I wish, I would've gone in to explore a bit. It's just a hole dug out of the hill with a makeshift bench and shelving inside. I guess if you're hiking on the trail and need a place to crash, you can crash in there... I wouldn't :).

bugs ftw. c'mon man, meals on wheels, nature style.

I'm so going to go in May...the missus is going back to Japan for 2 weeks, so I'm free!

Presto: You wrote 26km in one post, and 21km in another. From Princeton going towards Tulameen, at what point is that place? I guess it's visible from the road? North side or south side?

There's KM markers on the side of the road on trees. This is after Tulameen. After you pass Otter Lake, the road goes on for a few km and then you'll come across the first cattleguard. After that, the road is gravel for 40km, and the markers start counting down from 41KM.

The hole in the hill is around the 21KM mark (can't quite remember precisely. i've narrowed it down since i went again), but an indication would be 2 big dirt mounds on either side of the road, and a foot bridge crossing a creek on the right side. Right after that is a big rockface with some graffiti (bring a jiffy marker and leave your initials).

heh, senna, i smell a road trip =p i wouldn't mind meeting up with a couple guys and then driving up. as long as it is done on a sunday monday or tuesday

I'm thinking Sunday~Monday.

Yea that one is pretty sick.

i'd be down for that. =p if you really wanna set something up, pm me and i'll give you my msn.

It's gonna be some beautiful, cruising weather on Saturday. I'm gonna be doing the Meritt Loop again. I'll take Coalmont Rd there (the gravel road) and i'll take the Crowsnest (route 3) back. If any of you are gonna be there, keep an eye out for the Prius :)

I'm going May 6/7 or 13/14. How long will it take to go to Princeton, drive the Coalmont road then drive back to Van?

it'll be about 2.5-3 hours to princeton if you drive non-stop and then the time varies on speed.

so i would say it would be a day trip.

3 there 3 back, maybe 1-2 hrs driving the road(just a guess, never driven it before), and a bit for a stop for food or something.

Made another trip out to Princeton today. I had to be somewhere in the evening so I had a time limit this time. It took about 2.5 hours to get to Princeton going about the speed limit. All I did was zip along Coalmont road from Princeton to Coalmont. I think it was about 15km distance.

Today I didn't loop. I just got to Coalmont and turned around. The way back seemed to be more fun to me. Going the other way, the road had better visibility so I was able to go a bit faster... Felt my stability control kick in a few times ;) The whole trip took about 6 hours. Next time, I'll be sure to run Coalmont Rd back and forth a few times.

I'm going next weekend. I'm going past Coalmont up to Brookmere, where my dad's family was shipped off to during WWII. Kind of a 'going to discover my roots' trip.

:werd:

Did you check out Brookmere, Senna? I went to Princeton today (again!). The weather was awesome. All I did was drive Coalmont Rd from the outskirts of Princeton to the edge of Coalmont. That run is 15km, one way. I did 4 roundtrips, racking up 120km, just doing that segment.

The strategy for driving that segment is to time it so you don't have anyone in front of you that might slow down your progress. When I get to Coalmont, I'll u-turn and head back up the road a bit and pull over to the side. If I didn't see cars pass me on the way to Coalmont, I'll just start the run again. If I passed a car, and I was close to Coalmont, I'll wait 3-4min before starting back. If a car is coming out from Coalmont, I'll let it pass, wait 4-5 min, and then go. When I get to the other end, 15.1km later, I'll u-turn, and repeat the Coalmont procedure. I've never caught up to anyone using that strategy, and it makes for a fun, fast run along the mountain side. Another tip is to try and get to Princeton with a quarter tank or less of gas remaining, the less weight, the better :). Princeton is close enough that you can gas up anytime.

The Crowsnest seems to take a bit more strategy to master. Ideally, you want to work it, so you can drive fast through the curvy sections without being blocked by other traffic. Memorization aside, it helps to have a GPS so you can identify when you are approaching the curvy sections. I managed to get an awesome run today, both there and back.

i like crowsnest eastbound, it has more 2 lane sections it seems, so you can do out-in-out safer. ie you dont need to cross the yellow =p

I'm going about 8am tomorrow.

Bah...I couldn't wake up early enough so I didn't go. I'll try going next week. I did go to the Hope Slide though, then a few km past that to Sunshine Valley which used to be a Japanese-Canadian internment camp during and after WWII. Yes, in-car GPS nav helped out a lot.

Went for a drive today. Ended up here. More pics to come.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s/PICT4976.jpg

After doing a little bit of research, my guess is that the hole is a former airshaft that served as part of the ventilation system for the old coalmines that are/were in the area. There is still an operational mine just outside of Coalmont.

When the coal mines of nearby Blakeburn were closed, all of the entrances were collapsed for safety reasons. If you look up, you can still see the roof and its supports. Blakeburn is now a ghost town in ruins, but one can still go there and explore the old settlement. It was abandoned in the 1940's.

sweet!

time to go exploring a ghost town

Cool. Thanks for the research. Always good to learn something new. The backyard is just too big in BC... it's gonna take a long time to explore it all. I think I'm up for the challenge :)

Here's a clip from Hope to Princeton and back again. The Coalmont Rd run starts at 2:54 or 6:54 depending on which way the time is showing. I'm gonna head up there again on Saturday.

[youtube=izwiD1phuyw][/youtube]

Hey! You didn't stop to see the Hoodoos!

Wtf is shown on your screen at approx 5:00? I don't have that.

Anyone want to go up to Blakeburn and explore the old mining town? It's about 4km SE of Coalmont...up some dangerous active logging/mining roads. I'd love to go up maybe sometime in July or August.
http://town.princeton.bc.ca/ghost_towns.php
http://groups.msn.com/GhostTownsofBC/history.msnw
http://www.nethop.net/~sandness/Granite2.htm
http://www.mozey-on-inn.com/
http://www.michaelkluckner.com/bciw2.html

Presto, which lake did you go to at Kentucky Alleyne Park?

senna, i'd be down to see some ghost town

Hoodoos? Where be that?

The data on the screen is the CAN-view modification. Way more info than a ScanGuage or the stock MFD. A guy in Hope makes 'em. He's stopping production at the end of this month, so if you want one, you gotta get it now.


I wouldn't mind some exploration of the area sometime. I wasn't able to go right up to the lake, last time I drove to the park. I saw Kentucky lake from a distance, though. It was super blue.