The huge waterfall in the previous pics was Hunlen Falls at the lower end of Turner Lake, the terminus of the chain of lakes that is very popular with canoe-ists. They start at the top, (Kidney Lake ??) and paddle and portage for 3 to 5 days down a chain of 5 lakes. Sounds like fun….except for the bears. Here’s another shot of Hunlen Falls as we were beginning our descent into Lonesome Lake in the valley below………..

Now, lined up for the distant landing, Lonesome Lake is clearly visible, and distinctive because of the unusual “islands” on both sides. Doesn’t look very big, does it ?? It’s not………..

The U-shaped valleys all thru this country give strong evidence of past glaciation. Must have been something to see, 10,000 or 12,000 years ago during the last ice age. Approaching fast now, old hermit John’s cabin is at the top of the green vertical stripe just about in the center of this picture……..

Here’s a little better look at it. This really is a fairly typical shack. My new friends came to be quite dis-illusioned during their visit………..

We made 2 circuits of the lake, buzzing the cabin to let John know we were arriving, and losing altitude while pilot Dale checked out his landing zone very carefully. Lining up now for final approach over the trees…….

And onto short final. This is a tiny lake in a deep canyon, and ol’ Lar kept very still and quiet during this phase, not wanting to distract Dale at his controls……….

And we have splashdown. As it turned out, with Dale’s capable hands at the controls, there was lots of room to spare, and the mighty Beaver yawned as it made the turn back to the dock from mid-lake………

Soon, we were tied up to the tiny, primitive dock and our intrepid adventurers dis-embarked and began off-loading their equipment and supplies for their overnight visit. Pilot Dale Leekie is in the background, wearing the brown jacket. I’m not completely sure how these folks came to hear of old John, or how they contacted him to arrange for the trip. They did tell me, but in the excitement of the journey…??…………

These were nice folks and very easy to talk to. John had to launch his little boat and come to get them, and it took a while. He wasn’t able to come all the way to the dock, due to the islands, so they had to hike quite a way to reach the boat. We’re really back into the wilderness here…….

While waiting, I noticed evidence of a major fire that had roared thru this area, and Dale confirmed it. I also found where tools had been lost or abandoned without being used. Handles were burned off the axes and shovels, and the saw is ruined from the heat………

Finally, Old John did make his appearance, and I was amazed at his age and frailty. I heard later that he suffers from throat cancer, and hasn’t long to go. He wants to spend his remaining time here……….

Now, tho’, it was time for our group to beat cross-country with their gear to the boat. It was quite a hike, and I’m not sure they’d quite realized what they were getting into. The mosquitoes were thick and very aggressive, too…….

Meanwhile, pilot Dale, new to the area, really enjoyed meeting the old man, and they had quite a talk……….

We waited a while to make sure our group got away safely, and soon saw them piled into John’s little skiff, heading across the main river………..

After the hair raising approach to the lake, take-off was ho-hum in comparison, and the Beaver roared into the air easily and with room to spare. Just to be sure, Dale circled once back over the cabin area to make sure all was well……….

…..and it was. Quite unexpectedly, a couple of days later I ran into them in a parking lot in Bella Coola, and they told me of quite an adventure. From the boat landing it was quite a hike to the cabin, and it was very cluttered and very primitive. I think they were quite pleased to have their tents for accomodations.

Meanwhile, we soon arrived back at Stewart’s Lodge at Nimpo Lake, base of Tweedsmuir Air……….

This is a 1st class facility, and owner Duncan Stewart is charismatic and friendly. A great pleasure to meet, and I give a huge thanks to him for arranging this *much* more than expected flight. I’ve been flying now for 12 years, and thought I’d had some adventures, (I have) but nothing even comes close to this trip. This was the realization of a dream and will be a lifetime memory. Thank You, Duncan.                        Lar.

Larry Bourne

Santa Fe, NM
www.gogittum.com

Posted: May 25th, 2008 under 07 British Columbia, 07-6-18 To Lonesome Lake.
Comments: none

Monday morning, bright and early, I hustled over to Stewart’s Lodge, and found that Duncan Stewart, the owner of the Lodge and the Air Service, had arranged for me to fly with a group of 4 people - 2 couples - who were to be dropped off at Lonesome Lake to visit an old hermit there. This sounded great. Not only get to fly in the Beaver bush plane, but get to make a landing and take-off at a remote mountain lake, to boot. The morning, at 8:00 AM was crystal clear - the answer to a dream. By 9:00 AM, the mountain tops were clouding up. Uh Oh. We were all introduced, and the group started loading their gear into the plane. Pilot Dale Leekie is checking the floats……….

Then we taxi-ed out to a clear area of the lake, and hit the power. That Beaver is some hot-rod. In seconds we were on the step, then it leaped into the air, and we were on our way. This was exciting…………

To reach the mountains, we flew over miles of marshy forest. This would be a soggy, brushy, mosquito ridden mess to try to hike thru. Don’t think I’d want to try it. The old timers who settled this country must’ve been tougher than nails……….

Finally, we did reach the mountains, tho’, and even with the building clouds, it was a beautiful flight. Looks cooooold down thar…………

We flew by the edge of the Monarch Ice Field, but the possibility of “Granite Clouds” made it too dangerous to approach closer. Now, I’ve got something to aim for next year. As if I need an excuse………….

In this shot, Turner Lake, last of the chain of lakes popular with fly-in canoe-ists (-ers ??) is right under the wingtip. Mighty Hunlen Falls is at the bottom edge of it, and falls to the valley and lake below. Lonesome Lake, our destination is at the very far end of the long lake at the left……….

Hunlen Falls. What a sight…………

Now……..the story can pick up at the page I sent of “Lonesome Lake.” This is one of the few times when things actually worked out. The socked in weather at Seton Lake brought me to Nimpo Lake a day early, which allowed this flight. We flew on Monday, and Tuesday - our scheduled ride - was socked in solid and blowing and raining again. I drove into Chilko Lake on Tuesday and had more adventures, but that’s another story.                          Lar.

Larry Bourne
Santa Fe, NM
www.gogittum.com

Posted: May 25th, 2008 under 07 British Columbia, 07-6-17 Nimpo Lake.
Comments: 1

After leaving rainy, overcast - as usual - Vancouver, and braving really awful weather on the way up thru my favorite route of Whistler, Pemberton, and Duffey Lake on the way to Lillooet, I pulled into a campground in Lillooet to lick my wounds. I’d even decided to brave the Bears and Cougars and make the hike alone up to the Joffre Lakes and Glacier, just before Duffey Lake. (for some reason, I’m absolutely terrified of bears - Black or Grizzly. Snakes, spiders, and the like are fine, but even with a club and a can of Bear Spray, I’m like a stray cat at the dog pound when thinking of Bears) Anyway, I mentioned awful weather. Wasn’t much point in hiking up to the scenic lakes, Bears or not…………

This was on Saturday. I’d hoped and planned to launch the boat at scenic Seton Lake, just outside of Lillooet on Sunday, then travel to Nimpo Lake on Monday for the Beaver floatplane ride on Tuesday. Nope, not to be. I stopped at Seton Lake (I asked locally, and it’s pronounced “See-ton,” not “Say-ton.”) on Saturday, when I arrived, and it was socked in with heavy clouds, so I camped at Lillooet, a scruffy town in a really fantastic setting, had an excellent dinner at Dina’s Greek restaurant, and crashed for the night. In the morning, same-o, same-o. In good weather, I’ve been told, this is a beautiful boat ride, about 25 miles each way………..

Not much point in going sight-seeing here this morning, so I fired up the Diesel Dodge and headed north to Williams Lake, then west toward Nimpo Lake. This route is on Hwy 20, thru the rugged Chilcotin District of British Columbia, and is a great drive. As you go west, the giant mountains of the Coast Range begin to dominate the western horizon, and by the time I’d got to the Kleena Kleane area they were really impressive………

After taking this shot, I thought it’d be a lot better looking over the lake without the trees, so grabbed the Bear Spray, and the monopod to use as a club, and headed down thru the 100 feet or so of brush to get a better view. Fine, got down there, took my shot, and turned around to start back up the steep hill thru mosquitoes and brush, and suddenly heard something whimpering nearby. Stood my hair right straight up on end. Bear cubs, on TV anyway, have more of a squall than a whimper, and this sounded EXactly like puppies. Puppies ?? Oh, Mercy, this country is full of wolves, too, and I needed real bad to get between Mama & Papa Wolf and their kids. Temptation was strong to sneak in and grab a quick picture. Noooooo………ol’ Lar weaseled out (got sensible for once) and beat feet back up to the truck. The pic of the lake and mountains did come out well, tho’……….

Finally, after a good long day, I pulled into Nimpo Lake, almost at the edge of the Coast Mountains. I went into Tweedsmuir Air (this is right near the edge of Tweedsmuir Provincial Park) and introduced myself. This shot was taken from the porch of Stewart’s Lodge, home of Tweedsmuir Air. What a setting, eh ??……..

The weather was clearing some - finally - and the weather-guessers forecast for Monday was hopeful. Once again, slept like a baby in the camper that night. Lar.

Larry Bourne
Santa Fe, NM
www.gogittum.com

Posted: May 25th, 2008 under 07 British Columbia, 07-6-16 To Lillooet.
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