This was a dandy and opens the way for a lot more exploring – if I can hack it.  Our Tuesday hiking group – I like to call us the “Geezer Group” – got together and this time Charles had decided it was time for another trip to Hell’s Half Acre.  They’d been there in the past but it was new to me.  Turns out I’d gone right past the trailhead when I went to the end of Bear Mountain Road on Suzy the quad last year.  From the road you can’t tell and I had no idea such scenery was almost at my back door.  Thank you, Charles.

Be sure to click on each picture to open it full size, then click again to return to text.  This works with some of the pictures on older pages, too, but not all.  Dunno what makes the difference.

I’ll start with the Garmin GPS track of the day – a total of 6.3 miles for the round trip – much of it thru loose sand at the bottom of the dry washes.

From the parking area along Bear Mtn Rd we immediately started down a steep trail into a canyon.  It wasn’t all that far, maybe 200 yards, but when coming back out it seemed like a lot farther.

Things changed in a hurry and it started getting more rugged, with higher mountains beside us.  Here, Charles is leading with Pam behind him and her hubby Ron following.

I wasn’t kidding about higher mountains.  Scenery was already great and we’d just gotten started.

Within about a mile or so we climbed out of the canyon up onto a broad almost flat area that was much easier going than the sand.

Pam to the left, then Elroy and Spike leading up a ridge.  This area was thickly scattered with very nice chunks of white/white agate, some with pockets of sparkling drusy quartz like fine diamond dust. They look like parts of small geodes and I perked right up.  Looked all over but couldn’t see a source they could have washed down from.  That prob’ly happened when this whole area was formed and the source is prob’ly long gone, far away or both.  Looking for ‘em will make an interesting aside to the next trip in there – I’d really love to find a geode of that stuff.

Of course, the easy going had to end and we started back into the dry wash.  Charles is leading, almost hidden to his right is Spike, with Elroy (in blue) behind him, then Pam and Ron.  The formations ahead were starting to give a foretaste of what was to come.

Getting rugged fast now and I was starting to grin.  Almost like Utah, and you know how much I like Utah – except in the winter - eh, John H ??  It was actually fairly easy going all this way because of the broad dry washes we followed.  There’s a technique for walking thru loose sand that helps a lot.  Take fairly short steps and when you move a foot ahead put it down flat and let momentum carry your weight onto that foot, then do the same with the other foot.  Don’t push off with the rear foot.  Lots of ankle flexing.  You kind of glide along without as much effort as if you were trying to walk normally.

Around a curve and we came into a forest of hoodoos – almost like Tent Rocks near Santa Fe.

Did I say hoodoos ??  Wow.

We were descending the dry washes, the mountains were getting higher and more impressive.  It was in this area where we stopped for a break and several decided not to go farther.  Lazy Lar stayed with them – I was looking at something else and not paying attention as Elroy and Pam continued on down the canyon.

Finally I came up for air and looked around.  “Dohhh, where’d they go ??”  “They went on down to the slot canyon,” I was told.  “What ??  How far is it” I asked ??  I’m a fanatic for slot canyons, claustrophobia and all.

“Oh, it’s not even a quarter mile,” I was told, so off I went to see for myself.  Fairly soon the trail started to narrow, then it Y-ed.  Footprints went to the right – so did I.

……and really got into it.  Had to duck to go under this big boulder stuck in the middle.  I was really grinning now – I love this stuff.

By now I was scraping thru with some difficulty.  Too narrow for my shoulders and I was wearing my hiking pack with all the camera gear, so I just twisted and bored on thru.  More huge boulders overhead.  Footprints in the sand told me I was on the right track.

I was starting to think I’d goofed after all when I heard echoes of voices ahead, so I let out a yell and got a reply.  A few seconds later Pam and Elroy appeared, having gone to the end and now returning.  Getting past each other was a little tricky but we managed it.

Elroy is a master photographer and stayed behind to take some shots of ol’ Lar hamming it up, going way high over a steep spot.  The walls are very rough and give good traction.  They do a good job of removing skin, too.

What fun, eh ??…….and this is only about 15 miles from home.

They’d told me it wasn’t far to the end, so I followed them out and returned the favor with Elroy.

On the way back to the cars, I caught up with Spike and Charles contemplating some formations on the other side of the wash.

The Spot Locater won’t send out of canyons or under trees and brush – some emergency device, eh ?? – tho’ the Garmin GPS has no difficulty in the same areas.  I had to wait till we were back on the open area to send a location.

Here’s the Google map the Spot finally did send and I transposed some locations onto it.  From “parking” go down to the left at about 45º into the bottom of the canyon, then follow on to the marker at slot.  I took that one with the GPS just before going into the narrows.  Looking things over, it appears that we’d barely gotten into the area called Hell’s Half Acre.  The marker at “Hells” is where the maps show the area to be.  You can check it out for yourself by going to - http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=32.93143,-108.453&ll=32.93143,-108.453&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1 If you’re not familiar with Google Maps, you can use the slider on the left to zoom in and out and you can drag and drop it to what ever location you want to look at.  From the green arrow, look up and to the left (northwest) and zoom in on that ragged looking area.  It looks like a maze of slot canyons and other neat stuff.  I’m planning a trip on Suzy soon to see how far I can get thru the canyons and washes.  From “parking” above to “slot” above is just over 3 miles – just to the beginning of the good stuff – and the round trip’s about my limit these days.  Maybe I can find a way with the quad, eh ??

Larry Bourne

Silver City, NM

www.gogittum.com

www.gogittum.com/blog

Posted: May 4th, 2012 under 12 Silver City, 12-5-1 Hell's Half Acre.
Comments: none

Couldn’t resist it.  I was up early today and I’ve still got that bug to see an Ibex, so it was off to the Florida Mtns again.  Got a little carried away this time.  Here’s an example of how a map and/or GPS can be deceptive.

Be sure to click on a picture to open it full size, then click again to return to text…………

This is the GPS track for today’s hike.  Don’t look like much, do it ??  From Spring 1 to Spring Sum (summit) is right at 1.0 mile and elevation gain is right at 1,000 ft.  (1,012 ft)  It were interesting.

Starting from the parking/picnic area, this is looking up Spring Canyon, to the west.

The farther you go, the steeper it gets, till the last few 100 feet are a scramble chance on loose rocks and dirt.

This is Lover’s Leap and the view from the “Leap” is tremendous.

From a previous trip, here’s a view of where I’m at from the west, looking east.  The arrow on the left is where I’m standing in the picture above and the arrow to the right is where I got to - on this side - today.  (actually, I think I goofed with that right arrow.  When you read the story below, see if you don’t think I was at the base of that big pinnacle to the right of that arrow.  The canyon to the right of it would work, too)  It were a helluva climb, but a lot of fun and challenge.  This is very deceptive.  Looks pretty smooth and straight forward, doesn’t it ??  Guess again.

On the way up the canyon, 3 smaller canyons open to the left - south - and they’re very rugged.  Brush is so thick, tangled and fishhook-ey that it’d be almost impossible to go up that way.  This is Canyon 3, the upper one.

………and a look back down from here.  Car is parked in that white spot just below center.  Beautiful picnic area there - and not a soul using it.

From Lover’s Leap, I turned left - south - and followed what I “thought” was a trail.  (Seems like every time I try to “think” I get myself in trouble)  It’s very steep to the right.  The drop-off is just out of the picture.

Crossing this scree slide was…….interesting.  The drop off is right below and you don’t Even want to slip.

I tested each foothold before trusting my weight to it.

By now, I was out of “trail” and was following game trails, prob’ly made by the Goats - the Ibex - and they went all over.  Finally, I came to a small canyon and tho’ I “think” I could see the continuation farther over and “think” I could see a route thru the canyon, it’d be a huge amount of work for a question-able gain.

I really wanted to go higher anyway - the Ibex are known to like the heights - so checked things out and figured I could see a usable route.

See what I mean by “deceptive ??”  This is about as rugged and ragged a country as I’ve ever seen.  My route up worked out well, tho’, and it’s not all that far - just looks very bad - and I soon approached this pinnacle.

As I got up near the base of it, I could see a route open up to the right……and here’s where I puzzle myself.  Why didn’t I go up there ??  It was right there, I had plenty of time, my legs felt great - not tired at all, felt good, in fact - but I turned left.  Shoulda gone up there.

It did work out well, tho’, but I wish someone would tell those durned Goats to find easier routes.

We’re getting some serious altitude now and a great view to the west.  Deming, NM is in the upper right corner.  This area is becoming very popular as a retiree haven/winter snowbird home.  Climate is quite moderate.

Now, I had to cross the scree slope again, but at the top now.  Above is vertical, so I go this way or go back.  They don’t call me stub-Bourne for nothing…….I went forward.  With caution, it’s really not bad - better footing than I expected - just don’t tumble.  You’d never stop.

This led me to a 2nd, smaller saddle - the right arrow (or above it) in the picture above.  Above me I heard….something….that I thought was thunder at 1st, then as I thought about it, it was more like a growl and my hair stood up.  Brush up there was very heavy and I’d be willing to bet a lot of money it was a Cougar, but even tho’ I got the Bear spray out, took the safety off and went after it, I never did see it or hear it again - here.  Not crazy, honest.  They’ll run from a human - usually - and I didn’t want that guy sneaking around above me deciding whether or not to jump me.  Where else was I gonna go ??  I was there, so I “think” I chased it off.

To the east is a tremendous view of the trail up Spring Canyon and the country beyond it.

To the north……..is NOT the trail down to Lover’s Leap.  This one make ya dizzy.  Long, long way down.

Farther around to the west was an interesting little spot.  Looks to me like an observation point and the tracks and scrapes looked - to my partly trained eye - to be very, extremely, fresh.

I’d bet a lot more money that at least one or more Ibex watched me go by on the trail far below, below that bush in lower center.

OK, time to stop fooling around and get serious.  Around to the east and then south and up the side of Canyon 3.

Farther around and up, watch the step carefully some more.

Well…….nothing showing and we’re waaay up there now.  Hmmm…….??  Like a cartoon, I could picture turning around and the Goats’d be grinning at me from behind the next rock.  OK, one more viewpoint.  Should be able to see quite a bit from there.

……..and could I ever.  Almost to the top here and nothing in sight.  I do believe I’m going to go back in a week or 3 and go the rest of the way up and maybe take that other trail, too.  (actually, this shot is from below that viewpoint.  My shot from there didn’t work.  The high viewpoint is that rock above the trees above the scree near the right side).

Starting down now, the brush on the side of the canyon was very thick and it’s like trying to go thru barbed wire.  The scree slope seemed like an easy answer, but how safe is it ??  Very steep and a looong way down, so I tested it very carefully and it worked out fine - for going downhill.  I’d purely hate to try going UP that awful mess.  It’d be 3 steps forward and slide 2 steps back on very steep, loose footing.

Down the scree a couple 100 feet, then traverse to the left and it wasn’t long before I was back to Lover’s Leap.

From there, back down the trail to the car.  I was amazed at the shape I’m in - not tired at all and was galloping across that mountain like one of the Ibex I was chasing.  Not bad for an ol’ fart who’ll turn 68 in a few weeks.  From partway down the trail, one last look up Canyon 3.  The white arrow shows the highest point I reached.  Several times below here, I heard “something” in the brush and rocks from uphill - behind me.  I am absolutely convinced a Cougar was following me, tho’ I never saw it.  I really watched, believe me.

What a great day, even if I didn’t see any a them fool Goats.  We’ll gettum next time, for sure.                     Lar.

Larry Bourne

Silver City, New Mexico

www.gogittum.com

www.gogittum.com/blog

Posted: March 28th, 2012 under 10 Silver City, 10-9-8 Spring Canyon.
Comments: none

I know, I know, I said no more major climbs, but that was last year.  Every Tuesday morning I meet the “Geezer Group” for a 3 to 4 mile local hike and they’ve become very enjoyable.  Usually 6 or 8 of us but I think there’s over a dozen “unofficial” members.  In the parking lot after the hike last Tues. David asked if anyone was interested in going to Cooke’s Canyon at the south end of the Cooke’s Range – home of Cooke’s Peak.  His interest is in the area around the old Fort Cummings site and Frying Pan Canyon, where I saw the petroglyphs a couple of months ago.  ( http://gogittum.com/blog/?cat=163 )  David knows the area well and planned on starting at Fort Cummings (http://gogittum.com/blog/?cat=150 ) and moving west to the Pony Hills.  He knows the history well and many of the sites, so this should be an interesting and educational outing.  You bet I’ll go.  Then later I got to thinking…..(yah, even me)….I’d had some people ask about access to the Cooke’s Peak climb and since I’d done it the hard way last year ( http://gogittum.com/blog/?cat=155 ) it might be a good idea to re-read the website I’d gotten directions from and sort it out.  Told the group I’d meet them down there on Friday morning, then Tuesday afternoon I put the camper back on the truck after its winter rest and prepared it for the coming season.

Wednesday, I finished prepping and loading the camper, hooked Suzy the quad on behind and headed south.  It’s only a little over 50 miles, so was soon there.  David has climbed Cooke’s Peak 8 times now and told me about a different route up a different ridge that was somewhat longer, but much easier hiking.  When I got settled in a camp spot, I jumped on Suzy and went exploring.  It’s not as easy as it may seem to find a specific spot in an area this size and I found 2 places that “could” be David’s starting point but didn’t see a trail, so instead of taking a chance, I decided to go back to “my” ridge from last October.  It was getting late, so that’d be a project for the morning.

When I 1st read the webpage of the people who’d gone ahead of me, I read it to say, “follow the road to the end and the trail continues on from there.”  Well, it does, but the road makes a switchback way up the creek and leads up to an old mining claim and I thought they meant from the literal end of the road.  No, no, Lar…..continue on straight off the road and up the creek that I fought my way down last year.  Well, glory be – there really was a trail there and it was quite distinct – for the most part.  It’s marked by a large cairn.  For some reason I had far more trouble staying on it on the return.

Click on a picture to open it; click again to return to story.

This doesn’t look like too hot of a trail, but it’s 1,000% better than what I fought my way up last time.  OK, I know where it is now, so can quit and get ready for the morning hike, right ??  Hmmm……??  Best to make sure, eh ??  Just a “little farther.”

Hike in from the main “road” starting at Trail, past Trl 01 and at Trl 02 you can see the switchback going up the hill to the old mine, near the numeral 7.  Continue on up the creek bed past Trl 03.  The trail wanders back and forth across the creek, mixes in with game trails at times and in general you hafta really watch to stay on it……but it does go.

At Trl 03A the trail crosses to the left side and starts switchbacking on up the hill.  I think I should have placed marker Trl 03A one contour line higher, but it’s not critical.  I think I found the place where I went wrong on coming down last time.  As I said, many game trails wandering around.  The picture above is looking downhill and appears to switchback to the right and a stub leading left.  Nope.  The real trail makes a little jog up around that bush and continues on down to the creek.  My way led across the face of the mountain to a vertical rock bluff.  Whoops.

Wow ! ! !  From there I could “almost” see the saddle that leads to the summit ridge, so let’s see how it goes.  A few more minutes and I was on the saddle and feeling good (I’ve been hiking twice a week for the last month) and summit ridge was right in front of me.  Then my alleged brain shut off – again – and my feet started doing their thing all by themselves and I was on my way.  This time there was a great change in perspective.  Last year when I got to this point I was pretty excited and I think that kind of floated me along.  This time I realized that the trail climbs quite steeply the whole way.

Soon, tho’, I reached the summit ridge and by then my legs were starting to cuss me a bit, but Hey ! ! !  I’m this far – why not finish ‘er up ??  Ahead of me (above) I could see the big pre-summit that comes off the notched ridge and crosses about southwest to northeast.  Not far, eh ??

Once again I followed the path behind the 3 big notches you see from Hwy 180 and kept on going.  Puff puff…….don’t remember it being this steep.  I see by the horizon above that the camera was tilted a bit and the slope is even steeper than it looks here.

When I got to the broken granite traverse, I found a trail going across the bottom that’s obscured when you’re part way up, so there’s a choice.  Maintain altitude and traverse the broken slope (not all that difficult) or go down 20 feet, cross on the trail and climb back up those 20 feet.  I did one of each, up and down.  The traverse is easier.  And shorter.

Now I’m facing that steep slope to the pre-summit.  I’ve mentioned many times how the camera has a flattening effect when looking at hills and I’ve been playing with ways to show how things really are.  I succeeded a little too well, I think.  The left side of this looks steeper than it really is.  Right side looks correct – about a 60º+ slope, but not all that far and it’s really not bad.  Trail(s) wander all over the place.  Take your pick.

That’s not to say it’s a stroll in the park, either.  Looking down here, you Will pay attention or pay dearly.  It Is steep and high enuf to scuff you up some if you slip.  It’s worth it.  What a view ! ! !

This may be a little hard to picture.  Remember the 3 notches on the ridge visible from the highway ??  OK, now I’ve climbed above that, across onto that ridge – the pre-summit ridge - and looking down the southwest face into huge Provinger Canyon.  I believe the big saddle/meadow in upper center is the west end of OK canyon and the topo map shows a dotted line – trail ?? - going in there.  That would likely be an easier route, too.  Maybe.  It’ll be a long way in to find out.  Yah, one day soon I’m gonna go take a look, you bet.

The far southwest end, off to the right here, slopes down fairly steeply and is all broken rock.  Look at the picture above, looking down into the canyon and you’ll see why I wasn’t real willing to go out onto that.  It’s a looong way down, baby.

Finally – the cake walk.  From here it’s almost a casual stroll onto the main summit and Does It Ever Feel Good ! ! !

No feeling quite like summiting a big peak, even if it’s the 2nd time.  This was Great and again I felt like the King of the World.  (forgot the tripod, so had to set the camera on a rock)

This is the view from the highway and will give a little different perspective.  What a day……but I blew it.  Next morning (Friday) when the others showed up I was stove up some from the climb and didn’t much feel like hiking another 4 or 5 miles.  I begged off and they understood.  I hope.  Actually, not sure if it’s better conditioning this time (prob’ly not) or the better trail up and down (prob’ly) but I was nowhere near as sore and hurting, either on the climb or afterward than I was last year.  Last year I was almost crawling, time I got back to Suzy.  This time, just stroked on out of there.  What a day.  How much ya wanna bet I wind up back down here with David in the near future to learn his route ??  No bets.

Larry Bourne

Silver City, NM

www.gogittum.com

www.gogittum.com/blog

Posted: March 19th, 2012 under 12 Silver City, 12-3-15 Cooke's Peak - Again.
Comments: none

After leaving Port Angeles I went back thru Port Townsend, across on the ferry to Whidbey Island, north to Anacortes on Hwy 20, then straight across I-5 and into the mountains. The great bulk of the traffic east thru the Cascades Mountains goes east from Seattle and across Snoqualmie Pass to Ellensburg. I’ve been thru that route many times but had never been across the North Cascades Highway and had heard for years of what a great drive it is. The 1st night I spent in a small campground just short of where the road really started into the mountains.

The next morning I stopped at the ranger station for maps and advice on what to look for on the way. I’m sad to say that altho’ it’s a nice and large facility, the rangers couldn’t have cared less and offered nothing, even to direct questions. Too bad. Most are more than willing to help and make suggestions.

Leaving there I headed on up into the mountains and for quite a way just watched and looked around. Very nice, rugged scenery and there are a couple of large lakes to the north but my interest was way down. I’d been on the road for nearly 3 months now, going hard all the way – as you’ve seen from the list of stories under “08 Vacation” - and I think I was somewhat burned out. Then………….

Left click once to enlarge pictures - left click again to return to text

I had passed the Diablo Dam, but climbing up past the reservoir there was a big view point looking back west and it was quite a view. Diablo Reservoir. In the jumbled rocks below and to the side of the viewpoint I could hear sqeaks and chirps and thought that maybe I’d finally found Marmots and/or Pikas. Tho’ I spent quite a while with binoculars I had no luck in seeing any. This acted like a catalyst, tho’ and I started waking up some. Came around a curve and Really woke up………..

These are Fisher and Mt. Ariva peaks. At the right side of Mt. Ariva, note how the rock changes to a pink color ?? You climb Ariva, follow the ridge east (right) and it leads into the approach to…….

Cutthroat Peak, looking from Rainy Pass and it’s awesome. I thought of what a climb it would make, then shook my head. “Nope, not that one, old feller,” I said to myself. Reading up on it later, I found that it’s a very technical climb and quite difficult. Sure is beautiful, tho’ – and there’s much more of it. I do think I could handle Ariva and possibly Fisher. Maybe one day. Just looking at those places makes the air smell fresher. Gotta love it.

While at Rainy Pass, I met more travelers who’d stopped and made friends with some of the local wildlife……..

Remember the friendly, fearless Gray Jays (Whiskey Jacks /Camp Robbers) at Nambé Lake in ‘07 ?? ( http://gogittum.com/blog/?cat=36 ) They’re common here, too, as well as in Canada at Joffre Lakes - http://gogittum.com/blog/?cat=80 – and pretty much every other forested mountain area I’ve been to. They’re cute little guys and a lot of fun.

……..and they like Pine Nuts just as much, too. The other travelers were nice folks and we swapped cameras to take pictures of each other with a Jay on our hands.

Remember the Steller’s Jay from my Winsor trail hike the week before Nambé Lake ?? ( http://gogittum.com/blog/?cat=34 ) They’re here, too, and so glossy their feathers look waxed. I took quite a few pictures of this one and even moved in on him a bit to try and get him to raise his crest, but no joy. This guy wanted some seeds, too, but was just a bit too shy to come in, tho’ this Is the closest I’ve ever been to one – about 15 ft. When I tossed nuts to the ground in front of him, he looked interested, but the aggressive little Camp Robbers dive bombed them and they were gone before he could make up his mind.

This fat little Chipmunk was right in there for his share, too and approached closer than the Steller’s Jay, but still maintained about 6 ft or so distance from us. Toss a pine nut to him and you’ve never seen anything so quick. In and Back. Wham. He knew he had to beat the Gray Jays to them and he did get his share.

I didn’t really study up on this area beforehand, it being pretty much a compulsive decision to go. That, coupled with the useless rangers, I had no maps or real focus, but from what I could see from going along the highway, the drive, as beautiful as it was, shows only a small part of this incredible area. You have to hike into viewpoints and overlooks to see the real scope of the mountains. I missed a lot and it’s on my priority list of places to return to. Farther along the highway, more and more mountains appear.

I “believe” this is part of the South Pickett Range but it’s hard to be sure. A really ragged, jagged pile of rock, eh ??

Unidentified. To the left of it is a huge glaciated valley leading south…………

By the time you reach Mazama you’re pretty much out of the mountains and the whole stretch from there thru Winthrop and Twisp is incredibly yuppie-fied. All fancy cutesy little craft shops and veggie palaces, etc., etc., but it sure is a pretty area.

Approaching Wenatchee the Columbia River backed up into this lake is a nice surprise, too. Wenatchee itself is an OK town I guess but solidly agricultural and very hot and dusty dry in summer. Still, I wouldn’t mind spending a summer there to explore the 1,000s of square miles of mountain wilderness just to the west. Very, very nice country.

From here I bombed on down thru Oregon and Nevada, visited friends in North Las Vegas, then stopped to visit my old boss and his wife in Sedona, AZ. Very nice visit, then a day later I was back in Santa Fe. As it worked out, I was on the road for 3 months to the day and covered nearly 10,000 miles. What a trip. Lar.

Larry Bourne

Silver City, NM

www.gogittum.com

www.gogittum.com/blog

Posted: March 18th, 2012 under 08 Vacation, 08-10-01 North Cascade Mtns..
Comments: none

Part 1 - http://gogittum.com/blog/?cat=176
Part 2 - http://gogittum.com/blog/?cat=177
This is part 3 of a 3 part series.

Cape Flattery is the most northwestern point of the continental US with Tatoosh Island and its lighthouse just offshore. Next stop is Japan, and the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. Today, I hiked the mile - more or prob’ly a little less from the parking lot down to the tip of the cape.

This whole country is temperate zone rain forest and an attempt to go off the trail won’t get you far without huge effort and you’d surely get lost very quickly.

The bush on the right side, above, is Salmonberry and when ripe they make a great trail snack, like a big golden raspberry with a mild, sweet taste. The boardwalk carries you over a lot of very swampy, soggy ground.

Seems like it goes forever, but I think it’s mostly because of the closed in feeling in the heavy forest. It doesn’t take too long, tho’ before you can see daylight between the trees ahead.

As you get closer to the point, the trail goes closer to the water and a couple of short side trails lead off, the nicest of which is Hole in the Wall, here looking southwest.

Farther yet, near the end of the trail the view to the south opens up and it’s great. Don’t let anyone fool ya about whether Oregon, Washington or California has the best coastline. From San Luis Obispo on the central California coast all the way to Alaska is all the same type of scenery – some more so, some less, but all beautiful. The black spots on the rock at lower right are Cormorants drying their wings after a series of underwater fishing trips.

From the viewing platform there’s a nice view to the northeast, into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. (no, it’s not “straight”) Vancouver Island in the distance with Port Renfrew at about the middle of the portion showing. This summer, while I was farther north a Black Bear swam out at Port Renfrew, climbed up into a boat and attacked the man on board. He managed to chase it off and later it was found that it was an old Bear in poor condition with worn down teeth and couldn’t catch game any more. I guess we’re easy pickin’s, eh ?? More Cormorants on the rock below us.

Our Hero on the viewing platform at the farthest northwestern tip of the continental U.S. Tatoosh Island with its lighthouse is behind me. In the farthest visible distance up Vancouver Island is the little town of Bamfield, 50 miles away. The white swirls on the water are powerful tidal currents surging past and around the island. This is about as calm as it gets out here. When the prevailing west wind is blowing against an outgoing tide, it can get very messy out there very quickly. If the big ocean rollers are coming in from Japan, the tide going out and the wind from the north or northeast, it can get insane in a hurry. I spent a lot of time in Dustbuster I out there and went thru really bad water a few times. Fishing is great. One species you never hear about but is one of the finest bottom fish for the table is the Black Rockfish. People don’t go after them, I guess because they’re small – just a pound or 3 each – but they’re delicious and very plentiful here in the shallow water in the coves. Great fun on ultralight tackle. You must be VERY wary of the waves when after them – an unexpectedly large wave can throw you into the rocks in seconds.

Heading back out, some portions of the trail aren’t so nice. More Salmonberries on the left. Lots of Huckleberries out here, too.

Down the coast a bit to Makah Bay (this is the home and reservation of the Makah Indians) and you’ll find a series of really nice beaches for miles to the south. A swimmer must be very cautious – there are powerful rip currents everywhere and no rescue people or facilities close enuf to do you any good.

When I came to Port Angeles in 1989 I immediately made a trip out here towing the Dustbuster I and launched at Neah Bay. At that time, Halibut and bottom fishing was really excellent and that was true for ‘90 as well but when I came out in ‘91 it had been “discovered” and, even tho’ Swiftsure Bank is 20 miles off-shore the water was covered with boats – looked like black pepper sprinkled all over. That was the end of the good fishing out there. The big trawlers dragging their huge nets along the bottom didn’t help a bit. The map above shows most of the places I’ve mentioned thru this series of stories. Now, I think it’s time to brag and show off a bit.

Here’s the 19 ft Glastron “Dustbuster” at the launch ramp on Ediz Hook next to the Harbor Pilot’s building. The big 115 hp Johnson V4 cruised it at an easy 25 mph while burning just 5 gallons per hour. The 16 ft Dustbuster II goes 22 mph at 5 gph with its 50 hp Tohatsu. Figure that. On my 3rd run to Swiftsure there were huge 14 ft high rollers (long ocean waves) coming from the open ocean to the west. Wind was pretty strong from the northeast and was kicking up a 4 ft cross-chop. The boat handled it fine, like a cork bobbing over the top……until a roller and cross-chop teamed up. I was going slowly, but the boat came off the top of that – about 18 ft in the air - and dropped. It still had the stock seats in it and nearly broke my back with the impact.

HoooBoy, now I knew what to look for and kept going but the boat felt funny. Squirming, sort of. WTH ?? Couldn’t figure it out, then turned and looked back as I was going over a large roller and saw the whole floor moving independently of the hull. The impact had smashed the floor loose from the hull; that took the stiffening support away and the boat was crawling over the waves with the un-supported fiberglass hull moving like a snake. Very gently and carefully eased on back to Neah Bay and loaded it up. The next month was taken with epoxy-ing new framing under the floor, putting down new plywood, filling it with Coast Guard approved 2 part polyurethane floatation foam, then fiberglassed over.

I found some seat pedestals from a Chevy van at the local wrecking yard and seats from a Plymouth Horizon that “almost” matched the color. It worked wonderfully well. The deeply sprung seats soaked up impacts in rough water and I could slide the seat forward to drive like a car, or push it all the way back with both base adjuster and seat adjuster so’s to stand up and watch over the windshield while running. When trolling, I could turn the seat ¾ of the way around, watch the rod tip and steer at the same time. Everyone who rode in it was amazed at the comfort – un-heard of in a boat.

It was equipped with Loran C, (this was pre-GPS days) fishfinder, CB radio, VHF marine radio, all safety equipment and fully rigged for fishing. When I bought it both motors ran perfectly but it had sat so long the gas and electrical systems were shot. (the old fella who owned it had run the motors frequently to keep them up) I went all thru all of it till it was like new. Now……….what am I gonna I do with all this ??

Swiftsure was Halibut heaven then and I caught many. Here’s a 47# Halibut from there. Ol’ Lar was a perty good lookin’ feller at 50, wasn’t he ?? Sure went downhill fast after that. Sighhh.

14# Red Snapper (Yellow Eye Rockfish) from the dropoff near the Halibut flats. These are very, very good eating, but endangered now.

37# Ling Cod from same area. These are the king of the bottom fish for the table. No cheating and holding it at arm’s length to make it look bigger here. I don’t ever do that and don’t like to see it done. The only one you’re fooling is yourself.

If you look on the map above, you’ll see Bamfield, B.C. on the south shore of Barkeley Sound – an even 50 miles from Neah Bay. About 2/3 of the way up was the Nitinat River and a well known spot for catching really big King Salmon. (called Spring Salmon in Canada) I caught this one while trolling a cut plug herring on 15# test Steelhead tackle in shallow water right at the river mouth – all 27# of him. You can see the scars from where some predator – prob’ly a Sea Lion – “almost” got him. Nice fish. This had to be in ‘89 – you can see the original seat behind the fish. Hard as a rock.

All that stuff was well and good and lots of fun, but my favorite sport was going just off-shore of Port Angeles into the tide rips out in the Strait. Schools of Silver Salmon (called Coho in Canada) and Pink Salmon (sometimes called Humpies) would congregate at the rip lines and chase the herring schools there. I went after them with a 6# test Trout outfit (in the picture) and just enuf lead weight - about ½ oz - to hold the cut plug bait below the reach of Seagulls. That little Ryobi reel did yeoman service for 6 years – those nice Silvers and the smaller Pinks would make it scream – but it was completely worn out when I left there. I have no problem with recommending Ryobi reels.

Trout fishermen would love this. You’ll hear stories of 20# Silvers out there, but I literally caught 100’s in 6 years of steady fishing and never saw one weighed in at more than 15# and very, very few of those. Most were under 10#, 12# is a bragger and this one is very average at about 6#. On that light tackle they’d run and jump like a huge Trout and were great fun. Great on the table, too, if you bled them first. I spent a lot of hours out there after those guys – and ran a full time service business at the same time. Busy Lar. Thanks for putting up with the bragging. No more, I promise. Lar.

–
Larry Bourne
Santa Fe, NM
www.gogittum.com
www.gogittum.com/blog

Posted: February 27th, 2012 under 08 Vacation, 09-9-29 Cape Flattery.
Comments: 2

Part 1 - http://gogittum.com/blog/?cat=176
This is part 2 of a 3 part series.
Part 3 - http://gogittum.com/blog/?cat=178

The day after my hike to Hurricane Ridge, I went west to one of my favorite places – Lake Crescent. I spent many hours on that lake in the original Dustbuster trying for one of the big Beardslee strain of Rainbow Trout that live in there. Never did catch one, but it’s sure a pretty place to get skunked.

Shortly after descending the grade to the lake edge, Hwy 101 comes around a bend and you’ll see where the lake is split by the huge bulk of Pyramid Mountain. The right side goes northwest to Log Cabin Resort and the outlet to the Lyre River. Left side goes on around about another 8 miles or so west to Fairholm, then up the long grade to the Sol-Duc flats. When I moved here in December, 1973 with my new (now ex) wife, I drove a big Kenworth logging truck for a year, mostly on runs around Lake Crescent to the west end. We had great fun playing “Chase the Tourist” around this winding, twisting 11 mile portion of Hwy 101. People visit here to sightsee and enjoy the great scenery – and they go 15 or 20 miles an hour around that lake. Don’t blame them – it IS beautiful - but we were paid by the load and had to make time. Do you think any of those donkeys would pull into a turnout to let us by ?? Not a chance, so we be-deviled them. Here’s a 3 picture panorama of Pyramid……….

When I was taking flying lessons, I liked to come this way when weather permitted (I learned to fly in and around the Olympic Mountains during the winter of 94-95 and got my fill of rain, fog, wind, ice, snow…..) and enjoy the scenery as I went thru my maneuvers. Just to the left of the tip of Pyramid Mountain you’ll see a small notch. Below both is a large expanse of clear rock. Right on top of the lower left peak is a small old ruined cabin that I spotted fairly quickly and really wondered who’d gone to the enormous effort to build in a place like that. No roads within a mile or so of it. More on it later.

I’d hiked to beautiful Marymere Falls in the past, but had never taken the side trail for the climb up Storm King Mountain. Not sure why not – coming east around the lake you can see it there for several miles and it looks great. Today I wanted to rectify that omission. I parked the truck, loaded up and hit the trail. Right away I was in heavy temperate zone rain forest vegetation and just before the Storm King trail, came upon a giant old Douglas Fir that had escaped the old time lumberjacks. This one is a dandy – over 8 ft thick and over 200 ft tall…………

Then I found the Storm King trail and turned left and up…..and up….and up…… Phew. Most trails will go steep for a while, level out, steep some more, etc., and you get a bit of a break from time to time. Not this one. Right from the get-go it went up at about 30º and it kept at 30º for what seemed forever. Un-relenting, but the scenery was sure great. Wasn’t long before I got a pretty good look down toward the Lyre River end of Lake Crescent. At about middle right you can see a piece of Hwy 101 and a viewpoint. That’s where I took the Pyramid Mountain picture from………

Climb some more and suddenly got a view of almost where we’re headed. Yah, up past that…….

I like to cry and moan and whine about the hardships of something like this, but in truth I love the challenge and enjoy the scenery. There’s ego, too. I love the feeling I get when I’m really in good shape, too. Feels very good. Quite a bit farther up is a sign that doesn’t seem like it’s gotten much respect or concern……….

No, they weren’t kidding. We’re going up the side of a severe canyon now and the trail barely hangs in there. Do NOT slip here. It would go very badly for you. The drop off is at the lower right corner and it goes waaay down………..

Altogether, this trail is a little less than 2 miles and you climb about 2,000 ft, so it’s a pretty good pitch. Farther up, there’s our destination – out on that point at upper left. The steep angle makes this shot deceptive, as you’ll see a little later. The trail – you can sorta see it - goes up by that downed tree then angles right thru the trees and waaay up the hill……….

It was from the point left of here that I could see out over the lake again and from this angle you can see the cabin on Pyramid Mountain. Look left of the notch above and to the left of the big bare patch. The roofline is barely visible, hiding behind that tree. You don’t want to mis-step there…………

See it ??………..

Climbing a steep slope on dirt is difficult and demanding and I found 2 pitches where others had tied ropes off to trees above and left them to help later comers up. I appreciated the thought and did use the ropes for an assist, but didn’t commit myself to them. Who knows how long they’ve been there or if they’re rotten or not ??. The picture is deceptive, again. This is Very steep………

But, then comes the reward. There’s the rocky spike from the earlier picture and a view most of the way down this beautiful lake. How many times did I fly a plane over it and run my boat on it ?? Drive that big Kenworth loaded with logs around it ?? Even now, the lake is very lightly used. Wonderful memories. Fairholm is around a bend at the far end. I believe Lake Crescent is almost 11 miles long, if I remember right. I do know we used to figure the road on the left edge at 11 miles when driving log trucks around it. You can see Hwy 101 going along the left side just above the water. On the right – north – side, just a hair to the right of the point I’m standing on you can see a bare patch of rock. That’s where the old logging railway went thru a tunnel that’s closed now. I’ve come in from the east end at the Lyre River and hiked as far as the tunnel but never went past. Also came from Fairholm back this way but not this far. You can see the line of the trail - the Spruce Railroad Trail – a wide, level and very beautiful walk……….

Now, step carefully out onto the point and look down. Instant vertigo. What a view. 2,000 feet down. There’s the little peninsula that Lake Crescent Lodge and several other facilities are on, the parking lot is on the right side of it, but the Diesel Dodge is behind those trees. One of the launch ramps I used back in the day is at the right edge. I mostly used the launch at Log Cabin Resort on the far side of the lake. The water is crystal clear and very deep……….

Coming back down, my knees cussed me and my toes were jammed into the front of my boots the whole way. Ouch.

Then came the fun part. I passed my check flight and got my private pilot’s license on July 29, 1995 and my horizons really expanded. I flew that Cessna 172 to Idaho, Oregon and British Columbia as well as all over the local area. A year later I moved back to Palm Springs and didn’t return until 1998. Ken, now retired from the flight school, owned a beautiful little 1941 Piper J-5 Cub, a 3 seat version of the classic J-3 Piper Cub. (the 2 passengers had best be fairly small) Nice thing about the J-5 is that you solo it from the front seat. The J-3 solos from the back seat and is a little trickier. Bad thing about the J-5 is that I’m about a foot too tall (I exaggerate some) to fit properly, but I crammed in and made it work. The plane was beautifully restored but Ken told me he didn’t have time to fly it as much as he should, sooo…..he’d make me a deal. You can read about that deal at: http://biglar.homestead.com/HEAVIERTRAINING.html

The next morning I went out to the airport, opened the hangar and carefully pre-flighted the J-5. Here I is with that little jewel. It’s more than a year older than I am - and That’s ooold………

The Aeronca Champ was a good plane to learn tail dragger skills in, but flying the little Piper was a revelation. (a tricycle gear plane like the Cessna with the steer-able wheel in front drives pretty much like a car when on the ground. Tail dragger – with the small swiveling tail wheel at the back wants to swap ends and you must be very alert at all times when moving on the ground) Light and precise and quick and easy on the controls, it makes the Aeronca seem like a sled. It’s a joy to fly and I found that I could shoot pictures out of either side by just holding the stick lightly between my knees and all I had to do was think about it and I’d be there. What a rush. Several passes up and down the runway and taxi way to polish my rusty taildragger skills and then I socked the coals to ‘er, we leaped into the air – as much as 75 hp (conversion kit) can make you leap – and headed west toward Lake Crescent. Here’s the Piper in the air over Sequim. (skwim) (I wasn’t the pilot here) It’s beautiful. Years later Ken offered to sell it to me and I wanted it badly, but I simply couldn’t afford it. I ache……….

Seemed like no time at all and we were over the lake and looking down toward the Lyre River exit. Ken and Marge’s weekend cabin is about ½ way between the point on the right and the river. I stayed in that cabin on 2 separate vacations………

Beautiful place, eh ?? With their now large family – including all the grandkids, the cabin sees plenty of happy use……….

Turn way around to the left, gain some altitude, circle around and here’s the cabin on Pyramid Mountain. Hmmm……?? Someone been working on it ?? Roof was full of holes last time I was up here………

Ay-yup, sho’ nuff………the new roof is almost done and the sides are re-shingled. What a project, just getting things up here, with no road. Pack horses ?? Mules ?? I guess. Man, that’s steep. Look at the beaver slide at lower right below the wing strut. A slip there would be ugly……..

Now, we’ll head across the lake and take a look at the little ridge I stood on yesterday. See the little white arrow ?? The trail goes up the right side. Told ya it were steep………

I flew up into the canyon, made a U-turn – the little Piper can turn almost in its own length and it’s a big canyon – and there’s the ridge again, at the arrow. Pyramid Mountain straight ahead, Spruce Railroad Trail going along the lake edge. I’ve been told that going the rest of the way to the “real” summit can be done, but it’d be an awful climb. I think I’ll pass………

When I flew the Piper, I was careful not to overdo a good thing. This was a mighty favor Ken was extending to me and I didn’t want to abuse it, so I kept my flights fairly short and always made sure the plane was full of gas and cleaned up before I left it.

I had never been to Lake Angeles and not sure why, so I decided on a short side trip on the way back to the airport. Lake Angeles turned out to be a little jewel hidden in a pocket of the Olympic Mountains and I think it’d be a mighty climb to reach it………

This is a Google Earth overview of most of the areas I’ve mentioned here………

Here’s my friend Ken, at the hangar with his immaculate 1941 J-5 Piper Cub………..

Marge called me several months ago. On October 15, 2011, after a short illness, Ken passed away. I have very few friends and that hit me hard.

Good Bye, my friend. Rest In Peace. Lar.

Larry Bourne
Silver City, NM
www.gogittum.com
www.gogittum.com/blog

Posted: February 25th, 2012 under 08 Vacation, 08-9-23 Port Angeles II.
Comments: 1

This is part 1 of a 3 part series.
Part 2 - http://gogittum.com/blog/?cat=177
Part 3 - http://gogittum.com/blog/?cat=178

After leaving Bella Coola and arriving in Port Hardy on Vancouver Island I was frustrated in my exploring by an un-ending rain and wind storm that made it impractical to try going out looking for Whales, Orcas, etc., in the Dustbuster. Finally landed at my cousin’s home in Richmond B.C., a suburb of Vancouver, spent a few very nice days with them, then continued on my trip, down to Whidbey Island, WA and the ferry to Port Townsend, WA – a picturesque re-created 19th century seaport and a great destination in itself. From there to Port Angeles is about 40 more miles – scenic miles.

From 1989 till 2006 I started and ran a very successful refrigeration and restaurant equipment repair service in Port Angeles, Washington, did well at that and really loved the Port Angeles area, the magnificent scenery there – and the wonderful Salmon fishing in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Seven years of it, then problems with my aging parents required me to return to Palm Springs in late 2006 and I embarked on a new career - a whole ‘nuther story……but beautiful Port Angeles always stayed in the back of my mind.

In 1994 I started flying lessons with a series of ultralight flying instructors, none of whom carried thru on their commitments. By then I’d had enuf of a taste of flying that I gave up on those bums and went to the local flying school at Fairchild Field airport in Port Angeles and started on regular flying lessons in a Cessna 172. I don’t fit the 152 very well -they’re very small - tho’ I did put some hours in them. The owners, Ken and Marge – now retired – became friends thru the winter of flying lessons and we visited back and forth for years. They made a good excuse to come back to visit this beautiful area. Here’s Lar at a really happy moment, courtesy of Ken, Marge and their office manager daughter Kristi…..and yes, they did cut the tail off my shirt and pin it to the wall. (I made sure I wore an old shirt that day) I was grinning so hard my jaws ached …..

One of my favorite places to visit was Tongue Point recreation area, about 10 miles west of town. Looking due west you can see the partly submerged peninsula. Looking somewhat left of straight out the center, next stop would be Japan. Go to the right of center and you’d hit the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. At the far right edge you can just about see a piece of Vancouver Island in the vicinity of Port Renfrew………

I did extensive scuba diving in that area when I lived there back in the ‘70s and several times dove on the wreck of the Diamond Knot, a freighter carrying a load of canned Salmon that was rammed by another ship and sank in 140 feet of water straight off the end of Tongue Point. Top of the wreck was at 80 feet and it made for quite a dive. Dark, cold and very dangerous. Never did take a still camera down, but I do have a super 8 movie I took while down on the wreck. Yah, Port Angeles and I go back a long way and I love it there, tho’ it’s different now. Port Angeles and nearby Sequim (skwim) are in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains and are semi-arid. This “Banana Belt,” rare in the rainy Pacific Northwest, has been discovered by rich retirees and us common folk can’t afford it any more……..not to mention the awful tangle of traffic on Hwy 101.

One more view from Tongue Point, looking south toward the Olympic Mountains…………

From Tongue Point I liked to make a loop up past Lake Crescent, here showing a small portion of East Beach thru the trees. Much more on Lake Crescent in the next story…………

Continue on south on back roads, follow the Elwha River upstream and come to Glines Canyon dam that backs up scenic Lake Mills. During the springtime floods, this was a truly impressive sight – and sound - with the spillways open. The ground literally trembled under your feet……….

It spills into a narrow, vertical canyon – I think about 100 feet down, it’s beautiful to see and I loved the steady roar of the water and the cool mist. I frequently came here and kicked back near the edge to just daydream for a while. It’s not far out of town, but I don’t recall ever seeing another person up there…………

Lake Mills with Olympic Mountains in the background. The whole Olympic Peninsula is picture postcard country and I had a total of 8 great years there……..

Back from Lake Mills, heading for town and you go past Lake Aldwell, 8 miles long and beautiful. I’m the only person I ever saw put a boat into either of those lakes and the Trout fishing is great. Go figure…………

Lake Aldwell is held back by the Elwha dam – this is all on the Elwha River. Back in the day - in the 70s - we used to put on our wet suits, then walk down the trail at the right side of the dam and jump into the – glacier fed – river. The wet suit was very necessary and it was cold even with it. We’d float downstream several miles and friends would pick us up at the Hwy 112 bridge. No pics of that either, but again, I do have a super 8 movie. It was a great ride – moderate white water in spots and slow floating in others. The perspective from being IN the water was great……….

Both of those dams were built in the early part of the 20th century to generate power for the 2 big mills in town. Now the Fish Kissers and Tree Huggers have worked on it till they got it pushed thru to remove the dams and restore the Salmon runs. I can see both good and bad in that, but the lakes are already drawn partly down and the dams will come out this summer – 2012. (I’m a little slow getting this story written

Go back thru Port Angeles to Race St. and turn right (south) and follow the road about 18 miles to Hurricane Ridge, a very popular overlook of the Olympic Mountains. It’s a wonderful drive. I lived many years in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, then 13 years in the Los Angeles area - both of which have mountains to the north. In Port Angeles the mountains are to the south and you can imagine how many times I got lost before I got used to that. This time, I had barely gotten started when I saw a car pulled off the road at an angle and 2 women were after something in the weeds. Curious, I pulled over, too. They had found a Mountain Beaver, (google it) a truly rare happening. These things are nocturnal and very, very shy and secretive and very good diggers, making huge networks of tunnels. I’d heard of them, spent a good chunk of my life working and playing in the woods and had never seen one. This was my first (and so far, only) – looks like a cross between a Mole and a Guinea Pig and are slightly larger than the Guinea Pig – about the size of a small rabbit………..

The daughter from the 1st car wanted to pick it up, but I told her that it was probably sick, being in the open in daylight like that and, being a rodent, can certainly give a nasty bite, so she left it be. Odd looking little guy, eh ??

As you pull into the visitor’s center at Hurricane Ridge you’re met by a tremendous view of the Olympics. Headwaters of the Elwha River are down in the canyons………..

Then Mount Olympus, biggest of the range at nearly 8,000 ft and covered with glaciers. There are trails to it from the west end, but they’re far more than I had time for – about 18 miles one way. I can’t walk that far anyway…………

I did take the trail to Hurricane Hill, about 3 or 4 miles and that gave spectacular views as well as some wildlife………..

Of course, Bambi came out to say hello. These are the Columbian Blacktail Deer and are much smaller than other species, seldom topping much more than 100 pounds……….

Thumper stopped by, too, and watched me pass……….

……….as did this perky little Chipmunk. I think he had hopes of a handout…..seemed quite tame………..

The summit of the trail is a little beyond the far upper right, at a clump of trees. It’s a handicapped accessible trail in very good condition and very popular, tho’ someone in a wheelchair with several friends helping would all be exhausted, getting him up there…………

When you reach the top – here’s showoff Lar on the ridge……….

…….you’d best be prepared for a real knock-out of a view. This is looking almost due north across the Strait of Juan de Fuca with the San Juan Islands in the distance. Vancouver, B.C. would be about 90 miles out, looking across the left side of this shot. Bellingham, WA would be between center and right side, about 50 miles away. Port Angeles is below with the distinctive finger of Ediz Hook extending from lower left across to almost lower mid picture, forming a sheltered harbor. At the end of it is the Coast Guard Station and if you look somewhat to the left of the ship at anchor, you’ll see a white dot on the inside edge of “The Hook.” That’s the Harbor Pilot’s building and the boat launch I used several times a week is just left of it. What wonderful memories and did I cover some ground – and water……..

The original “Dustbuster” was an older 19 ft. Glastron runabout with a 115 hp Johnson outboard and what a perfect boat that was for that country. Rock solid, wide, deep, fast and very seaworthy and I caught literally 100’s of Salmon from it in all kinds of weather. I put 700 hours on it in 6 years, covering territory all the way from the San Juans and Victoria, B.C., (just out of sight to the left) all the way out 70 miles to Neah Bay, 20 more by water to Swiftsure Bank for big Halibut, Ling Cod and Red Snapper and 50 miles north of Neah Bay to Bamfield, B.C. on the south side of Barkeley Sound on Vancouver Island. When I moved back to Palm Springs I had to sell the Dustbuster and that really hurt. The new Dustbuster, the 16 ft center console boat you’ve become familiar with in this series of stories has done an extremely good job of carrying on the tradition.

More to come…………. Lar.

Larry Bourne
Silver City, NM
www.gogittum.com
www.gogittum.com/blog

Posted: February 23rd, 2012 under 08 Vacation, 08-9-21 Port Angeles.
Comments: 1

That was one incredible plane ride out of Nimpo Lake yesterday and now I want to get to Bella Coola and the Port Hardy, Vancouver Island ferry.  Once a week the ferry goes direct to Port Hardy and takes about 18 hours.  The 2nd and 3rd sailing goes via Ocean Falls (  http://webpictures.homestead.com/ocean.html ) and take 26 hours, but one of those is at night – you hit Ocean Falls around midnight and that doesn’t do a sightseer like me much good.  The sailing I wanted to make was on Wednesday, Sept. 3rd, so I had to hustle a bit.  That’s OK, from Chilko Lake to the highway at Tatla Lake is about ~35 miles, then to Nimpo Lake another 50.  From there to Heckman Pass at the top of The Hill, 50 more, then from the bottom it’s 40 miles to Bella Coola.  Lotsa time, and if I find something really good, just bite the bullet and take the next ferry, eh ??  Hah.
Do any of you remember Mr. Mtzlplx or whatever, the bad luck guy in the old Li’l Abner cartoons who wandered around with a rain cloud over his head ??  That’s the Lar when he really wants something.

Remember in the Nimpo Lake story, ( http://gogittum.com/blog/?cat=174 ) the 4th from last photo shows us flying over a marshland with a stream wandering thru it ??  From Nimpo Lake the road climbs high onto a more or less plateau (mostly less) that’s covered by miles of those swamps.  This is sub-alpine, sub-arctic country at about 5500 ft elevation – and it were chilly.  Storm clouds came and went about as fast as I could turn my head.  Mosquitoes were thick.  This 1st shot is a 2 picture side by side panorama with camera held at 90º to give 2 narrow shots.  Paste them together and you get………

This area is like a sub-arctic Everglades.  Miles and miles of this swampy mess and it’s all flowing like a huge, shallow, slow moving river.  This is the end of August and still lots of snow around…………

I think it has a beauty all its own, tho’ and I like it.  I was also watching very closely for Moose – this’d be prime habitat for them, but no luck today, either……….

Very, very pretty………

It’s not as thick and tangled as I expected, but it’d sure be tough going all right.  This is all squishy and soggy.  Put your weight down and you slowly sink………..

Neat.  Just a bit further, go over Heckman Pass and you start down The Hill.  I know I’ve yammered about it before - this is my 4th trip thru here in the last 4 years - but it still fascinates me.  This is an 11 mile grade that drops you around 5,500 ft, and much of it isn’t real steep at all, so there are some horrendous portions that have you climbing the steering wheel to see where the drop-offs go.  Grades are up to 18%.  I think maximum allowed on major highways here is 6%.  When you start down, you really start……….

There’s plenty of road and it’s well built, but you’d best stay awake and be alert.  It’s over 1,000 ft down – almost straight down - and nothing would stop you.  See the road below us, coming off the switchback ??………..

This was all fine and actually fun – both ways – but that road coming off Churn Creek bridge and up Dog Creek grade at the Gang Ranch ( http://gogittum.com/blog/?cat=165 ) a couple of weeks ago was far, far worse.  I don’t get white knuckled on this one.  Part way down, turn and look down and back at the torrent (creek is too mild a word) going down the canyon below the road.  It boils and rages down there and makes me wonder if an extreme sport kayak-er could make it down.  Wonder if he could even get to it ??……….

A little farther down, look back and you get a better look at it.  Pretty rugged………

If you like waterfalls, you won’t be disappointed…………

At the bottom you soon cross the Atnarko River and come to the old Tote Road.  About 3 or 4 kilometers down this is the trailhead to Hunlen Falls and I believe there’s a lodge there.  A couple of years ago, I started up that, ‘cause I’d heard the Grizzlies like to congregate there, but it was too narrow in spots for the camper and no way was I going to hike that alone………..

Down in the Bella Coola valley, there are 10,000 ft peaks around you for 40 miles.  Beautiful, like Yosemite without the crowds…………

A couple of miles farther along, about where I saw the big Black Bear a couple of years ago ( http://newmexico.homestead.com/bella06.html ) I came around a curve and there was a mama Black Bear with her 2 cubs – one black and one cinnamon.  You could see her concern and almost hear her telling the kids to come on and hurry up.  They were scared and hurrying, esp. when that clattering diesel stopped a few feet from them.  Time for 1 quick shot before they disappeared in the brush.  (I over-brightened this one a bit so’s she doesn’t just look like a featureless black blob)……….

Soon after that, a scenic creek – one of very many – with a nice mountain view………..

Want to see Eagles ??  So did I.  I hate to say it, but the best place to find Bald Eagles is at the garbage dump………so I made my usual stop at the dump on the way by.  Looks like the Raven is wondering just how much he could get away with if he started poking at the Eagle…………

Now it got a little more interesting.  I usually stay at the very scenic Gnome’s Home wilderness campground when I’m here, but today I ran straight into Bella Coola.  It was mid-afternoon and I wanted to get to the travel office for my ferry ticket to make sure of a place.  The ladies there are very pleasant and knowledgeable and recognized me this year, as well as last.  They sold me a ticket for Wednesday’s ferry all right, but cautioned me to be very sure I was in the parking area a little early, just in case.  This area is very remote and after summer’s over, there’s very little traffic and they shut the ferry down after Labor Day.  Wednesday’s sailing would be the last of the year.  Miss that and I’d hafta go clear back around the way I came – many 100s of miles.

(I’m not sure what fares are for passenger cars, but for an over-height, over-length truck, camper and boat, they nailed me for $861 for the ferry ride.  Altogether, my rig is 12 ft high, 43 ft long and with boat and trailer weighs a total of nearly 7 tons.  They got me.  It’s only 18 hours to Port Hardy from here - it turned out to be a direct run straight to Port Hardy with stops only at Bella Bella and Shearwater, just across from Bella Bella)

OoooKaaay…….hmmm……??  Lots of scenery pics from previous trips, but no Grizzly pics and this is one of the Grizzly capitols of the world.  Asked the ladies what they could suggest and they took a brochure from the rack and told me it’s really too early for guided tours, but talk to these people and they’d prob’ly help out.  Can’t remember the name, but it’s a new campground still under construction in Hagensborg, so I went to take a look.  Nice folks, nice campground – very nice campground – and they were very willing to offer suggestions.  He had other commitments, but showed me on a map where he usually takes guests to see Bears.  Very nice of him.  Dustbuster got abandoned while I went Bear hunting.  Strange – I’m scared to death of the things (Grizzlies, not Blacks) but have this strange fascination with them.  Death wish ??……….

OK, got some little stuff squared away, slept very soundly and was up and about fairly early – for me.  It’s quite a story, but I did find a Bear and told the story in ‘08.  That story is one of my favorites and is at -  http://gogittum.com/blog/?cat=64

Just by co-incidence, when I got on the ferry next day, the Australian couple I’d flown with out of Nimpo Lake were on there, too, so we had a bit of a re-union.  They had already met a lady who’s a psychologist in The Netherlands, so we spent the day watching the terrific scenery and had a great series of talks.  Very, very nice people………..

No Whales on this trip.  Too bad, we sure watched for them but with no joy.  Only trip I’ve seen Whales on was in ‘06 - http://newmexico.homestead.com/ocean06.html  These are Humpback Whales.

Here’s an overview of this portion of the trip.  I put in the major place names from Chilko Lake to Port Hardy.  Not certain, but I think Monarch Glacier is only the portion by the “ier” in Glacier.  Monarch Mountain is the symbol by the “r” in Glacier………

The weather all the way down Vancouver Island was miserable, so never did see any Orcas, tho’ I did try a bit of Salmon fishing out of Port McNeill, but with no joy.  I stopped overnight to visit my old friend Bob in Halfmoon Bay, but the next story stop is at my friend’s place in Gibson’s B.C.  They took me for an over night cruise on their 40 ft sailboat to Gabriola Island, a wonderful trip with great people - http://gogittum.com/blog/?cat=73  From there to Vancouver to visit my cousins for a day, then on to Port Angeles, WA……..site of another story to come.

 
Larry Bourne
Silver City, NM
www.gogittum.com
www.gogittum.com/blog

Posted: February 2nd, 2012 under 08 Vacation, 08-9-1 To Bella Coola.
Comments: none

When I was plannning the trip up here last year, I had the plane ride out of Bella Coola in ‘06 on my mind ( http://newmexico.homestead.com/flight06.html ) and wanted to see more of it from the other side.  I emailed several outfits about rides in ‘07 and the most interesting reply was from Duncan Stewart, owner of Tweedsmuir Air and Stewart’s Lodge at Nimpo Lake, B.C.  We arranged for me to be there on Tuesday and he’d “see what he could do for me.”  Coming up thru Pemberton and Lillooet, ( http://gogittum.com/blog/?cat=52 ) I’d planned on a boat ride up Seton Lake, but the weather was rotten and a boat ride wasn’t practical, so I kept on moving and arrived at Nimpo Lake a day early.  On Monday I showed up at his lodge and he had a group just getting ready to go, so he turned to them and calmly announced that I’d be the flight photographer and would ride in the co-pilot’s seat for better shooting.  No problem with them – there were 4 of them – 2 couples - and the Beaver’s a 6 seater, so away we went  ( http://gogittum.com/blog/?cat=53  &  http://gogittum.com/blog/?cat=54 ) on an extremely memorable flight. 
 
It turned out that the next day – my scheduled day - was weathered out – overcast and raining hard, so for once I lucked out.
 
This time I had just retired and was goofing along on the trip and really enjoying it.  At this point I was 2 months into a 3 month trip and wasn’t sure when I’d be where, so I arrived at Nimpo Lake one morning, completely un-announced.  There were other people there and Duncan stared at me for a second, then his brow cleared as he remembered me, and he said something like, “OK, our flight photographer has arrived and we’re ready to go.”  I was speechless, then nearly bit my tongue off to keep from laughing.  Talk about a quick cover-up.  :-)  There was a really pleasant retired couple from Australia going on this ride – a working ride – but Duncan said it would work out just right.  I’ve got to say about a dozen “thank you’s” to Duncan.  He sure treated me well, both years.
 
They were to pick up a father and son at a remote lake where they’d been Trout fishing for 2 days on a father/son excursion and move them to another lake, then pick up another couple at that lake and bring us all home.  I forget the price he quoted me for the ride, only that it was very fair.  The Aussies had paid extra for a glacier tour, so Duncan had a full plane for the whole loop.  The 1st stop was to be right at the base of the glacier mountains. 
 
Here’s the float equipped DeHavilland Beaver on take-off last year.  Look at the country we were flying into………

We flew southwest toward Monarch Peak and it looked pretty good.  I was impressed all over again by the powerful, radial engined Beaver – the music of that thing idling gives me goose bumps - and the mountains were soon “right there”.  Happily, the weather cleared as we approached…………

Climbing fast, we came onto the Monarch Glacier and pilot Sid headed us up a “valley” choked with ice.  This is more like it, eh ??…………

Come around that bend, still climbing hard……….

………and it started to open up ahead of us.  Beautiful.  I’ll be saying that a lot on this flight………..

Up on top now and the world spread forever around us, shining in the sun…………

We made a wide, looping turn……and started back down……….

Just like they say – a river of ice………..

Following the valley down, we cleared the ice field and far ahead is our next turn.  Follow this valley all the way down till it dead ends at that green slope……..then we turn left – north – to pick up the 1st fishermen…………

Over Lower Knot Lake now and on final approach for Upper Knot Lake.  Just around the corner to the right, where the stream comes out of the lake are “our” fishermen……….

Seconds later we were on the water and turning to the dock.  Look at the scenery we’ve just come out of.  Wonderful.  That dock is civilization.  All of it.  Stewart’s Lodge maintains this for their fishermen.  Talk about privacy and un-spoiled fishing.  I believe these folks had camped here for 2 days in a clearing behind the dock.  The father was pretty quiet and looking very pleased with things and his ~early 20s ?? son was very happy about the fishing they’d had.  They’d caught plenty, released most and were ready to start fishing again at Moose Lake, our next stop……….

Remember last year when we visited old hermit John at Lonesome Lake ??  I learned that John had succumbed to his cancer and passed away just a month or 2 after we visited him.  See the clearings just below center ??  His cabin is the green dot above those at the tree line.  There’s a divide up here, but I’m not sure exactly where.  Water from the Knot Lakes flows southwest to huge Knight inlet on the Inside Passage, where I’ve chased Orcas for the past few summers.  Water from Lonesome Lake, right around the corner, flows north and west into the Atnarko River that flows into the fjord at Bella Coola, my next stop on this trip…………..

Now we climbed right out of the canyon and pilot Sid treated us to a terrific view of 850 ft Hunlen Falls, the water exiting off Turner Lake.  There’s an 8 kilometer trail to these falls from the Atnarko trailhead in the Bella Coola valley, but the sign there cautions strongly about large numbers of Grizzly Bears – and you all know what I think of those guys.  Otherwise I’d love to hike to it……….

I was crowded up against the window shooting straight down when Sid tapped my arm and said, “look ahead.”  I was amazed – again………….

These are the Painted Mountains - some refer to them as the Rainbow Range - and are apparently a good tourist draw, tho’ I’d never heard of them.  I was told that few others have, either, but those who do see them never forget them………

What can you say ??………….

A look back was amazing, too.  I’ve never seen anything quite like all this.  What a ride ! ! !…………..

Next stop, Moose Lake and we’re on final approach.  I could do this every day for a long, long time without tiring of it……….

While taxi-ing in, a small herd of Geese took off at our approach.  Not sure – I want to call these Canada Geese, but I don’t remember their wings as being so long and narrow.  Input from anyone ??………….

This is a real cabin and on a much larger lake, also maintained by Stewart’s Lodge but I don’t know how many guests can stay at a time.  Fishing is said to be wonderful.  As before, this one is fly-in only.  Our fishermen were anxious to give it a try and it didn’t take them long to unload their gear.  The next group was several miles down lake and we flew at low altitude to go and pick them up…….

Now for the long run home.  We were quite a way out and it took a while to get there, but the scenery continued to be interesting.  I’m not sure what to call this country.  Not tundra, not mountains, more than rolling hills, not really a swamp tho’ lots of it is swamp-y.  Interesting.  Sid grew up in this country and told me that walking thru the low brush along the creek is pretty tough going and sloppy, soggy wet……….

It’s been a pretty full day today and it’s nice to see the final approach to Nimpo Lake looking at us……….

Taxi to Stewart’s Lodge and call it a day.  Pic is from last year’s flight………..

To cap it all off, there’s a small, really nice campground at the far end of the lake.  This was my view out of the camper window as I ate dinner.  Sun’s going down…….what a day ! ! !  What a country ! ! !……..

Larry Bourne
Silver City, NM
www.gogittum.com
www.gogittum.com/blog

Posted: January 29th, 2012 under 08 Vacation, 08-8-31 Nimpo Lake.
Comments: 1

Several years ago I had read an article about Chilko Lake in an issue of British Columbia magazine and after one look at the pictures, I knew I had to go there.  So, on Vacation 2006, I did go there and it was everything I expected and more.  ( http://newmexico.homestead.com/chilko06.html )  About 10 or so miles down lake in the Dustbuster I got to looking at the distances involved and the number of people around (none) and started getting a little edgy.  At the time, I believed Chilko was about 40 miles long.  I’ve since found that it’s 55 miles long – and Dustbuster had just one motor.  A glitch in that thing way down there would see me in serious trouble and no way to call for help.  Too far to paddle that heavy boat and no way I’d try to hike out of there.  I pulled off on the peninsula shown in the picture below (the dark one behind the right wake) and took some shots and I was hooked.  Hafta go down there.  On the way back to campground, I turned for one more shot – this one has become one of my all time favorites and is still on my desktop as I write this in January 2012………..

I had gone down the Baja California peninsula to the Gulf of California the year before and while I did go out quite a way, I was un-easy and made sure the Mexican fishermen could hear me on the VHF radio, just in case.  Also in ‘05, I had run more than 40 miles up Dworshak reservoir in Idaho – and had a situation that was my own silly fault. -  ( http://webpictures.homestead.com/bc05g.html )  Not so remote – quite – and there were people fishing up there, but still……??  During the winter of 06/07, I finally ordered and installed an 8 hp Yamaha 4 stroke kicker motor to bring me home if the big motor failed.  Insurance.  When summer of ‘07 rolled around I was ready and high-tailed it back up there for another try.  When I pulled into the campground in late afternoon, the weather looked great.  Next morning a storm had blown in and I did try, but when you get past that peninsula from ‘06 you come into the main body of the lake and the wind has had a fetch of 40 miles of very deep water to pile up some dandy waves and I sure found ‘em.  Look ahead of the boat in this shot and you can see the line where it really went phooey – solid white water and waves nearly 4 ft high and I didn’t even fool with it – turned tail and ran for home – deeply disappointed…………

Before I go any farther, here’s a map I put together so you can follow my path.  The road leaves Tatla Lake and heads down toward Tatlayoko Lake and forks left above Tatlayoko town and goes east above Choelquoit Lake, then follows the Chilko River upstream to the lake.  Lots of Beaver dams and lodges down in the swampy areas, too……….

Right above Choelquoit Lake I stopped to check things out and shook my head.  The big hind wheels of the Diesel Dodge – even with mudflaps – had coated everything with mud.  What a mess.  Dustbuster carries 33 gallons of fuel and there’ve been times I’ve needed it…….and plan on needing it again tomorrow.  That’s good for about 150 miles or so, but I follow the 3rds rule – 1/3rd out, 1/3rd back and 1/3rd in reserve in case it gets rough and slows you down – that eats a lot of extra fuel.  Gives me a practical range of 100 miles, round trip.  Tomorrow I plan to stretch that a bit because my round trip will be 110 miles, but I think that’ll be safe enuf…………

Sooo………I’m back in ‘08, all geared up, but later in the season this time.  ‘06 and ‘07 I was there in June.  This year it was right at the end of August and summer this far north is about over by then.  With fingers crossed, I made the 40 mile run down the dirt roads from Tatla Lake and it was quite different.  Weather was all over the place, day by day and it had poured rain in the days before.  As I ran down the road, more and more Ptarmigan (remember from Babine Lake ??) ran in front of the truck and one settled in a tree near me.  If I hadn’t been watching, I’d never have seen it – the camoflage is about perfect.  I hear they’re very good eating, too.  Hmmm……….

A little farther down the road, Bambi looked out thru the brush at me……….

Finally I came to the first glimpse of the north end, where it narrows down to become the Chilko River.  Beautiful.  There’s a fly-in fishing lodge there that offers world class trout and steelhead fishing, floating down the river.  I’d like to try that sometime – after I win the lottery…………

Three kilometers south of the lodge on a terrible “road” is the free gov’t campground and it Is primitive.  That’s OK, I’m self sufficient in the camper, tho’ with the limited battery capacity the camper had then I had to be very careful about power usage if I wanted to be able to warm up with the furnace in the morning.  When I pulled into the campground, several others were scattered thru the trees in their sites and they called me over to caution me.

Remember in my stories all the way up here when I described the salmon runs and the Indians fishing for them ??  Well……Chilko Lake turns out to have one of the greatest runs of sockeye salmon anywhere and the bears know all about it.  When the salmon spawn they die and float down into the lake.  Pretty hard to catch them in the deep water, so the bears just follow the shoreline and pick up as many as they want.  The other campers had ganged together and run a young Grizzly off just before I got there and they wanted to be sure I didn’t go wandering off into the brush.  Then someone hollered from farther around, so we all went for a look.  There was a huge Grizzly on the far shore, about 1/8 mile away – and I mean this guy was a giant.  If the bear at Hyder was 600#, this guy would have to be 800#.  Noooo……..I won’t hike around here……..

Wind was blowing pretty good, but sky was clear, so I could have hope for the morning.  Then we looked a little farther down lake and there was a mama grizzly with her 2 yearling cubs.  One is out of the picture here.  Mama was very big, too – didn’t realize the females got so big, but I’d sure hate to tangle with her.  Even that far away, she’d spotted us and was keeping a close eye on us…………

OK, launched the boat and tied it to a tree, then next morning bright and early – for me – I took off down lake for my big run.  The wind had completely died, but there was a heavy, nasty looking overcast and it were cooold.  About 45º….and Dustbuster is an open boat.  Soon I was approaching the 1st turn and could see the huge glacier capped mountains ahead and started to grin……….

I carry lots of foul weather gear on board and was very, very glad of it today.  Dustbuster is economical, but cruises at just 22 mph.  Altogether today, I ran a total of a little over 6 hours – in an open boat at 45º.  Even dressed very warmly, I was about paralyzed by the time I got back to the camper.  Here’s just a few representative shots as I drove down lake – I took 100’s……….

The cone shaped mountain in the valley on the right side of this is Mount Waddington.  At 13,186 feet, it’s the highest mountain in the coast range.  Beautiful.  Many of these mountains are 10,000 feet or more…………

2/3 of the way down the lake now, I was running over toward the eastern shore and was watching the fishfinder.  Right opposite Franklyn Arm………….

……..the fishfinder showed an amazing depth.  I read somewhere that Chilko is one of the largest and deepest lakes in North America.  This is showing 1,118 ft deep, 49.1º water temperature and I was moving at 7.6 mph here.  The GPS doesn’t quite agree with that.  ( Look at that windshield - I had thrown bucketfuls of water over the boat, but didn’t really get it clean until I hit the power wash at Bella Coola )  I think the fish showing on the meter here are just noise from the great depth, tho’ possibly some of the shallower ones are salmon.  I understand there are giant – 1,000 lb – sturgeon in here, too.  Maybe one day ??………….

Farther on down, another story starts.  When I was preparing to leave the campground this morning, a younger 30 something couple were leaving in their boat to camp farther down the lake.  Williams Lake residents, they like to come down here once a year “to get away from it all.”  Huh.  To me, Williams Lake IS away from it all.  They told me where they’d be and invited me to stop on my way back, but I was hesitant – they were going a long way to be alone and I didn’t really want to invade their privacy.  In this next shot, just right of center there’s a big valley behind the ridge of the mountain in front of the one with the glacier.  Follow the river in that valley down to the lake and go about another ¼ mile south and that’s about where they said they’d be.  They planned on hiking up to that glacier during their week long stay………

I was booming along, heading for the end and suddenly the wind died, the light changed and the water flattened right out.  In the distance is the end of the lake.  Beautiful……..

Then, the south end of Chilko Lake.  What a tremendous rush – I was grinning like an idiot.  ( there’s any doubt ??)……….

Haaaa, boy, kicked back in the seat, turned around and headed back north.  Just a few miles and you can see the slope where the river from the glacier comes into the lake, about ¼ of the way in from the right.  Look just above the line of that ridge and you’ll see a dark spot, just about in the middle of the picture – below the colored mountain.  I’ll talk more about colored mountains like that, but much more so in the Nimpo Lake page, next after this one.  Anyway, below that spot is about where that couple said they’d be camping……..

I held off-shore quite a way, watched over there and they came down to the beach with their dog and waved me in.  OK, I guess, but I felt funny about it…………

They were camped there in a tent, thought nothing of it and have done it for years – in a forest full of grizzly and black bears.  You couldn’t put me in that tent at night here at gunpoint ! ! !  They were very pleasant and we had a nice talk, but time was flying and I had to get back.  Just a few miles farther north, I was humming along and saw a movement on the shore, so swung in that direction.  It were a grizzly – huge grizzly – and he was standing there watching me, so I eased in toward the beach at idle.  When I was about 100 feet out, I remembered that they’re very good swimmers and if he came after me and the motor quit, I’d be real un-happy, so eased to the back of the boat and started the Yamaha kicker motor – just in case.  Sorry about the fuzzy picture.  I took a dozen or more and this is the best of them………….

That bear was absolutely enormous – I didn’t realize they would be so tall - and I was really excited and moved in closer.  Suddenly he realized – human – and made a fast turn and a jump and was gone in the brush.  Wow ! ! !  Just around a couple more points and I saw movement again and again had camera – or shaky hands – problems.  This was a big female black bear with 2 young cubs, but only one shows in the picture.  When I got closer she shoo-ed them off out of sight.  She’s searching for dead salmon here…………

 

………and those guys are camped down there in a fabric tent.  Mercy.  Heading on home now and only about 10 miles out, the weather really started to close in.  Still calm, but I doubted that would last long………..

Now, another little story.  I loaded Dustbuster on the trailer and moved the truck to a level spot and set up for the night.  See the bear-proof dumpster to the left of the truck ??  OK……….

Two nights in a row on that in-adequate battery had me really hurting for power, so I turned off everything, bundled up under lots of blankies and went to sleep.  Around 2 in the morning a great clattering and banging right outside woke me up.  Man, it was freezing in that camper and I heard a clattering again and realized a bear was trying to get into the trash.  ( I’d taken all mine to the dumpster before going to bed )  Then he stopped and there was dead silence.  It was pitch black – under the trees on an overcast night – and out of the blankets now, I was shaking with cold.  The cold makes it worse somehow.  Flashlight in one hand, bear spray in the other, I sat up in the bunk and waited and listened.  Nothing.  Then, suddenly, he gave a series of snorts and whuffs – right outside my window, like an enormous dog snuffing.  I’ll tell ya, I was about paralyzed – he could open that tin camper up like a sardine can.  Then he went away.  Phew.  Can you imagine how long it was before I got back to sleep ??  Sheeesh ! ! !  ( just last year I got tired of always worrying about that fool battery system and read about an upgrade on a forum, so went for it.  The story’s at - http://gogittum.com/blog/?cat=136  I’m very pleased to say that the new system works extremely well and I’m Very pleased with it.  That’s the only bitch I’ve had about the otherwise excellent Lance camper )

Next morning I headed out and turned toward Tatlayoko Lake, wanting to see the Homathko River.  The internet tells me there are 10,000 foot canyons near Mount Waddington that the river flows thru and it’s spectacular.  I wouldn’t dare attempt to take the boat into a mess like that, but wanted to see what I could and hadn’t been there yet.  On the way, there were miles of these fences that are very common all thru northern British Columbia……….

Then, finally, Tatlayoko Lake.  It’s only about 15 miles long, so I had high hopes, but then the rain started and the wind started.  Phooey.  Hafta make it next trip, if ever, I ‘spect.  The water is crystal clear………..

One final thing I got a grin out of……ever since I was a kid, pouring over maps and dreaming,  (yah, I’ve been like this all my life) I’d seen a town up here called “Kleena Kleene.”  (It’s near the Kliniklini River)  Are you serious ??  I had to find it.  Never did find the town, it’s mostly gone now, but there Is a post office with some boxes outside.  Real showcase post office………..

Next stop, Nimpo Lake and a really great adventure.  Remember last year, when the owner of Stewart’s Lodge and Tweedsmuir Air let me ride along on a Beaver float plane ??  http://gogittum.com/blog/?cat=53  and http://gogittum.com/blog/?cat=54  That trip worked out by accident, too, but this time I really fell into one.  When I got to the door there, I was just in time for a tremendous ride in that big float plane.  I’ve been a licensed pilot for over 15 years and dream about bush flying.  I sure got a good taste of it there.  Wonderful.                     Lar.

 

Larry Bourne
Silver City, NM
www.gogittum.com
www.gogittum.com/blog

Posted: January 25th, 2012 under 08 Vacation, 08-8-30 Chilko Lake.
Comments: none