That is so great of you guys,for clearing those areas of the trail! Thank you! We'll be heading up the CB side at the end of this month.
Rode the west side of the Pass up to the summit today. Great ride. Trail is in good shape and the views are amazing! The people I was with were sketched out by the loose, rocky climb just before the summit so we never made it over to the east side. I blasted up the hill and hit the summit before turning around and heading back down with the others. I am hoping to do the whole ride over to the St. Mary's FSR before I have to head back home on Sunday. For the record, I rode a Beta 300RR, so compared to you big dual sport riders, I basically cheated!
Hey guys, Myself and a couple close friends will attempt Rose pass this summer, late August. We're fairly experienced wheelers/overlanders with good reliable rigs (mostly land cruisers). We'll clear the trail a bit of the poplars/weed trees and probably end up doing some other trail maintenance as well. I'll report back after with photos and story :) if you're in the area around August 20-25, we will be on radio on 146.460 and I'll be running APRS. Andrew
I was thinking of attempting this route early August on a solo trip from Nakusp. Does anyone know if it would be too overgrown to try then? Bad idea?
Was going to head up the Rose Pass again last week but had bike issues with my 300RR. I'll be heading up again in a few weeks so I can let you know of the conditions. When we went up last year there wasn't much brush on the west side and everything was in good shape. If I remember right, the overgrown sections are on the east side though.
Has anyone been through Rose Pass this year or last year? How bad is the overgrowth? Planning on doing the run on our Honeymoon around August 7, anyone maybe thinking of going at that time?. Looking for coordinates or any advice, help in making the trip more enjoyable and staying on the right trail. :) Thanks in advance
I didn't make it up the Pass this past attempt unfortunately. Kawasaki dropped a valve less than a mile from the truck at the beginning of the FSR on the Crawford Bay side. Heading back in August to give it another shot with the Beta or XR if I can't get the engine swapped in the Kawasaki beforehand.
When are you heading up in August. We are going to be in Balfour for August 7, 8, 9, 10 and would be willing to stay longer if someone wanted to do the Rose Pass as a team. We are well equipped in a 93 Jeep Grand Cherokee locked front and rear.
On Thursday I went up to the top from the Crawford bay side. There is a tree across the trail within the first kilometer of where the trail starts by the Canyon creek fsr sign. A bike or quad can make it under no problem. Someone has done a little trail widening on the lower section but not much. About halfway up it is grown in fairly good. I went to the very top were it breaks over and you can look down into the St. Marys,this is where I turned around. Where I did turn around there are three Spruce or Balsam trees across the trail , a motorcycle can get around these no problem. Judging by semi dried puddles and quad tracks that turned around by these trees I would say only a couple of quads have been up this year. Also spotted a Quad trail at the top beside a old campfire/campground. Other interesting info,10km from top down to Canyon creek fsr,10 km down to pavement at the recycle bin and 10 km of pavement to ferry. Also did Gray creek to Kimberly before doing this on the same day and there is active log hauling coming down from the St. Marys.
Thank you, we have a chain saw so not really worried about deadfall, but I AM CONCERNED about running a chainsaw in any wooded area right now. We do carry a chain saw, but would seem quite unwise to run it right now. Thoughts of locals?
Caution is wise right now re running a chainsaw. I've seen sparks off the chain while still in all wood. No sign of precip in the forecast just high/mid 30s temps, last precip was a couple of weeks ago and didn't cover a very large area. Or if a cut is made have water on hand and linger awhile to be sure nothing is going to flare up vs cut 'n go.
Ok so just yesterday I finished the Rose Pass solo on a camping gear loaded up DRZ 400. It was quite doable but took me some work to get through...but there some very big snags with this. Spun out on some climbs and took a bit to get going. Huge deadfall that quaders have just gave up chainsawing and went around. Overgrowth was annoying but not a deal breaker going down...I remembered thinking this wouldn't be fun going back up. So i crossed the river and that was a bit deeper and slippery than expected. But hit the St Mary and I'm home free!!!...nope. Huge and I mean huge landslide has blocked the whole road. I did not have a fun time going back. It's a fun quad and dirt bike trail, not a loaded dual sport one for sure. And only if you want to turn around and come back and not actually pass through on the Rose Pass. I was pretty nervous i was going to have the energy in the heat to actually make it out. I'm still shaking my head I tried this thing out by myself with that much gear and a drz. I have video of it i could post (not the landslide though...too much ☹️ for me to take a pic of that).
Southeast Forest District has a full OHV ban in effect for the area now so it looks like my trip over the Pass will be delayed again unless it is lifted in the next week or so. Looking at the forecast I am not too optimistic. Managed to swap the engine in my Kawasaki with the spare I had but will most likely just take the Beta or GasGas this time. I guess if the ban isn't lifted there is always September!
Headed out the westfork today on my XC skies today and wow that is some landslide. I feel bad for whoever owns the trapline/cabin down that road. I wonder if a road will ever be caved through the slide?
