| From
Golden, drive west on highway 1 and exit at
Donald. Head north
on the Bush River FSR (gravel). Continue in a north-westerly
direction staying on the main road, keeping track of the yellow
kilometer markers
along the side; turn right on the Hope-Goodfellow service road at the
55 marker, 705355. Drive a little over 6 kilometers to a washout,
743320, park here. Bike or use an ATV for the rest of the way. Continue
9 kilometers on the road until you reach an intersection at a
broad saddle, 795302; head west along Privateer Mountain. It's another
2.5 kilometers to the turn-off on the skid road used by ATVs, 778310;
some riders make it within meters of the summit. In the winter
it is possible to reach the summit on a snowmobile starting from
the Bush River FSR but stable snow conditions are required, the
Hope-Goodfellow FSR crosses several large avalanche paths. |
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Troubadogs ready to go!
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Parked on a landing. |
| Hike:
RT 4.5; 1.75 up. The weather for the weekend
looked a little unsettled so we decided to plan an easy dog trip; every
dog must have his day! We were unaware an ATV trail continued beyond treeline
from a skid road, we plotted our way up following the south-east ridge
and parked a kilometer short of the intersection to the ATV trail. The
dogs were excited to visit a new place and thrilled to get off the
quad. Right away, they found a puddle to play in. We hiked
in treed terrain for a short distance before reaching a naturally open
swath; the landscape was fabulous for the dogs. The swath brought us to
the very broad ridge with open meadows composed of grasses, flowers and
small shrubbery. Shortly thereafter, we
stepped onto the ATV trail. We had a really good idea where the trail
was coming from, we would follow it on the way down. The dogs were
stimulated, running all over the place; Fab and I were joyful just
watching them. We casually made our way to the summit,
stopping often to dispense treats. At the top, we laid down a bunch of
fleece for them to lie on. We leashed them, which means break time;
they drank 2 liters of water between them and ate more kibbles
before a good nap. We treasured the moment with our hounds and took
advantage of the quiet time to enjoy our local mountains. Fabrice
looked for a register but didn't find one so he placed one in the
cairn. We started heading down when the dogs woke and started acting
restless. We casually carried on, I was amazed at Daisy's spunk since she
suffers from arthritis. It was fantastic terrain for them and we could
easily keep an eye on them. The quad trail led us back to the
Goodfellow road, 15
minutes of walking took us to the quad. We loaded everybody and stopped
at a large patch of snow to top off the fine excursion. This trip was
exactly what the doctor ordered!!! |
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Doggies and puddles are a sure
combination. |
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Rupert is always at our heels for
a stick. |
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A lovely open swath leads to the
broad ridge. |
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Looking back. |
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Treat time. |
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We find a quad trail and
celebrate by dispensing more treats! |
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The summit comes into view. |
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Rupert, Lincoln, are you hot dogs? |
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Fine trekking with the furbies,
the weather isn't that bad. |
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At the top, I'm ready to greet
the dogs. |
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Thrilled to share my passion for
the mountains with our pack. |
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Priorities first. |
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Leashes on, fleeces down, break
time! |
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Rupert will always be my little
pup. |
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Daisy's out for the count! |
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Looking north-east over Corsair
Mountain, the tall one in the clouds is Rostrum Peak. |
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Heading down with Felucca
Mountain in the background. |
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Nice quad trail. |
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Back on the main road. |
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15 minutes later, we're at the
quad. |
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Snowpatches are a novelty during
summer months. |
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Ready for the ride down. |
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