10 Mile Lake...Quesnel B.C.

A parting final look at Tunkwa as I left at 8a.m. yesterday on my new adventure to unknown areas of this, my home province.I guess I've only seen about half of this province,mostly the southern half.
I arrived at the Logan Lake dump station(pay by donation) nice and early and was able to have the place to myself(several r.v's arrived just as I was leaving)I like it when a good plan comes together.(quote from Hannible on the" A Team" t.v. show).
I backtracked the way I originally came in almost 2 weeks ago,taking the Highland Valley route back down to Ashcroft,then north.
I was able to take the time and stop for a few pic's of the big "Highland Valley Copper Mine"operation here.Looks like a giant red flying saucer on the hillside.

A closer look and it still looks like a flying saucer.I was able to get some shots from a viewpoint parking area off the highway,although I missed the turnoff at first and ended going up the hill on a mining road and hit a big dip in the road at a good clip, that set both truck and trailer into an airborne position....not good,had to go into the trailer and pick up many articles from the floor(slap wrist here)

Below is a lake several miles long that is full of mine tailing's....The only blue water left is at the dam end.

The drop down into Ashcroft was steeper and longer than I realized coming up(all that silver bullet power I guess)so going down was a little white knuckle,with plenty of low gear and brakes to the point that truck was pulling a bit to the side each time I hit the brakes...no fade though.

Perfect driving weather as I headed north on highway 97 through Clinton and 100 Mile,boy 100 Mile sure has grown since the last time I was through here, as was Williams Lake,they were like sleepy little towns before.

I stopped for lunch just north of Williams Lake beside a small lake.

I hadn't gassed up yet and it was getting low but figured there would be gas between here and Quesnel.(holds 100 liters).Well much to my surprise,every gas station along the way was closed up(economic times I guess).At the last one I chickened out as the low fuel warning light had been on for some time, and I got out my jerry can with 8 liters in it,and dumped it in for the rest of the way to Quesnel.

When I fueled up it only took 78 liters to fill it,which meant that if I hadn't dumped in the 8 liters from the jerry can,I would have arrived with 14 liters still in the tank.

I did a U.S. MPG calculation and it worked out to 14mpg pulling a 4000lb trailer with a fully loaded truck box on several big climbs and at an average of 100kph(60mph)

That would equate to around 17mpg imperial.My Astro van never got that high a mileage pulling the trailer.......but.....the Astro got better highway mileage than the tundra does when not hooked to the trailer. So I guess its a trade off.

I arrived at 10 mile lake provincial park just before 3pm and found the lake- side sites full, but back up the hill in the touring sites away from the lake,it was almost deserted.This was good because I could take the time to jump out with my compass and find a site that had good southern exposure so I could set up the 2 satellite dishes,as I did, and with the "align-a-site" instrument that I have,was able to site through the trees for both dishes with no problemo.Oh the joys of having toys!

So today I think I'll move on as this place doesn't have too much appeal,not even any bird activity,just a robin lulling me to sleep last evening.Also starting to notice a later sunset with just one days drive north.

Had an awfull time this morning changing the side bar stuff(weather/map)etc,its just a fact of getting old that something I did with ease last winter takes a large refresher course to get back into the groove again.I hope its ok,haven't looked yet.....See ya at Fraser Lake.

My Present Location on Datastorm/Google

Turning Hot Again....Time to Head North.

The countdown has begun as the weather is getting back up into the high 20's here and even hotter in the valley below,34 is forecast for today, with this weather remaining for the rest of the week.So with that its a good time to head north as the long range forecast for the Prince George to Prince Rupert area is also for sunny/cooler weather.Probably the best time of the year especially in rainy Rupert.I will take my time and hit the Provincial Parks along highway 16.So starting Tues morning a new adventure begins,but first,tomorrow,its off for home for a day trip to check on things and get the new len's put in my glasses...renew the trailer insurance and see family.
Yesterday was camera practice day again,including a bit of a hike over to the far ridge in the pic above to take the pic below....does that make sense?Well this is the camping area taken from the far ridge.(below)2 pic's...2 different camera's...2 different years.

I mainly took the hike because there is a small reedy lake over there that usually has many Yellow Headed Blackbirds,but nary a one was found,in fact the only birds around were hiding down in the tall reeds and to add insult,I spent most of my time trying to find my missing lens cap in the tall grass.I didn't know where i dropped it but was smart enough to check back over all the places that I sat down,figuring it popped off the strap in one of those places.And I was right cuz I found it at the first rock I sat on.Lucky this time.......smarter next time.....Oh ya!A senior moment will result in another loss probably...maybe I should buy some backup lens caps.I'm starting to ramble...not good......Below is a young Mountain Bluebird that flew down onto the road just as I was setting off on my hike.

And a baby preening,this was taken the day before.In the last few days I've noticed the young Bluebirds are all over the place around my campsite and a few of the other site's around me,so am assuming the nests were close to here.

Also taken just down the road this Savannah Sparrow.

This shot(below) was taken yesterday during the hike.A little more distance and a bit of a shaky hand.The Sparrow is a little fuzzy but the grass is clear....did the bird move when I snapped the shot?What say you,you experts.

This Little Marmot(not so little,he's the size of a large house cat)lives under the outhouse up the hill from me.Sure are lots of them around.I always remember back in the 60's at Jack fish lake in Sask.that I was feeding one a wiener and he dropped a piece,so foolishly I pointed at the dropped wiener and he grabbed my finger instead.....There I go rambling again.

For those of you who have been here to Tunkwa,are you aware of the memorial to "Old Buck." It sits almost un-noticed along the side of the road by the turnoff to the spit.I remember it back in the late 70's and went looking for it the other day and found that it hadn't been destroyed by the building of the park roadway and sites.

The story(correct me if I'm wrong)was that old Buck was the much beloved dog of Alex Blake,a fellow who loved this spot and came many times years ago with his dog Buck,who I guess also loved this place,so he found it fitting when the dog died,to bury him here at this beloved spot. Touching inscription....This will probably be my last post for a few days,at least until a new location is arrived at and... that all the campgrounds aren't so full of trees that I can't set up my internet dish.....or for that matter my T.V. dish.......Oh Horrors!Now I put my expensive "Align-a-site to work so I can find that little hole in the tree's. Adios Amigo's.

Playing With The New Canon SX10IS Camera

After several hours of on- line research and a little advise from some follower friends,I knew exactly which replacement camera I wanted,so a quick trip back down to Kamloops yesterday morning, had Willy at the door of future shop right at opening time,just "champing at the bit."It didn't take long and I was out the door with camera,a bag,and a couple of s.d. cards and a much lighter wallet.(By the way,London Drugs price was higher.)
That top pic was one of the first experimental shots on this very dark cloudy day.Its a big "Uke"truck and shovel used locally in the copper mining operation near the town of Logan Lake,which is just a 20 minute drive from my campsite.I parked the Silver Bullet close to it to show the size.Not as big as the Sparwood B.C. uke but big enough.

I had an awful time figuring how to use this camera cold without taking the time to read the instruction book, which I planned on doing when I got back to camp.Damn viewer wanted me to enter time and date and I just wanted to snap a few.Then a few minutes of cursing because It showed nothing until I found the lens cap still on........sheesh!...Shhhhhh.

Not the best day for picture taking but maybe its a good test of the auto setting.Above is the west end of Logan Lake,right in the town itself.Business's just across the road.

OK.....here's a test of the X20 optical zoom on this camera.....the next 3 pic's taken from the same spot at the west end of the lake looking to the far end where is situated a nice little private campground.I figure its a good kilometer away.

Mid zoom below.

Then full zoom x20 with no digital zoom added Below.

So now I start the long learning practice and start hunting down some birds.I noticed the other day that several Mountain Bluebirds are hanging around my campsite,but they are always on the go and never keep still long enough to get a pic,although last night I got 2 pic's at about 30 yards in poor light....I haven't had a chance to download them yet.

The Day That Willy's Camera Died

Yesterday was my first day trip since arriving here at Tunkwa,so a trip down to Kamloops was the order of the day.I set out at 9 a.m.with a cool cloudy temp of 52/12 degrees.I thought since you can go several ways,to head down the back road to Savona rather than through Logan lake and the Coquihalla.This was my first time on this section of road since the 70's when it was washboard gravel.Now a narrow paved road leading down into the valley below...a 2000ft drop over 26k's....I never met another vehicle the whole way.
Below is one of several ranches lower down in the sagebrush country.

The road meets the #1 Trans-Canada on the eastern outskirts of Savona...pic below.

A CPR coal train passing through. The temperature down here was 64....12 degrees warmer.

First I drove a few k's west to check out the "Steelhead"Provincial park at the west end of Kamloops lake and the town.It looks like one of the older private parks that has been taken over by B.C. Parks and I believe is on First Nations land. It was only about 1/3 full,surprising for a lakeside campground in July.Many of the sites were side by side with no spacing(wal-mart parking)this probably being the reason for low turn out.

I now headed eastward toward Kamloops along the T-C about 35 K's making one stop just east of Savona at a pull off to take a couple of pic's of kamloops lake.

And that's when my Canon A75 died,so below are the last 2 pics it will ever take.

Of course I didn't realize this until a couple of hours later at Lac Le Jeune campground on the way back.

The picture's were faded but using Picasa's "Make me lucky"setting brought a bigger difference than normal with the blue of the lake which was sort of grayish to the naked eye and the sagebrush in the fore-ground is sharper.

I carried on unaware of the camera problem which just showed purple horizontal lines in the LCD.A battery change and flash card change didnt solve anything.

I took several more shots while in Kamloops but not checking them after.

I did my grocery shopping and toured the downtown a bit then gassed up and hit the "Albert&Walter for some fast food lunch(I am partial to Mozza burger combo's)

It was now noon and a nice low 70's partly sunny day as I headed up the Coq. for Tunkwa,making a round trip of it.The silver bullet just flew up the hill through rain showers and lowering temps,back to 52 degrees at the top with heavy overcast.

I passed a poor citizen half way up with an older Ford pickup pulling a 25ft travel trailer and I could see the black smoke a mile before I reached him,just pouring out of that truck....I wonder if he made it to where he was going.

At the top I made a side trip into Lac le Jeune provincial to have a look and take some pic's down at the beach area,and this was when I realized the camera wasn't working.

This campground was only about 5% full and missing many tree's also since my last visit years ago.

So that was my day trip,and today probably another to go shopping for another camera.I came home and went on line and did several hours of research on cameras plus a couple of e-mails to camera buff friends who promptly sent replies.

My first choice will be another Canon...The SX10...I read about 50 reviews,just about all were favourable.Its also the #2 best seller according to P.C. World.

So the next blog hopefully will have better pic's....I needed an excuse to get a camera with some good zoom capabilities anyway. 20X optical sounds good to me instead of 3X on the A75.

A Change In The Weather--Hunker-Down Time

After 4 days of hot sunny weather,yesterday started with high thin cloud but stayed warm,then at suppertime.....bam!The rains came.... and came....all night.One good thing..no more dust for awhile and that's a good thing cuz some of the yahoo's around here think this is the Indy 500.Trouble is they will probably be back by the weekend when it turns hot and dry again.

So we went from this.....

TO THIS

Its not really all that bad,I just like to exaggerate.

Its at least quiet around here today with just a hand full of campers,about 15 spread out around the park.Half of them are comprised of family groups together.They use group sites like the pic below where they can circle the wagons and have the tables and fire-pits in the middle.There are quite a few of these group sites around the park,mostly near the water.

For those of you unfamiliar with this area,you will notice in all the photo's just how many lodge pole pines have been killed by the pine beetle,such a shame as this was a nice wooded campground years ago,now only one site has shade.

Here is another view of the park(below) taken this past weekend.Its a spit that is popular with the boaters.I expect it will be full again this weekend as the weatherman says its going to turn hot again into the 30's(C). Tomorrow I'm off to Kamloops for a little day trip.I'm signed up for 4 more days here, then next week may day-trip home to deal with some business,then maybe head north later in the week into some uncharted Willy Wanderings.Its only in the thought process right now but I've never been to Prince Rupert.My Parents lived there back in my Air force days when I was out of the country,so never got to visit that area.

I know I have more than 8 followers....so come on some of you.....do Willy proud and add yourself to the list....top right corner of the blog...no obscene pics tho.

Lastly...you camera buffs out there....why is so much purple showing up in some of my pic's all of a sudden?Never did that before...I'm always on an auto setting.

Tunkwa Provincial Park B.C.

As I enter day 5 here at Tunkwa,it has been an enjoyable relaxing place with very warm sunny weather,near 30 deg.no pesky insects and over the weekend a good crowd (not noisy or rowdy)although this place attracts mostly the fisherman and birder as it is well stocked with "Rainbow/Kamloops Trout" that are soo well fed in this "meat and potatoes water,"that they are as deep as they are long in stature.

I've been coming here since the mid 70's when it was just a well wooded (before the pine beetle)forestry camping area,where you drove through fields full of boulders to get to the lake,providing it hadn't rained,then the gumbo would be the big problem.

Just about all the pines are gone now...just a few dead ones standing.

You know the old saying(where were you when?)Well... I was here that morning in the spring of 1980 when Mount Saint Helens blew her top,and even though it was over 400 miles away as the crow flies,it was a terrific double sonic boom that shook this high valley.

This park is comprised of 2 lakes linked together with a waterfall,the other lake being Leighton Lake.There are camping areas along both lakes comprising some 286 established sites,and like this morning,probably no more than 30-40 are occupied.So well spaced out and quiet that you almost feel alone.

These are man made lakes that supply water to the ranches below in the Savona area.

Above a more distant shot of the waterfall entering Leighton(methinks my camera may be giving up the ghost).

Below is a shot of Leighton with the camping area at the far end.This is the only area where ATV's are allowed,thank goodness.

The weather is starting to take a turn for the next few days,but I think I'll hang in here for awhile and day trip down to Kamloops for some shopping.Usually I go to Merritt,but this coming weekend is the big "Merritt Mtn. Country Music Festival" with big name stars coming every year and the town will be turned upside down with drunken Yahoos(well not all of them but a goodly amount)so Kamloops is just as quick and much larger.

On The Road Again(Like That Other Willy's Song)

And introducing the new tow vehicle (The Silver Bullet)a 2009 Toyota Tundra with a gas sucking 5.7liter...6 speed tranny and 430 rear end. Quite a change from the Astro van but so far I seem to be getting the same towing mileage which is around 14.5 U.S. gallon.Now I don't have a line up behind me on some of the long hills.EG coming up Jackass Mtn in the Fraser Canyon when a Durango pulling a similar sized trailer passed me at the base of the hill and I was nipping at his heels before the top...but I digress.

This is a little test trip to take advantage of some nice weather and also a need to get on the road for a few weeks...not a lot of travel...just a nice spot to relax and dry camp in the interior of B.C. I set out last Thursday morning July 2 2009.



This is a lunch break (above)just north of Spences Bridge along the Thompson River.

The day started off a sunny 20 degrees when I left home but had reached 32 when I arrived at Ashcroft(below)

I chose the canyon route just for a change from the usual and quicker Coq.Its a good hour longer but more scenic.

As I climbed out of Ashcroft leaving the sagebrush behind and picking up the pine forest(whats left of it since the pine beetle arrived)the temperature dropped back down to the low 20's as I topped 3000ft and the Highland Valley.

Another 55k's along the valley,passing the big copper mine and the lake full of tailing's,a mixture of white and azure blue.

I made my usual stop at the Logan Lake Municipal yard where they supply a dump station and fresh water tap.(pay by donation)filling my water tank and jerry cans for the final 10 k's into Tunkwa Lake Provincial Park.(Don't feel like using the pump handle at the park)Too much work.

When I arrived,I found the park to be a little more busy than expected,for example last august I was practically alone here,but this time I found it at least 1/2 full and this morning (sat.) it is full.

My set-up went smoothly as did the 2 satellite dishes,this was another time that my Star-Choice(oh!excuse me I mean"Shaw Direct")dish had a signal of 52 green just by placing it in the general direction without using the set-up screen.

Well here I am with my usual pained expression,saying "A job well done."We wont talk about the slight bend I put in the right rear stabilizer(the one I replaced at Valley of Fire last Nov.)as I went into a dip to turn around.Shhhh!

More to follow in the next few days but not daily blog like last winter's trip.

MY GOOGLE LOCATION