I was told about this place, oddly enough I have been driving by the enterance to it for years, always looking to the other side. I decided for what ever reason to walk it, which was about a 2 km walk down hill, all down hill right to Okeover Inlet. You can see this used to be a skidder road, as it twists and turns, in some areas its nice and flat but its always short lived.
As I walked downhill I came across some nice trees, one was probably just a sapling when they logged here, the other was almost 5 ft round, cut and left to rot, it was a shame to see.
Just after walking past the big ol 5 ft’r was more downhill, and more brush, slowly the old road was going back to the forest, getting muddy, and slippery because of the slope, and smart me, I wore running shoes.
I was paying more attention to the trail than the area around me, but something must have got my attention because I looked up and to the left of me, and suddenly there she was.
This was what I was told about, but there was alot more here than I was told, so it was like finding a treasure trove for me, the bus is a 1960ísh that was used in Powell River, on the side it still says Powell River Transit Ltd. Here are the pictures of the bus.
Looking closer at the bus, once could see it had been used as a living quarters, and over all the outside was in pretty decent shape being left alone and abandon for so long.
Inside the bus takes on a whole new life, one has to think about how many people rode this bus when it was in service in Powell River in the 1960’s, then all the people who used this afterwords.
So after looking at the old Bus, I began to look at all the other old pieces of history sitting around, beside the bus was this old winch, it appears to have been modified to be run by a gas engine that sat beside it, I like these old thing and this one I would love to bring out and put at the top of my driveway, but then again, others would not get to see it, but one day I know someone will just come and take it.
At first I saw this vehicle, I knew what it was, I have always referred to it as a Duece, I had one once, I used it to haul shakeblocks out of the bush, broke down and I sold it to the shake blockers on the spot
These were tough old trucks, could outright climb, pull or push almost anything, this one has seen its last days Im sure, the engine, still inside gives me the impression it was driven right to this spot and was more than likely vandalised then left to the enviroment. The nice part about this particular Duece is that it is a right hand drive, so it was definately imported. – Update – Well apparently it was not updated, this was made in North America and is a Chevrolet CMP chassis with No.13 cab, and it apparently was a very popular vehicle, read more about it here
There was so much to look at here, so much left behind, which so close to civilization was different, so much metal was taken out of the backcountry in the last couple years as metal prices went up, scrap metal became more sought after and so much of these sort of things are just simple gone, this was a Jeep, about 1958, a rare Pickup type, pretty much crushed now and certainly not much left.
Elsewhere in the old camp area was alot of old pieces of equipement, tires, transmissions, and even an old steam boiler once used on a small mobile steam donkey, alot of it interesting to look at, some of it no idea what it came from or what it came off of.
When ever I walk in the backcountry, I am always aware of my steps, at times its near impossible to see where your feet are going to go, a wrong step and you could fall into a deep hole, or a small one and break a leg, this next picture is a prime example, its a work pit, this pit was dig out, and is about 5 feet deep, 3 feet wide and presently full of water. This is a workmans pit, a truck drives over it and a person goes down into it and works under the vehicle standing up, I almost didnt see it but I am glad I did.
So I decided to leave the old camp and continue my walk down to the beach, it was about another 15 minutes walk and all downhill, but once there I found the old loadout dock, where they would dump the logs into the ocean, this one was crosslaid with logs, then filled with dirt and rock, a simple yet effective way and has lasted for a few decades.
So this beach lands in Okeover Inlet, a beautiful place really
I went down to the beach and there were some things, the remains of an old boat and motor, rusted pieces from the logging days and few other things but not really all that much visible any longer of the logging that went on here.
So I made it down, all the way to the ocean and now I had to walk, all the way back .. up.. I took one last look at the small stream coming out by the beach.
I started my long, uphill walk back to the truck, I knew how many hills and how steep some of them were and I was not looking forward to it, but its the price one has to pay to see these things. I was about half way up when I came across alot of loud water running, I recalled hearing it on the way down, so I decided to look over the bank, and it was about 200 ft down, I debated about going off trail, something I rarely like to do, so I left my hat on the trail just in case and over the embankment I went, and down I went just after climbing the trail hill. When I arrived at the bottom this is the view I was greeted with.
So I guess when you looked at this picture, you will not blame me for sitting, and eating my lunch here. As I sat and ate my lunch I felt like I was in the middle of a painting, as it was being painted, literally inside, I think I stayed here for about 30 minutes, long after eating my small sandwich, but the trip down the hill was so worth it, now I had to go up the 200 ft back to the road, but I took a few more pictures of this small place, and yes, I will go back.
Back on the trail, I walked yet up the hill, the sun was out, the heat was starting and the humidity was getting high, but yet again I heard running water, and yet again I looked over the embankment, and yet again I went down, this time only about 70 feet maybe to this beautiful site, in which I will end this post.
If you wish to watch a video of all this, please click the link below
Hope you enjoyed this post.
