Prospecting Expedition: Winter Edition FN2406

Prospecting Expedition, during the dead of winter…. Like you might have guessed it was more of a spur of the moment idea, and ended quickly, but it has fuelled the desire to
GO BEYOND. 

It all began with brothers shooting the breeze, talking ideas like they do. The conversation turned into the deep yearnings of our heart, which it occasionally does, (Not often enough) and we talked about being in the wild, doing manly things, and adventuring to places few have seen, to prospect for untouched sanctuaries. Places we could earn to reside and enjoy by trekking deep into unknown forests and walking along unfamiliar mountains. 

“WE ARE PROSPECTORS OF
​UNTOUCHED SANCTUARIES”

We zeroed in on a place we thought would be as remote as we were willing to venture on google earth and set a date. Winter brought more unknowns and with late notice also came with no access to sleds, so a truck would have to do its best. With that decision came outcomes we would have to prepare for. 

We knew of some old logging roads that would aid the first steps of our expedition, but the snow was heavy and kept coming down. We downloaded the offline map of the area and started into the unknown. The excitement brought us back to our childhood days, this alone made the trip worth it. We were excited to be on an adventure without knowing if or when were would reach a destination, we plotted it out on a map. A true test, and challenge for a real adventure. 

As we drove a deep into the think wooded wonderland, the snow became deeper and deeper and the incline became steeper and steeper. The elements and terrain seemed to be mounting against us, which gave us an inclination that this might end early. Next time, snowmobiles would make light work of these trails, while we were slogging through wet, deep snow. How often do we use the wrong tools and get frustrated when they yield slow results, but in this case, we were mentally prepared for the limitations of a truck. 

We reached our final accent, we went up, backed down, and up again and again to try to summit this seemly meager hill. The last time we started sliding to the left and towards the trees. We had to quickly get out and winch ourselves to the trees on the opposite side. We dug around the wheels and slowly inched our way back. The picture doesn’t do it justice…it was a 4 foot drop off to our left and would be a long walk out to get help.

Luckily, we made it out turned around and went for a little exploration mission by foot to find a magical circular clearing in the middle of the deep think mountain forest. We scoped it by drone, and then made our way, into what we thought would be an easy walk through the woods. We quickly realized it was across a gorge that was not as an apparent from the sky. So we descended down to a creek bed and walked along it for a ways and realized that 80 ft cliff to the south running along the creek needed to be climbed to get to the clearing. Why we needed to get to this clearing, no particular reason, just a challenge to be accomplished and it was very circular, so it intrigued us. Also, we needed to accomplish something on our quest. 

Climbing the cliff in the snow ended up being quite difficult and taxing, but we made it to the top with a couple bumps and bruises. Once to the top it was thick deep snow and hard to make our way. But we saw what looked to be a bit of path to the south and eventually we came upon our desired clearing. This wasn’t the intended destination, but as we reached the clearing the wind was blowing the snow off the trees creating a magical swirling effect. A little gift for our efforts.

As we made it back, we stopped at an old campsite off the road and made a fire. As I sat staring at the flames, I contemplated the effort we made and the learnings of the day. 

1. Attitude is everything. We could have been very discouraged with our lack of achievement, but we made the best of the situation, and enjoyed each other’s company and the small unknown gifts along the way. 

2. The right tools will heavily increase the odds of achievement. If we had snowmobiles, we would have made light work of the trails and we would have made it to the lake in a lot less time, with less chance of getting stuck. Also with 3 snowmobiles if one got stuck we would have 2 to get that one out. 

3. Preparation is king. We brought ropes, straps, chains, just in case the truck came into any issues, and we knew if we got to a certain point and it wasn’t a go that we would turn back and try again. That came in handy.

4. It’s about the journey, so patience is required. we tend to define our lives if we achieved a destination or not. But enjoy the process of life is sweeter. Remember 98% of life is the journey. 

Though ‘Beyond’ was not reached, we are determined to keep trying. This chapter is not complete, stay tuned for the rest of the attempts as more favourable weather returns.  This is an adventure you’ll want to follow, it’s going to be good!



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