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over the hills and far away
Canada
708 Posts |
Posted - 09/10/2012 : 10:34 PM
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Well it was about time I made it up the Texas Cr FSR, just south of Lillooet on the west side of the Fraser, and took the right hand branch at 7.5 km to this beautiful lake. We all have places that we really want to go, but just keep putting it off and putting it off.... Not this year.
A couple weeks prior my dad and I spent a day exploring the area, making it up to 8000ft on four wheels by following old mining tracks that 4x4's keep alive. We went to "Moly Lake" and up "Moly Ridge", where I got decent views of the area, including the long ridge that goes over Rigby Pk to Revolution Mtn (names taken from GE).
 
It was after this day trip with my paps that I decided I needed to spend at least a couple days basecamping from Moly Lake.
The map shows roughly what we accomplished in our relaxed way.
Red= what we did
Blue= didn't do but looked easy
Green= looked difficult and exposed
Moly Lk sits at about 6850ft, and old mining tracks in the area make accessing higher places pretty easy.
Mon Sept 3
So on the 3rd Nic and I left the Valley and made it up to Moly Lk by noon, set up camp right beside its outflow, and started hiking around 1pm. We hiked through a bit of forest and by some tarns to a col east of Moly Lk. We then turned north and walked the long ridge to Revolution Pk (8265ft), passing over Rigby Pk (8020ft) along the way.
  
 - Onion Pk
 - Onion N3, N4, and Moly Pk
      
 - mining track up Moly ridge
 - I built a couple small cairns- easily destroyable for the offended.  - Lakes north of Rev Pk.
The weather was deteriorating but the views were good, and the effort satisfying. After a brief discussion about how we were going to change the world, how it would be different from now on, and how "the man" could shove it, I was told to stop talking to myself and let's go... we retraced our steps and went back to camp. Ascending Onion E1 from the col looked easy enough, but with a drizzle starting we didn't bother. Instead we went back to camp, had a fire, ate, and retired to the tent... 
Tues Sept 4
It rained a bit during the night, but morning was looking good, especially with this muley hanging around camp:
   
It was there that morning, and stuck around throughout that evening, and the next morning too... We took it as a good sign.
Today we walked old mining track to a basin NE of Onion Pk. From where the road ended it was steep hiking/easy scrambling to reach a col between Onion and an unnamed ridge, and then to Onion's summit. Great views! I walked around the plateau of Onion's top. This is a real haven for goats. Also noticed that going from Onion over Onion E1 from this direction looked easy too.
                     
 - the middle of this pic shows a small (7650ft) peak we called "Onion Minor", which was easily hiked on the way down, after descending back to the col, then down to a rib that took us to an old track at its base. A 10min scramble took us to the top.
    
We rejoined the track that led back to camp. Nic had a blister and wanted to chill, so I went north at a junction to see about getting to a little lake and a couple of Onion's subpeaks. I chose this route because the connecting ridge between Onion and Onion N3 looked scary. The going was easy, so up I went, past a lake and up Onion N3 (8450ft) and N4(8585ft). Moly Pk(9020ft) is easily reachable from N4, but I did not go for it. The walking is easy on shale and scree. I was able to work the repeater on Botanie Mtn and talk to a woman near Clinton. I was extra pleased because Onion N4 was my 50th new peak of the year.
               
Easy hiking took me back to camp. I played with the camera. I wasn't real happy with my pics from this trip. I'm open to feedback or tips, as long as they're not regarding crooked horizons...
   
Wed Sept 5
Had a lazy morning, but needed to be back to civilization by mid afternoon. Although this area is sometimes visited by 4x4's, it is not at all trashy. It is clean. Let's keep it that way; it's a great place to basecamp.  |
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 Peak bagging, bushwhacking, zamboni driving, snowshoeing, self portrait artist, and speed demon who loves to hang out on Mt. Seymour
3996 Posts |
Posted - 09/10/2012 : 10:53 PM
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Nice to see what Wonder and Boulder look like from the other side.
Your trip is one I've looked at a bit this past while (after Dru was up Texas Creek) and last year reading reports on bc4x4.com. I don't think I would be disappointed if I went up there - great looking area. You got lots of good shots showcasing it and some splendid ridge/peak rambling.
You may want to turn on the grid screen on your camera (for some reason I can't mention)...
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Trail running, bike hucking, fast packing, beer drinking collector of pine cones on a day pass
AKA
Dances with Trees
Forest Gnome Cabin
Canada
13035 Posts |
Posted - 09/10/2012 : 11:21 PM
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Ever since reading about this area in Mountain Biking SW BC I've had my eye on checking it out. Good on you for for hitting the 50th new peak as well. There are a lot of great shots you posted here, must have been nice to explore a place you've wanted to see more of for a while! Thanks for the report.
Re the shots, what program do you use to finish.modify them? I grabbed a couple and worked them quickly in Photoshop. In this one I reduced shadows 15% and upping saturation 5%
 
Second one, 20% shadow reduction, 5% saturation, 5% brightness
 
This one, auto adjusted the levels, 5% saturation increaase
 
Sometimes though, I like to leave the shadows alone, it all depends. The main thing is to experiment with it and find the way that matches what you remembered seeing even if your camera didn't quite capture it. Opinions may vary on modifying shots, however |
Edited by - mick range on 09/10/2012 11:40 PM |
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over the hills and far away
Canada
708 Posts |
Posted - 09/11/2012 : 07:46 AM
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That's good not-so-subtle advice Simon- thanks.
Mick I don't really "finish-modify" my pics. Maybe I could spend more time at that. I figured a 400 dollar camera set to scenery mode should know what to do. |
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Mysterious, pop can stove stashin', gps totin', overnighter virgin, wannabe tentmaker and foul weather wuss who rides a thumper to the trailhead with wonderdog Max to hike the Chilliwack Valley
Chwk
Canada
4908 Posts |
Posted - 09/11/2012 : 08:28 AM
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Beautiful area, considering how "accessible" it is.
Gotta check it out one of these days.
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Delta, BC
Canada
37 Posts |
Posted - 09/11/2012 : 08:55 AM
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| Beautiful pics. I was last to Moly Lake in 2008; I gather the first bridge on the FSR is still in good enough shape to drive over (I remember the sign saying "Bridge closed due to unsafe conditions")? |
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Happy go lucky, plaid wearin, postholin, safeway gaitor sportin, old-school film shootin, giver of many regards
Abbotsford, B.C.
Canada
13445 Posts |
Posted - 09/11/2012 : 09:07 AM
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Splendid !
Lots of beautiful shots; great place to get out. Used to drive down that stretch of road by Texas Creek in the 80's..., looking up at those mountains and wondering.
Working in the woods then, hardly got in any good pleasure trips out on the hills.
K |
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Vancouver, BC
Canada
559 Posts |
Posted - 09/11/2012 : 09:14 AM
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| Since I bought a BC 4x4 book way back when, I was wondering what this Molybdenite area would be like.... Now mystery solved. Thanks for the report. Nice looking area. |
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Trail running, bike hucking, fast packing, beer drinking collector of pine cones on a day pass
AKA
Dances with Trees
Forest Gnome Cabin
Canada
13035 Posts |
Posted - 09/11/2012 : 12:47 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Candy Sack
Mick I don't really "finish-modify" my pics. Maybe I could spend more time at that. I figured a 400 dollar camera set to scenery mode should know what to do.
Yeah, you'd think it would |
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Popkum, BC
Canada
5887 Posts |
Posted - 09/11/2012 : 1:01 PM
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You might try a circular polarizer for your camera. It brings out the colours very well and there is never any need to adjust your shots afterward. What camera do you have?
Great report of an inviting area!
Happy trails,
Lynn |
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322 Posts |
Posted - 09/11/2012 : 1:12 PM
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Some trivia..... and a question:
I was in that area many years ago- we spent about 5 days hiking over from near Blowdown Pass. In those days, there wasn't a road up Boulder Creek and I remember thrashing down that valley through horrendous bush until we finally got to a point where we could scramble up to the ridge between Texas and Boulder Creeks.
Once we got to the ridge, we climbed one nice little bump- it might have been Onion 3 or 4- at which point, the sole ripped off my hiking boot. No worries- for some strange reason, I had carried along a spare pair of brand new boots, so I promptly put them on, filled the old ones with rocks, and left them right on the top of the peak we had just climbed- it was not named at the time, so we appropriately called it "Boot Peak".
The next day, we headed down Texas Creek and got a ride back to Lillooet, and from there, caught a B.C. Rail bud car back to Squamish.
So the question is: did you by any chance see any sign of the old boots I left on the summit? |
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over the hills and far away
Canada
708 Posts |
Posted - 09/11/2012 : 4:34 PM
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^
Hm I don't know what peak you were on, but it doesn't sound like you do either... But the first thing I thought was who the heck carries extra boots! I did not find them on any of the peaks I was on. Somewhat surprisingly, there were not even summit cairns on any of the peaks I went up. Neat story though.
Interesting that you mention coming from Blowdown, because I spent some time looking into a big ridge traverse from there as well. Maybe in the future...
FB: it's a panasonic lumix dmc-fz8 12x optical zoom, 35mm equiv.... maybe it's just too fancy for me. Thanks for the advice though. |
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Sunnyvale Trailer Park
Canada
1087 Posts |
Posted - 09/11/2012 : 7:55 PM
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| Reaching 50 new peaks this year must feel pretty good, and it's only September. Moly lake looks like a great place to get away from it all. |
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Chilliwack, BC
Canada
158 Posts |
Posted - 09/11/2012 : 8:09 PM
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| Looks like a great place and good times! I'm so jealous! Your pics look fine, especially the reflection shots. You say you're not really happy with them, would you mind expanding on that? |
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359 Posts |
Posted - 09/11/2012 : 9:59 PM
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| Another great trip Clayton, looks like you guys had an awesome time and the access makes it all the more attractive. |
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Herbal tea drinkin, tree huggin, view seeking, tortoise paced, ultralite wannabe
Vancouver, BC
Canada
2847 Posts |
Posted - 09/12/2012 : 2:36 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by mick range
quote:
Originally posted by Candy Sack
Mick I don't really "finish-modify" my pics. Maybe I could spend more time at that. I figured a 400 dollar camera set to scenery mode should know what to do.
Yeah, you'd think it would
and using that logic, a car equipped with a GPS should be able to just be programmed and get you to your location while you spend all the time texting or sleeping, LOL! And $400 is just the tip of the $$ iceberg on cameras. BTW, I also have a Panasonic lumix (different model) and I get great pics from it, but I often have to "modify" them a bit in Adobe Lightroom to recreate what I actually saw, just like Mick did for you.
Really, though, you just have to remember one thing, the camera doesn't take the pictures, you do. If you expose to the horizon (not talking about straight or not), then you get sorta overall ok exposure and pics and sometimes really great shots. If you expose to the sky and clouds, you get great sky and clouds and underexposed foreground (mountains, etc) If you expose for the foreground, you get great foreground and overexposed sky and clouds. My preference is to expose for horizon for landscapes and make adjustments back home. Or if it's a really great shot, get all 3 exposures mentioned above of the same pic and then combine them in a program like Photoshop or Photomatix for exposure fusion. |
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Herbal tea drinkin, tree huggin, view seeking, tortoise paced, ultralite wannabe
Vancouver, BC
Canada
2847 Posts |
Posted - 09/12/2012 : 2:38 PM
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| Oh yeah, and what I forgot to say is this is a great TR and an area I knew nothing about!! Now I'm psyched to get in there and see it for myself. Thanks Candy Sack |
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 | Dru
Mountain Grammar Police
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Sardonic sandbagging scoundrel, Cascade Climbers lobotomized spraymeister, space blanket flyer, new millennium vulgarian betaboy and friend to all squids
Climbing, a mountain
Canada
∞ Posts |
Posted - 09/12/2012 : 2:44 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Scrambler
and using that logic, a car equipped with a GPS should be able to just be programmed and get you to your location while you spend all the time texting or sleeping, LOL!
Give this 10 years and it'll be commonplace technology.
http://www.economist.com/node/21560989 |
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over the hills and far away
Canada
708 Posts |
Posted - 09/12/2012 : 3:03 PM
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Devmar: scrambler described my problem well-- shoot for the sky and the foreground/mountains look dark; shoot for the foreground and the sky looks overexposed and fake etc... Maybe he's right that the horizon is the best bet, or a modified combo...
 
Those are examples. No need for anyone to fix them up- just examples of what I'm saying.
Dru- your spam link has nothing to do with anything relevant here. |
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Chilliwack, BC
Canada
158 Posts |
Posted - 09/12/2012 : 3:20 PM
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Cameras have a limited dynamic range just like film. 2 things can be done to address this issue; use a graduated neutral density filter or combine different exposures in software. A GND filter is cheap and would need to be held in front of the lens when taking the picture. Combining exposures in software usually means mounting your camera on a tripod. Some cameras have an HDR function that does it for you.
Cheers, Dean |
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Popkum, BC
Canada
5887 Posts |
Posted - 09/12/2012 : 3:50 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Candy Sack
FB: it's a panasonic lumix dmc-fz8 12x optical zoom, 35mm equiv.... maybe it's just too fancy for me. Thanks for the advice though.
I'm not familiar with this model but I do have the Panasonic DMC -ZS7 and the Lumix FZ100, I love them both. My FZ100 is what I use most of the time with a 52mm circular polarizer. |
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Molybdenite Lake Area Sept 3-5, 2012
