Trip to Davie Lake

We left Hudson's Hope in the early morning, but while Rick prepared the camper for the trip, Molly and I enjoyed one last moment of meditation watching the waters of the Peace flow past.

After leaving Hudson's Hope the first place we passed was the mill town of Chetwynd with their display of wood carvings.

Then southward we went up and over Pine Pass which was notably short of snow. The mountains were, however, very impressive.

We were advised to stop at Bijou Falls Provincial Park which was just alongside the highway and we did.  The sign warned everyone to stay behind the chain link fence, but a couple of young romantic fools defied the advice.

Their posing however, brought a chuckle from Rick as he happily clicked away at the free exhibition taking place in front of the falls...

At last we arrived at the entrance to Davie Lake about an hour north of Prince George. Our friend Gerry had made sure that balloons were hung out to mark the entrance. It was a dirt track that led to a gate and then down to the cabin sitting on the waterfront. Gerry's kids Bert and Cathy share 75 acres on the lake with Bert's brother Greg. On the first of August holiday weekend, the entire Grattan clan arrives and camps on the property, sometimes 50 or more of them. They have a lot of fun with fishing derbies, swimming, BBQs, and all sorts of revelry. I leave the finer details to your active imaginations. All I can say is that they have so much fun that Cathy and Bert often make $75 from the empties everyone leaves behind.

The location is perfect for parties of all sizes. Their off grid cabin sits up above the water with the view below.

And here it is, such a sweet little cabin with solar and propane to fuel all the necessities of life. They use the cabin year round for fishing and hunting and skidooing in the winter.

You can see here how it fits onto the lakefront.

We found a bit of lakefront for outselves as well.

And later, Gerry's son  Ken arrived with his partner Janice and they parked their tent trailer in a shady spot closer to the cabin.

Here we are, the three musketeers Rick, Barbara and Gerry (and Molly)

The lake in the morning was very calm, not a ripple. At this time of day we could watch the loons and the ducks and sand pipers. Later in the day the wind picked up and made white caps on the waves and the birds tucked themselves away for the duration.

Here is a panorama of all of us parked along the lake.

We were fed EXTREMELY well, and we seemed to be eating all the time! Here the group at the picnic table are snacking on all sorts of goodies.

Meanwhile those on the deck are being served coffee and snacks by Cathy.

At times we just all sat around together and enjoyed the view and the flowing conversation and endless jokes. The whole event was a party from beginning to end. We were so spoiled, we hated to pack up and leave the next morning...in the nick of time Greg and Patty arrived with a fire pit for us, a tire rim off a heavy duty truck with the bottom cut out. They couldn't find us a new one so they gave us theirs! I thought that was perfect, to have a fire pit with a pre-made history attached. It came with its own positive kharma!!

At the last minute we took this photo of Gerry and his kids. Thanks so much guys! We loved our stay with you and hope to see you in August on Gabriola!!!

Hudson's Hope, BC.....The Best of the West

Here we are at the campground at Lynx Creek, just outside Hudson's Hope. This is one sweet little community, and because my cousin Bill used to be with the Municipal Office here, and since retirement has served in many volunteer capacities, he has a very intimate understanding of the infrastructure of this town plus a personal knowledge of almost everyone living in it!!  We were privileged to a grand tour and explanation of all the facilities and lifestyle aspects of living here: several restaurants and gas stations, Health Care centre, curling rink PLUS skating/hockey arena, library, post office, K-grade 12 school, motels, RCMP station with 3 officers, churches, Information Centre and a fabulous local museum.

To get a detailed vision of life in this northern BC/Canadian community, just go visit  www.hudsonshope.ca  and   www.lovehudsonshope.com and be as impressed as we were...

Here is me with my cousin Bill, having a picnic lunch at the WAC Bennett Dam.

Here's Bill standing in front of the very well managed and equipped local museum. The historic building is the former Hudson's Bay Post.

St Peter's church next door to the museum..

This very fine carving by Glen Greenside is postioned in a public park, central to the town.

There are so many other local attractions of this small town that I really would ask you to visit the websites listed above to get a real feel for it. Rick and I are so pleased that we made it to the BC north and we intend to explore of this area in the future. Thanks so much Bill for the great tour and hospitality! 

W.A.C. Bennett Dam, Hudson's Hope BC

Rick was probably most impressed along this trip by our tour of the Bennett Dam just outside Hudson's Hope. It is a completely earthen dam, built between 1961 and 1968 at great cost and effort by our most famous of Premier's W.A.C. Bennett and the Crown Corporation of BC Hydro who manages it to this day. The reservoir for the dam is 227 miles long, and covers 410,000 acres.  The structure is the world's largest earth-filled structure. The dam itself is 600 feet high with 10 generators and produces one third of the total power needs for the province of British Columbia (13 billion kilowatt hours annually).

We enjoyed our tour of the visitor centre, and then a one hour tour of the power house itself, which is buried into the bedrock behind the dam. We were driven by bus down 500 feet into the bowels of the dam where a guide gave us instruction about the entire process of power generation.

The earthen dam with power house on the left side, reservoir on the right.

Bill and Rick inside the visitor centre.

Showing the size of the drainage basin for the dam and the Peace River.

The bus took us down 500 feet into the backside of the dam at the level of the bottom of the power house which we entered on the right side. Ahead of us is the dam itself. It was filled with rocky material from a terminal moraine approximately 6 miles away and brought by conveyor belt to the dam site. It was a long and extremely difficult task.

Inside we visited the generator room which is the size of the Titanic with 10 turbine generators set beneath the floor. Each turbine is fed with lake water through a 5 and a half metre diameter tube.

Next we progressed to the area of the manifold which carries the water from the turbines out of the power house into the Peace River...

Back up at the parking lot, we took the truck across the dam to the other side...

The roadway is a narrow 2 lane track, and the down hill side gave us some very impressive views of the outflow of the Peace River away from the power house.

The viewpoint on the far side of the dam shows the reservoir on the left side, the top of the dam where  we drove across, the earthen side of the dam and the Peace River exiting from the power house at the base of the dam.

Of all the days spent in travel, this was by the far the most impressive experience we had!!

Ontario to BC.....Across the Mighty Land

The comments will be brief, unlike the long trip which took three 8-10 hour days to accomplish. Not that there weren't many interesting things on the prairie to stop and see, but they are all difficult to photograph from a moving truck.

Entering Manitoba..

The surprisingly green and lush town of Neepawa, childhood home to our well-known Canadian writer, Margaret Lawrence.

Most of Manitoba is either under water or just plain wet.

The part that isn't grows excellent grain.

Some of the land actually undulates...

Saskatchewan.

More wheat.

Ukrainian settlements...

The city of Saskatoon thriving with over 200,000 inhabitants and all the accoutrements of any larger city like traffic jams, freeways, commercial strips and so on (sigh),,,

Crossing the North Saskatchewan River just outside Saskatoon...

Rivers are king in the northern areas...mighty ones that flow either south in to the Mississippi basin or north into the Arctic basin

Some of the Agricultural might of the prairies...first the old fashioned version

And now the modern ones...

Crossing into Alberta...

Trust me, this is the provincial border (the red posts) that divides the town of Lloydminster into its double identity. I hope the folks there can deal with the potential confusion this must cause...

Skirting Edmonton.  Self explanatory.

North Saskatchewan River...

The small river of Pembina ...

The town of Beaver Lodge, Alberta...

Somewhere along the way we crossed into Beautiful British Columbia. Not only Beautiful but Modest because there was no sign!!

The town is Dawson Creek, and mile zero for the Alaska Highway...

The River is now the mighty Peace River at Taylor. This river you will meet several times and especially at the WAC Bennett Dam in Hudson's Hope (pop about 1,000) ahead..this river  has a huge drainage area (which you will see in the next blog) that flows north eventually to the Arctic basin drainage system.

Beautiful BC lives up to its name. Almost immediately the land rises up and envelopes you in virgin forest and foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

In a short time we plunge down the banks of the Peace River towards Hudson's Hope...

This is the Valley of the Peace, an extremely fertile northern valley with some of the best soil in the country. The only thing that limits its potential is its location in the far north and the shortness of the growing season.

At last we reach our destination for the next few days, the small community of Hudson's Hope, home to my cousin Bill Lindsay. His dad and my mom were first cousins and they grew up in Weston Ontario together in adjoining homes. Bill grew up in Guelph Ontario whereas my sister and I grew up near Woodbridge Ontario. As he had no sisters and I had no brothers (I always really wanted one), I have appointed Bill my unofficial "brother"...I am sure that Rick's cousins Sue and Carol among others will understand exactly how I feel!!

Next blog will be all about this sweet, historic and very friendly very northern community of Hudson's Hope and the great and mighty Peace River and it's WAC Bennett Dam.