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“You can’t beat it. It’s just a great way to have fun with your friends and explore.” — Three Valley Al
Whether you’re a geocaching newbie or a seasoned Three Valley Gap explorer, the Revelstoke ATV Club Three Valley Gap GPS Poker Ride is set to be the ATVing adventure of the summer.— Photo courtesy Allan Obrigewitsch
Dates: July 1 to September 30, 2021. Note – event extended to September 30, 2021.
Location: Three Valley Gap, located 27 kilometres southwest of Revelstoke, just west of the summit of Eagle Pass
The much-anticipated Revelstoke ATV Club Three Valley Gap GPS Poker Ride is entering its 15th edition in 2021.
In 2007, Allan Obrigewitsch—known affectionately as “Three Valley Al”—became president of the Revelstoke ATV Club and decided to organize an ambitious, fun and memorable geocache ride designed as a club activity. Club members took to the pursuit quickly and spread the word to their friends.
“The big difference between our GPS ride and a lot of other rides is that you don’t have hordes of people all heading in the same direction trying to achieve the same goal,” said Obrigewitsch. “With the GPS ride, you can have a select group of people that you like to ride with and go and enjoy the ride and scenery while looking for your hands of GPS markers. This allows you to mitigate the dust and a lot of the other hassles when you’re riding in big groups. You can space yourself out and just simply have fun.”
COVID precautions taken
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the event is set to take place over a two month period rather than a one day outing in an effort to keep riders distanced from one another—and to stretch out the fun for two whole months!
“With the group restrictions that were put in place in 2020 in order to comply with all the health requirements, we changed the venue to an online event where you buy your hands online and have two months to find your markers,” said Obrigewitsch. “Everyone comes and goes as many times as they want through the summer to find their markers. It worked remarkably well last year we’re doing it this way for 2021 as well.”
“You can’t beat it. It’s just a great way to have fun with your friends and explore.” — Three Valley Al, regarding the upcoming Revelstoke ATV Club Three Valley Gap GPS Poker Ride.— Photo courtesy Allan Obrigewitsch
Expanded territory
One other major change for 2021 is that the Revelstoke ATV Club is no longer just placing markers in the Wap Mabel area (south of Three Valley Lake).
“For 2021 we have added two other areas where GPS markers will be placed,” Obrigewitsch said. “This has opened up areas that those who have taken part in the ride over the years are now challenged with and areas they haven’t ridden before.”
Markers can now be found in the Shelter Bay Area (about 50 kilometres south of Revelstoke on Hwy 23) and the Gorge North Fork Area (about 50 kilometres west of Revelstoke and north of Highway #1). Expect at least 36 markers in each of the marker areas.
The Revelstoke ATV Club Three Valley Gap GPS Poker Ride takes place at Three Valley Gap, located 27 kilometres southwest of Revelstoke, just west of the summit of Eagle Pass.— Photo courtesy Allan Obrigewitsch
Cost
Poker hands can be purchased ahead of time by emailing [email protected]. Three hands can be purchased for $40 or nine hands for $105. With each purchase of three hands, riders will be given an ATVBC raffle ticket. Each hand consists of four randomly chosen markers from the marker area that the purchaser selects. Each hand is also given a random starting value from 1 to 50.
For any ATVers that need a little assistance, Revelstoke ATV Club members are available to help riders use their GPS devices and plan their routes.
Whether you’re a geocaching newbie or a seasoned Three Valley Gap explorer, the Revelstoke ATV Club Three Valley Gap GPS Poker Ride is set to be the ATVing adventure of the summer.
“The best part of the ride is that as you’re tracking down your markers, you get to enjoy all the beautiful scenery that this area has to offer,” Obrigewitsch said. “Stop at a lake and have a picnic and go after your markers at your own speed, enjoying the day and the game and just having fun.”
What to bring:
- GPS
- A good mapbook, such as Backroad Mapbooks
- Extra fuel
- Lots of water to drink
- A radio with all the B.C. resource road channels in it so you can let loggers know when you’re on the road
- A Spot or a Zoleo tracking unit
