I once read, a long time ago, in some obscure magazine, that walking by the shore line was healthy for you. Apparently where the water laps at the shore, can be found a fine nebulous mist of magnetically charged water vapour that recharges the body at a molecular level.
I go for walks along the shoreline almost daily, tho in the winter time one has to wonder how much water vapour can actually form, what with the calm inky blackness of the river and the frozen white expanse of the lake, but the calm, peaceful, solitude is enough to soothe anyone.
Walking along listening to the zsinging of the sugar snow as I swish my boots thro it. Watching Quick and Quark, the resident ravens, swoop and swerve as they divebomb Charly, the wind whistling thro their wings. I'll often sit, close my eyes and listen to the world... which is far from silent. I hear a soft knockeling as the wind plays it's music thro knuckle bone branches, the faint crackling of a leaf still caught in a tree, the sharp zipper crack of the ice as it relives it's stresses, the gentle smackeling of the water lapping underneath the ice, a far off squirrel chittering it's objection to some kind of intrusion. I even hear the soft ticking of the snow as it lands gently onto my shoulders... now that is enough to recharge anyones soul!
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Bleeting
I tried this Blogging thing.... but I just don't have that much 'free' time to gossip on the computer?!? I don't even gossip that much in real time !?! So I am going to try something new... I am going to 'BLEET'... that's a cross between Blogging and some new fangled thing they call Tweeting, which is just as foreign but I think it has to be posted in 40 words or less! That might suit me better!! This is for you George... as you asked me so nicely not to quit!
Bleet #1
Dec. 3rd, 2011... where did the time go???? The lake is trying to freeze up.... for the third time so far. Charly can't wait, he is already running out as far as he can before starting a crack. An otter, or martin, or maybe an eagle has been enjoying a riverside meal for the past two mornings... the bloodspots don't really tell us much, can't make out the tracks.... just vivid red spots in the clean white snow. Wind strewn trees smashing over the horse fence are keeping Dick busy. But no wind today... beautiful sun shining, and temps falling, the two seem to go hand in hand. This is more then 40 words.... but hey... no limit to a BLEET!! I made up the word so I get to make up the rules too.....
Bleet #1
Dec. 3rd, 2011... where did the time go???? The lake is trying to freeze up.... for the third time so far. Charly can't wait, he is already running out as far as he can before starting a crack. An otter, or martin, or maybe an eagle has been enjoying a riverside meal for the past two mornings... the bloodspots don't really tell us much, can't make out the tracks.... just vivid red spots in the clean white snow. Wind strewn trees smashing over the horse fence are keeping Dick busy. But no wind today... beautiful sun shining, and temps falling, the two seem to go hand in hand. This is more then 40 words.... but hey... no limit to a BLEET!! I made up the word so I get to make up the rules too.....
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Winter Starts with a Vengeance
November 23, minus 28 degrees celsius -- Dick has taken refuge in the house, that is definately a rarity!! Even more telling, Charley won't go out!! Charley is currently laying on his sunny chair sopping up the heat through the window, Dick is nearby at the table going through old pictures. Nice past times for a cold day. Not that it is by no means 'too' cold to be outside, just that the biting wind makes it a bit more sensible to stay in. Our morning walks have been 'put off' until mid-noon, we haven't started the truck in a week, the mail is probably piling up in the postal box, we are out of milk (got lots of powder) -- but even so, we have lots of fire wood, the house is warm and the sun is shining sooooo bright that we have lots of power too!! That means more time on the computer so I'm busy playing with internet searches, area research and blogs.
Bowron Lake is trying to freeze up. It started three days ago. Each day the ice in the northern bays reach further into the lake. We took our first walk on the ice two days ago, sticking real close to shore. Even so, a few 'zipper' rips succeeded in raising the hair on the back of our necks. The geese and swans are sticking close to shore, dippers are in the river, the eagle sits on his snag and the ravens are begging. Small bloody droplets in patches of snow indicate successful eagle fishing jaunts. A small twitching tail muskrat swims near the lodge under the bridge. Nothing seems too active, I guess they don't want to use up too much energy. Tell-tale tracks speak of noturnal visits from wild cats and dogs. Dick saw two wolves just down the road last week, so they seem to be staying in the area. The cat tracks are either lynx, bobcat or small cougar, hard to tell for sure without the animal standing in them.
Yesterday we 'walked' across Antler Creek... and the ice held...whew! Yes, we used a jab-pole to test each step, but the cold gurgling below always keeps one worried. There is only about 10 cm of snow on the ground so the frozen country is wide open to wander, especially when you can 'walk on water'. I wonder what marvels today's outing will bring.....
Bowron Lake is trying to freeze up. It started three days ago. Each day the ice in the northern bays reach further into the lake. We took our first walk on the ice two days ago, sticking real close to shore. Even so, a few 'zipper' rips succeeded in raising the hair on the back of our necks. The geese and swans are sticking close to shore, dippers are in the river, the eagle sits on his snag and the ravens are begging. Small bloody droplets in patches of snow indicate successful eagle fishing jaunts. A small twitching tail muskrat swims near the lodge under the bridge. Nothing seems too active, I guess they don't want to use up too much energy. Tell-tale tracks speak of noturnal visits from wild cats and dogs. Dick saw two wolves just down the road last week, so they seem to be staying in the area. The cat tracks are either lynx, bobcat or small cougar, hard to tell for sure without the animal standing in them.
Yesterday we 'walked' across Antler Creek... and the ice held...whew! Yes, we used a jab-pole to test each step, but the cold gurgling below always keeps one worried. There is only about 10 cm of snow on the ground so the frozen country is wide open to wander, especially when you can 'walk on water'. I wonder what marvels today's outing will bring.....
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Summer in Retrospect - Old News I Never Got to
Writing about June, July and Aug all in one post is not what I expected but the summer of 2010, tho quieter then normal, has been just as demanding, and computer 'play' time was at a high premium. So here are a few thoughts from over the summer months all in one, very late post.
June -- New parents are fun to watch. Most seem to be as befuddled as Elmer Fudd. Going one way, then another, not really knowing where to turn, what to do... but all of a sudden instinct kickes in and they seem to get the gist of what is what. Our new mother (and father) started out just like that. At first they couldn't seem to get their 'bird-brains' together. They worked on three separate mud-daubber homes before finally deciding which one to complete. They build their one - and two half - nests under the eve of our balcony, right outside the restaurant windows where they entertained dinners for weeks. At first we thought they weren't ever going to get around to 'sitting'... but finally they did... and what a brood they hatched!!
At first all we could see were two harried parents continually foraging and poking food into the top of the nest. Within days, wide yellow beaks began reaching out to grab the food before the parents even got stopped. Then before we knew it there were bodies hanging out every which way. Six fat, fuzzy, downy balls all crammed into one tiny nest. Beaks and butts circled around the edge hanging on for dear life. Every once in a while one would go into 'Copter' mode, wildly flapping its tiny wings, strengthening them for what instinct dictated was about to come. Meanwhile the rest couched, squaked, slipped and grabbed to prevent themselves from being flung out. After weeks of gut-giggling antics the time finally arrived. One at a time they began falling out of the nest. Some fell to the ground and flapped wildly beating the head high grass, before getting air. Others flapped from the onset and found themselves flying... then crash landing into the nearest bush. Mom and dad chirped crazily, swooping to coach the new aviators. Too soon, the nest was empty... the family grown and gone... and the window at last, was clear of 'bird smear'... for this year.
July -- busy, busy, busy -- all I remember is the continual flow of people, old friends, new acquaintances and busy days.
Aug -- Fire month!! If you listened to the Weather Channel, they reported that B.C. was burning up. Unfortunately that stopped alot of visitors from coming into the Cariboo area -- and more unfortunately it was a prime time to come because the area was very so nice and quiet. A real rarity in the heart of the summer season!! In most places the elevations were so high that the smoke didn't effect them much. In the valley though, we did have about 10 to 14 days were the Bowron lakes were 'smoked' in. There were big fires around Nazko and Williams Lake and add to this a small fire iat the south end of the park, resulted in views that were definately not at their best. Although small, the fire in the south part of Bowron Park did get somewhat close to a few camping areas, so B.C. Parks closed the area to all Paddling traffic for a while. I can't blame those who cancelled their paddling trips during that unfortunate event, even I would not want to paddle all the way to the bottom of Isaac Lake, just to have to turn back and face those three portages again!! No way, Jose!!
June -- New parents are fun to watch. Most seem to be as befuddled as Elmer Fudd. Going one way, then another, not really knowing where to turn, what to do... but all of a sudden instinct kickes in and they seem to get the gist of what is what. Our new mother (and father) started out just like that. At first they couldn't seem to get their 'bird-brains' together. They worked on three separate mud-daubber homes before finally deciding which one to complete. They build their one - and two half - nests under the eve of our balcony, right outside the restaurant windows where they entertained dinners for weeks. At first we thought they weren't ever going to get around to 'sitting'... but finally they did... and what a brood they hatched!!
At first all we could see were two harried parents continually foraging and poking food into the top of the nest. Within days, wide yellow beaks began reaching out to grab the food before the parents even got stopped. Then before we knew it there were bodies hanging out every which way. Six fat, fuzzy, downy balls all crammed into one tiny nest. Beaks and butts circled around the edge hanging on for dear life. Every once in a while one would go into 'Copter' mode, wildly flapping its tiny wings, strengthening them for what instinct dictated was about to come. Meanwhile the rest couched, squaked, slipped and grabbed to prevent themselves from being flung out. After weeks of gut-giggling antics the time finally arrived. One at a time they began falling out of the nest. Some fell to the ground and flapped wildly beating the head high grass, before getting air. Others flapped from the onset and found themselves flying... then crash landing into the nearest bush. Mom and dad chirped crazily, swooping to coach the new aviators. Too soon, the nest was empty... the family grown and gone... and the window at last, was clear of 'bird smear'... for this year.
July -- busy, busy, busy -- all I remember is the continual flow of people, old friends, new acquaintances and busy days.
Aug -- Fire month!! If you listened to the Weather Channel, they reported that B.C. was burning up. Unfortunately that stopped alot of visitors from coming into the Cariboo area -- and more unfortunately it was a prime time to come because the area was very so nice and quiet. A real rarity in the heart of the summer season!! In most places the elevations were so high that the smoke didn't effect them much. In the valley though, we did have about 10 to 14 days were the Bowron lakes were 'smoked' in. There were big fires around Nazko and Williams Lake and add to this a small fire iat the south end of the park, resulted in views that were definately not at their best. Although small, the fire in the south part of Bowron Park did get somewhat close to a few camping areas, so B.C. Parks closed the area to all Paddling traffic for a while. I can't blame those who cancelled their paddling trips during that unfortunate event, even I would not want to paddle all the way to the bottom of Isaac Lake, just to have to turn back and face those three portages again!! No way, Jose!!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Ice off -- for real!!
Just one day after my last post, on April 16th, 2010, the large ice floe at the south end of the lake, which didn't look so large when it finally appeared around the point, floated into the north end of Bowron Lake. The winds pushed and ground it against the northwest shore of the lake where it slowly disintegrated, and by 5pm the lake was ice free! We even jumped into the boat (the next morning) to make sure. So 'my' proclaimed ice off date is entered in my record books as April 16th, 2010. How does this relate to the records I have? It's a bit earlier then the mean average which works out to be May 1st. (This comes from 47 entries recorded by various people between the years of 1932 and 2010 (78 years), so there is a lot missing here.) For the record the earliest ice off event for Bowron Lake (that I have) occured on April 2, 1991, and the latest ice off event occured May 20, 2008.
To date (April 20, 2010) Bowron Lake is ice free, Kibbee is nearly ice free (still a bit along the edges), Spectacle still has lots of ice on it, Indianpoint and beyond have not been checked but are most probably still frozen. Isaac Lake traditionally clears off 2 weeks after Bowron Lake, so that brings us to the 30th of April. At this point the park personnel (and I) expect that the Lakes will all be clear in plenty of time for the Parks opening on May 15, 2010.
Lots of birds are back; robins, blackbirds, mergansers, canadian geese, eagles, plovers. The ravens are nesting, the starlings are ripping out the wire and nesting under our eves... AGAIN!! and the mosquitos have appeared! (yes I can enter them under birds because they are certainly big enough!) We have seen a few moose on the road, otters and beavers are in the river and squirrels are running rampant everywhere. No bear sitings yet. The water has only risen slightly, 5 cm in the last week (measured at the Bowron River Bridge), but there is still lots of snow in the mountains yet to melt. Tourists and strange cars are beginning to appear driving up and down the road... spring has sprung in the Bowron!
To date (April 20, 2010) Bowron Lake is ice free, Kibbee is nearly ice free (still a bit along the edges), Spectacle still has lots of ice on it, Indianpoint and beyond have not been checked but are most probably still frozen. Isaac Lake traditionally clears off 2 weeks after Bowron Lake, so that brings us to the 30th of April. At this point the park personnel (and I) expect that the Lakes will all be clear in plenty of time for the Parks opening on May 15, 2010.
Lots of birds are back; robins, blackbirds, mergansers, canadian geese, eagles, plovers. The ravens are nesting, the starlings are ripping out the wire and nesting under our eves... AGAIN!! and the mosquitos have appeared! (yes I can enter them under birds because they are certainly big enough!) We have seen a few moose on the road, otters and beavers are in the river and squirrels are running rampant everywhere. No bear sitings yet. The water has only risen slightly, 5 cm in the last week (measured at the Bowron River Bridge), but there is still lots of snow in the mountains yet to melt. Tourists and strange cars are beginning to appear driving up and down the road... spring has sprung in the Bowron!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Ice off -- ice on
I know the locals got all excited when on March 29, 2010, during the night of the big wind storm, the ice started to break-up. Then after three days of wind there was hardly any ice left on the north end of Bowron Lake. Many were touting the earliest Bowron Lake ice-off date in history!! BUT... despite the clear blue waves on the lake... it is not offically ice-off yet!
If you read the IceWatch Canada website, offical ice off is when a lake reaches the B4 stage --'completely ice free'. Although Bowron Lake 'looks' ice free when you gaze at it from the north shores... there is still a large free floating ice floe hiding around the point in the bay at the south end. Therefore Bowron Lake is at this date, April 15th, 2010, still considered at the B3 stage... 'ice in movement'. This is the first year that I know of (during my record taking years) that this has happened. Usually at break-up all the ice moves north with the currents and winds, ending up in the northern bays before clogging the river. This little ice floe, approx. 70 acres in size, seems to have hooked itself behind the point and is 'stuck' in the south bay of Bowron Lake.
All pictures taken on April 14, 2010. This picture is of the mountains around the back side of the ice floe.
Yesterday (April 14), Dick and I took the motor boat out to get pictures of it. As we motored by, the edges of the ice undulated with the wake of the boat, but didn't really break up. It only broke up when we tried to 'cut' the boat through a narrow section of the floe. We found the ice to be about 3 to 4 inches thick. On April 13, the ice floe closed in behind some local fisherman who had gone around it to the far end of the lake, and they reported having to get up onto the floe and drag their 12 ft aluminum over a section of the floe to get out. We didn't try this... I'm not that anxious to test the ice!
For the record -- the earliest ice-off date I've recorded occured on April 2, 1992, when over night, a big wind storm took all the lake ice and jammed it solid into the river. Before that, in 1941, the recorded 'opened' date is entered as April 5th. Being that I wasn't here during that year (ha, ha)... I don't know if 'opened' is an offical ice-off term or if they experienced conditions like we are having today.
If you read the IceWatch Canada website, offical ice off is when a lake reaches the B4 stage --'completely ice free'. Although Bowron Lake 'looks' ice free when you gaze at it from the north shores... there is still a large free floating ice floe hiding around the point in the bay at the south end. Therefore Bowron Lake is at this date, April 15th, 2010, still considered at the B3 stage... 'ice in movement'. This is the first year that I know of (during my record taking years) that this has happened. Usually at break-up all the ice moves north with the currents and winds, ending up in the northern bays before clogging the river. This little ice floe, approx. 70 acres in size, seems to have hooked itself behind the point and is 'stuck' in the south bay of Bowron Lake.
All pictures taken on April 14, 2010. This picture is of the mountains around the back side of the ice floe.
Yesterday (April 14), Dick and I took the motor boat out to get pictures of it. As we motored by, the edges of the ice undulated with the wake of the boat, but didn't really break up. It only broke up when we tried to 'cut' the boat through a narrow section of the floe. We found the ice to be about 3 to 4 inches thick. On April 13, the ice floe closed in behind some local fisherman who had gone around it to the far end of the lake, and they reported having to get up onto the floe and drag their 12 ft aluminum over a section of the floe to get out. We didn't try this... I'm not that anxious to test the ice!
For the record -- the earliest ice-off date I've recorded occured on April 2, 1992, when over night, a big wind storm took all the lake ice and jammed it solid into the river. Before that, in 1941, the recorded 'opened' date is entered as April 5th. Being that I wasn't here during that year (ha, ha)... I don't know if 'opened' is an offical ice-off term or if they experienced conditions like we are having today.
Playing Catch-up!
Nicola, a 2010 winter visitor at Bowron Lake, e-mailed me some time ago to find out how fellow winter enthusiasts, Steve and his group, did during their icy ski around the chain. I had hoped that one of Steve's group would send me a report, but to-date none has arrived so I confess that I must play catch-up without them. From memory then... Steve's group which consisted of four men and two dogs -- sort of 'skiied' -- the chain during our exceptionally strange 2010 winter. They left on Feb. 27th, 2010 and were welcomed to Bowron Lake with the seasons first 'downpour'... down right blasphemy in February!! Luckily it hit just as they reached a cabin. They returned 8 days later after completing the full circuit. They reported wonderful winter conditions despite the shortage of snow!? They found bare ice most of the way, only part of Isaac Lake had an actual thin layer of snow where they could kick and glide. They ended up double poling pretty near the whole way and reported ending with arms as big as apes and thigh muscles strained from trying to keep their skiis together. The trails, they said, were bare most of the way, which necessitated pulling their sleds over gravel.
The rivers were open and open leads of water greeted them at McLeary Lake where the Cariboo River joins in. They had to 'beat their way thro the bush' for most of the river. They reported at least 12 inches of ice on most lakes, and thin ice shelves along the edges of the rivers. They heard wolves and saw Ravens on Sandy Lake, a good indication of a 'kill' nearby. The ice 'talked' on most of the West Side, but Bowron Lake by far, took the cake with it's cracking and rumbling, this would be because they came home on a beautiful sunny day and the ice loves to snap and move when the sun hits it! Only one of the four had skins on his skiis which he said helped him even on the smooth ice. All had good backcountry ski gear with sturdy covered polks (sleds). Even the dogs, who carried small packs with their dog food, were frisking and happy on their return.
OK guys... now that I have written this up in such a public place ;-P send that report so I can see how 'correct' my memory is!!
The rivers were open and open leads of water greeted them at McLeary Lake where the Cariboo River joins in. They had to 'beat their way thro the bush' for most of the river. They reported at least 12 inches of ice on most lakes, and thin ice shelves along the edges of the rivers. They heard wolves and saw Ravens on Sandy Lake, a good indication of a 'kill' nearby. The ice 'talked' on most of the West Side, but Bowron Lake by far, took the cake with it's cracking and rumbling, this would be because they came home on a beautiful sunny day and the ice loves to snap and move when the sun hits it! Only one of the four had skins on his skiis which he said helped him even on the smooth ice. All had good backcountry ski gear with sturdy covered polks (sleds). Even the dogs, who carried small packs with their dog food, were frisking and happy on their return.
OK guys... now that I have written this up in such a public place ;-P send that report so I can see how 'correct' my memory is!!
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