Pavillion Lake Day Trip

[deepdiverbc]

Interesting. I didn't know about microbiolites and some of them looked pretty big. Thanks for the report

 

[DaleC]

The last one in the video was as big as a freezer! (maybe that's the fisherman in me speaking)

Sable, I just drilled a hole through the Al flatbar and used the knob bolt thing that came with my camera. It is a simple Intova IC 800. The bar was a little flexy so I am adding a second flatbar across the top to stablize it. 3' long, 1" wide Al flatbar $12 at Rona or Home Depot. 1" PVC 45degree elbows and Tee joints are bungeed onto the ends for light articulation and my lights slide into them.

 

[BradnerBoy]

And a bit of wax paper (or two) over each lens, held on with an elastic band, will nicely diffuse those bright Cree lights.

Aloha

The last one in the video was as big as a freezer! (maybe that's the fisherman in me speaking)

Sable, I just drilled a hole through the Al flatbar and used the knob bolt thing that came with my camera. It is a simple Intova IC 800. The bar was a little flexy so I am adding a second flatbar across the top to stablize it. 3' long, 1" wide Al flatbar $12 at Rona or Home Depot. 1" PVC 45degree elbows and Tee joints are bungeed onto the ends for light articulation and my lights slide into them.

 

[sunkmail]

This may be totally wrong, so be kind.

Back when I was volunteering as a diver at the aquarium, I got the chance to talk with one of the main diving people of the project. (I'm not sure of the exact title) ....

I was lead to believe that a single day trip wasn't a good idea - Although the lake isn't at a super high altitude, the pass you need to drive through to get back to metro Vancouver has significant enough elevation gain to be an issue.

It seems you didn't get bent on your ride back, which is obviously good, but do you want to risk that each time?

Again, I'm not 100% on this info, abnd I'm not even sure how to look up the info to check it for myself.

 

[Slamfire]

The bar was a little flexy so I am adding a second flatbar across the top to stablize it.

Do you know about Metal Supermarkets? They have one store here in Langley just behind the Sportsplex, a block away from Colossus. You can find all sorts of bars, angles, I-beams, etc, made up of all sorts of metals. There are no minimum quantities to buy. You may be able to find something less bendy than a flatbar without having to sandwich it with a 2nd bar to stabilize it.

 

[sablefish]

Again, I'm not 100% on this info, abnd I'm not even sure how to look up the info to check it for myself.

Google Maps has a terrain feature, and you have to zoom in pretty close to see the topo lines. It appears that Trans Canada follows Thompson River closely to Cache Creek (200-400m) , and Caribou Hwy to Duffy Lake Rd. goes through a valley (>600m). Pavillion Lake is >1000m. I figure going up #1 and up hwy97 would be a lower altitude ride back than cutting north through hwy99/Pemberton/Lillooet. Someone should doublecheck my map reading skills, though.

 

[DaleC]

No worries Sunkmail

It's downhill from Pavillion to Hope. Perhaps there is a rise between Cache creek and Lytton (have to check) but not that much. Just my own opinion but how conservative does one need to be if you kill some time before the dive, adjust your depth for EAD and don't go into deco?

When we did the VGH chamber tour last year the doctor also said that the drive back from the Howe sound involved a rise (up and over N. Van) but nobody seems to worry about that. Up from 0m at Whitecliff to 355m in N. Van in about 15 minutes. The descent from Pavillion is stretched over 4 hours with rises of no more than about 100m in places. And one big bump past Lytton it seems.

There are also some other things one can do to reduce the risk of DCS on a trip like this:

Use Nitrox I (32%) and dive it as air.
Don't dive deep (most of the microbiolites I've seen were < 80').
Switch to 40% in the shallows and do an extended SS (which I did).
Adjust the conservative settings on the computer (if you use one).

I would also take what others say about dives like this with a grain of salt (including me). The first time our group heard of Pavillion the word was that recreational divers couldn't even access the lake. We were about to pass it over when I decided to head on up there and give it a go anyways.

I traced the route also on google earth and except for some yo yo's between Yale and Lytton the route is mainly up or down (depending on direction of travel). Makes sense as the road follows the Thompson and Fraser river basins. I did the Lillooet - Pemberton route last year and would not recommend it for a day trip. It is beautiful but way way longer even if you factor in the distance from Abbotsford to Vancouver.

Another way to look at this trip is to compare its time and cost to traveling to Nanaimo to dive the wrecks.
Pavillion: 6am departure. Return 7pm. Cost $60 fuel.
Wrecks: 6am departure. Return about 7pm. Cost $20 fuel, $100 ferry, $120 charter.

 

[deepdiverbc]

I used my Garmin mapping software to create this profile. It should answer your questions about the drive back from Pavilion Lake.

Just put a sign in your back window "Diver On Board" and drive really slow between Lytton and Hope.

 

[DaleC]

I think I'll just hold my breath between km's 130 and 140