Moose Hunting

Although the fishing was lousy on Boya Lake, the kayaking was so fantastic that we decided to stay on a little longer. The camp hosts, Sue and Jack Chief, told us that there was a mother moose and her calf living on the islands across from where we camped.  That was good enough reason to stick around.  After driving for over a month, I had seen only one moose and hundreds of pictures of moose.

The water was as smooth as glass as we headed over to the islands.  We paddled in and around the islands looking for signs of moose and listening for movement in the underbrush.  It is amazing how many times I mistook dark trees or shadows for wildlife.  My mind was playing tricks on me.

Finally we heard crashing sounds in the woods.  We stopped and waited.  Soon we saw shadows moving in the dense foliage and moments later a cow moose stepped out into the water with her calf close behind.

The mother and baby swam to the next island as David and I frantically took as many photographs as we could.  Then we followed them along to the next island, catching glimpses of them as they browsed and occasionally looked up at us. 

                                                      

Moose are very dangerous animals and mothers are especially protective of their young.  However, this moose did not seem frightened or defensive at all.  Maybe she was not sure what we were, floating around in our yellow kayaks, or perhaps she just felt safe in these islands where she comes each Spring to have her calves. 

That night we were still talking about our adventure.  We couldn't wait to tell Sue and Jack Chief about the moose hunt. At 10:30 pm as the sun was setting, the snow on the mountains across the lake took on a pinkish color which was reflected in the mirror surface of the lake.  The world was still.  Mother Nature was tucking us in for the night.

For another look at Boya Lake, check out my husband's blog at:

                http://www.highwaytoadventure.blogspot.com/

Location - Location - Location

When we landed at Boya Lake Provincial Park, we knew we had found the ultimate real estate deal. 

 For only $16.00 CND  a night, we settled in for a few days of beauty and adventure. 

After we found our campsite, it did not take us long to get the boats on the water to go exploring. 

 

The many little islands across the lake beckoned to us and made kayaking alot of  fun. We discovered  beaver dams that connected two of the small islands, and found a huge beaver lodge close by....but no beavers!

We also explored the park a little by foot.  We discovered the hard way that the nature trail leading to the beaver dams was mostly under water, so we decided to hike along the lake shore trail instead. An informative kiosk at the trailhead describes the local flowers and how the Native Peoples used them. For example, "The Native People recognized eight different varieties of Saskatoon.  The berries were a very important food scource for all the interior peoples.  The berries were eaten fresh or dried in cakes or like raisins for storage." That sounded like a good addition to our trailmix.

The trail was easy walking and was often lined with lupine or aspen trees, or both.

Every once in awhile the path opens up to small coves.  Each one was an invitation to take a picture....

and another...

What a place! What a day!  It doesn't get much better than this!

The Color of Jade

Our first stop the next day was Jade City.  The Milespost  describes Jade City as "not so much a city as a collection of homes and shops connected with the jade business."

We went into the Cassiar Mountain Jade Store to look around.  Out in front there were stone saws and examples of quarried jade. I wet the edge of one piece to see how it will look when it is polished. 

The owner of the shop was very friendly and seemed to enjoy talking to us. His family has mined and designed jade here for over 30 years. We had no idea the the Cassiar Mountain Range in BC supplies 92% of the world's jade market.  Most of that comes from The Princess Mines.  We were told that a New Zealand miner works here in the summer and takes 100 tons of jade back home with him every year.  He can buy one kilo of jade here for $20.00 and sell it for $80.00 a kilo back in New Zealand.  (Although jade is mined in New Zealand, by law only the Maoris can trade in it.)  I asked about the jade business in China, and was told that they have not mined jade there since the early 1980's.  Representatives from China come to BC to buy hunks of jade. They ship it to China where it is carved and then many of the finished pieces come back and are sold right here in this shop! There was a large piece of jade by the entry that weighed in at 15 tons, and came up to my shoulders.  It gave me an idea of what 100 tons of jade would look like.

Of course our conversation covered a little politics.  This entrepreneur was frustrated by what he referred to as "the Indian problem".  The BC government would subsidize his business if he hired an Indian.  However, in his experience the Indian's "don't like to work".  According to him all the tribes are subsidized by the government, but the money is given to the headmen and often only their families profit from it.  He claimed that the Natives do not pay any taxes, and all of them are given free medical and dental care, welfare whenever they need it and old age pensions whether they ever worked or not. 

If that all is true, then I guess I'd call it a problem. too.

And, we talked weather.  We have been pleasantly surprised by the warm and even hot days and the very cold nights.  We were told that because this has been a dry winter the bugs are not bad, and as long as the nights are cold, their numbers will stay down.  That morning the temperature was already 73 degrees although it had been down below freezing that night. Jade City gets only 21 frost free days a year!  Their summer is short, but during that time this store makes 98% of its income. 

Seems like the tourist business is just as lucrative as the mining business.

Our day ended at Boya Lake Provincial Park, the last provincial park along The Cassiar Highway.

It is a glacial lake, crystal clear and azure in color. Along the shallow shorelines it is ... the color of jade.

International Relations

After three nights at Meziadin Lake Provincial Park, we decided to move on... north to Alaska.

Since we were "boondocking" (dry camping), there was not much to do to break camp other than load the boats up on top of the RV.  That usually is uneventful, but that morning the little black flies were out in droves.  They looked like baby house flies and did not bite.  However, they all seemed to prefer to swarm around your face.

Our neighbor from Alberta, Don, had returned from an early fishing trip and was cleaning his fish at his picnic table.  He wore a net head covering to keep the flies away.  What a great idea.  It did not take David long to hunt down the head net that he bought years ago when we canoed the Allagash Waterway in Maine.

On the road again, we drove along the Skeena River most of the way.  We crossed many small bridges over the numerous creeks and rivers.  The highway was lined with dandelions, making a thick carpet of deep yellow on both sides of the road. Along the way we saw our first black bear, scrambling from the road into the underbrush.  Then about ten miles further along, we saw a dead bear on the side of the road.  BC road kill!  We saw three more bears that day, and know that there were more because we saw many piles of bear skat on the edge of the road.  We stopped to have lunch at Mehan Lake Provincial Rest Area. We are amazed at how clean and lovely the parks and the rest areas are in British Columbia. They have frequent pull-outs with bear-proof trash containers, and that may be why we see almost no litter along the highways.

David had heard that there was good fishing for rainbow trout at Kinaskan Lake Provincial Park, so we stopped there for the night.  After we found another beautiful lakeside camping spot we went for a walk.  We met a couple from Switzerland (Johann and Marlisa) and another couple from Germany (Derek and Kristin) who had met each other here in BC and were travelling together for a few days.  They were delightful.  Johann had an inflatable boat, so it was not long before the three men were out on the lake fishing.

 

The guys managed to catch two good sized rainbows and brought them in for dinner.  Derek had never cleaned a fish before, so David taught him how.  We let them have the fish because we were still eating the Dolly Varden from Meziadin!

Johann and David went out again the next morning and brought back four more fish.  Between the fishing and cleaning the fish, we chatted quite a bit with these new friends. Many Europeans come to BC to experience the wilderness they no longer have in their own countries.  When we were at Meziadin we met two German couples who have been vacationing here every summer for the past eleven years!

When we were ready to leave I went over to their campsite to say goodbye.  Johann and Marlisa were enjoying a typical Swiss breakfast of museli and bread and jam.  That reminded me of the time I lived in Bern, Switzerland, nearly fifty years ago!  Of course we got to talking again.  When Johann learned that I was a Unity Minister our conversation turned to spiritual matters.  He insisted that I read a book by Drunvalo Melchizedek, "The Movement of the Earth's Kundalini and the Rise of the Female Light... 1949-2013"

 (ISBN #978-8678-064-8).  Marlisa could not easily express herself in English, but she smiled at me and offered me a "high five" in recognition of female power.

That night we camped at Dease River Crossing.  There was only one other RV in the park...and those vacationers turned out to be German.  No surprise. This was been a wonderful day of international relations.

The Mighty Mosquito

Our Lazy Daze group left before noon the next day.  After saying goodbye to everyone, we eagerly took the boats off the top of the RV.  This was what we had been waiting for.  Meziadin Lake is beautiful, and we were lucky to get a campsite right on the shore with a small beach to launch our boats.  David had to rig up his fishing poles and ready his Pack Canoe, but I could not wait around for him.

As soon as Little Miss Sunshine hit the water I was gone. First I paddled out and around the little island just in front of the camping area.  I had not been kayaking for nealy a year, and wanted to get comfortable before I ventured out too far.  When I got to the far side of the island, I could not believe my eyes.  The mountain we could see from our campsite was only a small part of a beautiful mountain range that encircled the south end of the lake. 

For over two hours I paddled along the shore line looking for signs of wildlife or birds, and was surprised not to find any.  As I paddled further north, I could hear waterfalls and realized that they were caused by the snow melt on the opposite shore.  Since the water was calm and there was no sign of changing weather, I paddled out across the lake by myself, and explored the various falls. 

For years I have been following the teachings of Eknath Easwaran.  He taught what is known as

"Passage Meditation". Out there on the water, all alone, surrounded by the incredible beauty of creation, it occurred to me that I was practicing "paddle meditation".  Easwaran would not have called that meditation, but he surely would have smiled.  I did.

Mid-afternoon David returned with two big Dolly Varden Trout.  He was ecstatic.  He had actually caught five and lost two others. While I was taking pictures of his catch, our neighbor, Don, came over with his fish scale.  The bigger one was 24" long and weighed in at 4 pounds 11 ounces!  You can bet we feasted on fresh fish that night.

After a full day of fresh air and exercise, we decided to go to bed early that night, and were tucked in before ten o'clock.  We were just drifting off to sleep when we both heard the distinctive whine of a mosquito. I burrowed down into the bedcovers and tried to ignore it, but who can ignore the mighty mosquito?  It was impossible to go to sleep knowing that we were sitting ducks, so to speak.  Finally we took out our flashlights and started combing the crooks and cranies of the RV looking for it.  It had us on the run.  Amazing how such an itty-bitty creature can threaten 300 pounds of human flesh!

Eureka! We Have Found It!

We planned to get an early start today, after taking a brisk walk around the campground. However, when we returned to the RV we met our "neighbors" who were from England, Roger and Mary.  We ended up chatting with them until 11:30!  Seems like we can't get off before noon no matter how hard we try.

It was a beautiful day as we continued up the Bulkley Valley.  We stopped at the Visitors' Center at New Hazelton, which is at the confluence of the Skeena and the Bulkley rivers.  We had hoped they had Wi-Fi there, but they didn't.  What we did find was the daily Farmers' Market set up in the back parking lot. Local folks were there selling everything from honey to garden starts, bakery items, and hand made goods. I chatted with an older man who had healthy looking veggie starts for sale.  He confessed that he grows them in a greenhouse to get a jump start on the growning season.  Hazelton had a Hudson Bay Company Trading Post here in 1868, so selling goods here is not a new idea.

From there we followed the Skeena River as we made our way north onto The Cassiar Highway. We had not been driving long before David yelled, "Bear!" A black bear ran into the woods at the side of the road. He was too fast for a photo, but there was enough evidence to give David another trip to Tim Horton's.

There are several provincial parks along the Cassiar Highway, so we decided to check them out.  The first one we came to was Meziadin (mezy-AD-in) Lake Park.  We were thrilled as soon as we drove into the park and saw the lake surrounded by snowy peaks.  Eureka! This is what we have been looking for!

To make it even better, we had stumbled upon the other Lazy Dazers who had taken the ferry from Port Angeles.  Tony and Michelle had gone fishing that day and caught two large Dolly Vardens, so the gang had planned a spontaneous fish fry and potluck.  We were just in time to join them.

Over a wonderful dinner we told our friends that as much as we enjoyed their company, we had decided to slow down the pace and travel on our own. 

Slowing down seem to be a difficult thing to do in our culture.  To put aside schedules, timelines and calendars goes against the system that pushes us to do more, produce more and be more.

For years I have heard the adage "less is more", and finally I am starting to feel comfortable living that way.

Queen Victoria Day

When I woke up this morning I pushed open the window shade and looked out on sunlight filtering through the aspen tree next to our RV.  What a delightful way to start the day! It was only 48 degrees Fahrenheit, so David kindly turned on the electric space heater (a luxury when we have electricity) and I burrowed down in the covers for another half hour.

Today we changed directions.  At Prince George the Fraser River kept flowing north, and we turned west onto The Yellowhead Highway ( Hwy 16). We skirted the city and were quickly driving along a plauteau which felt as if we were on top of the world.  There were stands of young aspens and scattered farms with pastures full of blooming dandelions. There were also many marshes and what looked like moose ponds to me, but we never saw more than the caution signs for moose. 

When we arrived in the town of Vanderhoof we stopped at a Tim Horton's for a sandwich and a donut for David.  Vanderhoof's claim to fame is its migratory bird sanctuary on the Nechako River, where thousands of Canadian Geese stop by each year.  Since we had seen many caution signs for moose, but no moose, we made a bet on who would spot the first one.  The winner would get another Tim Horton's treat. You know what David would choose, and I'd take one of their trail mix cookies.

I took over the driving at Vanderhoof and drove miles through forested land where the bright spring green of the new aspen leaves was accenturated by the dark green evergreens.  As I drove into the Lake District we passed Fraser Lake.  It is a very big and beautiful with the surrounding trees reflected in the water.

Simon Fraser (1776-1862) is well remembered in these parts.  He was the first white person to decend the Fraser River in 1808. Now there is a river, a lake and a town named after him.  Soon after we passed the lake, David fell sound asleep while listening to his Ipod.  Not too far down the road I spotted a moose in a small pond right beside the road.  I yelled to David, but could not break through the tunes.  When he did wake up, I announced that we were on our way to Tim Horton's for my treat.  I won the first round!

Coming into Houston we caught our first glimpse of the Babine Mountains, snowcapped and towering majestically over the rolling forests.  Houston is located on the famous Bulkley River and is a sportsmen's paradise. Outfitters are readily available to give you the experience of a lifetime in fishing, hunting, canoeing, or snowmobiling, . 

At the Visitor's Center they practically guarantee a big catch! Here is a fisherman with the eternal illusion of catching a record fish!

                                                                         

We drove up the Bulkley River Valley, and as we drove along more and more snowy peaks appeared in front of us.  Many peaks were shrouded by clouds, but we saw enough to realize how breathtaking this valley would be with clear skies and sunshine. By the time we reached Smithers, we were in the shadow of the mountains and could see the ski trails on Hudson Bay Mountain. This is a popular ski area from November until April. However, with an average January temperature of 14 degrees, I will definitely never check it out. Smithers is the largest town in the Bulkley Valley.  We stayed one night at the municipal park that was right beside the river.

 

This had been an effortless day of driving.  The roads were excellent and there was very little traffic.  At one point we were listening to NPR and someone said, "Don't put off 'til tomorrow anything you can celebrate today."  Well, this was Queen Victoria Day, we were at the end of a beautiful day in what used to be New Caladonia, and I had won the moose bet, so why not celebrate?  We opened a bottle of "Two Buck Chuck" from Trader Joe's and toasted ....  to Life!