Snow but not as you know it.

Just like friends and family in the UK we have been experiencing a cold snap here, with temperatures down to -11c we even had some snow. Before it started melting we had up to about 5 inches of snow. Now we have none at all, although this fabled worst winter in 40 years is still being talked about by a great number of people. Good luck to everyone in the UK, particularly those on the North who have been putting up with this for over two weeks now not the measly 1 week which is being reported internationally. Towns and City's outside of London do exist.

Mission, BC is where were currently living. In terms of longitude it is about in line with Guernsey and in general the weather hear is quite reminiscent of the UK, summer is generally warmer and although there is generally more snow in the winter (maybe not this year) temperatures are very similar. Mission is a small city, with a population a little under 35,000. Like a lot of towns and smaller cities here the municipality, local societies, and business groups organise parades, shows and fates, the sort of thing I grew up with in the UK but seem to have long since died out.

Friday night was the Mission "Candlelight Parade" for Christmas. The parade was 2 minutes walking distance from our home so we took a walk down to watch floats, trucks, emergency vehicles and so on all coming past. I think its something the UK could do with a little more of these days. Some things to build a bit of community.

The weekend had us delving into what is becoming a tradition with Jaime's family. Harvesting a Christmas tree. Yes I said harvesting. Numerous places have gone into the very long term investment of growing Christmas trees. Many harvest them on mass and have them sold at green grocers or supermarkets, but a large number still offer a pick your own setup. By "pick" I mean by use of a chainsaw. We were along as an extra pair of hands and a critical eye for a good tree.

My efforts were modest... next year I'm going for a whole foot tall tree.

Saturday afternoon was still chilly crisp and dry so we took a chance on a short hike with Jaime's dad and all the dogs and having a little camp fire cook-out, much like last time but much drier. We hope we can get a few more of these hikes in this year. We have an ambitions plan to try this while snow shoeing.

Fall is upon us.

Fall has arrived, and much like general Autumn weather in the UK the Fraser Valley is wet. Rain showers are lasting days at a time. The temperatures are still 10c and above but if they drop we may well get the really bad winter most people here are expecting. The extremely long range forecast people seem to believe in is based on "it was so mild last year, it means we'll have the worst winter for 40 years this year". I'm happy wait and see what happens.

There was a break in the rain yesterday afternoon and we took a short hike off into the woods to enjoy a camp fire and the wilds before the weather gets any worse. Fire cooked sausages, hot chocolate and toasted marshmallows. Not exactly nutritionally balanced but hey, warm and filling.

A nice warming Fall camp fire, not as easy to light as it looks when everything is wet.

Sausage on a sick - Fire roasted, perfect lunch.

Dessert!

For the British among you, you will have noticed the use of the word Fall instead of Autumn. Its just one of those little differences between the UK and here I'm adapting to. The biggest difference in North America and not just Canada is Size and Scale. Things are big, huge MAHOOSIVE! Canada itself is big enough for the UK to fit inside it 40 times. Food is big from fruit and veg to cuts of meat and not to mention prepared food.

An Obscene sandwich. OBSCENE!!

A difference which I only very occasionally miss from time to time is the lack of the pub culture from the UK. I don't mean the getting lairy falling face first in a gutter experience. I mean the meeting with friends and family for a few pints and putting the world to rights. Canada has a Coffee Shop culture where, dudes, guys, gents in fact people in general meet up day and night and socialise in the same way... but really I mean, you can't sort world peace and generally iron out the issues in the world over a Tim Horton's large double double and a maple dip doughnut. With that all said, the trade off's are much more in Canada's favour!

An addition to our blog cast and a little grouse hunt.

I didn't manage to update the blog in September but I correct that now with probably one of the most momentous things I'll ever post.

The cast and crew of our little Canadian Adventure will be increasing by one member in May next year. Jaime my fantastic wife is 11 weeks pregnant with our first baby! We are extremely happy to say the very least and I have been busting to share the news for several weeks, but we didn't break it to our families until Canadian Thanks Giving Weekend. Thanks to everyone who has sent congratulations.

Life for us in Canada has started taking a more settled turn for the time being. Jaime and I have both been working hard at our respective jobs and have enjoyed the end of a very warm summer here in the Fraser Valley.

This past weekend, we joined Jaime's dad Peter for a little off roading to enjoy some of the fall colours. Like all good Canadian adventures Saturday started early with a 5am trip to Tim Hortons.

We saw some spectacular scenery as we drove up the Coquihalla Highway towards Merritt before swinging off to some off road driving. The fall colours from likes of the Aspen trees contrast very boldly against those of the evergreen pine trees.

Stopping from time to time on our drive we hiked around a little. Odd Aspen trees from place to place show evidence that as big as bears might look they can climb trees. The claw marks in this photo are likely to be from a black bear cub.

On one our walks we discovered that Loki and Duffy have a new talent for flushing grouse, which provided us a fortunate opportunity to harvest a Ruffed grouse and a further chance for Loki to demonstrate hidden talents as a gun dog.

After spending some time in the bush, we took a slow drive back home, stopping at a small town called Brookmere. Brookmere used to be a bustling little railway town, its population being as high as 500. The last train ran through in the 1980s and the tracks have all long since been pulled up. The population of Brookmere is today only 29. Peter knew someone living in the town and we stopped to ask for directions, as he walked around the corner of a house and out of sight, Jaime and I could both hear the dueling banjo's from "Deliverance" playing. Jaime made the comment "We're in real trouble if dad passed a big pile of used shoes on the way in". Fortunatly we did not become anyones lunch or fall fowl of any strange behavior, instead we had a pleasant rest stop before heading on. The level track bed is now used as a route the next town, which we used when leaving, passing the old water tower still there from providing water to steam trains.

The heat continues.

More or less with the exception of today (which is rainy) the heat wave here has been continuing in British Columbia. Wild fires are burning across over 150 locations around BC. Although its dry down here in the Fraser Valley theres no bush fires although there is a complete camp fire ban.

The continued warm weather has had us making trips to the local rivers to walk the dogs and cool down. We've only been camping once recently. We stayed overnight on a sandy island on the Fraser River while fishing. Camping meant the fishing could go on till as late as allowable and from as early as sun up. Its the first time we slept with the dogs in the same tent. For me it was not such a bad experience as the dogs seem to believe Jaime is much more comfortable to sleep on and spent most of the evening settling themselves on her legs, back and head and then moving around again. Come the morning for some reason Jaime's mood was not conducive to me convincing her to come for an early morning dog walk.

Some big Salmon are being landed at the minute. Jaime landed this cracking 17+lb fish but apparently 20+ and much larger are not uncommon.

A lot of people are now starting to reach the limit their freezer can physically handle. But the leftovers from filleting are not going to waste. Jaime has been taking the fish heads and backs to work for the bears who seem to love them. Charlie and Chester the black bears, make short work of any Salmon thrown their way.

Jaime is loving her job, in particular spending time with the wolves is a personal favourite. It took Jaime a couple of weeks for the wolves to feel comfortable with her, but now she is in with them on a daily basis, feeding and grooming them. Jaime has a very unique job and is really pleased to be in a position where she can take care of the animals.

On the subject of animals we had a little drama last week when Flash the ferret made a break for it. Her cage door was not quick clicked closed fully and she managed to contort her way out and make for freedom. By the time we realised she had gone AWOL its possible she had been out for 5 hours. Our neighbourhood has a large number of cats but these were not the greatest concern, more worrying was the number of roads. Within an hour of realising she was gone we had search parties out, posters up around the neighbourhood, local vets and food stores followed by calls to all of the local animal shelters. As dusk started to come in, we called it a day and could only hope she would return over night. We left a cat basket with some food and blankets out to encourage her. Jaime had a very sleepless night with worry. The following morning I went out to check the garden at 6am while the dogs were eating breakfast and hearing some scrabbling from our shed watched very closely to see a small white ferret face pop out and dart back. After shouting for Jaime to get up we managed to grab her and put back in the cage for what seemed to be a very welcome feed.

There are big similarities between life here in British Columbia and life in the UK, but its the odd little difference which poke you between the eyes and often make them tear up with laughter. Simple things like the statement - "My neighbour is Randy" here simply refers to the name of the guy who actually lives next door and nothing to do with his 70s'esk porn facial hair. I'm forming a list of these differences in my head for a blog post at a later date. We did have a brief encounter on Friday which I suspect is highly unlikely in Britain.

While heading to one of our usual dog walks we spotted a tipi as we walked through a wooded area. As we passed further towards the field where Loki and Duffy would usually run around we discovered more tipi and campers. As we continued to walk we could just about make out a chalk powder white line marking a circle around the whole field. Just as we were about to cross over the line a middle aged woman shouted dramatically after us asking us not to cross the line or walk the path we had many times before. They were holding a "Healing Ceremony" and apparently we had just walked right through and over their spirit path, we were warned we should watch our dogs closely over night as they may have been affected by evil spirits. Now in this day and age of cultural sensitivity and health and safety, surely such a thing should clearly marked, A sign such as "Do Not Enter Spirit Guides Only" would be useful. In the interest of a quiet life and avoiding a supernatural misadventure we gave them a wide berth, the only evil spirits which manifested themselves over night we believe were actually related to something one of the dogs ate while under a bush.

Lost Lake

July has been a hot month. We have seen little rain and temperatures averaging around the high twenties and on some days over 30c. Its a proper summer with sprinkler bans and everything. For those in the UK who have not been to North America one of the big pleasures on such days is a Slushy. If your as old as me you'll remember Slush Puppies. Its the same principle, a crushed ice drink, the big difference being your not limited to flavours of Blue and Red. Here Coke, Sprite, Mountain Dew and various other soft drinks all come this way and like a lot of things in north America they come BIG!

Generally the dogs are not so great in the heat, although both Loki and Duffy love to bask in the sun at any opportunity they can only walk very short distances before they start panting very seriously, but we're timing our walks to suite cooler times of the day and things are working out.

Last weekend we made a trip with the dogs to Chadsey Lake (known locally as Lost Lake) on Sumas Mountain. Our little Subaru handled the heavy gravel off road fairly well - Take note boy racers this is what the Impreza is really designed for. The only down side to the little off road trip was I gave the car a complete wash before we decided we'd make the trip and by the time we reached the end of the gravel road its fairly safe to say our car had taken on a sandy dirt tone over the paint work.

View Larger Map

After the drive we had around a 20 to 30 minute hike through forest to the lake itself. The the trail was extremely clearly marked and for the most part a well worn path, with only the odd encounter of brambles and my personal favorite Devils Club, which as the name suggests its not to be tangled with if at all possible because it will most certainly leave more than just a mark if you brush against it.

Ah the lovely Devils Club - Note: Not Toilet Paper substitute.

The hike down to the lake let the dogs enjoy one of their passions, SQUIRREL!! and there were lots about. Much to the dogs frustration squirrels know they are safe up the tree and just about exactly how high the dogs can jump. They will sit just out of reach eyeing the dogs and chattering at them while the dogs whistle and whine in frustration back. Duffy is not above futilely throwing (and I choose the word carefully) himself up a tree only to fall about 3 feet short of the tree hugging rodent.

The selection of wild berries here in British Columbia is a big change for me. They have plain old Blackberries growing wild but they also have Thimble-berry, Huckleberry, Raspberry, Strawberry, Salmonberry to name but a few, not being the largest berry fan in my opinion they often taste a lot like dirt. That said with a bit (a lot) of guidance from Jaime, picked at the right time they do taste a lot better.

Salmonberry

Jaime picking some Salmonberries

A handful of Salmonberries, they look a lot like Raspberry.

Once we arrived at the lake it was time for lunch followed by some basking in the sun, a spot of failed survivalist fishing, you'd think if you spend the time whittling a hook the least the fish could do is bite. We then had a wander around the lake, the water was amazingly clear and no wind meant it was flat and actually warm, well the first few inches were warm anything deeper we shall classify as not bitterly cold. With the day being so warm it was nice to have a swim, Jaime I and the dogs were all in.

Chadsey lake

No that is not the Canadian Manatee it is in fact the Ultra White Brit - Do not adust your set the glow is real.

No that is not the Great White Starfish either, its is still me.

July has also been a special month, Jaime's sister Lisa has had second daughter, Marin just two days ago. Baby and mum are both very health and we were able to go visit a few hours after she was born.

The camping trip - ITS AN ADVENTURE

So we made is back from Eutsuk Lake safe and sound and it was a memorable trip. We had one or two mishaps, but no one was hurt and spirits were high the whole time.

We left at 1am Sunday morning and drove through the night, 19 hours later we landed on the beach camp site. The last stretch of the road journey was around an hour on logging roads, driving towards the lake we could see off in the distance a huge plume of smoke from a forest fire (we now know covered 60 square KM) fortunately for us it was not where we were headed.

From Eutsuk 2010

The logging roads to access the lakes are basically heavy gravel designed for big rig trucks, hauling lumber, which presented our first little mishap and took a toll on the jet boat, putting out the drivers window. This was going to present a problem trying to drive the jet boat across the lakes to get to our final destination. Thanks to a downed sign and some duct-tape we managed to improvise something to provide some shelter and were able to launch on the lake.

The journey on the lake is usually around 4 hours however the wind had whipped up the lake a little and the decision was made to try and wait out some of the rough water in a sheltered bay, where we all pretty much managed an nap. As time was ticking on and the weather seemed to have eased we hit the water again, not long after the waves started whipping up again, making the shallow bottom of the jet boat bounce off the waves fairly violently. It was at this point the females among us, made a mental note to add a sports bra to their future packing lists. I understand a fair amount of discomfort was encountered. Aside from some shaken kidneys, my only discomfort came when Jaime opened the canopy on the boat while we were going flat out and I got crowned right between the eyes with a press-stud, leaving an interestingly central bruise, a stinging sensation and a bad head for a couple of hours.

From Eutsuk 2010

Bumps and bruises aside we arrived on the beach with a little day light to spare. All hands were put to setting up camp at speed. In doing so we managed to flick a tent pole up and catch Jaime in the face chipping one of her front teeth, despite my protests it was generally consider I had done this as revenge... I honestly testify now I didn't... no really I did not!

Camp being set up, next on the agenda was to have a nice warm drink and some dinner before settling in for the evening. Out came the gas bottle and the stove, but on trying to connect the two together we discovered the wrong hose had been brought. This left us with two options get very Ray Mears for every meal or speak to our neighbors. Unlike previous years when the nearest person is about 6 hours away, on this trip Jaime's Dad (Pete) was initially quite disappointed that someone else was camping near by us, fortunatly they were shipping out the following day and we were able to take their stove hose... Sorry Mr Mears all that we have learned from your shows will need to wait a little longer.

Now the fishing really began, trolling the lake with lines on down riggers, sometimes an hour or so would go between bites, and on other occasions 3 or 4 in quick succession and sometimes only minutes after setting out. We brought 21 Rainbow Trout home, but caught over 27, some were let go and some were eaten for dinner. The largest trought we caught on this trip was 7.2lbs but 10 and 11lb fish have been caught in Eutusk Lake.

From Eutsuk 2010

From Eutsuk 2010

The first few days of fishing on the lake are mainly for sport and fish to eat there and then, the fishing to take home begins by about day three, once we have made an hours trip up the lake to collect ice from a snow slide. The slide which comes right down the mountain to the lake is impressive. Its a reasonably simple matter of shovelling packed snow in to a cooler where the fish will then be placed once cleaned. It was fortunately in these first few days we really encountered our remaining mishaps. The worst of these being water in the fuel.

From Eutsuk 2010

The jet boat runs on 5+ litre V8 petrol engine and just like any petrol engine, it doesn't run well full of water. We were fortunately heading towards shore when the engine started to splutter, on making it back the engine then stopped and would not start again... just to put this in context... WERE IN THE MIDDLE OF NO-WHERE!! Thoughts of survival skills start to creep in to mind and the more meatie of the party wonder who the thinner members will prey on first. OK that's a complete exaggeration. There was some concern but we had confidence in Pete and he managed to strip down the relevant parts, remove the water from them and also pump the remaining good fuel out of the contaminated tank. Crisis averted.

We were motoring again and the fishing was good, we caught our 7.2lb fish and by we I mean, Jaime was reeling it in and the rod snapped, her brother David, grabbed the end and held it so Jaime could real and Rachel, David's wife hand over hand pulled the fish to the boat where I netted it. A true team effort for the largest fish of the trip. After that busy day of fishing we cleaned the fish on a near by beach ready for the cooler of ice and pulled in to shore ready to spend the rest of the evening by the fire. Just as I was taking my first sip if ice chilled beer I look down at the shore to see what looks like Pete's jet boat floating its own way home, yep in all our high spirits and humour as we landed non of us tied up the boat and it was now more than swimming distance away in the frigid water. In the 20 years Pete has been making this caping trip he has seen extremely few other campers at near by. Fortunately for us two groups this year. Our new neighbours happened to be heading our to place some drop lines for the evening and were able to recover the boat.

Its fair to say the rest of the trip was more or less incident free, the bumps, bruises, broken tooth, broken rod, broken window, broken engine and lost boat were all fortunate incidents depending on your point of view. It would be unfair of me not to mention some of the highlights of the trip but I have already rambled for so long, but we did have close up sightings of a Bald Eagle fishing, Cow Moose and Calf and even bear, and not forgetting the scenery which is amazing.

From Eutsuk 2010

From Eutsuk 2010

From Eutsuk 2010

From Eutsuk 2010

From Eutsuk 2010

From Eutsuk 2010