Mackenzie Trail 2005 - Part 1

I think I'll be editing this post for some time, because this trip was longer than I can fit into a single session of writing. Or maybe I'll just give small bites at a time. We'll see how it goes.
For Pamela and I, this was our first big holiday since going to England and Scotland in 2003, and it started for us on Friday, August 12th, with a long hot drive from Abbotsford to Vernon, via Merritt, Nicola Lake, where Oliver had a dip, Kamloops, and then finally, on to Vernon. We stayed overnight in Vernon Friday night, and left Willow, our 11 year old Husky, with Pamelas parents. Willow still likes to be out and about, but is getting a bit too old for the harsh bumping of an offroad trip. Looking back now, we would have likely ended up with some serious problems, as it was a very bouncy trip and even very hard on Oliver, our 2 year old border collie.
On Saturday morning we departed Vernon early, then had breakfast with my brother and sister-in-law in Kamloops. Headed up highway 5 through Barriere, where we had a short stop just short of Little Fort, at the farm wher I original purchased this truck 8 years ago. The previous owner, Mickey, was really excited to see how far the truck had come and that it was being driven daily.
We proceeded up the big hill on highway 24 westbound, which slowed us down to 2nd gear for about 15 km. We didn't overheat, but the footwell got hot enough (even with the door vents) that Pamela had to splash my toes with water because the felt like they were burning up. When we got to the top and drove for a bit we found another lake for Oliver to dip in, one of his favourite activities.
After a long day, we arrived in Williams Lake around 5 PM and stayed at a low budget motel, resting up in a normal bed and having a real shower for one last night before the offroading starts.
Sunday morning found us waiting, chasing around, waiting some more, then finally proceeding to Quesnel as the rest of the group assembled in dribs and drabs at the Extra Foods on the south end of town. A few trucks had a bit of trouble on the way up, everyone wanted to top up fuel, grub and beer, and lots of last minute activities, and around 2 PM we were ready to hit the dusty trail.
And dusty it was. The first 70 Km west from Quesnel were on a main logging road and, even separated by a kilometer between each truck, we were all eating dust. The open cab on our truck didn't help a whole lot. Finally, we reached the turn off for Titetown Lake, and with that a reduction in speed to about 5 mph, in low range, which effectively reduced the dust to nothing. This is close to the Mackenzie Trail head, and where the fun really starts. It was now around 4 PM, and we had about 18 Km to get to Kluskoil Lake, which is where we planned to spend the night. After fording the narrowa at Titetown, the trail immediately got narrower and much more primitive. Those of us that had been on the trip in the opposite direction 3 years before recalled that the last kilometer or so down to Kluskoil was rather rough, but the rest of the trail was pretty good. Well, 3 years later, and the main trail leading from Titetown past Kluskoil was rougher and muddier than the road down to the lake itself. This was a real surprise to both the newcomers and the returnees, and the last of the trucks finally made camp at the lake as it was getting dark around 8 PM. Just as we were setting up tents and preparing supper, a thunderclap rattled our teeth and it poured down rain for a half hour. What a way to start the first night's camping!