Wilderness Adventures - West Chilcotin Blog
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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' about the
Lakesounds
just
go into Archives on the lower left side of this page.
Rolling over an image will give you its description.
Check out the Picture
of the Day.
| 30/10/2009
8:50 PM
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Atrocious Highway
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I
had to drive home from Williams Lake to Nimpo yesterday
afternoon and the condition of the highway from
Williams Lake to Lee's Corner was absolutely atrocious
and dangerous as hell. There was no
excuse that could explain the shape that section of highway
was in.
When I spoke to Andy yesterday morning he said we got
about six inches of snow out here overnight. But only
about an inch or so fell in WL before it started melting,
not that it didn't make a mess of things because it did.
But I figured if that's as bad as it got, okay, even though
the temperature wasn't climbing more than a degree or
so above freezing.
I did appointments and shopping, etc. and then made the
decision to drive out instead of staying in town another
night, mainly because Andy said the temperature at Nimpo
had climbed to over six degrees and that a warm front
should be moving my way. Well it was, just not quickly
enough.
I drove from Williams Lake to Sheep Creek bridge keeping
a close eye on the thermometer the whole way. The road
was very wet but it was still a little above freezing,
so far so good. Until I climbed out of the canyon carved
by the Fraser River the road was fine. It's once I got
up on top that things went to hell in a hurry. I
don't have words in my vocabulary to do justice to what
I think of the road maintenance crew responsible for that
section of highway, but I was still running through
my large repertoire every time the wheel twisted in my
hands because one tire or another on the truck got caught
in slush. The farther I went, the worse it got and I constantly
had to gear down to fight my way through a drift of snow
in order to keep from being pulled off the road and into
the ditch, or hitting someone head on.
At one point I had to fight through a bad patch
with the truck being jerked all over by the slush when
I saw a lumber truck coming toward me. I got the
truck under control and was nearly out of the patch when
he passed me. He recognized the truck and called me on
the radio to warn me that it just got much worse from
there and that the slush was actually the best part of
the road. That so did not make me happy.
I had the truck in four wheel drive but there was still
nowhere to go if there was a problem. The jerk offs from
Williams Lake had only bothered to make one pass west
and one pass back with plow trucks on the highway. That
meant it was only just wide enough for two
vehicles to pass. However, in many spots, either where
it had drifted or where they lifted their plow for awhile,
the road was covered in deep snow that had melted to heavy
slush. Worse yet were the long stretches where they had
plowed but left a long strip of heavy slush right
where the front driver's tire would normally run on opposing
traffic. There's no way they could safely drive
on it, so oncoming traffic had to run with one tire on
the center line, because there wasn't enough open road
for them to move over toward their shoulder, or they would
have been pulled right into the ditch. I was in constant
danger of doing that because I was driving a dually, so
I couldn't move over very much for the oncoming traffic
that was having to drive the center line. It was unbelievable!
I don't know why there weren't a number of head
on collisions yesterday other than most people
were driving for the conditions, and most people are pretty
good winter drivers in this part of the country. They've
had to be because they certainly can't rely on the road
maintenance crew to improve conditions. I can only imagine
what havoc could have been wreaked by a young driver from
the city of Vancouver.
I think those S.O.B.'s from IRL thought they could get
away with only doing the very minimum plowing on highway
20 yesterday because they knew a warm front was coming
and they would just wait for the snow to melt rather
than do their jobs. I really wish I had my camera
with me, because even though it would have been dangerous
to stop in many places, and I sure as hell wasn't taking
even one hand off the wheel, I still would have figured
a way to document the conditions, even if it meant running
video from the dash board of my truck. There was
just no excuse for that highway to be in that kind of
shape! None!!!
I passed a couple of spots where people had obviously
been pulled into the ditch, one even looked like a big
truck had gone in, and I passed a car upside down
crosswise in the ditch. Fortunately, the cops
had already been there. You know, you have to wonder what
those maintenance bastards are thinking.... or do they
even have brains? Surely they must wonder what loss of
life they've caused, or even just financial loss to people
who have to get their vehicles towed out of ditches and
repaired even if they aren't injured. That's
the reason why Andy quit once IRL got the road contract
over CRS, who had always provided extraordinary service.
His new bosses were too cheap to provide salt, mag, good
sand, or decent equipment and he refused to be responsible
for someone's death because he could not do the job he
knew should be done. It's the reason why many really
good drivers have quit them in the past couple of years
since they got the contract. And I guess the ones
still there just don't care.
I finally made it to the top of the hill above Lee's Corner
where the highway conditions changed dramatically. To
do them credit, Alexis Creek's area was in excellent condition
with the highway plowed right to the shoulders as it should
be. But I saw one sand truck pull out of a side road across
from the rest area at Lee's Corner and go down the hill
toward Alexis Creek. He had his plow down. I know because
I saw the sparks while driving behind him, but he had
no snow in front of him. I know he was on his easternmost
boundary, but why the hell wasn't he plowing up
on the flats and at Riske Creek where he was really needed
instead of plowing bare pavement? Because apparently,
even though it's all the same company, the road maintenance
crew won't go outside their boundaries. They would rather
see drivers dead along the side of the highway instead,
I guess.
The only really bad section I hit after leaving Alexis
Creek was on their westernmost boundary. It was pretty
nasty there but Bar Hill was sanded at least, and then
it was bad again above that. However, I started hitting
warmer temperatures and by the time I hit the burn
at Tatla Lake, it was up to 8C. I breathed a sigh
of relief. At least if the warm front had made it that
far east, it was probably okay the rest of the way home,
and it was. A far cry from a few hours earlier when the
lumber truck had gone through. Based on his experience,
he had warned me about the area around Bar Hill and that
it was very icy from Tatla Lake right to Anahim Lake,
but he was probably ahead of the warm front so he took
the brunt of the bad roads. In any case, the road maintenance
company that has the contract for the Cariboo Chilcotin
does an absolutely appalling job overall, and it's really
too bad, because in winter, lives are at stake.
Roads were dry and bare on Wednesday on the way into Williams
Lake so I got to enjoy the scenery a bit more. Even
so, all I saw for wildlife was one coyote and a few deer.
Oh, and loads of ducks, swans, and geese here and there
on the river below Redstone and on the pond at Kleena
Kleene Ranch. And there were the cattle of course. It's
the end of open range season and the cattle are on the
move. There were quite a few along the highway waiting
for someone to come and take them home for the winter.
I went for a walk with the dogs on the back trails today
and saw some signs of life in the fresh snow, although
so many tracks had melted out it was hard to see what
they might have been. There were some squirrel tracks
but not many rabbit so they must be on a down cycle right
now. The only other tracks that were recognizable were
fox tracks and they were pretty close to our driveway,
which I know has been driving the dogs crazy at
night. I think he sneaks into the yard, maybe
just to see how far he can get before the dogs sound the
alarm. Thankfully, I didn't see anything melted out large
enough on the back trail for it to be a bear track, so
our grizzlies from last year must be long gone, or as
suggested by a CO, dead of starvation.
Today was amazing for temperature. That pineapple express
took it up over 11C or 52F today and though we had pretty
wild winds, they were warm. It took away all the snow
in the open areas and the rain we've had all evening will
probably do in the snow in the woods. It will be nice
for a change having warm temperatures for a Halloween
Party instead of everyone freezing when standing outside
to watch fireworks.
Don't forget, folks! The Halloween Party starts
at 7:00 at the Hall tomorrow night and fireworks are at
9:00. I've spent a few hours cooking snacks for
tomorrow night and will probably spend a good bit of the
day tomorrow doing the same when not decorating, so there
won't be a blog for a day or two. I've run out of time
so no new Picture of the Day. I'm afraid it will have
to stay the same.
Happy Halloween, folks!! Good haunting!
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| 27/10/2009
11:23 AM
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Typical Fall
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Our
weather isn't straying much from the norm for this time
of year. Most days the temperature only gets a couple
of degrees above freezing and then sits there, especially
since we haven't had a lot of solid sun. It's been more
a mix of sun and cloud with heavy frost in the morning
so it takes a long time to warm up through the day.
Today is bitter with a chilly breeze out of the
north that just lets you know winter is coming and this
is what it's going to feel like.
I have to drive into Willy's puddle tomorrow morning and
I'm not looking forward to it. We're supposed to have
snow for the next few days and frankly, with the due care
and attention generally paid to the highway by the road
maintenance crews, I'm expecting road conditions to be
heinous if conditions after our last snow fall is anything
to go by. I'm hoping that they're a little better prepared
for snow this time but I won't hold my breath.
Our days seem to be shortening up at a great rate
now. I know that Andy is very much looking forward
to the time change this weekend so that he has daylight
an hour earlier in the morning. (He's been quietly cheering
whenever he thinks I'm not looking every time it's been
brought up on the news.)I don't look forward to it at
all because, of course, I would like it light later in
the afternoon, but you've all heard that argument before.
Maybe that's why I dislike the month of November so much.
Long, dark days that are often dreary and cold with no
hope of the days getting longer until after the middle
of December. There's no ice on the lake yet so you can't
drive on it, or cross country ski on it. There's not enough
snow to go snowmobiling but it's too chilly to do summer
stuff, like go fishing. It's just one of those in between
blah months that I could personally do without. Unfortunately,
it is on the calendar and I can't seem to
get it off.
The same can probably be said for the month of April,
although that can vary and March can be the bad month
instead. Depending on the kind of year it is,
one of those two months will be icy, muddy, too warm to
sled and too cold to garden and generally just a very
unappealing month. But unlike November, there's hope that
spring is coming and you have that to look forward to.
I can start making plans on what I want to do in the garden,
and what projects we want to work on for the summer, of
which there is unlimited number.
Before I forget, for those full time residents, part time
residents or folks that are here off and on throughout
the year, I just want to let everyone know ahead
of time about what's happening at New Year's before you
all start making plans. Everyone around the lake
would like to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Millennium
Year Ice Party. Because organization is such a big job,
we haven't wanted to do it every year, but now seems a
very appropriate year for it.
Like the last ice party, if you have a Christmas Tree,
please save it for the Ice Party so that
we can plant it in the ice along with others around the
dance floor and string them with lights. There will
be a 'dance' floor, bonfires, and ice bar with non alcoholic
punch. (Liquor will be something individuals will
have to look after themselves, as there will not be a
cash bar.) This is a community event where everyone from
Anahim, Nimpo, Charlotte, and Tatla for that matter, is
more than welcome to attend. This is not
a Nimpo Lake Community Association sponsored event. Just
folks around the lake putting on a little party that people
can attend on snowmobiles, ATV's, or skiis for that matter.
We will also clear a parking lot for vehicles well away
from the festivities.
We will try to arrange for bus transportation to and from
Anahim Lake and around Nimpo but that's still to be negotiated.
Thanks to Leah and Richard, there will also be
fireworks, and hopefully folks will throw in a
donation for that. We also have to see how we can arrange
for snacks, and maybe for weenie and marshmallow roasts
over the bonfires for the kids and people will be encouraged
to bring their own seating if they can, but we'll try
to get hold of some hay bales as well. So.... just a little
heads up folks! Hope to see everyone there. Details will
be on posters that will be coming fairly soon and I'll
keep this updated as well.
I'll be back in a few days and a good weekend to
all if I don't write before then.
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| 22/10/2009
9:42 AM
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Tanker Accident
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We
got sad news yesterday afternoon of an accident on Highway
20. The driver that brings out our bulk fuel missed a
bad corner on this side of Tatla Lake on his way out with
a delivery yesterday morning and put his truck in the
ditch. I spoke to him only last week when I ordered our
fuel and it seems a shock that he's gone. Our hearts go
out to his family.
It takes a lot of guts to travel this highway on a weekly,
or tri weekly basis for some, in all four seasons, particularly
spring, fall, and winter. This time of year can
be particularly bad because you never know what to expect
from the road. As Andy said, it was just below
freezing early yesterday morning but didn't seem to be,
so if you didn't know that and the road looked good, you
would never know that a slippery coating of frost might
be on the surface of the road.
Winter can be bad but by then drivers on Highway 20 expect
the road to be nasty and adjust their driving habits accordingly.
Once winter hits, ice or snow on the road is pretty obvious
and you slow down. Spring can be another tricky time of
year. The highway can be clear but often there's surprise
black ice or frost on the road late in the season that
can catch you unawares. Andy's a truck driver from way
back and hauled lumber over this highway for a couple
of years with a super bee, and he says you just don't
think much about it. He's had a few hairy experiences,
admittedly some from driving too fast, but he says it's
just part of the job.
It may be part of the job, but we've a lot of dedicated
drivers from the mail man, grocery truck drivers, bulk
fuel and propane truck drivers and our freight driver
that have to go over 300 hundred miles of very lonely
stretch of highway each way from Williams Lake to Bella
Coola, and then back again several times a week. And six
months out of the year, that can be just about the most
rotten and lonely stretch of road you'll find anywhere.
On an average week day you may only pass five vehicles
on the highway from Williams Lake to Anahim Lake, and
if it's early in the morning, you won't even see that
many. If you break down or slide off the road, it
can be a long time before someone comes along that can
give you a lift to the nearest telephone. So whether
they just consider it a part of their job or not, my thanks
and the thanks of everyone in all of our communities that
rely on those truck drivers to 'just do their jobs.' Sadly,
some do lose their lives doing that job.
Highway 20 was closed for most of the day yesterday until
late afternoon due to the accident. Our phone lines were
also dead. I didn't even realize that yesterday, although
it did seem nice that the phone didn't ring at all. It
wasn't until Andy came home yesterday evening and checked
the phone that I even realized it was dead. Apparently
the explosion of the truck burned the fibre optics line
running from Williams Lake to out here. It was still dead
this morning but I just noticed that it's working now
so we either have just local service or they've gotten
a crew out from WL to splice the fibre optics line back
together.
The weather yesterday was actually really, really
nice. Not that I got to enjoy it. I was and am
in the middle of a website project (actually a graphics
project for a website that is either going to look sensational
if it works or is not going to come together at all.)
that kept me at my desk all day. I should have gone for
a walk because it looks like it may have been the warmest
day we've seen in days. The temperature didn't dip much
below freezing yesterday morning and got downright balmy
yesterday afternoon with mixed sun and cloud. This morning
is a different kettle of fish. Unlike yesterday, there
is no breeze yet, but there is a lot of frost on the ground
and the sun hasn't made an appearance yet through low
level cloud. It's a good day to work inside. Just so you
know, because of this graphics thing I'm working on, I
may not write for a few days unless something comes up.
Have a good weekend if I don't.
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| 20/10/2009
10:37 AM
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Mish Mash of This and That
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It's
pretty frosty again this morning but not that much below
freezing. There's a lot of fog rolling off of Nimpo Lake
right now so it's hard to even see the island. I don't
imagine the temperature dropped any lower last night than
it did the night before, probably around -4C, but up on
the highway away from the lake influence, Andy said it
was -8C or 17.6F yesterday morning and I expect it was
even colder in Anahim Lake. Still, if today turns out
to be anything like yesterday, it will be a beauty!
I have a mish mash of things to bring up today. First
item up is that we're having a Halloween Dance at the
Nimpo Lake Community Hall on Saturday, October 31st. with
fireworks. Kids are more than welcome to come
to the fireworks with their parents and we will have free
refreshments for them, but they won't be allowed to stay
for the dance. (I will never, ever, understand Canadian
laws in that regard. Why should children not be allowed
to be in a building where adults may be drinking? Parents
aren't going to let their kids go around sipping on drinks
at home so it doesn't seem likely that it will happen
at a function. However, we are so over regulated in that
regard compared to the US that I'm surprised the Canadian
Government allows us to think for ourselves.)
In any case, if you would like to donate toward the fireworks,
that would be wonderful. For the dance, it's 5$ at the
door and there will be snacks and a bar. Coffee and cola
for designated drivers is free. Doors open at 7:00 and
fireworks are at 9:00. There will also be a bonfire outside
the Hall. Everyone welcome!
Second item up: Bryan Reid from Pioneer Log Homes
in Williams Lake is donating the logs to the West Chilcotin
Tourism Association that we want to use for entrance
signs on each end of the three communities of Anahim Lake,
Nimpo Lake, and Tatla Lake. Thank you Bryan!
Third up: A small number of us (mostly Directors from
the WCTA and tourism operators) met one evening last week
with Donna Barnett, the MLA for the Cariboo Chilcotin
region. Under discussion was the state of Highway 20 and
the lack of rigid BC Ferry schedules for early spring
and fall. But most importantly for me was to be
able to thank her personally for her involvement in making
sure the Forestry lookout station was manned here this
year. As you probably recall, I was venting in
a big way against the Cariboo Fire Center early this summer
because they refused to man our forest fire lookout on
Little Kappan Mountain. Once I got hold of Donna Barnett,
she took the ball and ran with it, managing to get three
of the nine lookouts manned, including ours. It most probably
saved our butts out here since we ended up with a wicked
fire season. So although I contacted the television and
print media, and did whatever else I could to get that
thing manned, I have to give Donna full credit for
making things happen. Thank you Donna! I might
add that I was very impressed with her at last week's
meeting. She's very down to earth and practical, and a
perfect fit for the Cariboo Chilcotin region. Unfortunately,
if she is as attentive to everyone's complaints and concerns
that she meets with as she was with us, I fear she will
burn out if she actually tries to follow up on everything.
But she has my full respect and support for trying. It
was a real pleasure to meet someone that didn't have 'Politician'
written all over them.
I might add that she was not impressed with
the state of our highway on her way out here that day.
We had gotten snow the day before and right from Alexis
Creek it was apparent that road maintenance crews had
done nothing to plow or sand the highway. I rode with
Heidy out to the meeting on the other side of Anahim Lake
and the highway was ugly. It was even worse by the
time we came back because the melting snow had melted
into a sheen of ice with no sand or salt for traction.
Andy said when he went out the next morning he was able
to spin every wheel on the big belly dump truck he was
driving down to Towdystan it was so slippery. I expect
the highways guys heard about it from Donna when she got
back to town because she was furious. By late afternoon
sand had been dumped on the highway but the Pineapple
Express had arrived, all the snow had melted, and the
highway was dry by that time. If their situation was the
same as it was in Tatla, they simply did not have their
sand trucks ready in time for winter. I can't say
that's the local guys' fault. I know that their
bosses in 100 Mile are as cheap as they come and I doubt
they were willing to pay a winter crew to come on before
the end of October. That's what we get for the Government
taking the lowest bid for highway 'maintenance'. To give
them their due, where the local guys have had any kind
of funding, they've done what they could for us in the
way of summer time grading and they've done a good job.
Although if they don't get on the stick for our fall grading,
the road will freeze up before that happens and we'll
be dealing with wash board all winter under the ice as
happened a couple of years ago.
Well, it's noon already and although the fog has lifted
off of the lake, that's about as high as it has gone,
even with a breeze. I have no idea if there's a layer
of cloud above us or just fog, but we're sure not seeing
sun so far today! So I guess it's a good day to stay inside
and get some computer work done. I certainly don't
have the urge to go fishing out there today, I can tell
you that. I saw a couple of guys huddled up in
heavy coats in their fishing boat come trolling out of
the fog a little earlier and can only commend their dedication.
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| 19/10/2009
10:19 AM
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Frosty Pumpkin
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I
got up this morning to some pretty heavy frost on the
ground. Had we had pumpkins, they would have been white.
Still, it was only about -4C or 25F but could have been
much colder since it was pretty clear last night and it
looks like it's going to blossom into quite a nice day,
today, with lots of sunshine and crisp air.
Saturday was not a particularly nice day since it was
gloomy most of the day with a chilly wind bringing damp
off of Nimpo Lake, or from the ocean for all I know.
Yesterday it was overcast for a good part of the day but
very warm and the fish were jumping out on the lake constantly.
It just about drove me crazy and shortly after lunch once
a bunch of chores were done, Andy and I decided
we couldn't pass up the opportunity to go fishing.
It may be the last chance we get before winter sets in
and I was determined to stay out as long as possible.
Man, were those fish biting!
Since I wanted to limit out for fish in the freezer for
winter, I was cheating and putting little chunks of worm
on my fly. I don't know how many times I had fish chewing
on my worms, but I managed to set the hook in a few of
them. We hadn't gotten far from in front of the house
when I had one on that I brought in. I had just gotten
my line back in the water when another one hit hard but
he tail walked on the water a couple of times and spit
the hook out. The third one I brought in was too dark
and almost looked like it had spawning colors already
so we put it back in the lake. After that on the way to
the island and looping back I had loads more nibbling
at my worm but none took the whole hook. I picked
up another one or two on the way back toward the house
and then Andy got one shortly after that. I tried
to talk him into putting a piece of worm on his hook because
I really wanted some fillets in the freezer but he wouldn't
go for it. Too much of a purist and not
a meat fisherman, even if it does taste great midwinter!
It had been over an hour and we were both getting chilled
because the sun refused to stay out for any length of
time, but the fish were plopping out of the water all
around us and we decided to take another short run to
the island and back.
On the way back toward the house I caught a granddaddy
in the same spot as I often have before. Invariably
I've lost the really big one when it's either shaken the
hook, or taken my hook and part of my line so I was really
concentrating on getting this guy in for a change. He
was big! Even Andy realized that when I first caught him
and he was raising a ruckus behind the boat. He stripped
out a pile of line right off the bat and I was just trying
to keep him on until Andy got his line in, then brought
him toward the boat but let him run when he wanted to.
Finally, I got him close to the boat and whenever he dove,
I let him, then would start pulling line back in again.
He was right at the boat, then slack. Nothing. Nada. I
pulled in my line minus the fly where it broke on the
knot, with nothing but a partial curleque at the end to
show for my fish. Dang!!! That's about the umpteen
time that has happened over the years that we've fished
this lake, especially in late fall and always in about
the same part of the bay. Who knows how many hooks have
dissolved in that boy's mouth but I'll bet mine isn't
the only rigging he's eaten. Andy says it's unlikely that
big fish caught in this lake have been caught before,
but I don't agree. Enough people have found lures in a
fish's stomach that didn't belong to them for me to believe
they get caught more than once all the time, especially
the bigger ones.
At least we got five fish out of the deal.
I would liked to have stayed out longer but we were both
getting cold and I think Andy was getting a little fed
up with me getting all the hits. But I think they're hungry
right now and were going after the worm rather than just
a fly. Once we came in all you could see were splashes
and fish rings on the lake for the rest of the afternoon
and early evening, but Andy wasn't buying into going back
out again. With all this sunshine and once it warms up,
it would be perfect for fishing today, but he'll be working
for the next couple of weeks so as I said, yesterday may
well have been our last chance to fish unless I try casting
off our dock.
The chickadees started hanging around looking for
the seed feeder this weekend, so fall must be
crisping up to the point that they need more fuel. We
put the feeder out yesterday and they've been merrily
stocking up on seed ever since. It's nice to hear them
singing out there. I just went outside because I heard
some pretty loud knocking and a big woodpecker has shown
up but it's too early yet to put out suet. Oops, change
that thought. There's two of them out there and after
testing the house, the flag pole, and the greenhouse,
they're now looking for bugs in the few green trees we
have left, so I've put some suet out after all. Better
that than for them to put holes in our trees.
A friend of ours got his first moose yesterday.
He's pretty young and so was very excited about it, as
was his fiance. I guess once they got it up to the shop
yesterday evening, they got to work skinning and quartering
it after borrowing knives and a meat saw from us. While
Len knows how to look after a moose, the other two have
never had to deal with a large animal like that before
and it was quite an experience for them. It was
also quite an undertaking until Henry and his girlfriend
showed up to help with the skinning, which went quickly
after that because he's quite an expert. He showed
them how to clean the meat properly and told them how
to prepare the heart, liver, and tongue. It's a good lesson.
Most first time hunters have no idea of the work involved
in properly caring for an animal once it's been shot to
ensure none of the meat is wasted. We told them to call
us if they needed help but I know from experience that
three people skinning a carcass is usually one person
too many, but I didn't learn until today that they didn't
actually have it hanging but that it was more or less
laying down. That makes it a lot tougher and more time
consuming, which explains why it took them until well
after midnight to finish the job. But they learned from
an expert, and that's key in case they have to do the
job themselves after this.
The fish are still jumping like crazy out on the
lake and not a single fishing boat in sight. It's
shaping up to be a wonderful day so I'm going to look
for an excuse to go outside today instead of being stuck
on this computer!
|
| 16/10/2009
10:09
PM |
The Pineapple Express
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First
it's cold, then there's snow, then rain, and now a Pineapple
Express. Mother Nature definitely doesn't want anyone
to make up their mind as to what season they're in.
It warmed up yesterday but not a huge amount and there
was high cloud obscuring the sun so it didn't warm up
nearly so much as it might have if it had been sunny all
day. Today, you didn't need the sun, it was that warm.
When you've got a warm wind from the south, you've
got a Pineapple Express.
This morning dawned sunny and nearly clear with temperatures
that stayed about three degrees above freezing all night.
I was thinking of going for a walk and was just doing
a couple of minutes worth of stuff on the computer when
I happened to glance out my office and noticed how gray
it was. I thought it must just be the light so I stepped
out into the living room and sure enough, the sky had
been socked in with solid gray cloud in a matter of minutes.
I decided to skip the walk for the time being and get
up to Nimpo to post some mail, and walked smack dab into
a major rain storm on my way out to the truck. A
few squalls marched through and then it cleared up and
it warmed up to about 12C or 54F this afternoon.
That's warm for this time of year.
As you can see from the pictures on the right, things
can change pretty quickly from one minute to the next.
Between the rain and the warm temperatures, our four inches
of snow on the ground has mostly gone. Most of it went
this afternoon and it was even nice enough that there
were a couple of boats with fishermen out on the lake
today.
The Dean River where it exits Nimpo Lake froze over in
that cold spell we had there and was still frozen over
when I came back from Nimpo this morning. We've been getting
some pretty good winds all day so I expect waves from
the lake will eventually bust the ice up, but it's surprising
to see it frozen this early in the year.
That snow allowed for some good tracking for people hunting
this fall. I noticed the tracks of a small vehicle that
wound all through the back trails behind our place today.
I don't really like seeing someone hunting this close
to residences in the area, but I guess there's not much
a person can do about it. If someone is hunting the back
trails I hesitate to even take the dogs for a walk. Sometimes
you can run into an excitable hunter that shoots before
he actually looks.
This warming trend is supposed to continue for the
next few days which will give me an opportunity
to get out of my office and finish doing some clean up,
especially over at the neighbour's greenhouse, where the
plants and soil froze before I could get to them.
I'm in the middle of my calendar season now but I've pretty
much printed off all that I have confirmation on from
my clients so far so I get a little break. By the way,
for anyone that would like some fridge magnet calendars
tailored to their business to give out to customers or
clients, you can reach me on the contact page on this
site, or check out some examples of what they look like
on my web design page under Graphics
& Marketing They're very popular
with customers of my clients, because they're small and
will fit on the door of a fridge, cash register, in a
vehicle, and are different from the gadzillion full sized
calendars that all the businesses hand out, of which most
people only hang one or two up at most and the rest land
in a drawer somewhere. Whereas everyone
displays these fridge magnet calendars, and most importantly,
they're tailored to the business. That's unlike the full
sized calendars where you usually have a little slot cut
out of the calendar and that's where your business information
is.
One other thing. Bob B. from Texas, I did reply
to your email and asked for confirmation that you got
it, but haven't received any note back, so I can only
assume you didn't get it. You must have a pretty
wicked filter on your email client.
On a final note, all the turkey leftovers should be gone
by now for those of you that celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving,
and if they're not, throw them out!! Have a good weekend,
everyone.
Last week's articles can be found at October
Week Two.
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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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