A spot on the alaska hwy on the prophet river

[Darksith]

is there a local from the peace area that can tell me what the buildings at the following location are? Hunting camp w/ runway? Farm? Its on the prophet river, right where it starts to head west from the highway. Co-ords on google earth are:

57 50'49.47"N
122 59' 42.05"W

Thanks

[bridger]

you are probably looking at the old shell camp which is actually on the besa just above where it dumps into the prophet. it was origianlly put in by shell oil 40 yrs ago and is now an outfitters camp with a couple of cabins etc. the strip is in good repair but you can't really get anywhere from there on foot. you can float down the besa and hit the prophet (about five miles) and then float down the prophet to the camp ground and airstrip at mile 222. pretty good elk hunting but it is just outside the mtns and not great scenery.

[Darksith]

the besa must come from the south and dumps into the prophet at this location, while the prophet comes from the west where its headwaters begin?

[bridger]

right actually the besa and prophet parallel each other and are separated by richards creek which dumps into the prophet a few miles above the confluence of thebesa and prophet. if you decide to float either one be aware: the besa is for experienced rafters only. the prophet is fairly easy below the mouth of the besa clear to the muskwa, but above the besa it is also dangerous in high water.

[Gateholio]

And if you go there you will see Bartell and Gatehouse written on the cabin wall :)

...But as Bridger says, it's time for trekking via horses from there...

[Darksith]

are there no roads that get a vehicle across the prophet in this area?

Im just trying to formulate a backup plan in case our fly in hunt doesn't happen for whatever reason. Im heading up that way this Aug/Sept no matter what, but if hunting partners can't make it for whatever reason I want to make sure that I know what Im doin and where I should be going with my canoe, quad or boat. Im gonna go buy a backroads mapbook for that area this weekend hopefully.

[boxhitch]

You might want a look at this
http://archive.ilmb.gov.bc.ca/slrp/lrmp/fortstjohn/muskwa/maps/index.html

[moosinaround]

Darksith, I sure hope you like company! That is going to be a busy spot come Aug/Sept. Any spots like that off the Hwy, and with such access are going to have a lot of action. I used to work up there till the 1st of Sept then leave for 2 weeks, usually because of the rain, and the freakin gong show with hunters! Moosin

[Rock Doctor]

right actually the besa and prophet parallel each other and are separated by richards creek which dumps into the prophet a few miles above the confluence of thebesa and prophet. if you decide to float either one be aware: the besa is for experienced rafters only. the prophet is fairly easy below the mouth of the besa clear to the muskwa, but above the besa it is also dangerous in high water.

I would like to add that there is a bad spot on the Prophet, just below the mouth of Tenaka Cr. IMO, it's the worst spot in that entire route, depending on water levels.


RD

[Rock Doctor]

are there no roads that get a vehicle across the prophet in this area?

.

NO

There are quite a few places to get TO the river by Quad and/or truck, but there are no safe crossing spots for a truck and only a couple places I would attempt crossing with a quad (depending on water levels)

The area between Herb Leeks ranch and Tenaka Cr can be a Gong Show sometimes, but if you are lucky enought to hit it right it's not to bad. I made a few quad trips through there with my brother last yr, and never ran into too many other hunters.

RD

[Cub Driver]

The coordinates that you list is Herd Leake's place where the Minaker runs into the Prophet. He has cleared land, airstrip and buildings. The airstrip where the Besa runs into the Prophet would be about 57 40 N and 123 19 W.

[Darksith]

Darksith, I sure hope you like company! That is going to be a busy spot come Aug/Sept. Any spots like that off the Hwy, and with such access are going to have a lot of action. I used to work up there till the 1st of Sept then leave for 2 weeks, usually because of the rain, and the freakin gong show with hunters! Moosin

Thanks, I definately don't wanna play in a crowd, and it is only my backup idea. But I think I would look to do a drift or something since if I have to resort to my backup plan that means a few of my partners couldn't make it so we would be a group of 2 probably, and a canoe drift would be in order. We have done many 50k drifts on the morice river which has some tricky spots but no falls or real dangers as long as you keep your head about you. I was looking at that as either a launch spot or if able to get across do a hiking hunt, but it looks fairly dense with timber. That being said if you can get far enough away on foot then you shouldn't run into anyone, and if there are elk there and they are talkin then hopefully we can get them to come to us, trees or not.

NO

There are quite a few places to get TO the river by Quad and/or truck, but there are no safe crossing spots for a truck and only a couple places I would attempt crossing with a quad (depending on water levels)

The area between Herb Leeks ranch and Tenaka Cr can be a Gong Show sometimes, but if you are lucky enought to hit it right it's not to bad. I made a few quad trips through there with my brother last yr, and never ran into too many other hunters.

RD
Thanks, I wouldn't want to mess around trying to get a truck or quad across a river, just figured if there is no bridge then we could find some tranquility hopefully.

The coordinates that you list is Herd Leake's place where the Minaker runs into the Prophet. He has cleared land, airstrip and buildings. The airstrip where the Besa runs into the Prophet would be about 57 40 N and 123 19 W.

Cub diver, you and bridger and everyone else for that matter that is helping me out are good peeps. I hate going into an area blind, and as you can see I have no idea whats up there as I don't really have a proper map for the area yet, and google earth is definately limited in what info it tells you unless you search with the proper criteria. Thanks for the tips and help, hopefully one day I can return the favor.

[Darksith]

I would like to add that there is a bad spot on the Prophet, just below the mouth of Tenaka Cr. IMO, it's the worst spot in that entire route, depending on water levels.
RD

You seem to know the river well, do you have any recommendations for a couple guys with medium skills in a canoe on a river looking to do a 5-8 day drift as far as put in spots and pull out spots? Maybe a stop along the way to spend 3 days where we won't hear vehicles and will only see other fellow drifters. Where the land is fairly open and would make for a decent elk adventure?

[elkdom]

You seem to know the river well, do you have any recommendations for a couple guys with medium skills in a canoe on a river looking to do a 5-8 day drift as far as put in spots and pull out spots? Maybe a stop along the way to spend 3 days where we won't hear vehicles and will only see other fellow drifters. Where the land is fairly open and would make for a decent elk adventure?

you will most likely see and hear way more jet-boats than " river-drifters",

jet boats are about as common on the rivers as quads on cut lines and pick-ups on the side roads,,,

[Darksith]

is the 222 landing strip which I hear is a possible pull out spot for a drift at 58 03 21N 122 41 24w?

[tinhorse]

Have any of you guys been to the first set of mountains that the prophet goes by at 57 42' 02.64" N and 123 16' 01.18" W . I was looking into going into that area for elk?????

[Darksith]

Have any of you guys been to the first set of mountains that the prophet goes by at 57 42' 02.64" N and 123 16' 01.18" W . I was looking into going into that area for elk?????
klingzut mountain hes talkin about I believe

[tinhorse]

Might be it is about 20 - 30 km up river from that ranch where the minaker flows in

[bridger]

I would like to add that there is a bad spot on the Prophet, just below the mouth of Tenaka Cr. IMO, it's the worst spot in that entire route, depending on water levels.


RD

thanks rd didn't know that.

[takla1]

you can access the prophet river 20 k in from just north of the prophet river settlement on the alaska hyw.its part of the old alaska hyw..there are two good access points along that acess rd.one about 10 k in and then branch south down to the river,there you can drive right down to the river but tough to get out if you hit rain.Further down another 10-15 k and therea another branch down to the river,we used to camp in this area.All my yrs hunting that area of the prophet very seldom seen jet boats on the river.there actually used to be a steel cable crossing the river at that location{dangerous for boaters} that was always set up to help cross the river.can be good for elk if the herd is around??? good moose.

[Rock Doctor]

You seem to know the river well, do you have any recommendations for a couple guys with medium skills in a canoe on a river looking to do a 5-8 day drift as far as put in spots and pull out spots? Maybe a stop along the way to spend 3 days where we won't hear vehicles and will only see other fellow drifters. Where the land is fairly open and would make for a decent elk adventure?

I don't know how long it would take to drift from the Prophet Campground area down to the Muskwa, but I bet 5 days would do it. (269 down to the Muskwa bridge can be done in a long day). That would leave you with a few days to look around.
I'm one of the few boaters that I know of that go up past Tenaka (It's kind of a barrier). Even so, there are not many guys that run that river.
Above Tenaka there are some nice open gravel flats. Right at the mouth of Tenaka is a nice campsite (opposite side of the river, high dry backchanel. You can burn my wood if you want:-Dlol), it's also the only place I would recommend hopping out and having a look at what you're getting into (walk down the backchanel, it will take you right to the rapids. There are 3 main chutes, with an island below that split the 3). You won't see anyone else there, it's below the quaders, and above most boaters.

RD

[Manglinmike]

I have hunted the Prophet ,around the setlment for 10yrs and the only jet boat that I ever saw was out looking for some dead guy that thought he could cross the river on a quad.

[BCHunterFSJ]

A friend of mine and I floated down the Besa and Prophet several years ago in an inflatable raft. Lost most of our gear including rifles, optics, tent, sleeping bags, outboard etc. It was a miracle that we did not loose our lives as well...
Just getting to our launch spot (Besa bridge on Redfern Trail) with all the gear was an adventure in itself. The rivers almost killed us!
Hope you are an experienced boater. If you go, good luck! You can PM me for more details...

[Darksith]

A friend of mine and I floated down the Besa and Prophet several years ago in an inflatable raft. Lost most of our gear including rifles, optics, tent, sleeping bags, outboard etc. It was a miracle that we did not loose our lives as well...
Just getting to our launch spot (Besa bridge on Redfern Trail) with all the gear was an adventure in itself. The rivers almost killed us!
Hope you are an experienced boater. If you go, good luck! You can PM me for more details...

what time of year did you do this? I wouldn't launch in the Besa at all, I would launch at the mouth where it enters the prophet, do you consider that to be rough water from there to the muskwa? We have around 100h on rivers with some quick spot, lots of turns fast moving water etc etc.

Always tie your gear down, but losing a motor...what did you go through that did that?

[BCHunterFSJ]

what time of year did you do this? I wouldn't launch in the Besa at all, I would launch at the mouth where it enters the prophet, do you consider that to be rough water from there to the muskwa? We have around 100h on rivers with some quick spot, lots of turns fast moving water etc etc.

Always tie your gear down, but losing a motor...what did you go through that did that?

We went through the mother of all log jams in the world... and this happened on the Prophet!
If you are experienced boaters, I would say you should be O.K. to the Muskwa. But never let down your guard and become complacent. We did, and look what happened to us...
I will never forget my time under that log jam!
This was at the beginning of Sept. I do believe.