Bear River Mercantile Your
Bowron Lake Adventure Specialists
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Nov 2007 The LONG Awaited Volume 2 |
“Long
awaited” is an understatement!! Here
I thought I could WHIP one of these off in my spare time!
That, it seems was my “fatal error”!
Our spring was quiet but the summer months were so busy that I could only
dream about “spare time”. Then
we took some holiday time for ourselves in Sept/Oct. and “viola” now it’s
November and there’s snow on the ground…but this is getting ahead of
ourselves!!
Let’s
start with the end of LAST winter: April
2007 arrived like a spring, no pun intended!J The temperatures,
rain and snowfalls bounded up and down like Disney’s Tigger on a sugar diet.
Despite this, the ice melted off of Bowron Lake painfully slow.
No great windstorms pushing around massive ice floes, ripping off boat
docks or forming great ice “tents” along the shore.
Just a slow and gradual thinning until all the ice disappeared on April
27th 2007. The “ice
off” date is the day that no more ice could be seen on Bowron Lake, floating
or otherwise. Historically the
average “ice off” date falls between April 23 and 26th, so 2007
fits in well with average. The
earliest that the ice has come off of Bowron Lake was April 2, 1992, beating the
last record of April 5, 1941. The
latest it has come off was May 19, 2002 AND
May 19 1954.
Charly looking for ice, Bowron Lk, April 20 2007
The first paddlers to attempt the chain arrived the same day as the hummingbirds, May 1, 2007, but they returned (the paddlers) 3 days later because they couldn’t get past the ice still on Isaac Lake. Usually the ice clears off of Isaac Lake one to two weeks later then Bowron Lake.
Late
Opening – This season
we opened the business late because we had to attend a College graduation and
move the daughter back home from Victoria.
Traveling to the coast in May, during the middle of all the flood
warnings, was daunting but we had no problems at all. In
fact, it seems that we visited Victoria during the one of the sunniest and warm
weeks it received all spring! Bear
River Mercantile opened up May 26th, 2007.
Despite
“flood talk” here at Bowron Lake, our water levels appeared to peak on June
8, 2007. On this day the water in
the Bowron River reached the top of its bank but never really flooded over it.
Shadows and
Apparitions? – Does
Bear River Mercantile have friendly spirits???
Our daughters would emphatically say, “YES!” Having been raised here, over the years they have seen many
unexplained occurrences and being children, I sincerely believe they have a
better perception of such things. Many
years ago Jenny announced that we had “mutant bunnies” living in the
basement. At the time she was a fan
of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – and this was the name that came
naturally to her. Not wanting her
to be afraid of the basement, we played along, just like a parent might when a
child introduces her imaginary friend. She
described them as being small dark fuzzy shadows that rolled or floated
along the floor…. about the size of a bunny, in fact, but without the long
ears or fluffy tail. Hence,
“mutant bunnies”. Once while
taking a hot pan out of the oven, I had the pleasure of trying to push the cat
out of the way with my foot, only to discover that the cat was outside.
From the table, Jenny looked at me with her, “See-I-told-you-so!” nod
and quietly accused, “You saw that one…. didn’t you mom?”
Then years
later while home alone, Colleen was twice startled wake in the middle of the
night by….something?? Once,
when Charly started growling, she woke up and heard noises downstairs.
Going to investigate, she only got half way down the stairs when she
glimpsed Speckle’s rear end exiting out the open door, which quietly closed
after our second dog’s departure. Around
3am another night she woke to see all the books on top of her dresser neatly
scoot across the shelf and onto the floor.
But this
Year Takes the Cake!! – This summer
our “visitors” have been seen by outsiders!!
In June we had a boy of about 7 years old, wandering around the store
while his father was talking to me by the counter. Stopping in mid tracks, he blurted out, “Do you have
Cats??”
“Yes,” I said, “we have two of them. Why?”
“Oh,”
he sighed in apparent relief, “I think I just saw one of them running across
the floor.”
I didn’t bother to
elaborate that both the cats were currently outside so it was impossible that he
could have seen one of them. Another
“mutant bunny” sighting??
Then in July we were
visited by a traveler writer and her husband, who where checking out the area
for a magazine article. An odd
little woman, she politely wandered around, asking questions, reading articles
and looking at pictures. After a
bit she quietly sidled up to me and whispered, “Do you know you have a
ghost?”
“Yea,
actually, I do!” my chuckled response surprised her…. and another client who
was paying for groceries at the register.
“Oh,”
she said, “well right now she is standing in the corner of the washroom. She
is a fashionable woman wearing in a long black dress with a high neck and small
buttons all up the front.”
When I asked if she could
tell me who the women was and why she was here, the writer informed me that she
can only see ghosts, she couldn’t talk to them.
Shame, I would like to learn more about our “ghostly” lady.
Cooking for
Firefighters 101 – First make sure
you have all their names straight, especially when you have a mixture of
vegetarians, gluten allergies and carnivores!
Don’t run out of food!! Have lots of games for them to play with and
keep snacks handy at all times! 21
sooty people; young, hardworking and HUNGRY!!
Cooking daily from 5 am to 10 pm. Emergency shopping trips to restock
food, and daily schedule changes. The
end of July was exciting as the helicopters and firefighters stayed a week to
fight a fire in the Wolverine area near Isaac Lake. At no time were circuit paddlers in any danger, but the
continuous shuffle and excitement made it appear otherwise.
As for the Firefighters and Forestry personal, they were the politest,
most easygoing crew a person could ask for and I would like to thank each and
every one of them for a great week. Here’s to you; Matt, Kathy, Alina,
Michelle, Lindsey, Dave, Luke, Arlen, Devin, Jeff, Scott, Ryan, Kelly, Megan,
Grant, Nick, Anthony, Jason, Ross, Matt and Mike. Drop in for a visit if you are ever back in the area.
Rock
Hunting with Rudy – During Sept. we
had the pleasure of hosting yet another Canadian Military Group during their
trip around the Bowron Chain. This
always includes a small crew who set everything up for the paddlers then stay
with us for the week while everyone else is out on the lakes.
Because of this we had a very nice week with Pat and Rudy. Rudy, being an avid rock hound, prompted us to take him out
to some local rock faces where we learned a whole lot more about the rocks in
our own “back yard” – then we imagined possible.
I never before saw anyone approach a rock cliff and find so many
interesting things, Crystals, Feldspar outcroppings and volcanic bombs just to
name a few. My rock collection got
bigger each day – Thanks Rudy and Pat.
Sometimes a deal comes your way – Late this summer, Bob, one of the Park Contractors showed up on our doorstep with a flat tire on an old travel trailer that he was hauling away. Dick went out to the compressor to get him going again and for some reason the compressor refused to start. Bob hummed and hawed, he wondered what to do and then he finally threw his hands up in disgust and asked Dick if he wanted to buy a trailer. Well, this caught Dick very much off guard. Sure the trailer needed a lot of work and they discussed all the pros and cons to it, after which Bob ventured again, “Give me an offer.”
Dick, not sure just how high he could go without conferring
with me, kind of hedged, shifting back and forth from one foot to another,
thoughts rolling through his head feverishly.
Definitely not quick enough for Bob, who up and asked, “Do you have 50
bucks?”
“Sure.” Dick answered.
“Sold!” announced Bob and he proceeded to unhitch his little unwanted
white elephant. After three hundred
dollars worth of parts, which included a new set of tires (Dick did the labor
himself), we had ourselves a fairly decent, serviceable little travel trailer
that took us on a 6000 km road trip this fall.
The first relaxed, no-schedules-to-keep holiday Dick and I have had alone
since 1983. It was so wonderful
that I am already planning next years road trip!!
Now for the rest of the
story…. not one hour after Bob unhitched and left – a frazzled Dick returned
to the compressor to try to figure out what went wrong with it.
Thinking of all the $$$$ that may be needed to repair it he turned the
key…and guess what…
Our 50-dollar hotel at Ainsworth Hot
springs
The Gumboot Chronicles Newsletter produced by Sandy Phillips - Bear River Mercantile, Bowron Lake B.C © November 2007
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