If you’re a serious mountain biker in the Pacific Northwest , you’ve probably heard of the Chilcotins by now. Epic views, beautiful alpine singletrack, and considerable wildlife. As alluring as that sounds, many of us get caught up in planning the perfect adventure and in many cases we end up just staying home. The weather isn’t looking quite right, we need to go for at least 4 days and not everyone can make it, the float plane costs too much, I’m not in shape enough, my wife wanted us to watch re-runs of Survivor season number 652 this weekend, and the excuses roll on….

One Friday in September, three dudes took a stand. The weather wasn’t looking mint and it’s late in the season… so we’ll pack extra clothes. We only have one day to ride… so we’ll make it a long one. Some of us were not in great shape… so we’ll get up at the crack of dawn.
All packed up and ready for a big ride. Bear bells (aka dinner bells) – check. First aid and water filter – check and check. Jelly Belly’s – check.
One of the awesome things about driving to the Chilcotin’s from the Fraser Valley is that you can do a loop and it doesn’t cost you any extra time. Up the #1 highway through the canyon through Lillooet. Then loop around via the Hurley FSR down to Pemberton and have a scenic drive home on the Sea To Sky highway.
Driving along the expansive (50km long) Carpenter Lake. The lake was formed in 1951 when the Bridge River was diverted through Mission Mountain. It is the largest reservoir in the system that feeds the Dam on Seton Lake
View of our Camp at Jewel Creek.
Ready for over 2,000 meters of climbing
The moment you ask yourself “why don’t I come here more often?”
Mission ain’t complete without a cheers over beers!
Our route was to camp at Jewel creek and ride counter-clockwise up to Windy Pass. The start of our day was an easy cruise down Gunn Creek trail double track from Jewel to the bottom of High Trail. Climb up the 20km long High Trail to Windy Pass and descend down to Spruce Lake and then down Gunn Creek trail back to the truck parked at Jewel. I have to say that is one of my most favourite descents of all time. There are 5 unique trail conditions and scenery and it is about 1.5 hours of solid ride time on the way down.

We will be back…

All photos: James Lissimore Photography

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