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Wilderness Adventures - October Week 1
|
This
is about a remote area in west central British Columbia, Canada
called the West Chilcotin. Surrounded by numerous glacial mountain
ranges, alpine lakes teeming with wild Rainbow Trout, and full
of wildlife. Living here goes from no running water or electricity
to spacious log homes with all the conveniences and without
the smog!
If
you would like to see pictures of wildlife, mountains, lakes,
exciting snowmobiling, events and more, and read stories like
'Lake Monsters' - just go into Archives on the lower left side
of this page.
| 07/10/2005
11:22 PM
|
The Tree Thing
|
You
see a lot of different things now because of the beetle.
Our British Columbia politicians as well
as federal have begun to understand that the Mountain
Pine Beetle is going to have a devastating effect
on the provincial economy from lumber and everything subsidiary
to a possible tourism impact. Although that last point
is a telling one. I, among many would have expected a
more negative reaction from vacationers this summer because
of the beetle infestation in lodgepole pine along Highway
20 that we all find devastating because it's so obvious
to us. But heck, we live here! Most of the visitors
to the area noticed it, and commented on it, but really
didn't seem to think it was that big a deal other
than they were very curious as to what had caused the
red needled pine trees. Upon learning, they were very
sympathetic and supportive, but it kind of brought real
life to our door. Are we making a way bigger deal
of this than need be? From a tourism point of
view, very possibly. From a forestry point of view? No.
A lot of forestry dependent towns in BC are going to be
hurting pretty badly for the next few years, or even for
generations.
But there is the good side! Firewood is more readily
available, and since we all rely heavily on wood
for heating, and the price of fuel has risen to increase
the cost of going to get firewood, near accessibility
is a good thing. What's not a good thing is the beetle
killed trees falling on the power line. And that is going
to become a very common thing. A few days ago we were
without power for several hours in early evening because
of a beetle-kill tree on the powerline. Aside from losing
all my inbox email on my computer, the power outage did
little damage because we're all used to them. Our power
comes from huge diesel generators mounted on semi truck
trailers in Anahim Lake but our service
and fix-it guys come from Bella Coola, so
sometimes it can be hours before our power is back up
and running.
When the government gives numbers about the eventual
impact of the beetle I wonder if they take into consideration
all the possible aspects. Power outages may be only
one of those 'hidden' impacts.
|
| 06/10/2005
11:31 PM
|
Loon Gather
|
The
young loons are gathered up and hanging out together.
The parents are long since gone but the
young hang around for at least another month putting on
size, practising flying, and putting on a little muscle
I guess. It takes a little while, but the young tend to
gather first in pairs, then in groups. Maybe that's when
they start learning how to socialize outside of family
or they've learned that it's best to be in a group for
protection. Today, I could hear a loon crying over in
another bay. A bald eagle was dive bombing it on
a regular basis trying to drive it under water enough
times to drown it. A few times the loon's yodel
was cut off mid sound and I wondered if the eagle had
gotten it, but no, you'd hear it again after the loon
rose back to the surface and see the eagle continue his
bombing attacks. Eventually it tired of the game and left
the loon alone. I'm really hoping it didn't drown it.
The eagle landed in a tree nearby and it didn't look like
it had anything in its claws so hopefully all is well.
That particular loon is from our bay on the short
arm of Nimpo Lake and seems to be the only one
with a sickly kind of call, easily recognizable and unlike
the sounds of any of the others. For some reason
the bald eagles singled out this one and its parents and
tormented them all summer. The eagles got its
sibling early on but this one has survived so far. Cruel
world out there.
Lots of snow on the Itcha and Ilkatchuz mountains
by this evening because it rained all afternoon at lower
elevations. Fall is is shaping up into winter!
|
| 05/10/2005
8:28 PM
|
The Adventures of Dave and Margaret
|
What
do you do when your vehicle gets stuck in the middle of
a meadow and you're in your seventies? Why, you
try to dig it out of course. I have some amazing
neighbours that live one property over from ours and they
both really like to hunt. Dave's moose season started
on the first of October and already the cows and
bulls are pairing up for mating season, so it's
a good time to be out there.
Yesterday the neighbours went out for a hunt in an area
that another neighbour across the lake had seen a big
bull hanging out in. All was going fine until they tried
to cross a meadow at about 5:30 last night and sank halfway
up their wheels in black slough mud. They were good
and truly stuck and no amount of jacking up the
vehicle, putting boughs under the wheels, shoveling or
using a 'comealong' was going to move it. The comealong
might have worked but they had only fine rope that stretched
too much and so they couldn't get the winch to pull enough
on the SUV to move it. Finally, after getting wet nearly
to their waists, they slogged out of the swamp and
down the slippery, rutted trail toward Nimpo Lake.
It took them awhile of walking in the dark but they got
to Chilcotin's Gate Restaurant where they
called us for a ride home. A little effort and winching
this morning and Dave had his SUV out of where it had
been stuck, but now that it was out, he had to turn around
and roar back through the swamp where he had just come
from to get back to the road. He sat at the top
of a little rise gunning the engine in 4 wheel drive imagining
that he had better drive like Mario Andretti or
he wasn't going to get back through. (See the middle picture
on the right). He nailed the gas and away he came pushing
a wake of mud in front of his wheels trying to keep up
his momentum. He just about powered out
on a tiny rise coming out of the swamp but he made it
none the worse for wear other than his vehicle was in
dire need of a wash.
How many couples in their mid-seventies do you know
that would be out hunting an animal at least four times
their combined weight, slogging through swamp
trying to get a vehicle unstuck, then down a trail in
the dark on foot headed for home? Amazing. I hope I'm
that young when I get older!
|
| 04/10/2005
8:54 PM
|
Printer Hunt
|
It's
gotten in the way of writing about more exciting things,
like living in the West Chilcotin. I apologize
for that. But sometimes those mundane things in life just
seem to get in the way.
A high quality printer is a necessity to my graphics business
and I've been spending an inordinate amount of time researching
the Internet to find the one I want. Because the one I
am using at the time to meet a deadline usually
calves at the worst possible moment I've decided
to get a jump on karma, bad luck, lady luck or whatever
it is that causes things to go boom and die just when
you need them most. Prior to this I've always used inkjets
for my business because they are most cost effective for
quality in photographic reproduction. But they're
also a real pain in the nether region, especially when
they break down at the most inopportune time.
Ink cartridges are also expensive and running a business
inkjet with separate print heads is a must. The other
downside is that the ink is not waterproof, so I often
laminate what I produce, especially materials that may
be exposed to moisture.
In the last few years color laser printers have
been coming down in price and are no longer a
prohibitive purchase for the small business owner. That's
not to say they're cheap. I'm still looking at between
$1600 and $5500 Canadian dollars to own one, and more
yet to operate one. However, in the long run it may more
than pay for itself in the lower cost of ink, higher output,
and not having to waterproof the materials by laminating
them.
The remarkable thing about the whole exercise is
discovering the awesome power of the Internet.
I should know better because I'm on it every day... I
build web sites and research for search engine optimization
all the time. I don't often have time to just shop but
the amazing part is that when you do want to look, you'll
find it. And then some!
No more sending out to companies for information, spending
hours on the phone or driving some distance and spending
hours in stores trying to figure out the best buy for
your money and needs all the while fighting off
over eager salespeople. It has the added advantage
of allowing you to research reviews from business owners
and working Joes all over North America who have already
made the purchase you're considering. It's a great way
to find out whether the product you're considering is
the right one for you or has bugs, problems or even that
you can't get decent tech service from the company you're
considering buying from.
There is no question that the Internet is an amazing
time saver when you are looking to make a large purchase.
I'll let you know in a year or so if I made the right
decision based on Internet information on the product
I choose.
|
| 03/10/2005
10:24 PM
|
Running Battle With Beavers
|
The
incredible destructive ability of the beaver can be a
huge problem. I was reminded of our annual running
battle this morning when I saw a beaver slowly
rolling by in the water in front of the house. Fall and
spring are both bad times with fall being the worst because
young beavers kicked out of the lodge are looking for
a spot to build their new home and set up house keeping
while adults are intent on putting in the winter's food
supply which usually consists of a whole lot of trees!
Right now, we can ill afford to lose our aspen
and willow to marauding beaver when the surrounding
landscape is going to be stripped bare of pines from the
mountain pine beetle.
I realize that most people, especially urban folk, consider
the beaver to be a cute, hardworking animal that means
no harm to anyone. There's no question that the beaver
is one hardworking engineer, but he's an extremely
destructive one in more ways than one. In building
a lodge and filling his underwater food bin annually,
it doesn't take very many beaver very long to completely
denude the landscape of every deciduous tree and shrub.
I know, I've watched it happen in Saskatchewan and the
resulting devastation is horrible. And believe it or not,
the beaver will continue to denude his surroundings until
he is forced to move on, or dies out from disease because
of overpopulation. In addition to chewing down all the
trees, they build dams to raise water levels. In many
isolated swamps and meadows the resulting damage may not
be measurable because it is in a remote location and may
not affect anyone directly. But here on Nimpo Lake,
we are very much affected. Or our fish stocks
are. The beaver are very bad for damming up Willy's Creek
and Nimpo Creek, both of which run into Nimpo Lake. They
also like to dam up the Dean River in several places,
including where the Dean leaves Nimpo Lake. The result?
Completely blocking spawning Rainbow trout, causing
serious environmental impact on Nimpo Lake.
Their dams slow the movement of freshening water and has
resulted in very high concentrations of the Giardia bacteria,
or the disease known as Beaver Fever.
The interesting part about all this is that the beaver
was completely wiped out of the province of British
Columbia in the early part of the 20th century
from overtrapping. Some folks got together mid century
and decided that the province needed beavers again and
brought in beavers from the prairies that were not actually
the same species as had initially populated the province.
I've often wondered if that is why they are so prolific
and troublesome now, or is it because their natural predators
are now few and far between? There are far fewer wolves
in the country and if you can believe everything you read,
that was the beaver's main enemy. Now we are.
|
| 02/10/2005
7:51
PM |
Smelling Snow
|
Time
to clean up everything in the yard that might be buried.
Snow laden clouds have been swirling around the
mountains all day to the point that they've disappeared
from view the last few hours. The air is really cool today
even with spots of sun. The wind has been out of the east
and I smell snow on the air. Went around today picking
up anything I didn't want to see buried and frozen in
for the winter and moved some aged manure onto the perennial
plants before it froze too much to move. Tried to start
the lawn mower in hopes of getting the 'lawns' trimmed
down to a manageable height before winter hits. I
use the term lawns loosely of course, because
they consist mostly of wild grasses and wildflowers intermixed
with a few obnoxious weeds. If you call dandelion and
wild rose weeds. I do. Out here anything goes, especially
if you like natural but I don't like dandelions, never
did, never will and especially don't like them because
they are not natural to North America. Or they weren't
before the first settlers brought them over. Anyway, the
poor old lawn mower got rained on one too many times this
summer and just didn't want to turn over. Maybe she'll
feel a little differently tomorrow. Then again, if there's
snow on the ground, maybe not. That's ok, I can always
use the weedeater on whatever sticks out above the snow...lawn
manicure Chilcotin style!
This
is the start of a new week, so all the stories from last
week are at September4
|
The purpose of this web site is to draw attention to a
remote area of west central British Columbia. It is a
beautiful area that relies heavily on tourism. The search
engines don't know much about the West Chilcotin, Anahim
Lake, Nimpo Lake or any of the other small communities
in the region and I hope to change that! Even as large
as this site will eventually be, there just isn't enough
room or time in the day to fully describe this incredible
country but I am going to try scraping away at the tip
of the iceberg, so join me!
Follow
the links, and see what the West Chilcotin is really like!
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