Bullmoose Marshes and escape from Tumbler Ridge

 

After 3 days at Gwillim Lake, and no word re Birgit's Jeep, we decided to move into Tumbler Ridge where there was cell service and stayed at the towns RV park.

We hiked to Quality Falls and Leo stumbled into a wasp nest and got stung 5 times.  Luckily no allergic reaction. (I forgot the camera, so no photos.)

We also visited Bullmoose meadows, 

Alas, no bullmoose to be seen, a few ducks though

nicely set up with boardwalks,

and wildflowers, including fireweed.

Still no word about the Jeep and time was running out to make the circle tour without driving like madmen.  There was still lots to do around Tumbler Ridge, but Leo wasn't feeling up to par and thought he should be getting home to take some next steps regarding his health.  

So we packed up and headed home, leaving our friends to await the verdict on the repairs. They stayed for several more days, then moved on to Dawson Creek, waiting for parts to come in.  Finally the repairs were made, but the problem was not fixed and Birgit and Dale had to keep the car running all the way home.

Maybe next year we'll finally get to experience Liard Hotsprings!

  

Murray River

 

One of the things we wanted to do was visit Kinuseo Falls in Monckman Provincial Park, 60 km south of Tumbler Ridge.  Unfortunately, the road was closed due to a forest fires.

 You could still see the falls if you boated up the Murray River from TR, but that wasn't possible without a motor.  So instead we drove up as far as we could before the road was blocked off and put in at the last bridge.  We were surprised to see all the boat trailers parked at the takeout on our way by.

Apparently a lot of people bring their jet boats to TR on the August long weekend!

Full of trepidation, we put in at the bridge:

We were worried it would be a gong show out there with jet boats whizzing by, narrowly avoiding collisions and capsizing us with their wakes.

Actually, traffic was steady but not hectic, friendly and polite.  They all pulled over to the other shore and waved as they went by.

It wasn't exactly a wilderness paddle of course and, as you can see, the atmospheric conditions were not ideal.  

Wildfire smoke!

No mountain views today!  But any day on the river is a good day.  No wildlife to be seen, but we did see some eagles, waxwings, and sandpipers.

 

Lunch stop

It was a 2-1/2 hour trip in total.  The next morning we drove by the takeout and there was no one parked there.  Moral of the story:  Don't do this trip on the long weekend.

Dale and Birgit on the Murray River

A Week in Tumbler Ridge

Gwillam Lake

In late July we headed off for what was supposed to be a 3 week trip up the Alaska Highway to Liard Hotsprings, Yukon, and then down the Stewart Cassiar Highway with a few days visit with my mom in Smithers.  See last year's version.  This year we were going with our wilderness paddling friends and planned some river trips as we traveled along.

But Leo wasn't feeling so great so we left two days  late, missing out on Carp Lake, and joining our friends further north in Tumbler Ridge.  We did the whole distance in one 8-hour drive, stopping for a view over the Peace River near Chetwynd.

We camped at Gwillum Lake Provincial Park, 30 minutes from the town of Tumbler Ridge.  This was a great campsite on a beautiful lake.  We never got out in our boats, but swam every day.

There's a nice trail following the lakeshore that ends at a beaver dam.  

We surprised a beaver!  He slapped his tail and was gone.  He was one of the few mammals we saw in Tumbler Ridge.

The next morning we headed into TR to check out the tourist info centre and pick up some hiking pamphlets.

Tumbler Ridge is known for coal mining and dinosaurs.  In 2000, 2 boys discovered Dinosaur tracks when they were tubing down Flatbed Creek.  This led to the discovery that dinosaur tracks and fossils were everywhere!  

While we were at the info centre Birgit and Dale discovered that their Jeep wouldn't start.  In the end they had to take their truck to Dawson Creek (120 km away) to get it repaired.  It was Friday before the long weekend so it didn't look good.  

The next day we visited the Dinosaur museum

Recreation of the dinosaur tracks the 2 boys found.

And then hiked down to Flatbed Creek to see them in person.

Dinosaur track!

The actual tracks the boys found were across the creek.  They were mostly eroded away by the river.

Can you spot the tracks?

Just downstream was Flatbed Falls.  It was busy with swimmers.

Camping at Horsefly Lake Provincial Park

 We camped for 3 days att Horsefly Lake Provincial Parkwith 2 other couples.  It was fairly smoky but we managed to have a good time.

We hiked up the short trail to the viewpoint.

Pretty smoky

We saw this Orchid on the trail:

We also paddled down the Little Horsefly River into Little Horsefly Lake,

Margaret goes under the bridge

Where We saw a group of 30 merganser ducklings. The river and the lake are perfectly clear with a nice pebbled bottom (good for spawning salmon) so we could see fish swimming underneath us.  There's not much current so it was easy to paddle back upstream.

Meanwhile Leo was paddling down the Horsefly River with Kelly, who was celebrating his 51st birthday, and his family.  Later they brought cheesecake to celebrate!

Kelly and family with the cake.

It was delicious.

We also got a few refreshing swims in.  Despite the hotspell, Horsefly Lake is not yet bathtub warm like some other local lakes.  It's a big lake.

Lastly, the standard shot of the trailer we take everywhere we camp.

We lucked out and there were three unreserved campsites in a row available when we arrived.  The campsites here are smaller and closer together than is usual for a provincial park.  We were glad we were butted up against friends.  There's also overflow camping in a parking lot which is useful information if you're traveling without reservations.  One thing that annoys us is the prime lakeside sites are always reservation only sites now.  You can camp in unoccupied ones for one night but you may have to vacate the next day.

Before and After

Before

After

And After

Before

After

I finished painting our trailers walls.  It was a big job; there's a lot more taping to do than in your house plus removing the very 80s wallpaper border with its stubborn adhesive and priming the vinyl wallpaper and laminate surfaces.  Because the walls were so dark I put on  two layers of primer and then 2 layers of paint.

It's a lot brighter inside with the new paint job.

 

Messing Around in Boats

 

Been escaping the heat by paddling and swimming around the Cariboo. On July 1st we drove out to Chimney Lake.

It was very busy with people camping and picnicking on the long weekend.

A few days later Syb and Dave stopped by and we went out to Felker Lake for a paddle and swim.

Same view, different lake

Felker was a better paddle as the rec site is near the inlet and we were able to paddle up the creek a ways.

Felker Lake was bathtub warm with no cold layer underneath.  

By the time we left the sun was setting.

Spectacular sunset thanks to wildfire smoke.  That's a raft of Canada geese and goslings coming in to shore.

Last week we paddled the Horsefly.  After the record breaking hotspell, the river was very warm. (The record breaking is over, but the hotspell continues as do the wildfires.) Bad for the fish, but great for all the tubers going down the river.  Great day!

Trip to Smithers

 

We made a short visit up to Smithers to see my mom.  One day we walked down to the Bulkley River.

Lupines were in flower

As were violets and geraniums.

We got home just in time for the big heat dome event with record breaking temperatures.  We had 43 Celsius in the shade on our backyard  thermometer, previously the highest I'd seen was 37 degrees.  And of course the fires began and the town of Lytton burned down after breaking the all-time Canadian record.  49.6 Celsius!  Scary.

Which made us very worried here after being a fire hotspot in 2017.  Mercifully, we've had no big fires yet,gg and the smoke has been pretty moderate as well so far.

We're relieved to be down to 30 degree temperatures now which is hot enough, and hoping for some rain soon.