Tenere 700 Ride: Wells, Quesnel Forks, Likely, 108 Mile Ranch, Pavilion FSR, Sea to Sky Hwy

By Mike Mulligan October 02, 2023

3 Day 1,368 km Ride: Wells, Quesnel Forks, Likely, 108 Mile Ranch, Pavilion FSR, Sea to Sky Hwy

Duffy Lake Oct 1st

Sept 29: A 12 hour day from Burnaby to Wells via Hwy 99 & 97 (750 km), with a short visit with cousin David & Ann Marie Massey in Quesnel, to meet up with friend Cory at the historic Wells Hotel, who was on a weekend guided ride of the Cariboo for his friend Kelly from Clinton, The temperature dropped to 4 degrees C at Joffrey Lakes (Hwy 99 north of Pemberton) with light on/off rain until 100 Mile House, then sunshine & big billowy clouds for the remainder of the day. Hwy 26 from Quesnel to Wells & Barkerville is a very bike centric & driver enthusiast winding & undulating paved road in good condition. The east facing roof deck hot tub at the Wells Hotel was a great way to unwind & sooth the kinks of a full day of riding...we were hoping for clearer skies & a little aurora borealis entertainment.

Burnaby to Wells

Cousin David & Ann Marie Massey (Quesnel)...it was great to reconnect after so many years 😀

Wells Hotel (circa 1933)

Built as a company town for Fred Wells' Gold Quartz Mine in the 1930's and once served as a major centre of northern BC. Wells had two hockey teams, a golf course, a baseball team, a horse racetrack and a world-renowned ski hill. Wells reached its largest population size of over 4000 in the 1940s and then began to dwindle once the two gold mines closed. The town takes pride in its history and many of the unique heritage buildings have been preserved and restored. It has become a jumping off point for Barkerville, Bowron Lake Provincial Park & back country excursions.

Sept 30: Cory took us on an 8 hour 354 km FSR route from Wells to his place in 108 Mile ranch (black route). Once the fog/cloud cover burnt off it was a gorgeous day. The 1st 10-15 km was greasy & slick because of logging & recent rains, then became nice packed damp gravel/dirt that allowed a quick pace with the last 75 km a variety of looser gravel until Hwy 97....Kelly continued on home to Clinton.

Ghost lake

Ghost Lake Falls

East view from Cameron Ridge to Cariboo Mountains Park & Mitchell Lake

Little River (popular with kayakers)

Quesnel Forks Ghost Town

Quesnel Forks is a hauntingly striking ghost town accessible to the public by a dirt road from Likely, just 9km/5.5mi away. Visitors can wander through original log cabins and a heritage graveyard, the only evidence of the past residents who lived here in the late 1800s. In the early 1860s, gold fever was rampant at the confluence of the Quesnel and Cariboo Rivers. ‘The Forks’ quickly became a rowdy camp with 5,000-plus residents. After the gold seekers moved farther north, the community’s key location made it a major entryway to the goldfields and it remained a busy hub. When the Cariboo Wagon Road was completed in 1865 the community was bypassed, and fell into decline. By the mid-1870s, most of the residents had left, though a thriving community of Chinese prospectors and merchants temporarily remained to support a widely dispersed mining community.

Likely

Likely is situated at the mouth of 100 km long Quesnel Lake. The lake lays claim to being the deepest fjord lake in the world and the area surrounding it is a part of the only inland temperate rainforest in the world giving it a unique climate. It is a small rural community in the Cariboo Region, nestled in the foothills of the Cariboo Mountains. This area played a significant role in the Cariboo Gold Rush of 1859 when rough-edged boom towns like Quesnel Forks, Cedar City, and Keithley Creek had overnight populations in the thousands, predating Barkerville.

Between 1896 and 1898, the river was dammed (Golden River Dam Quesnelle) to allow mining of the Quesnel River bottom. As a result, the town that sprang up was eventually known as Quesnelle Dam. The first bridge into Likely was built on the foundations of the dam and those foundations are still visible from current bridge. When the post office was moved from Quesnel Forks in 1923, it was felt that a name change was due to better suit the town’s new status. John ”Plato” Likely was a popular miner at the time and so the name was changed.

Lunch at the Likely Lodge has become a ritual...great food & view of the river & park from the outdoor deck

Quesnel River

Bullion Pit Lookout Water Cannons

Oct 1st: -2 degree C departure from Cory's at 108 Mile Ranch

Quebec Maple Syrup from 'The Sugar Shack' in 70 Mile House

Pavilion Road (at Clinton take Pavilion-Clinton/Kelly Lake Road west, then up & over Pavilion Mtn)...recent rains made most of the northern 2/3 of the road on top of the plateau greasy & slick with standing water