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!

BBQ - Mountain Style!

When we were packing up belongings to come here, there were a few things that had to be cut from the list. The BBQ was one of them. We have managed to improvise, though, and have been using the fire as an oven and a BBQ. A few years ago, Tim made me an oven box that is much the same size as a cardboard file box, with a lid and a rack inside for cooking items on, much the same you would in a conventional oven. We have baked cakes, roasts, hams, chickens and potatoes in it with great results. I even had to bake bread in it for our first month here because we had oven problems on the propane stove. Tonight - we roasted potatoes in the oven, and cooked steaks and garlic bread over the coals. Delicious! Did I mention that it snowed a few inches today?

This week I started Cohen's homeschooling program for Kindergarten. The lessons don't take too long and so far he is pretty interested in starting each morning. Each lesson has some calendar review, some phonics, math, and a craft. A teacher I am not, but thankfully everything is pretty well laid out for us.

This morning, the only other souls for miles and miles left the country. They were up here hunting and went back to North Vancouver to their daily grind. They were looking for moose, but I think they left empty handed. That must be quite a change to go from the peace and quiet of here to a big city like that!

We also had company stop by today and drop off some things for us they had picked up in Prince George. It was the local guide-outfitter whose trapline Tim and Paul are trapping on this winter. He was on his way out to close up his summer cabin for the season. He also left open one of his other cabins for Tim and Paul to spend the night in if their trapping days go too long up there in the winter. He put kindling in the stove, left them some chopped wood, and even set a match out so that everything was ready should the boys stop in and be cold. It is only about 25km away, but in the winter that can be a long way when you're travelling by snowmobile. Paul made a comment today to someone who originally came to this area in 1959, that it must have been nice to come out here when he was young, maybe have a girlfriend with him to spend the winter... His reply was, "No, it was just me, back then everything was hand operated!"

If anyone feels sorry for us out here, don't! The only thing we don't have near are family, friends, and takeout. We have been busy online shopping for Christmas gifts, and I will take that any day over a busy store! Tomorrow we will send in our first major grocery order, to be picked up Wednesday at Germansen Landing - I only hope the snow holds off any more until we are back! Heather and I sat down the other day and planned our menu for our little Halloween party, hence the grocery order. We will have meringue bones, witches' fingers, mummies, eyeball punch, tombstone cake, and just about every other thing you would see in the special Halloween publications at the check-out counter! We've just never taken the time to make them all before. The only thing we need to figure out now are costumes... That was something else that was cut from the list!

The kids in a cache across the lake

Is Rice a Good Insulator?

The front door of our cabin is homemade, about 40 years old, and very heavy. It has a heavy wooden latch that would give the biggest bear a run for his money. It is also, I have discovered this week, mostly full of rice, packed in there for future use, by mice. Many people have lived here over the years, but I think we are the first to 'mouse proof' the place. We haven't caught a single one since moving in. A previous resident must have wondered where their winter's supply of rice was disappearing to though. After giving the door a good shove to close it one day, rice rained out the bottom on to the floor. I will definitely take much more care when closing it from now on so as not to release any more of it's contents, because where mice have been, you know there's also bound to be, well, you know.

We took a day trip on the quads yesterday on a nearby logging road, just to see where it went, because we really have nothing more pressing to do! On this trip I was early "shopping" for Christmas trees. I found some nice ones, Times Square, eat your heart out! I didn't think until we returned here though, that by the time Christmas rolls around, the 5 foot tree I picked out will be covered by 8 to 10 feet of snow.

We also quadded over to the other side of the lake, where I have never been before. We stopped in the campground and made a "mountain pie" pizza lunch using our campfire cookers and washed it all down with hot chocolate. We explored some old cabins on the other side of the lake as well. There are 4 over there in total, one trap line cabin that the boys can seek refuge in if they ever need to while trapping (pictured below, notice the pack rat nest on the shelf in the upper left...) he can help keep them warm. Two cabins built on the same site where a lady I met earlier this year lived for about 15 years with her husband starting in the 1970's. The final cabin is owned by the family who "pioneered" this area in the 1930's, by building the current road in to where they were mining. The place is called "Toad Hall." The areas surrounding the cabins on that side of the lake are littered with hundreds of downed trees, some over a foot across at the butt. About 10 years ago - a freak windstorm blew down the mountain on the south side of the lake, uprooting huge trees, it carried on across the west side of the lake knocking down a bunch of trees in the campground there. A friend of ours, Doug, that had been camped there just days before, came back not long after to find many trees criss-crossed where his truck and camper had sat. Luckily no one was there at the time, and all that remains is the mess of trees now. Many have been cleaned up by campers using them for firewood.

The white speck in the middle is where we live!

Four Star Trapline Accommodations

Home Again, Home Again...

We got back here a few days ago from our trip to "the outside." The purpose of our trip was to restock on groceries, visit family and get our fill of restaurant food. We spent two days shopping, and bought so much we had to build stock racks on the truck to fit it all in and get it safely back here. We did look a little redneck... We visited good friends and went to the Keg (Thank you!!), had some good homecooked breakfasts from Grandma, and delicious Chinese food that we had been craving for two months. We also, as we had promised the kids, had lunch at Playland. Hopefully our debit cards have cooled by the next time we go out!

Now, back here with everything unloaded, we are getting ready for winter. The last few days have been spent getting wood. That is a chore I truly don't mind, it's enjoyable and free exercise at the same time! The boys have started trapping, it is fall beaver season right now and other than that - I don't know a whole bunch about it! I expect to learn lots over the coming winter though. Some of what they are doing looks familiar, as my Grandpa trapped when I was growing up. Cohen came in last night after dark and I didn't notice until this morning that he had left a beaver tail on the counter. I'm not brave enough to move it, and Tim is away for a few hours. I tried to slide it under the paper towel so it was out of the way, but it was really rubbery and stayed put. So, there it sits with a paper towel over it until Tim comes back. Hopefully I don't see too many more "presents" like that over the winter. Cohen won't move it, he wants to keep it. For what, I'm not sure...

Tomorrow we will take the truck out and park it at Germansen Landing for the winter. We have to do this if we want to go anywhere in the middle of winter, because once the snow flies, we are snowed in. Our only way out is to snowmobile around 40km to the truck and drive out the rest of the way. In the winter we only have one major trip planned "out" so far, our only other trips will be every week or two to snowmobile out for mail and any groceries we have ordered.

There are many hunters in right now, the lake road is quite busy when they are in here. Tim and Paul were setting beaver traps in the creek yesterday and had to duck when one group drove by. You don't know how well their eyesight is and it would be a shame to be mistaken for a moose or caribou, so for safety reasons, they stayed well hidden until the truck was down the road.

I think it will take a little getting used to having to go outside to the "facilities" in the cold. thankfully we were prepared and have a styrofoam insulation "seat." It makes quite a difference! Well, on that note, it's almost lunch and I should go feed the kids. Until next time...

Last Night's Sunset

Our home for the year

Grizzly we saw on our trip out

Living Room

Kitchen/Dining Room

Saddle Sore

We left Tuesday morning, September 23, for our jade mine trip. It was a beautiful day - as though it were tailor made for us. It had been raining off and on for close to a week prior to this. There as not a cloud in the sky as we pulled out on that chilly morning - ready for our adventure. About 30km up the road we stopped to visit some friends who were in but would be leaving before we came back through - Ron and John of MS Gold. We had tea and thawed our faces out then were on our way again. We made good time travelling, stopping at a few places to look around and have some lunch. We felt as though we were in the middle of nowhere with no one around for miles until we came around a corner onto two mining camps - one right after the other. Serengeti Resources and Alpha Gold. We did not drive into the first one, it was a little ways off the main trail, but drove right through the second one and were surprised to see more than half a dozen people working out in the middle of nowhere!

Continuing on, we made a quick stop at Dream Creek, where around ten years ago, a young couple started to set up a guiding operation. They built a cabin and a few other outbuildings. Part way through the winter, she left, he followed not much later and there it sat. It was burned down by someone a couple of years later and the only thing left there now is a hay shed. It's a beautiful setting in a valley with a creek running through - very "Legends of the Fall." We got into a little rougher road after that, lots of ruts and mud holes, a mining company had just brought a large loader through there and left the road in mucky shape. We trudged on, and thought we would go a little out of the way and make camp at Old Hogem, there used to be a town at this site on the Omineca River. We were surprised after going down a long trail off the main logging road to see an old Native woman greet us from her cabin. We went down there expecting to see an old ghost town (there was not much left) and found someone living there! She was very friendly and told us to go ahead and look around. There were a few buildings that may have originated with the trading post, but other than that, not much. Since there was someone living there, we decided not to camp there. On the way out - we lost a wheel on Tim's quad trailer and limped it to where we decided to camp, about 25km away, beside an old cutblock near the Fall River.

Heather and Paul are well equipped for camping so we did not have to bring much other than our cots and sleeping bags. The guys put up the wall tent, the girls unloaded the trailers and started to make our gourmet supper of hotdogs - and they have never tasted better! After a few hours by the fire, we retired to the tent and slept soundly, until the stove filled the tent with smoke. After that was cleared up we slumbered until morning. Following a pancake breakfast, and after letting the fog lift a little, we took off. Final destination: Jade Mine. We got a little lost and wound up on the right side of the base of the mountain when we should have been on the left, and after a 70km correction, were on our way again! There was a lot of beautiful scenery so we didn't mind too much.

After a bit of a rocky climb with the quads 3 km up a mountain, we pulled into the jade mine (inactive for many years) just to see a helicopter taking off. There is no work taking place there and all the fuel barrels are empty, so maybe he was working in the area and sightseeing like us. There are jade boulders everywhere, most with cuts made in them, to show the rock face and presumably check the quality of it. We assume the ones left there did not make the grade. We scavenged between the boulders looking for pieces with small cuts that we could take home and keep as souvenirs. There are still a few buildings up there, hundreds of empty fuel barrels, diesel generators, and other junk, remnants of a busier time. We explored up there for an hour or two, Heather and I going further up the trail a little ways to a little a lake that flows out right through a jade formation, it looked like the Emerald City in Oz. Prior to that the trail had changed from grey gravel to green gravel, almost like following the "green" brick road to there. We were a little tired and it had been a long day so we headed back to camp. On the way a bull moose ran up out of the trees and jogged in front of Tim's quad for a while - lucky for him we were not hunters!

It was back to camp after this as we were all tired. The wind had picked up a lot and so reinforcements were made to the tent pegs, I think Heather and I slept with one eye open though, for fear that the tent would topple on us. The next morning, the wind was gone and we packed up and headed out. On the way we stopped and watched a helicopter land and fuel up (in the middle of nowhere!!) then load some fuel barrels and take off. The rest of the way was pretty uneventful, only that when we arrived home the quads were running on fumes after our side trips and getting lost once. Round trip - around 340km.

Since I am not a blog expert yet - the pictures all posted at the top of the post - so, in no particular order, are the helicopter fueling and taking off, our camp, a jade boulder, the jade mine and our quad convoy.

Roughing It Out Here...

It seems as though the remote, isolated existence complete with very few amenities is not to be had. Don't get me wrong, I am not disappointed at all! Soon both cabins will have running water, Heather & Paul do already, and we are both wired for lights! What a treat the other night to have the lights come on when Paul started the generator! Here I had been reading by a dim solar light, and all of a sudden there was 100 watts of beautiful light there.

Paul's mom and Dad, Luc and Grace, affectionately known as Ma and Pa, spent the week here, leaving on Friday. While they were here we took a break from working and drove the quads to Germansen Landing, then north 11km or so. Total round trip was approximately 110km. We had heard about a 6000 square foot log home being built and thought we would go take a peek. When we got there, the locals that had been working there were all too happy to give us a tour. It is a beautiful home! In addition to seeing the house, we also had the opportunity to meet some wonderful new people. One of the ladies we met has chickens, and what a treat when two days after meeting her, she showed up at our doorsteps with fresh eggs! She doesn't live just down the road either - she came from 50km away! She and her friend look after the park (Omineca Provincial Park) "facilities" and were up this way checking them and stopped in for a visit.

The miles we put on during our day trip were good practice for the trip we will take on Tuesday. We will leave in the morning and drive close to 100km on the quads before making camp. The next day we will continue on to the old jade mine (on Mount Ogden) in the area as well as look for an old ghost town (Old Hogem) from the mining days of the late 1800's/early 1900's. We are leaving well prepared as there was a light dusting of snow this morning on Mount Germansen, just across the lake from us. We have our meals all planned and lots of warm clothing packed. We will spend two nights and return home Thursday.

All arrangements have also been made for the boys to begin trapping this fall and winter as well. I am not sure exactly when they will start, but they have signed on with the local guide/outfitter to trap his line for the winter.

Today we are busy moving old vehicles up the hill and out of sight. There was a "few" trucks, vans and a boat acting as yard ornaments here. Most have been hauled up the hill, tucked neatly out of sight in an already existing parking lot. Only the boat remains, and may continue to, as we are not sure how to move it without a boat trailer and the little cabin cruiser is in rough shape already! Work continues and everyday things look a little better. We are told we had better work fast as winter arrives up where we are by about mid October. That doesn't give us much time! We are also planning a trip out to see family and restock groceries for the winter at the beginning of October. It hardly seems like we have been here almost two months! Until next time!

Mail Day!

Today is mail day. The one day of the week when mail gets brought out the the edges of the earth. The store is closed each Wednesday until 1:00, then all of us come down out of the hills to gather our mail. It really is quite interesting, and so nice to meet others who live out here. There are people who live out here year round, and have been here for many years, as well as miners who are just here for the season - and come in for social purposes, because they know there will be many gathered for a visit.

Conversations can be very interesting, as today the topic in the little log store turned to the Sasquatch. An old miner out there that we know told us early last week that he thinks he saw a Sasquatch near the lake cabin where we are (just last week...), that whatever it was, was "definitely not a black bear, and too tall to be a grizzly." A little scary, but I need more proof before I get really alarmed. Two hunters on the Manson River (30 minutes or so from here) supposedly saw one going up a bank near where they were camped a few years back. Secondhand information, and of course, no camera was present. The third story to relay was told firsthand, and one that made me feel a little eerie. The gentleman was about 15 minutes from where we are now, and alone, (he even said that he knows these things always happen when you're alone.) He had to get out of his truck for some reason, and instantly he felt like he was being watched. He could even sense from which direction. He started looking in that direction, and whatever was watching him took off through the trees, crashing and breaking limbs on it's way. By the sounds of the footfalls, it was only a two legged creature. He says when asked if he has ever seen a Sasquatch, his answer is "No, but one has seen me."

Last night the lake was as calm as can be. We sat on the deck and listened to the loons. They were across the lake diving, calling and taking off (they need a long "runway"). It was so quiet here it sounded as if they were only feet away. If that is not a stress reliever, I don't know what would be. I am looking forward to taking my hot chocolate out there tonight and hoping that there is a repeat performance.

Work is progressing on the cabin. Since arriving here on Friday we have built a little back deck, cleaned up a bunch of garbage, re-insulated most of the old roof (should finish that by tomorrow), repaired the front deck, set up the solar panels, built a set of log steps up to the front deck, raked up and hauled away years of fallen pine needles, repaired the outhouse, outlined a rock path to the outhouse, set up solar lights, and baked bread in the outdoor oven. I know there is more, but they have slipped my mind... I am looking very forward to "shoes off day" which I hope will come early next week. The day when all the floors are painted, the rugs are set out, and I can walk around with no fear of getting dirty socks!

We have had to start picking bottles...

It's true. We have had to start picking bottles. Not for the reason you might think - the money situation is still OK. It is for litter reasons. There is a group of people who live another 80 km or so down this road, and the closest liquor store for them is at Manson Creek, which is a total of about 130km from their point of origin. Lately, they are restless and have been making many trips, perhaps because winter is coming and once it does, this road will be snowed in for many months. While I'm sure the business is appreciated on the Manson Creek end, what is not appreciated is the high number of bottles and cans, mostly Budweiser, that they are discarding on the road. Also being left behind are chip bags and chocolate bar wrappers. Either way - it was getting a little disheartening to drive by this all the time, so we decided to start picking bottles. So far, we have gotten over $20.00 worth, and even found a few antiques! Those were obviously discarded many years ago, but these were a little treat after rounding up all the recent throwaways. I found a "White Rock Cola" can (several, actually, only one in really good condition) from 1944-45, and a "Canada Dry" bottle from 1956. These will likely be given to my Dad to display with his collection of antique cans and bottles. So far, our financial situation has not dictated this as a measure to survive, but who knows - come spring maybe we will be hoping for their littering!

On the pine beetles...

I know we don`t see much of the damage pine beetles can cause when we are at our prairie home, but once out in the mountains you can really see the havoc they have wreaked. Once out of Chetwynd you can see the damage escalating, and when you hit Mackenzie - the mountains are full blown red. Not a live pine tree left. The damage lessens somewhat as you drive north to where we are, but it is still very present. At our claim, they are hitting quite hard right now, as we are surrounded by mature pines, their favorite. Since we arrived a month ago, we have lost several more trees in the yard. They are alive right now, but in a few weeks the needles will start to yellow and by next spring, the trees will be dead. As soon as we see the telltale sawdust on the ground and the crusty Cheerio like rings on the tree, we know they have had it.

A friend staying with us a few weeks back, sleeping in the wall tent, was kept awake by a strange noise for much of the night. In the morning, we noticed the two trees nearest the wall tent had sawdust on the ground (as did his packsack sitting underneath!) When you stood close to the tree you could hear it - it sounds like Rice Krispies in milk. A `snap, crackle, pop` sound can be heard as the mature beetles chew their way into the tree. Hundreds of them. If you look up at this stage you can even see them landing on the tree to do their damage. An adult pine beetle is smaller than a grain of rice, but when they work together, they can take down a 200 year old pine tree. Now that`s teamwork.

Move-in day is fast approaching...

Progress is being made on the lake cabin - we figure it will be only one more day of cleaning and painting until I'll feel comfortable spending a night in there. I'm no princess, but I do like my surroundings free of rodent droppings. We have both painted our cabin floors and they are looking very "Sarah Richardson." The rest of the cabins - not so much... yet. Perhaps once we get our furniture placed and some belongings unpacked, but it's a stretch!

Last week while working at the lake we had the treat of friends Heather and Kent showing up with fresh baked buns and wobbly pops! That was so appreciated! They have since gone home and we sure are missing their company. We are now looking ahead and looking forward to when Heather and Paul will arrive. Even though this may sound strange - I feel we are in this together and can't really settle in and start this adventure until they arrive. There have been a few setbacks at home for them and until they arrive we are anxiously waiting, and I am sure they are just as anxious to get here. I am hoping Heather gets here before berry season is over. Last week we picked 3 lbs. of wild raspberries and made seedless raspberry jam - so yummy! This week we picked close to 5 lbs. of huckleberries and I made jam from that. While picking those, Nola stepped on a wasp nest and was stung 3 times on the left side of her face. It puffed right up and swelled her eye shut. That had better be good jam!!

The backhoe has been broke down now for two weeks, the hydraulic pump has gone and until we have it rebuilt ($$) or buy a new one ($$$$) we are unable to mine. As a result of this, we have been able to work on lots of little projects around here. We have built a beautiful log picnic table that seats 10-12, and two log benches for around the firepit that seat 3-4 each. We will finish staining these today. I will post pictures soon. As soon as I find the card reader for the laptop in one of our many boxes.

Two days ago we took the quads up to the top of the mountain to show visiting friends, Carl and Dawn, the view from up there. Also to see up there is an abandoned mining camp, last used in 2006. It was a junior mining company who was there drilling core samples. They either did not like what they saw, or ran out of money, because they just up and left one day in the fall of 2006. We first went up there in the spring of 2007, and they had left all the food and supplies they had brought in. Such a waste. There was butter out on the table, a decomposed apple. It was as though as soon as they were done breakfast one morning, they hopped on the chopper and never came back. We have since heard that the company ran out of funds, and that it is the "plan" to leave everything there that is too expensive to chopper out for local residents to reclaim and eventually what is left, someone is paid to completely clean up. I guess that is the same for many remote mining camps in British Columbia. Residents around here joke that it is the local shopping center up there. From year to year we notice things dwindling up there. Water tanks are gone, wall tent frames have been dismantled, even barrels of diesel have been carted off the mountain (no real easy feat, I can bet!) In fact - when working at the lake cabin last week, we saw someone go by with a quad and an empty trailer. Tim made the joke that he was probably going "shopping." Sure enough, about 5 hours later he went by with a barrel of diesel! The table is even missing since last year... Even with all that has been "shopped" from up there, there is still so much that will go to waste. Cases of food that the mice have gotten into and over a dozen 4" foamies that the mice have used as one giant lavatory.

We hope to move to the lake next week sometime. I can't wait to get there are get my books unpacked. Not novels, but my bird, plant and geology books. I like fully familiarizing myself with my surroundings. Until then...