July 2014 - Harmon Lake, Paska Lake, Vancouver, Tunkwa

July 2nd - Happy Anniversary to Us!

 

The past few days have been warm and sunny. Wel, l I've got the fishing bug now .... bought a new rod and reel at Canadian Tire and tried out Ray's "floaty boat". It is so warm only fins required! Have not caught anything yet but it is called fishing not catching!

Our view this morning while having our coffee outside ... loved the still water and the reflections.

For our anniversary, Ray took me out for breakfast in Merritt and then we took the short drive up Highway 5 to Tunkwa Lake Provincial Park to check it out. We decided that Leighton South would be the best for us as Tunkwa Lake is quite large and hard to maneuver with a "floaty boat".

Tunkwa Lake Provincial Park 

Leighton Lake, much easier for the floaty boat. 

After the drive it was back to a pub in Merritt for lunch (Ray was cooking). A lovely morning ... Happy Anniversary to us.

July 6th - Garrett visits us at Harmon Lake

 

Garrett came up to Merritt to visit us for the weekend. The dogs had a blast and Debbie's Diner was running full steam! Saturday Ray and Garrett went to another lake close by. Garrett fished from the V-Tube and Ray sat back in his zero-gravity chair on the dock and casted his line every once and a while. No fish were caught but they had a great time. Here are some  pics.

Garrett chopping up the wood I had scavenged from people who left. 

Lots of loons in all of the lakes we have visited. 

The girls playing in the long grass.

Garrett fishing from Dad's V-tube

Looks like a painting.

Garrett floating around.

July 9th - Mum is home.

 

Mum is home from the hospital yesterday. The doctors figured since she is walking so well on her own that she does not need to go to another center for rehab. Yeah... you go mum. Thanks to her friend Pam, who brought her home and set her up with groceries. We will see her in two weeks for a short visit. Ray and I were going to drive down overnight to help her get settled but she refused. Good thing as Ray's back after just the short drive (1/2 hour) back into Merritt yesterday put him in his recliner and on ice for the rest of the day.

Goodbye Harmon Lake

July 12th - Paska Lake (Logan Lake)

We are now at Paska Lake close to Logan Lake ... the fish are jumping like crazy. It was supposed to be 39 degrees in Merritt today so we moved up the mountain to a cooler place!

Ray met a man who knows all about fly fishing and is teaching him the proper technique, what to use and helped fix all of his line that the store had put on his 2 reels backwards! There are fish jumping everywhere so Ray can hardly wait to try fishing but after moving he had to rest his back instead. Well there is always tomorrow!

 After moving an hour up the road from Merritt  it's nice to get up higher where it is cooler and cools off in the evening so you can sleep. What a spectacular spot.

View from our campsite with our "little" beach

Our neighbour "Mac" in his pontoon boat caught and released 49 trout last night!

We had a full moon last night...absolutely gorgeous 

July 15th - Paska Lake, Logan Lake BC

 We are having fantastic weather, 32 to 34 degrees every day with a slight breeze. Freya and I have spent a lot of time getting wet! Ray and I decided to move to another campsite at Paska yesterday as it is a larger site and has more shade.

Our new friend Mac Warren, has been over for the last few days sharing supper and giving more tips on how to fly fish. He has tied several flys for Ray guaranteed for fish. 

Mac giving Ray fly tying lessons

Ray has gone out for a short while each evening and managed to catch quite a few trout. What a smile he has on his face.

Ray jockingly calls this his $1000 fish (all the gear cost)

Yesterday in the afternoon while it was a little cloudy so not as blistering hot, I took my turn out in the "floaty boat" and tried fly fishing for the first time ... I even managed to land one! Wow! Had a few more bites but I was not fast enough in the uptake to keep them on the hook. The wind came up a little too brisk so I came back in. Ray's new V-tube is very easy to paddle around in. What a great option for fishing.

Back on shore with three of my favourites, sitting by a lake, drink in hand and reading a book!

Here some pictures of an old trapper cabin that is a short distance from us on the lake. Ray walked up to the cabin another day with Freya and a cow was poking her head out the window. On another walk there was a deer bouncing around us and seemed to be intent on playing with Freya.

Although there is no cell at Paska it is only a 20 minute drive to Logan Lake so every two to three days or so we go into town for messages, water and any groceries we may need. Works out pretty good.

We will be here until Sunday so I am sure we will get more fish.

July 18th - Paska Lake Still

We took a trip into Logan Lake on Tuesday to check messages, restock groceries and blog while having lunch at the Black Bull Pub. We took Freya with us and left her in the car with the air conditioning on as it was too hot to leave her behind at the motorhome ... temps increased inside the coach to 90 degrees while we were away!

The weather remains spectacular although we hear that it will be increasingly cloudy and much cooler over the next few days, a nice break from the heat. Unfortunately, there is a fire ban on now when we could have used the warmth from the fire in the evenings. There is a lot of smoke showing up here from the forest fires in Kelowna.

The view with the smoke.

The view without the smoke.

While I was grocery shopping, Ray received a call from our friends Steve and Diane of Living the Dream. Once they heard about the fishing, they decided to come back from Revelstoke and meet us here at Paska Lake the next day. They were at a recent quad rally and where they were camping the heat was unbearable. We've had a great time sharing dinners and yakking about our adventures. They love our spot so much they will take it when we leave on Sunday.

Nice cast Steve

July 20th - Back to Merritt

We have had a lovely 4 days with Steve and Diane. Good happy hours, good meals and great conversation. The weather was great until Saturday where there was a little rain overnight and very windy. The sun did come out around noon but much cooler than it has been. Sunday it rained overnight but was clearing by 8am and no wind. Should be a good fishing day for Steve. We are on our way back to Merritt today so we can catch up on laundry and then drive the car to Vancouver tomorrow for appointments.

Ray and Steve telling tall tales regarding fishing!

Diane and I hiding from the 35 degree sunshine.

I had dinner ready for them when they arrived after Steve and Diane's long travel day.

Ray giving Steve instructions as to where to fish for "the big one"

Ray landing a trout.

Dessert

July 27th - Tunkwa Provincial Park, Logan Lake BC

Thursday night after four busy days in the lower mainland for doctor appointments in Nanaimo, dinner with friends in Nanaimo, visit with my Dad, visit with Mom and lunch with Ray's sister and her husband (they came up from Tacoma Washington), we came back to Claybanks RV Park in Merritt where we left the coach for safekeeping.

Lunch at the Keg downtown Vancouver.

Even though I did all of the driving Ray was a basket case. Fortunately there was little to pack up as we never unpacked for our short trip from Merritt to Tunkwa Provincial Park. We wanted to arrive early on Friday to beat the weekenders and get a "prime spot". Boy did we get one! The dog is in her element with all the space to chase the chuck-it. Their policies are quite relaxed regarding dogs ... off-leash as long as they do not run on the roads or bother other campers.

Tunkwa Lake

Saturday was spent relaxing as Ray was still wiped out and it was also my birthday so I barbequed on the rotisserie a wonderful prime rib roast. Yummm. Earlier in the day I decided to take the dog for what I thought was a short easy hike across the lake to where I could see a bench on the hill and take some pictures for Ray. Lots of people fishing on the lake ... 32 boats.

The first part of the hike was quite easy, however the trail continued around the hill so I decided to take it. Unbeknownst to me the very back side of the hill was steep, rocky, lots of downed trees and hardly more than a mountain goat track! As I was 3/4's of the way around I decided to persevere. Thank goodness for Freya's nose as she led me out and kept checking to make sure I was behind her.

Come on Mom ... I'm waiting.

Today, Sunday, Ray will finally try some fishing in his V-tube right in front. People have been catching trout and we saw one brought in that was 3 to 4 pounds. We met a guy, Chris, with his family who is an enthusiastic fisherman and has a great deal of knowledge of this area. Chris gave me his "go to" fly for my birthday so hopefully Ray catches something on it and he also gave Ray some strike alerts and explained the fishing method that is needed for chironomid fly fishing. The parks guy, Dave, makes his own chironomids which he sold a bunch to Chris and is going to make Ray some chironomids for today. So Ray is in his element with all of his new "teachers" and cannot wait to try out the method himself. (We will let you know how this all turns out Steve!) Friday night while walking the dog I saw another guy sitting in his chair lose a fish from the shore on Leighton Lake, a short walk across the campground, using a bobber and worm. We can get worms from the nearby Tunkwa Lodge apparently. We might try that as well this evening after dinner sitting in our new "Strongback chairs" for back support for Ray, which I can pack for both of us.

The only downside to this camping spot is that there is no cell phone service. Logan Lake is only 15km down the road so not too far to go every couple of days to check messages. We should be here for a week or so, probably until after the long weekend so our next destination will not be quite so busy.

Well time to sign off ... I think I am making waffles for breakfast for my favourite man.