I have actually been getting up before dawn and most days made it out on the Honda Ranger 420 as the light came up. I ride the ATV from the camp and up a trail to the logging trails so I like some light to see my way safely at first. Once I’m on the logging trails I don’t need the light so much. One morning it rained so I waited till it let up and was out at 8 am.
The highlights have been the beauty of nature. Such glory in autumn. I didn’t shoot any game. The deer were spooky and though I saw several I couldn’t ascertain if the two I thought were bucks had horns before they were gone. Really exciting moments using binoculars and scope trying to confirm the sense. I actually saw only one grouse. In my attempt to get Madigan involved, unleashing him from his three point restraint on the back of the ATV, the grouse took off. I did shoot a grouse like bush one evening. A vegan hunter. I didn’t eat my bush but continued home for barbecued smokies that night. I saw one rabbit but again it was too spooky to stay and let me get my rifle. By law you can’t have guns loaded on a vehicle so I have to stop, put the ATV in park, take the rifle from the carrier, load it, and hope the game I’ve sighted further up the trail waits for me to shoot. The rabbit had no such patience. It’s easier when I’m walking with Madigan to shoot game as I’ve a loaded rifle with safety on. The game was all too smart for me this time.
The other highlight was a wolf crossing. I saw a cougar up in the hills the last time I was here. This time it was a big grey wolf. Close encounters. No so long I could get a picture but long enough for me to look into the eye of another predator. I had a hawk swoop low over me too and saw lots of whiskey jacks and a few magpie as well as chickadees.
Madigan loved riding around on the ATV. Whether we were going 40 to 50 km on the logging main or creeping along at 5 - 10 km/hr on the trails he was just the most enthusiastic puppy.
We’d go for a walk and he’d be so keen to get back on the ATV and up on his seat. In the morning he was ecstatic when I put on his sweater, jacket and harness on to get going. We found an old loggers cabin in the backwoods along a stream. These finds are interesting. I wondered if it might also be used as a skidoo warm up stop now though the construction is rather classic trapper construction. The wire bed frames make it look more like a trapper cabin. Some one else had a shack off the main. Looked more like a squatter, lots of mess and poor construction with scrap building materials. Like something we’d see in town in Stanley Park. Off the grid for a winter. The trapper log cabin was a classic though.
While Madigan and I are up in the high mountains, Laura is back in the camper sleeping in, reading, having coffee and toast. The Riverhaven has city water hook up and the Adventurer camper has a hot water tank and heater. There’s grey water and black water sewage hook up.
She likes the clean and easy to keep clean shower and toilet arrangement. I had the most luxurious hot shower in the evening, washing shampooing and conditioning my hair. The propane heater worked just fine but we also had a little electric heater, 250 versus the normal 500 space heater. It takes little electricity but is back up for the propane. I wasn’t sure how long our two propane tanks would last but as it turned out despite being used for warmth and cooking we hardly used a half tank over 4 days.
Each night I barbecued. Our propane and electrical refridgerator and freezer keeps everything so well. I barbecued boneless chicken the first night and had them with finger potatoes, sour cream and butter. I had the same potatoes when I barbecued steaks. We had Caesar salad as well. The last night was barbecued smokies. One afternoon I came home and Laura made bacon sandwiches and scrambled eggs. The Camper propane stove does everything though I’ve not used the oven much. One of these days I plan to make some bread.
Again we were stationed by the river. Laura loved looking out on the Similkameen watching fish jump and the occasional duck swim by. While we were away she’d walk around the park and down to the beach. She always felt safe and liked the family who run the camp. Each evening she’d have some comments on the eccentricities of neighbours. We’d share stories over dinner.
Today we’re dropping off the Honda Ranger for storage at Chilliwack RV storage and carrying on with the Adventurer Camper to leave it at Frazerway in Abbotsford, the dealer where I bought it, where these campers are made. A few weeks back I hit a pothole or a boulder and the tie down to the camper broke when the back end of the camper lifted and smashed down doing some damage to the corner. The insurance appraiser for Guardian came by and now I just need to leave it with Frazerway. It was a fluke accident on a dusty road only going 30 km with a train of trucks behind me annoyed with my slow speed. I’ve arranged with a hitch place to fix the truck connector which broke at the welding. I’m going to ask if they can come up with something better to avoid a future problem. Harrison East logging road is a main but it’s a particularly hard road because of the traffic.
We’ve had a terrific time. ATV’ing on logging roads with steep precipice drop offs to the side requires focus and concentration. It’s a marvellous distraction that keeps one’s mind on the present. I normally with work have so many things and many unpleasant on my mind so just atv’ing with the great companion dog is a wonderful relief. I loved the photography. The nose candy scents were sweet. Cut wood smells where they’d been logging, hemlock and pine, the musky scents by river. Here and there a real fragrance like a man’s cologne. Old spice or Navy scents that the best French perfumer have yet to capture. Beyond Chanel. I just stopped often and breathed. Madigan and I also had great coffee breaks with the hot coffee thermos when we’d share a granola bar. Funny guy likes coffee and granola. I share the granola but he licks the thermos or cup if I’m not careful.
I would have liked to have shot some game but still I can’t complain about a fabulous wilderness vacation spot with a glamping Riverhaven RV park juxtaposed with the ultimate backwoods wilderness trails. In the summer there were hikers and cyclists. Laura said one couple took off after me on electric bikes. There were a few hunters with ATV like me and we admittedly competed as to who would get going first in the morning. A lot of the other rigs were just here enjoying camping, sitting around fires at night. I’ve been coming here for decades but it’s best now with the new management.
People who care make all the difference. When I’m out here in the woods I love my fellow man because things like the smooth running and upkeep of this campground depend on a family that cares. My Honda keeps me alive. Ruger makes the rifle I can depend on. Frazerway makes the Adventurer camper that gives us a home away from home experience with all the amenities. I was able to use my iPhone 12 from the top of the mountain letting Laura know my lat and long when I was up Evans road. Though I had my Nikon most of my pictures are taken with the iPhone 12 skookum camera. Every piece of equipment shows the care and love of conscientious workers and thoughtful people. I have a lot of gratitude when I’m camping. In the city I can take things for granted and the stupidity of politics and administrators can obscure the amazing feats of progress. William Shatner was actually in space last week. Meanwhile I was looking at a trappers cabin, the kind that have been used in the Canadian wilderness for three hundred years or more.
It’s been a great long weekend end. Thank you, Creator god.
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