(Views from the Sat Night Milford Lake Excursion)
South, for my day off, checking out new roads I've never explored, there are still a few...
The day, gorgeous, the highway, driving the shoulder to let everyone pass, I need a combine or something so people understand, one of those warning blinking "Yield" signs on my rear window like they have on Snowplows or Sanding Trucks, hazards, this is bloody torture. Evenings I should drive to my destination, so that I don't snarl traffic, it's so bad I have to speed up to get through construction zones and it's a relief to get onto the logging roads where the road sets a speed limit I can maintain.
First up, Porto Rico Road, 10 KM or so up, the rocks, all ultramafic basalts, some shales (not fossiliferous), musical, you check them, throw them back, a pleasing ringing sound. A bust, but great views of the Salmo Valley. It would be interesting if only for gold or metals, the rust colored patina they all acquire shortly after breaking suggests possibilities if only you could find some Quartz stringers, notably absent.
(Basalts, ultramafic, bedding suggests they might make for good black countertops)
(View down the Salmo Valley)
A bust.
This is the job.
Next stop, slowly slowly down towards the Beaver Valley thrift shop, where I turn up a UV Flashlight, $1.00, then on to the Dollarama in Trail to get batteries for the many headlights and flashlights I've acquired.
Then back, this is the furthest I'm going south, way back stop at Champion Lakes, always curious what lies there, home of the Western Painted Turtle, I'm curious, how did they get up here? A (herd, flock, swarm) of discontented turtles making a wagon train, working their way upstream, I never thought of turtles as adventurous, but - clearly here again I'm a victim of my own prejudice because here they are...
Anyways, charming beaches and campsites, a great camping location for families with young children.
(Views of the Champion Lakes, home of the Western Canadian Painted Turtle)
Eerie Creek FSR, the dust, the dust, my laundry, why did I do, the dash, seats, me, covered in the dust blowing in through my window, the rocks the same, the ultramafic basalts that break black and weather to red or yellow, some beds of quartzite, again no quartz or intrusions that might offer up hope for crystals or gems.
(fresh roadcuts, always a good thing, but nothing exposed of interest...)
(roadside stacks)
And that's it...