Tacheeda Lake Recreational Site

Recreational Sites are cleared areas in the woods often by lakes where a picnic table has been set up. Often there's a firepit and sometimes there's even a outhouse.  We've got picnic tables, and a firepit.  The lake is here but I've not seen an outhouse. Partly that's because this Forest River Mini Lite Travel Trailer has it's own toilet and hotwater shower along with heater and stove and refridgerator.  There's even an electric heater on the mattress. I'm not lacking in comfort on this 'roughing it' hunting trip.Glamour girl Laura does her nails and reads fashion magazines while we're out in the woods hunting for moose.  When we get back at night she has a hot meal waiting though and her presence has protected the camp from humans if not chipmunks and the occasional black bear.
I'd left Canyon Alpine RV Park outside Boston Bar ealry morning and driven 10 hours to Prince George.  There I bought food for a week filling the RV.  It was about $750 supplies. We couldn't find our way out of town and had to ask directions. The signage in Prince George is absent or confusing.  Locals know their way about so it's obviously an invitation for outsiders to stay and wander about enjoying the town lost.
Following Highway 97 past the Bear Lake Community Store I turned off the highway at the Chuchinka Red Forest Service Road.  We entered this gravel and dirt road folllowing a couple of other trailers.  I was thankful for their example which seemed to say they knew the way and had done this backwoods off road trailering countless times before. It wasn't long though before they pulled ove rand a delightful older gentleman in flannel shirt walked back to say this was his first time up here and asked if I knew the way/  I didn't. I only had  instructions on how to get to the campsite Luke and Sonny ahd set up and the same Northern BC backwoods map book they had.  We left them on the road deciding where they were going to stay the night while we drove on to Tacheeda Lake.  There were three small recreational areas with a half dozen campsites each on  on this long beautifully blue lake.    Luke and Sonny  were waiting were waiting for us in the solo campsite at the north of the lake, right on the water with lots of room for the trailer.
With  Sonny and Luke helping  I got the trailer unhitched and  set up.  The sun was going down and the moon rising over the lake before we knew it.  Laura walked Gilbert around so he could sniff and pee on everything . We talked some, glad to be together, happy that the moose hunt had begun.  The bad news was the Sonny's work made it impossible for him to stay more than the weekend. He had to go back to Vancouver to deal with the family business.  We were as sad as he was but at least we had the weekend all together.    I was exhausted by the drive.  So we didn't talk much before I was headed for bed.  Last thing before falling asleep I thought  what  paradise I was in looking out the trailer window  looking at the glassy moonlit lake.
In the morning the hunt would begin.  We were up at dawn and it was a beautiful morning with a lonely northern loon calling over the lake. We were in the area where moose, bucks, elk , grizzly and black bear were to be found. We had tags for moose, mule deer, white tail deer and black bear.  We'd also be able to shoot grouse, my favourite tasty chicken,  my cockapoo Gilbert's favourite, too. .

Alpine Canyon RV Park September 2010

Brent and Brenda greeted us as we came into Alpine Canyon RV Park just off #1 past Boston Bar.  We had our previous site #3 again. It was good to see them. "Where have you been," we missed you they said.  Here, there and everywhere. We'd been always wanting to get back here sooner but hadn't  quite made it.  We took the Kokahalla back from the Sturges North motorcycle rally in Salmon Arm or we'd have stopped here on that trp.
Laura loves the tranquillity. I love the safety.  It's a fenced community and Brent keeps a close eye on all the comings and goings, even me with my early morning departures on the Polaris ATV.
"Bowhunting season opened Sept. 1", I told him showing him my Canadian made Excalibur Exomax cross bow.   "There's alot of deer and bear been sited along the logging roads on the other  side of that hill, " he pointed to the back of his property.  "Springs and sockeye are running in the river, too."  "Gilbert prefers hunting to fishing, " I said.  Gilbert cocks his head and becomes all ears when I mention his name in conversation.
Laura likes the cleanliness. "It's so well kept," She said later,  "They even rake the sites."
It's not long before we're settled in hooked up to water, electricity and sewage.  Laura has the chicken heated up in the microwave, Gilbert getting bits and pieces at every stage of the preparation.  After picking up the Polaris ATV at Ryan's in Chilliwack and fetching the Rockwood Minilite RV , we'd stopped at the grocery in Hope for ready made summer salad, baked chicken and potato salad.  I've hooked the tv  up so we can eat late dinner watching a mob movie based on the true story of the Irish Italians in New York during the hey day of coke dealing. It 's certainly a different world from the star lit spruce canopied world outside our trailer.  Lying in bed  in the quiet, looking up at the stars through the skylight feels like we're in paradise. Gilbert is lying on the comforter between us.  At least his little bum is pointed downward so I don't have to spin him around. He likes his comfort.
In the morning, Gilbert and I leave Laura in bed to go off hunting big game. From Gilbert's point of view we ride around on the ATV alot. His master doesn't shoot the three doe that walk right across the road in front of him. He doesn't shoot the two ruffed grouse.  There's all kind of bear shit. When we get off the ATV and climb up the mountain trails he doesn't let me roll in anything stinky.  It's a really great time but I'm glad to get back to Laura in the afternoon because she has more treats for me.

As it turned out I saw several doe and grouse.  One big black bear was down a ravine some 250 yards off.  I could have taken a body shot but I know from experience a bear can run 50 yards with a bullet through the heart.  Right behind the bear was a drop off to a thickly wooded valley.  If I didn't kill it with one shot I'd be tracking it in that jungle. Even if I did kill it I didn't know how I was going to get it up the ravine even with the Polaris Sportsman winch. I didn't have hundreds of feet of rope. When I was younger I'd never have thought of any of this and taken the shot whatever.  This day I decided I'd try a head shot. God willing that would kill him dead and I'd just have to figure out how to get him up.  If the bear was the winner then he'd learn a valuable lesson today that would cause him to live a long life.  The lesson: don't stand staring a men with guns pointed at you. Run. I took the shot. And boy did that bear run!  Later target practicing I figured I'd not shot low enough for a downhill shot.  The bear was 3 or 4 so maybe in a decade or so when his memory is failing I might get another go at him.  I'd taken the shot with my Ruger 30:06 rife.  Bear season had opened for rifle but deer and everything else could only be shot with a bow.  I had a lot of fun though shooting targets with the Excalibur Exomax cross bow. What a beautifully crafted bow.  I've taken deer with cross bow and hit them with black powder rifle too but only when I've been able to wait in ambush along a well and recently used deer trail. There were tracks everywhere but new to this region I just haven't found where the deer are moving.  Another year my Excalibur Exomax will do the job.  If the bear had been closer too I'd have used the bow too.  When I got back to Alpine Canyon RV Camp
Laura made up bacon sandwiches which Gilbert and I devoured.  Brent had been down to the river and brought back fresh caught sockeye.  I shared the story of our travels and hunting on the ATv and he said, "There's a logging road back there that's supposed to go all the way to Merrit."  I could believe it. The trails back of the mountain were endless. Gilbert and I did a lot of miles just for the joy of exploring and seeing more of the beautiful country.