Looking for FSR wisdom Monte Lake across to Stump Lake??

[kilohertz]

Good morning boys and girls,

Cool moist morning here, 9C. it's getting closer....:-D

I have been studying my Backroad Mapbook Kamloops, BC Rec atlas and some old forestry maps and it looks like there may be some roads that traverse the hills between Monte Lake and Stump/Roche Lake area, or maybe Douglas Lake road area up to south of Roche lake. Could anyone confirm my suspicions that there is a way? If so, what sort of roads? Suitable to haul a camping trailer (old) into? :confused: Sometimes that solid black line on a map, turns out to be a red dashed line, with miles of rutted wet potholes. It looks like Monte Lake/George FSR might connect with Roche lake FSR?? I am meeting my Dad for a week or so in the Roche lake area and I have gone around on highway 97, route 1 and back down HWY 5 and up Stump lake but why drive on the pavement, when you could be hunting on the drive? Probably be coming in from the Monte Lake side.

Any assistance would be appreciated.
Cheers
Paul

Jeez, I just realized this is my first post. I have been reading the forums for so long I feel like a member but have yet to join in.
so, I have been hunting/shooting for over 35 years, and now my 12 year old son is getting his first youth license and we are going out for youth week, assuming we have no school next week. He has been practicing at the range for a month now and is shooting open sites 30-30 over 20 ga and a scoped Sako .243. He can choose whichever he likes, depending on if we are in grouse country or not. The Sako is a bit heavy at almost 8.5 lbs so I am looking for a 6.5x55 for him, old Husqvarna lightweight or similar..more later...need more coffee. cheers

[000buck]

Hmm first post.... No joke yet... Guess it's clear why this is the only response

[kilohertz]

Ya shoot eh? I have read other first posters and the similar replies they get..without the joke attached. :-? I should have made the introduction first, told a joke, helped others first, posted a few stories and such, then asked a question. :-D

The other reason there may not be any replies is that my post was only made 10 minutes ago. :confused:

Let's hope this fixes things.

Q: What do you get when run over a goose?
A: Goose bumps.

Q: When you pat a dog on its head, it will wag his tail. What will a goose do?
A: Make him bark! ...

Cheers!

Paul

[walks with deer]

Yes monte to douglas connects I remember it a easy drive.

[walks with deer]

But a long one.

[kilohertz]

Thanks guys! That's great. I see that road looks like a main FSR. What I am trying to do is get over the hill to HWY 5A, the Roche Lake side, either via Monte Lake/George FSR or any other decent, non 4x4 rutted type roads. I see there looks like a road near Dardnelles or Beaverhouse..but who knows if that one is passable.

Thank again,

and another funny...

Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend.... Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. - Groucho Marx

Cheers

Paul

[Liveforthehunt]

Private if I'm not mistaken ... Haven't been out that way in a few years

[Darksith]

yeah almost a waste of time, as most of it is douglas lake ranch land...that being said there are pockets worth putting your boots on the ground closer to the monte lake area, but thats all Im gonna say ;)

[cooter303]

you can get through to the glimpse lk rd but it is complicated to explain how. there is a road across the north side of Douglas Lake Ranch and I have been on it a few times but have not been on it for a few yrs. at about 28 km on the private main out of monte is the glimps lk rd. the acual rd to glimps takes off that rd somewhere. if I was there I would know it but that does you nfg.

[3centsolution]

I haven't found a way through on the George FSR yet you can get really close to the lake behind Roche (name escapes me at the moment) as in looking down the hill at it, but couldn' find a way through.

[cooter303]

I haven't found a way through on the George FSR yet you can get really close to the lake behind Roche (name escapes me at the moment) as in looking down the hill at it, but couldn' find a way through.
I don't think you can get through to roche lk from the George. I know when the George hits the prat lk rd and you turn right it all dead ends up there. I havn't been up to the end of the glimpse rd off the private. I do know it goes under the powerline and keeps going. I think it was deteriorating the further I went so I turned around. I know one of the rds off the George comes out in Barnhartvaile.

[Dannybuoy]

the road to dardnelles lk turns off of pogo , I haven't been all the way thru but it could get a bit mucky up top ( new roads) or they have deactivated some roads making them quad roads only . There are lots of roads and cross roads as that's all beetle kill and clear cut . Fair amount of traffic as well .

[Dannybuoy]

I don't think you can get through to roche lk from the George. I know when the George hits the prat lk rd and you turn right it all dead ends up there. I havn't been up to the end of the glimpse rd off the private. I do know it goes under the powerline and keeps going. I think it was deteriorating the further I went so I turned around. I know one of the rds off the George comes out in Barnhartvaile.
Not all dead ends now ..... they punched at least 2 thru last fall / winter

[Kami]

I have hunted the area on quads. We entered the area under the major power lines above Scuitto lake. I believe it was Robbins Range road. The road names are sketchy as it was 2 years ago and I don't currently have access to a map. (I am killing time between flights at an airport currently). We went by McGloshin Lake. I believe the major FSR we hit was the George mentioned earlier here. We travelled up to snowline in June in the Monte Hills area I believe it was called. I was informed that we could have easily punched out in Monte Lake if wanted. From there we headed west again riding past McGloshin Lake again. We got under the major Powerline towers and headed west. I believe we were close to Scuitto Lake by now. The trail/road from Scuitto was extremely rough with holes easily 6 ft deep that could bury the entire length of a 15ft trailer. We passed more lakes that again were on pretty decent FSR that came in from Hwy 5A now. Meeker lake comes to mind. We ended up by Roche Lake. We carried on SW from Roche Lake on the White Lake FSR and looped back to McGloshin lake, eventually back to our trucks near Robbins Range road. Easily done with a quad side by side maybe even a jacked out Samurai with a winch. No way would I attempt this with a truck and camper or any type of trailer in tow. The area was a flop anyway. We saw nothing over 3 days in June bear season. Waste of gas and time. Better off going to Tunkwa area.

[kilohertz]

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the great discussion and ideas and tips!!! This is exactly the sort of discussion I wanted to get involved with. Okay, so I need to make a serious scout trip before hauling the trailer in. First need to put the quads back together.:wink: One has bad charge cct and the other bad fuel pump. I always wait until the last week before opening to do all the maintenance. :mrgreen:

So I may head up there tomorrow and let you know if I find a way through.

Cheers!

Paul

[boxhitch]

Drive south of Monte on 97 to Westwold , turn right on Douglas Lake Road. Follow this up to 24? km where the Private meets . You could disconnect there and do your hunting/exploring and save the trailer. Reconnect and head west through the ranch to highway 5. Lots of roads to explore . Don't follow the Private down thinking you will get to Monte , it deadends where the bridge was taken out , but a side road does join the George.
Lots of nice ridges and old roads above the power line north of Glimpse ;)

[rcar]

Hmm first post.... No joke yet... Guess it's clear why this is the only response

Hahaha...or maybe yours was the first response because his post was only 11 minutes before your reply!....although I am with you on the joke.

[Darksith]

its good to see people sharing a bit of knowledge...not like anyone has anything tied to a tree anyway, and for the most part the mulies are fairly migratory, and the whities, well we just gotta kill em all!

[kilohertz]

its good to see people sharing a bit of knowledge...not like anyone has anything tied to a tree anyway,

Agreed. I have hunted the Stump lake area for years with my Dad and his buddies, coming from the Kamloops side of 5A but have never tried to get across to the Monte Lake side, or come in from the Monte Lake side. Probably came close without knowing it. :mrgreen:

All fueled up and getting ready to head out..with GPS and 5 maps in tow.

I'll update you when I return.

Cheers

Paul

[kilohertz]

Home safe and sound, over 100km on gravel roads today, the truck and I are both bagged. Going to have a beer and relax. Tell you about it later or in the morning. Saw lots of wildlife and had a great day in a beautiful part of the country. I haven't hunted in over 6 years or so...sure is nice to get back on the old roads and go scouting. I also took some pics of the game I saw and will post if they turned out.

Cheers for now,

Paul

[kilohertz]

So it was a great trip yesterday, driving over 100km on back roads. I had GPS with topo maps, forestry maps and the backroads book, and still was lost (well not lost but didn't know where the hell I was) for the first half of the trip. I started up the Douglas lake rd looking for the Monte Lake FSR but couldn't find it...kept driving....finally got to 24 km, way past where the FSR should have been and found a road with no signs at all, but looked well traveled. I decided to try it as I remembered there was a post here about km24 so off I went. Pretty decent road, found the big power lines, several times and still couldn't figure out where I was. The maps didn't jive with the GPS, so I kept on going, sort of working my way towards HWY 5A and Dardenelles. I also found Glimpse Lake FSR as mentioned here as well, but never did find Glimpse Lake. Beautiful country though, lot's of cut blocks and new growth. After about an hour of this, and still not knowing where I was exactly, decided to try a new road that looked a little less traveled...still heading towards Dardenelles. I finally got within 2km of the lake. I then figured out where I was, the maps started to agree with the GPS and all of a sudden, around the corner was the Dardenelles Lake FSR....YEAH! Right turn onto it and found it was deactivated, big time, not just one but about 4 big cuts in the road. I decided to test my trusty steed Dodge and made my way though the first one, inching slowly in 4 low.....made it, got through the next 3 and around a corner and found about 220 fallen trees, all big suckers. Damn. Oh well. Back to the main and figure out if I want to keep going and find HWY 5A or turn around. I drove to about km 22, which I think was measured from 5A, then decided to go back. It was 6pm now. Managed to find my way back, although missed a few turns and found a new way back to Douglas Lake road. So I was 26km from HWY 5A and then back to towards Douglas lake it started counting down from about 37km when it transitioned to HWY 97 based distances.

I now have to download the GPS data and overlay it on some topo software maps and figure out where exactly I was and went. I have a pretty good idea, and can repeat it, although the roads are not suitable for hauling a trailer or camper in, certainly doable in a 4x4.

All in all it was a great days adventure. I saw 6 mulies, one of which was a spike, the rest does/fawns, 5 grouse, 2 marmots and 2 squirrels, and a black bear on the RR tracks on the way home.

Thanks all for your input, the trip was a success! :-D I still want to find out where Monte Lake FSR comes out on Douglas, but will start from the north end of the lake this time. Should wait for hunting season though...:mrgreen:

Going to do some computer work now.

Cheers

Paul

PS tried uploading pics but I don't have time to resize them all right now.

[boxhitch]

The road system is quite different than the 2003 Google Earth pics. And I have never seen a road marked Monte Lake fsr. The roads at the north end of Monte have other names.

[cooter303]

the private main would be your monte lk fsr. it would be the rd at 26 k or 28 km. the rd you took would have been the mine cr rd at the to of the canyon on douglas lk rd. on the douglas lk rd. the rd to glimpse lk that takes off from the glimpse lk rd would be the last left before you go under the power line if memory serves me right.. the rd don't look like much but it does go across. i camped one year at pratt lk the night befor moose opened. the next morning all you could hear was quads and the private main and the pratt lk rd was almost bumper to bumper traffic with road hunters.that was around 04.

[kilohertz]

the private main would be your monte lk fsr. it would be the rd at 26 k or 28 km. the rd you took would have been the mine cr rd at the top of the canyon on douglas lk rd. on the douglas lk rd. the rd to glimpse lk that takes off from the glimpse lk rd would be the last left before you go under the power line if memory serves me right.. the rd don't look like much but it does go across. i camped one year at pratt lk the night befor moose opened. the next morning all you could hear was quads and the private main and the pratt lk rd was almost bumper to bumper traffic with road hunters.that was around 04.

You nailed it, exactly, on all counts. I remember now the Mine Ck sign. I just downloaded all the track and waypoint data from my GPS and put it up in Garmin's software (sucks) but at least I could see where I was. Then I found a link to import it into Google earth...holy crap. Sometimes I wonder about technology, but this is freakin' awesome. I can see my tracks superimposed onto the google earth pictures (2011 now) and wow, cool and all that. :-D I was on the right road but didn't know it. I can sure see how that Backroads Mapbook is just an approximation of what is really out there. Same with the forestry maps. I can also see the deactivated road I was on but at one time it was a main thoroughfare.

I will try to get a scan of all this to post here. It's really very cool.

Paul

[cooter303]

i used to work at douglas lk for a few yrs. i did alot of exploring while i was there. i havn't been on some those rds since 2010. i havn't tried google earth yet. will have to try it with garmin.