Chippewa Bay Road Work

Our next barge and quad ride was a day trip. We met our good friend John (and his dog Bro of course) for road work. John wants to reopen a logging road that's been reclaimed by nature. 

We left our barge at the Chippewa Bay ramp, but just in case, we landed off to the side in the dry, sandy stream bed.

We rode up the maze of logging roads to Heather Main. That part was familiar to us, but getting to the old section of road that John calls "The Donkey Trail" was new to us. Just as we looking around, trying likely spurs, there came John and Bro to save the day.

John and his friends have been working on reopening the old road that will connect Heather Main up above to Museum Main down below. This reopened section will save several klicks to reach the Chippewa Bay swimming hole (John swears it's the warmest on Powell Lake) and our cabins in Hole in the Wall.

One of the ways nature reclaims roads is by growing alders across the path. The easiest way to keep a road open is to annually trim back the alder shoots. These alders were bigger than shoots, but small enough to remove with clippers.


Fallen trees had to be moved.  Gullies formed by winter runoff had to be filled with rocks and dirt. Large exposed rocks had to be pried out and rolled off to the side.

John went ahead for the heaviest trimming, Wayne followed with the medium sized clippers, and I brought up the rear (with Bro) clearing the trail of fallen debris. I called myself the detail crew member.

It was interesting, some sections of the road were in excellent shape, while others had been damaged or reclaimed by the forest.


It felt good to give back something to fellow quad riders. Keeping roads open and useable allows everyone access to the beautiful back country in and around Powell River. -- Margy