Wrapping up 2009

The last few days we have been keeping pretty busy. Yesterday we decided to make a trip out to the main road to pick up mail that had been left there for us. We decided since we were going that way anyway we would open up a section of the old road by cutting out the trees that have fallen across it. There was 8km of fallen alders and pine trees with only a few good stretches in between... We started off cutting a wide swath and throwing the trees out of the way, then daylight was burning out fast and we still had not made our way out to the road to pick up our mail. We will have to go back again and clear more because by late in the afternoon, if we could go under it, over it, or around it - we did. Just over half way through we cut the limbs off a big pine tree that had fallen over and shovelled snow to make a bridge. From there on it was clearer sailing as someone had already been in once with a snowmobile from the other end so trail was cut. They must have been running out of time too because they did a lot of going under, over and around trees too! Along the lake for a few kilometres we followed wolverine tracks. He bounded along the road, went down on to the lake and up into the trees, there must have been a method to his madness that only he knew.

This morning we took the kids and checked a small section of the trapline near the cabin - about 16km round trip with the snowmobiles. There was a lot of wildlife activity, but nothing in the traps, save for one that something else had beat us to. Judging by the tracks - it seems a fisher may have cleaned our marten out of the trap. They are similar looking animals, both from the weasel family, with the fisher being a lot bigger. The owner of the trapline we are trapping said they are very scarce, though used to be higher in number. It had a similar track to the marten - only quite a bit larger. We also saw a cow and bull moose in a cutblock - in the same place they were the last time Tim had been through there. From what I have read, several moose will live together in a common area in the winter, abundant with food, called a moose yard.

Tim was surprised last week, when at the end of the trapline, 55km away, there was a set of snowmobile tracks coming in from the other way. They just did a loop and turned back around. It was likely a resident of Takla Landing, perhaps another trapper opening up the end of his line. Still a shocker to see another sign of life in the absolute middle of nowhere!

This afternoon we thought we would try some ice fishing. It was -20, a little chilly, so we lit a fire on shore to keep warm. We were unlucky in the fishing department though. People that had been out a few days before Christmas fished in the same spot and got a couple bull trout, which were released. Tomorrow if it is warm enough, we will snowmobile 26km one way out to the nearest road and pick up our mail, yes really... Our mail was left stashed on the side of the road for us by friends travelling out on Boxing Day.

This trapper, homeless we think, stumbled on to us while we were having our Christmas dinner. We gave him a meal and a place to sleep for the night, then he was on his way early the next morning.

Yesterday we had a really nice Christmas Eve at the lake. The guys checked traps in the morning and when they got back in the afternoon we had a skating party and cooked mountain pies over the fire down on the beach. This morning the kids were up extra early and excited to start opening presents and seeing what Santa left. Today we will have a nice quiet day and have Heather and Paul and the kids over for turkey and all the fixings this afternoon - should be good! We hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

'Tis the Season!

We arrived home yesterday safe and sound, if not a little chilly, from attending our first local Christmas (slash birthday) party. We left here Friday just after lunch and went to pick up mail first and have a nice visit at the store and some delicious hot apple cider. We then made our way up the road to friends who had kindly offered to let us all sleep in their guest cabin for the night so we could attend the party and not have to worry about snowmobiling the hour and a half home late at night. I have said this before, and I'll probably say it again many times - when we leave here - it will be the people who are the hardest to let go of. We have been made to feel so welcome - like we've been here for years and not just a few months. We had a great time at the party, having delicious food and getting to know better all our far-away neighbors. The kids had fun too - there was lots of room for them to spread out and run around. When we were ready to leave - we just had to walk through a short trail in the bush to where we were staying! How convenient! We had never before seen the "cabin" where we would be staying, we pulled into the yard on our snowmobiles to a large log house and I thought for sure we would be staying somewhere around back. Not so - this was our accommodations for the night. It is a beautiful, big cabin that the couple also rents out to snowmobilers and others in the summer who come up this way to enjoy the beautiful scenery.

The next day we shared a big breakfast with these friends at their own, beautiful, hand-built-by-themselves log house - just another quick little trail through the trees. After that we were to meet friends who were visiting at another friends' home on the way back south. Confused yet? Sorry, it is out of respect for them, I just want to keep everyone else's anonymity here... We arrived in the middle of their cutting beef so were able to help wrap and label some of it while we were there. I don't know how well I did though, let's just say you'll know the packages I wrapped...

We may head out for a Christmas Eve get together as well - potluck appy's and a Chinese Auction. Everyone out here has a good sense of humour so it should be a fun event. The forecast looks like it may be a little chilly that day so hopefully things look up in the next few days. We also don't want to stay too late so we can be home in time to get the kids settled for their long winter naps before Santa comes.

Crescent moon over Tinnecha Hill

Wolf tracks!

Wolf prints following our snowmobile tracks. There is a ton of moose sign in these logging blocks - they are likely following them. The pictures are a little dark but the sun was setting and there was little light left in the day.

My hand is close to 7" long from longest fingertip to wrist - this wolf print was over 5" across. There were a variety of foot sizes in the pack. This must be the alpha male!

***

The kids and I went with Tim yesterday to set out some marten boxes. We had been up in that area two days before to get a Christmas tree and broke the trail open. In the 48 or so hours that we were away - a pack of wolves went through on our snowmobile tracks! We tried to count the sets of prints and figure there are at least 6. The same 6 or so Tim and Paul figure that took down a moose about 10km up the road and feasted for a few days, rolling around (likely too full to go anywhere!) and bedding down right in the middle of the trail. Still, yet, we have heard no howling. Now that the lake is frozen, maybe they will cross. In speaking with 2 past residents of these cabins, we found that both have seen wolf packs cross the ice, and one has seen a wolf pack take down a caribou on the ice. Sounds violent, I guess, but, that is nature!

Our rink is ready! Do you think we should try for Hockeyville Canada?

Ice luminaria I made today

18 days till Christmas...

Today we braved the cold to get our Christmas tree - and it's a beauty! I just don't know what to put on it now that we have it, so it is leaning against the cabin for now. Maybe I will find some ideas online tonight. I could, and probably will, end up doing a popcorn string - that just seems like so much work! I could do the same with rosehips, but, again, so much work! Maybe I will not worry about the work it takes and do both... It's too late to buy anything over the internet now.

After our trip today, I think I need to devise something between a balaclava and a burka. I have some polar fleece and I'll have to see what I can come up with. I get cold at the top of my cheeks under my safety glasses, and just above my eyebrows above my safety glasses but below my toque. I'll let you know what I come up with.

When we were out today to get the tree, we saw a ton of moose tracks. They were absent for hunting season, but, knowing they are safe now, their tracks criss cross the road like a dozen moose highways. There were beds all over the place, I kept thinking we would come upon one, but we never did get to see one. I don't know much about moose, but seeing many of their beds today, it looks like they just lie down anywhere comfortable, not even sheltered from the cold, and bed down. Some had pawed through to the grass at the front of their beds, for a bedtime snack, I guess. We also saw fresh otter and lynx tracks on the ice at the culverts, where the road crosses the lake. These tracks were made today as there was a heavy hoar frost in the air this morning and it filled my tracks and the dogs' on the road above the cabin since yesterday with a hairy frost, but the otter and lynx tracks were free of it, so must have been made this afternoon. There was also lots of good marten sign up that way as well, towards the logging blocks north of us.

Rocky, our dog, has been barking close to night and day it seems for a couple of days now. We figure that he is barking at the ice on the lake. The first night before it was completely formed, it tinkled all night, like crystals, now it creaks and groans as it thickens. Both noises were foreign to him, so we are hoping it stays quiet tonight so we can get some sleep! The ice thickened from patches of slush two days ago, to about 1/8" yesterday morning to well over 1" today, and it had even gained since this morning. We hope it thickens soon so we can skate and make our beach bonfire pit. There are bets going here between the boys as to when the lake will have 3" of ice on it.

There was a new luge track made on another "wing" of the sledding hill today. This one not quite as speedy as the first one. That one has to be something for the record books for twists, turns, underpasses, etc. The newest one goes right past Heather and Paul's backdoor. The popular way to go down the hill is in a "train" all connected together, each person riding their own snow saucer. I'll have to admit, I am too chicken to go down this way yet, so I've only watched everyone else do it. Maybe I'll gain some courage before Christmas!

We are likely skipping make the mail trip this week - it is supposed to be cold! From emails coming from residents up that way, it seems they are doubly as cold as we are during this cold spell. Our coldest here is -16 so far and we have had four reports from out that way of -26, -29.5, -30, and -32, each of these people at different elevations along the river. All temperatures in degrees celsius. After hearing reports from back home of the weather I am very thankful we don't have to worry about any winter driving!

If I can get our tree decorated in the next few days I'll post some picturees.

Deck arrangments


Ice forming on the lake - Day 1


Ice forming on the lake - Day 2

So many things I want to try!

I know I should be cutting back on all the things I do at "home" that I complain about making my life too busy... I just can't though! I love doing them! There are so many things here I want to try. The other day we made evergreen swags for over our windows, evergreen arrangements for the deck, tomorrow I want to make a bunch of ice luminaries for around the yard, I want to make a batch of homemade yogurt, make a sourdough starter for bread... The list goes on, I am making homemade food gifts for our new neighbors this year, but after getting to know them, I realize that cookies won't fit the bill for everyone. Some are on special diets, some don't do sweets. I am researching now to see what will work the best for everyone! Or maybe each one will be a little different. Heather and I are currently working on a batch of homemade wine too, maybe that will work!

I would like to maybe go tomorrow too and get our Christmas tree, before the expected cold snap hits us here. I have been trying to do the math and see if our fresh tree will make it until Christmas without dropping too many needles - keep in mind it will be only feet from a wood stove. I figure the ones sold in stores at the beginning of December have been cut for a week or more already, and they usually last OK until Christmas time... Add to my list here - making all the Christmas decorations - we brought none!

Tim got my snowmobile fixed today - yay! The neighbor who helped us out by picking up the last of the parts in Prince George also had a few extra pieces kicking around that we needed. What a help!

We went to Manson Creek for a visit this Wednesday and when we left the cabin it was only -13, when we got to where we were going though, it was -22! I could feel myself cooling off as we got closer to our destination. We were welcomed into a warm cabin for a warm lunch served with hot chocolate at a table next to the wood stove. Are you warm yet? We were all well dressed for the trip, and, thanks to Grandma, had a supply of hand and foot warmers to stick into cold mitts and boots for the way home. We left before sun-up, and were driving home after sun-down. It was a long, chilly day. Heather and I borrowed a truck to go and get the mail about 30km away. We left the boys behind to do their visiting. On the snowmobile trail on the way there, there was lots of wolf sign, big patches of snow full of footprints where they had frolicked and laid on the trail. I guess they don't like to get their feet cold in the deep snow either if they don't have to! All their footprints frozen into the trail were like speedbumps. We have not heard any howling yet, but hope to soon. We met a man on Wednesday who spent a spring in the cabin we are in now and he said that once the lake is frozen, it is like a highway for animals. He saw moose, caribou, wolves, and even a grizzly bear crossing the ice - in the first few days of June! I can't wait for that! Now I just need a National Geographic sized lens for my camera to capture it!

The Lake Chicks

We have now affectionately been dubbed "the lake chicks" by the local ladies - "the valley girls," and we love it! We were invited to attend their yearly perogy making day yesterday, and we had so much fun! It was nice to be with other people too, and, I'll admit it, to have a day away from the kids. We left yesterday morning on the snowmobiles, and 45 minutes later were at the nearest neighbor, who was hosting the day. We all took turns pinching perogies for each other and after the day was done - even though the final count is not in yet - probably made not too far under 1000 perogies. Wow. The food was great, the company was even better. We both had a really great time. We left well after dark and made it home quickly and uneventfully. I had lots of emails to send out when we got home to the ladies who all wanted to know we had made it home safely. So nice!

The day before that we celebrated Paul's birthday. A couple of the same ladies we shared the day with yesterday drove out on snowmobiles with their husbands. It was nice to have some company and we spent the afternoon visiting. They also left after dark so there was another round of emails to make sure all had made it home safely. There is a pretty big distance between people out here so we make arrangements with each other about when we are leaving, when we should be there, etc. so that if we think someone has not made it home safely - we can go looking for them, or vice versa.

I don't think it is coincidence, everyone we meet out here seems to be the same. It is as though living out here is like a youth tonic. You could guess their ages, but you would be way off. I hope spending a year out here has some of the same effect! I can't be sure who said this, Tim says Pierre Burton, I think maybe it was Thoreau, but they said something to the effect of " a day spent in the mountains is not subtracted from your life." I have seen proof.

Not all the snowmobile parts came in the mail... The motor is now rebuilt and we are just waiting for idler wheel parts. A new neighbor we met this week is going to Prince George tomorrow and has generously offered to stop at the Arctic Cat dealer and pick up the last few. For anyone that cares... when they rebuilt the motor, Tim and Paul found that, likely at the factory, the rings had been put on the pistons wrong, and we were lucky that the cylinders were not damaged in the process. It turns out they could have gotten away with just doing the rings, but the pistons were put in anyway because we had ordered them - so now we have spares!

Trapping is going well - the boys have 47 marten, and after today - one wolverine. I have never seen one in real life, and they are a little vicious looking, sharp teeth and big feet! Cohen went with Tim today to check traps and even got to see a marten peeking at him through the trees.

While we were away yesterday, the boys re-engineered the toboggan hill. Previously it went from the road above the cabins down to the old road below the cabins. They have made it even longer and a little hairier by adding a bit of a luge track on the bottom that goes around a stump, under a fallen tree around a corner and over some bumps to wind up down on the beach (don't worry - they're safe - there is a berm shovelled up to keep them away from the lake when sliding down). So far, Heather and Paul's snow saucer seems to give the best ride. From top to bottom, Tim figures it is close to 300m long. Some days, the guys take turns running the kids to the top with the snowmobiles to slide back down again. Today the kids ignored the long hill and spent their time on the luge portion of it.

Heather and I were collecting some flora today to start our Christmas decorating. I have always wanted the magazine look, old wooden paned windows with evergreen swags underneath. Hopefully we can find the time to pull it off! Did I mention that I love the windows on this cabin? They are unfinished wood, aged to a honey color, 6 pane windows. Yes they're old, and horribly drafty, our candles have blown out beside a few, but I will just throw some more wood on the fire and keep admiring them. I don't know if I'll like them as well at -40 when they have a thick coat of ice on them, but until then...

It's mail day today - and I have to miss it....

We are still waiting for the parts for my snowmobile, and now Tim has had to rob the choke switch from mine - so hopefully everything will be in the mail today so I can drive this thing before 2010! I don't mind staying behind now and then from the mail day trip. It makes for a relaxing day around here, and I can easily go a few more days without seeing people. Last week, Tim took his big mountain snowmobile and I drove his trapping snowmobile, but because there is several miles of road to drive on, his M7 was overheating and we decided not to take it again.

It has been snowing or cloudy here for several days and it is definitely taking a toll on the solar system. The sun shone for a bit yesterday and we gained some, but it doesn't take long to use it up. Thankfully, we have generators going around here often enough if we need back-up power. We noticed watching the sun yesterday that in a few days it will not get up over the mountain across the lake. Oh well, in less than a month the days are already getting longer again. We have also found with the short, cloudy days that there is not enough battery reserve to run the 12V pump to pump water from the tank, so it is used sparingly. I have been melting snow for dishes and bathing in the kettle on the stove. It works well enough - there only the odd spruce needle melted out of the snow to deal with. By spring we should have most of the snow shovelled from the yard - will that make summer come quicker?

I am making plans for Nola's 4th birthday party next Thursday. What kind of cake? What to make for supper? I think I'll do a homemade pizza party. Heather and Paul and the kids will come over for supper and cake. I can't believe she will be 4! Cohen also discovered yesterday that he has two loose teeth. They are the same two teeth that came in first - and, coincidentally, he got them out here when he was 4 months old. He gained them here and he will lose them here. My babies are growing up.

Yesterday while the boys were gone checking traps, Heather and I split just under a cord of wood. We work jointly to keep wood supplied for the shop and it makes for a fun afternoon every few weeks to go with the snowmobiles and skimmers to get some wood. You have to make a lot more trips with skimmers than a truck box though... Cohen even pulled a sleigh behind his little 120cc snowmobile and brought his own load of wood back. I wish I'd had my camera!

We will put the Christmas tree up after Nola's birthday next weekend. I will also dig out the box of solar Christmas lights I splurged on so we could have some color outside the cabin. I only wish now I'd bought more! I did not bring any Christmas tree ornaments either so we will keep busy this week and next making some. I also did not bring any Christmas cards, so I have been occupied with making those as well. I just did not get them written in time for mail day today so they will go out next week. this may be the first year ever that I do a form letter for our cards - or could I just sign each card "Love the Hoffman's, check the blog...?"

We may travel out to Manson Creek instead of Germansen Landing next Wednesday to do some visiting. Heather and Paul may also be getting some company so we will meet them that day too to guide their visitor back into here.

We also are anxious to see the caribou go by here in about a month. The helicopter that was flying over here a few weeks back was out here to count caribou and monitor the herd. We heard they are in a valley behind the mountain across the lake. I will have to ask next time how many we can expect, are there a couple hundred, or a couple thousand? They go by here on their way to the Wolverine Range north of here. I hope we can get pictures! A little over a week ago there was one set of caribou tracks on the road above the cabin. Is he lost, or is he scouting out the route? Once we know they are coming we will have to lock the dogs up so they are not trampled, and so they don't disturb the herd too much.

Well, I can feel my toes getting cold so that means I have let the fire get a little too low so I should go and get it going again...

Mail day on the snowmobiles!

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Stopping at the pumps to fill up!


View of the Germansen River bridge from Germansen Landing.


The beautiful little store we get gas, groceries and mail from.

Mail day on the snowmobiles!

Nola all suited up and ready for the trip


Cohen all ready for the ride.


We stopped here on the trail a little over half way for lunch before continuing on.


No, we are not sponsored by Arctic Cat... (unfortunately!)

Bath Day

You might think that mail day would be my favorite day out here - but you'd be wrong, it's bath day. Every second or third day, however the math works so that we are sure to be all bathed up on Tuesday nights for Wednesday mail day, we get to have bath day! Don't get me wrong - I love going out and seeing our neighbors from far away on Wednesdays, but bathing is my happy time. For 30 minutes, my OSB walled bathroom is bathed in candlelight and lantern light and is transformed into a bit of a spa, if you have a good imagination...

After lunch on bath days, I get all the pots and kettles out. I fill the big 6 gallon canner first - that makes up the hot water portion of the bath. It takes a few hours to heat that much water in one kettle, so we wait until after supper to bath to make sure it is as hot as can be. I also fill anything else that will hold water and fit on top of the stove! These are the "warmups" for the water after it has started to cool off. I might as well say it right now so you don't wonder, yes, we share bath water out here. I usually go first though, I don't get terribly dirty out here and I like the water hot! Then the kids go, because they are ready by then. Tim goes last, usually because he is outside working in the shop until late. Let me tell you - during beaver trapping, bath days could come everyday for he and the kids as far as I was concerned. If you have never smelled beaver before (stick with me here...) it has a very distinct odor. The kids get right in there helping with the work so they smell like it too.

We had hooked up a hot water heater from an old camper, but it didn't put out as much water as was needed for baths. We decided it was much faster to heat water on the wood stove in the volume we needed. It also was using a lot of our battery power to run the 12 volt pump to fill the tub. If the sun doesn't shine, the batteries won't charge, and we would have no power for the pump anyway. We decided to save the battery power for using the internet and watching a movie here and there. We had also thought about getting a tankless hot water heater, but that didn't eliminate the pump running, so we just decided to do it the old fashioned way. It's not luxury, but for 30 minutes, it sure feels like it!

Mail Day, Take Two...

We left for mail day today nice and early so we could make it in time for the 1:00 rush and get to visit with some of our far-away neighbors. There is very little snow at the cabins, and so we took the truck - thinking we would squeeze one more trip in with it. Well, 6 or 7 km up the road, the snow started getting a little deep and so we switched it into 4-high. A couple of kilometres past that we were having trouble making it up the hills, so we tried 4-low. We made it a little farther and then decided we should turn around. Did I mention there was close to a foot of snow there? Couple this with an icy layer underneath from recent rain and we were at a standstill. We usually all travel together in one truck, but this time Paul was following us in his truck to park at the top of one particularly sketchy hill, just in case we couldn't make it up on the way back - we would have a back up plan. I'm glad we turned around when we did. This could have been one long day...

Take two - Tim and Cohen, Heather and Paul and their kids suited up when we got back here and left on the sleds. They had quite the outgoing load - several jerry cans and a 100lb propane bottle on the skimmers. They should be pretty loaded on the way back in too as we are all expecting several boxes. Nola stayed with me and we are sneaking in a movie. I don't expect them back until well after dark.

My snowmobile is still awaiting parts (hopefully in one of the expected boxes!) It will still be out of commission until at least November 25, our next mail day out, because Tim has been parting mine out to make his brand new again. Now mine needs idler wheel bearings and bushings, and an unidentified part we can't find yet on Royal Distributing's website. I should get to drive it by spring...

On our partial journey out today we saw lots of animal tracks. Wolverine, moose, marten, rabbit, squirrel and fox. On my list of things to see this winter, along with wolves, is a wolverine. Hopefully we'll sneak up on one ambling down the road while out on the snowmobiles.

There has been a helicopter making lots of tours over the area - we have been told it is BC Fish and Wildlife doing animal counts. I am not sure what they are counting - wolves? Moose? Caribou? All of the above? We were told by a BC Parks officer a few weeks back that there should be a herd of Caribou going by the cabin on December 20. I can hardly wait - I will definitely be trying to get some pictures of that! They must be very predictable animals if they can pinpoint the date like that. Here's hoping they keep their yearly appointment...

It is starting to snow right now - hopefully they make it back before it gets too heavy!

Was it a Bird? Was it a Plane?

Neither. It was a meteorite. It was shortly after supper last night and I had just blown out the kerosene lantern to let it cool off so I could refill it. It was quite dark in the cabin. All of a sudden, the inside of the cabin lit up with the quickness of a lightning flash. Tim had been looking out the window and said the mountain across the lake was completely lit up for a second. I just saw the reflection on the back of the cabin wall as I didn't happen to be looking out the window at that time. We had no idea what it was. Had a plane crashed? We hope not. Was it lightning in winter? Stranger things have happened, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Was it a space ship? Doubtful. Did we both have cabin fever already? Maybe... After talking to Paul this morning, who just happened to be reclined at the time and was able to see all of it, we found out that it was a meteor. It came from the sky behind the cabin and continued on over the mountain across the lake. He could see the meteor itself and the tail behind it. Exciting!

Tim and Paul were up the trail a couple of days ago and there were wolf tracks just a few kilometres away! I don't want any close encounters with them or anything, but I would love to hear them howl, and if they are that close and start up a chorus - we should be able to hear them from here. Previous residents were able to watch a pack cross the lake ice. Now that is something I would like to get a picture of. Maybe if we're luck enough we will get to see the same scene pass us by.

Wiener roast on the trail while out setting up squirrel poles.

My homemade bird feeder. The only birds visiting so far are whiskeyjacks.


Rose hip stashed in a spruce tree by a squirrel.


Nola on a GT snow racer behind the skimmer, behind the snowmobile.

I think Mother Nature may be confused...

As I write this, on a warm and rainy November night (yep, you read right), I keep wondering when this mountain winter will arrive that we have all looked so forward to. Don't get me wrong, we have been spoiled and have enjoyed the last few weeks with warm days and a little flurry here and there, but Mother Nature, you can bring it on. We're ready for you.

We have been busy the last week, two days were spent out on the trail with the snowmobiles and skimmers, punctuated by a wiener roast. School takes up the better part of a morning. The boys have been busy preparing the beavers they have caught. Heather and I split and stacked a load of firewood for the fur shack. We even decided to skip mail day this week. We are all expecting parcels and thought we would give them one more week to be certain they have arrived. We still could have driven out this week as there is only about 5" of snow and if this rain keeps up we will still be able to drive out next week. We were told to pack a chainsaw the next time we do go out though, whether it is by snowmobile or truck, as a big windstorm went through and it is quite possible there are trees across the trail.

Tim took my sled 53km up the trail the other day to the end of their line. It is fan cooled and better suited for the slow pace they keep when breaking trail. We found as a result of this trip that the motor needs to be rebuilt. At least it didn't break down completely on the trail. Pistons, rings and gaskets were ordered online last night and are already en route. Did you know you can buy just about everything on the internet? Did I mention there is also a new windshield for my snowmobile coming in that package? Tim went too close to an alder and now there is only half a windshield... I couldn't even be mad, because it took care of him too by giving him a fat lip.

We heard news today of a grader being rolled down a ravine onto its roof north of Germansen Landing. Thankfully, the operator is OK and will recover. Things that happen like that near civilization are bad enough, but when they happen about 4 hours from medical help, they can be that much worse. Thankfully this one sounds like it will turn out OK.

Halloween Day 2009

If You Go Out In The Woods Today...

Last night when the boys got back from checking traps - they told us to grab the cameras before it got dark - there we grizzly tracks up the road! Just under 5km up the road there is a little trail off the main road that leads to an old hunting camp, the bear had walked from that way, followed Tim and Paul's truck tracks in the snow for several kilometres (away from us, thankfully!), then veered south towards Dog Creek, on his way to a winter den, we presume (and hope!)

For all the years we have been coming out here, all we have seen for animals are squirrels, chipmunks, a moose, a caribou and the occasional black bear. Since a bit of snow has fallen, we see evidence that we are surrounded by a lot more animals than just that. The kind that have teeth... There are fresh lynx tracks nearby and wolf tracks up the road, along with the grizzly tracks we got to see yesterday. They were quite big too, the same size as a man's rubber boot! His claws poked into the snow between 4 and 5 inches ahead of his track. This was no small bear.

Although it is nice to see evidence of all the wildlife around us - I almost felt a little safer pretending they weren't there at all. Sometimes ignorance truly is bliss! The dogs barked for a long time last night, leaving me laying awake and wondering what they were barking at. We definitely live where the wild things are.

Grizzly Tracks!

Today in pictures...

The kids making snowballs this afternoon.


My Halloween crafts for the day.


Oven box and BBQ grill.


Bon Appetit!