. And if these numbers prove final we can leave one tent in the cars.
Food groups
Cars should split up into their food groups. A 'food group' refers primarily (and sometimes exclusively) to bringing dinner and a stove + fuel. Food groups should email faff within themselves to make sure nobody ends up cold and starving. Feel free to decide to bring, say, a common breakfast too or something like that. Or common beverage. Of the firey kind, obviously. Please edit as required.
Piotr's 4Runner
- Piotr, Anne, Louise - P&A will bring stove + dinner, email faff to ensue
- Matthew Baker + Rueben
Nick's Jeep
- ?
Colin Vincent's 4Runner Monster
- Intends to skip pfaff and be self sufficient.
Christian Veenstra's V2
- ?
Toni's Jeep
- ?
Roland sharing stove and Kraft Dinner with Caitlin and Caitlin's Friend Laurie
