In winter the Lodgepole Lake FSR is kept plowed to the Rec Site on Lodgepole Lake at 1339m (4721 feet).   This is a good spot to venture out for winter snowshoeing, using logging roads and access tracks to cutblocks, skid tracks, marshes and ponds, OHV trails, and open cutblocks, linked together to create a loop route.   Other snowshoers may have set tracks which can be followed, or we can strike off to make our own route.  On this mid-February day, the skies were sunny-cloudy with some steady wind that blew snow crystals into the air.   We started by going up the Chuwhels Mountain FSR then striking off north onto an old track into a replanted cutblock.   We crossed a marsh then worked our way through forest, winding around obstacles and forging through cutblocks to pick up a marked motorcycle trail in the Chuwhels OHV Trail system.

 

---

 

On this windy, winter day, ice crystals (diamond dust) were blowing through the air so we saw a halo around the sun.

---

 

Our route took us across a marsh where there was open water moving down the Walloper Creek tributaries.

---

 

We broke trail on the flagged OHV trail to the top of the hill.

---

 

There was some steeper terrain through a replanted slope.

---

 

The sun broke through swirling clouds and the halo effect was clearly visible from the viewpoint.

---

 

We made our own  route down from the top of the hill, winding through forest and descending by an old track until it merged with another track that linked to Lodgepole Lake.

The route was about 6 km and it took about 2.5 hours.   There are many possible routes in the area near Lodgepole Lake and we will be sure to pick a new one next time.