August 2014 - Tunkwa, Peter Hope

 

August 5th - Wildlife

 

On Saturday we took a short drive down a gravel road near Logan Lake to Surrey Lake and spotted this! A moose!!! She looks like she needs some fattening up though.

Went to visit Steve and Diane of Living the Dream at Paska Lake but missed them by 10 minutes. Hope to catch up with you another time.

At 6 am Sunday morning woke up to a bunch of geese surrounding the coach. What an alarm! Another gorgeous day.

Peter Hope Lake - 2014-08-05 09:35

Ray and I hurried out of Tunkwa to get to the Logan Lake Sani-dump before it got too busy, filled up with water and were on our way by 10am. We ended up at Peter Hope Lake on Hwy 5A between Merritt and Kamloops.  The road in (7.5 km) was quite washboardy but we made it. The road is well-maintained but as it climbs almost the whole way I guess that is why it became worse with all of the weekend traffic. It is supposed to be graded soon. This site does handle big rigs well. The fishing is apparently great, the camp host, Patrick,, has lots of information and ties his own flys etc. Ray will try today or tomorrow to see how it goes. Apparently there was a 16 lb trout taken just last week.

Home Sweet Home

 It was very hot when we arrived so first stop was a beer and sitting in the lake. The dog certainly enjoyed it. After 6pm when it finally cooled down some we barbequed hamburgers. Although we are in the shade under the awning it still was quite hot at 8pm so I had another swim before going inside for the evening.

Freya waiting for me to swim back to throw her stick.

Sunset was very orange due to all of the smoke from the interior fires.
The fishing stories will start in the next post!

August 8th - Little Peter Hope Lake and Glimpse Lake

We took the short 5 minute drive to Little Peter Hope Lake to check it out for fishing as Garrett comes today for the weekend. It is quite a rough almost 4 wheel drive trail down to the lake. What a lovely little lake. Apparently the fishing is great even though it is only 12 feet deep. You could actually take your boat from Peter Hope to Little Peter Hope through the reeds, but too far for Ray to paddle in his float tube. Ray has only been able to fish once so far as his back has been quite sore but here is hoping that he will have a chance today.

The boat launch at Little Peter Hope Lake

Rough campsite at the other end of Little Peter Hope Lake. I am sure this is used by hunters in the fall the way it is set up.

You can see Peter Hope Lake in the distance.

Next we drove 10km down the road to get to Glimpse Lake. Another pretty lake but both rec sites are too small for us. This one we would fit in lengthwise but there is a nasty rock in front that we would not be able to back up around. The first two are Glimpse north rec site and the other two are the south rec site.

We kinda like where we are. 

I drove by myself to Kamloops for groceries on Wednesday and other errands including getting our Wilson cell booster system fixed and this next picture is of all the smoke in the air from the wildfires. You could smell it and I started sneezing and coughing just driving through it. Fortunately, where we are there is only blue skies.

August 10th - Garrett and his dog Kira arrive for the weekend.

 

Friday morning at around 9:30 am Garrett and Kira arrived, and Freya goes nuts as usual seeing her sister. The washboard road has been graded since we came in so it was a much nicer drive for him. Garrett left North Vancouver at the crack of dawn! Of course, here for breakfast.

Garrett wanted to see a little of the countryside so I drove us all out to the historic Douglas Lake Ranch a short distance down the highway. It sure was a picturesque drive.

The cookhouse

Lots of old farm equipment.

Even bought some beef for supper from the store.

Douglas Lake

After our expedition it was time to stop for lunch at the old Quilchena hotel on Nicola Lake, a boutique hotel built in 1908 and also owned by the Douglas Ranch. We had a lovely lunch and then it was back to camp. They also have a small RV Park adjacent to their golf course.

Quilchena Hotel

Ray spent some time teaching Garrett how to fly fish without a hook in the campsite to prepare him for his fishing adventures.

Saturday morning Garrett and Ray drove to the spillway at the end of Peter Hope Lake to fish for awhile with Garrett in the float tube and Ray sitting in his lounger with a fly and bobber set up. Garrett managed to catch a little one which he let go.

Saturday evening the wind was down, flat calm and it was driving Ray nuts that he could not go out so I went out this evening and spent an hour ... got a bite and then the big one hit! I was so surprised as it was only my second time fly fishing. Caught Ray's lunch! Although it looks like I had an accident .... I was wet from sitting in the float tube. Thanks to the camp host Patrick for all of the coaching and fishing tips!

Yup another hard day at camp! 

August 15th - Quiet Week at Peter Hope Lake

Sunday we took Garrett on the short drive to Stump Lake and Roche Lake Provincial Park to show Garrett some of the countryside and to see if there was any camping spots that we would fit in. There was room at the Stump Lake Rest Area but not at Roche Lake.

Rest area at Stump Lake

Lovely camp spot no way we could get down the road to it with all of the huge dips!

Roche Lake

Garrett left at about 11:00 am on Monday back to North Vancouver. Apparently got stuck for about 30 to 45 minutes as there had been an accident but otherwise his trip was uneventful.

 Tuesday, we took a quick trip into Merritt to get a few groceries and decided to drive out to Monck Provincial Park and have a quick visit with Steve and Diane of Living the Dream. 

Visit with Steve and Diane at Monck Provincial Park (Diane and Steve's picture)

Wednesday was a quiet day around camp and we had invited some fellow campers, Ian and Lynn and their company for a happy hour. Of course I had to barbeque up some skewers. A great few hours sharing stories, mostly about the one that got away!

Thursday, we were going on a short drive but noticed when we got into the car that a low tire pressure alert came up in the car. Ray checked and sure enough we had a slow leak in one of the rear tires so we went directly into Merritt to Kal Tire and they took us right in. An hour later the diagnosis was a screw in each of the rear tires!  Have no idea where we picked them up but we are sure glad that this problem was taken care of. As we had taken the coach in to them a month early with a rear tire with a screw in it they did not charge us anything at all! What nice people.

Ray was going to go fishing for a while this morning but ended up with a major back spasm so he ended up in his chair with ice instead. Hopefully this will pass and he might be able to get out there tonight for an hour.

 It rained overnight but not too hard but by 9am it was back into the sun. Yeah!

August 18th - Company's a Commin!

This morning Ray had a stand-off at the Loo. The cows just stood there and waited until he walked away.

Today we are getting company ... Steve and Diane Colibaba have decided to "follow us" once again and are coming to Peter Hope Lake.  We are looking forward to spending some time with them. Of course Ray and Steve will be talking about fishing and there are lots of quad trails in the area for Steve and Diane to explore I have even heard of some geocaches! The campsite has stayed quite full for the last few days so we put our car in a spot we think they will fit and then they can make a decision of where to go. (If anyone decides to leave this morning.)

Friday evening Kristi and Jason are arriving from Saskatoon on their way to Vancouver. They will stay Saturday and then leave first thing Sunday morning. Ray is looking forward to showing Jason how to fly fish. Kristi will come back with Garrett the following weekend for 2 days, as well. Yeah, I get to spend some quality time with my little girl and my son together!

A few days ago I cooked up the prime rib roast on the BBQ that we got from the Douglas Lake Ranch ... Yummmm. I will have to go back to the store at Quilchena Hotel, 20 minutes down the road and pick up another one as that is Kristi's dinner request for Saturday night.

I don't care dad that you tucked away my mat .... I want it!

August 20th - The Colibaba's Made It

 Our friends Diane and Steve made it up to join us Monday at noon at Peter Hope Lake. I had Ray put our car in one of the few spots available that they could fit in at 7am.  Good thing as more people started arriving at 9am for the few spots left.

Unfortunately the dusty road got the best of them inside their trailer. Diane said thankfully she did not vacuum before the trek up! We had a lovely happy hour and I surprised them with corn and prawn chowder for dinner. No one likes to cook on a travel day.

Yup, they need a lot of real estate to fit!

Happy Hour in the sun.

Yesterday I took Diane for a quick drive to the Quilchena Hotel and General Store so I could pick up a Douglas Lake Ranch Prime Rib Roast as requested by our daughter Kristi for their dinner when they visit on Saturday. Good thing I called ahead as they only had two left and I would have had to drive into Kamloops to Costco instead. I treated Diane to a lunch at this vintage hotel and we spent a wonderful couple of hours gabbing.

As we drove back to camp the clouds got darker and darker. We ended up with a lightening and thunder show for the rest of the afternoon. Patrick, the camp host, came back from Kamloops and said it had rained so hard on the highway he had to pull over until the worst passed as his windshield wipers could not move the water off the windshield fast enough. Fortunately we only got a little rain, nothing significant.

The weather is supposed to be showery for the next 2 days but Saturday it is calling for sunny skies. Perfect for entertaining Kristi and Jason.

August 21st - Updates from Monday to Thursday, August 21st. 

We have had a busy few days (well I have) and enjoying having a girl pal for a change. After Diane and Steve arrived on Monday and set up we had a wonderful happy hour and then I surprised them with homemade corn and prawn chowder for dinner.

Tuesday I had to make a run to the Quilchena General Store about 1/2 an hour down the road to pick up a roast (Douglas Lake Ranch Beef) for Kristi and Jason's dinner and Diane jumped at the chance to take a short "road trip". We had a lovely lunch at the Quilchena Hotel.

Coming back from Quilchena we noticed that the sky was really dark and hoped that we would miss the rain before getting back to camp. The rain still had not started so we all sat watching the lightning and listening to the thunder. Freya did not much care for all of the noise and tried to get up onto her "best buddy", Diane's lap!

Wednesday I decided to go into Kamloops and pick up some fishing things for Ray and do a bit of shopping (they have a Costco) and of course I offered Diane another opportunity and yup off we went for the afternoon with Diane snapping pictures here and there along the highway. I stopped at Edith Lake Recreation Site on the way to Kamloops to have a look. Very small lake and only 9 or so sites, most too small for us so I think that we will pass on this spot.

Today, Friday, Kristi and Jason arrive for 2 nights ... can hardly wait.

August 24th - Kristi and Jason

Kristi and Jason arrived early at 3pm on Friday afternoon. We had a lovely happy hour, barbecued hamburgers for dinner and a wonderful fire now that the fireban has lifted. Steve and Diane came over for the fire to share some laughs.

Where is Jason?

There he is with a lap dog! 

Kristi and I were in bed by 9:30 and the boys followed an hour later. It sure was cold overnight, down to 6 degrees! Fall is sure in the air.

Saturday morning Ray gave Jason instructions on how to fly fish and he practiced on land for a short while. After blueberry pancakes off Jason went to try and catch some fish out of the float tube. He was unsuccessful but his fly fishing skills have improved greatly. Kristi and I took a quick drive to Quilchena General Store for a garbage and water run. We were able to get Kristi part of her Christmas present, a flannel onesy! for all of the cold mornings in Saskatoon.

Later in the afternoon it was Kristi's turn to try, so again, Ray had her practice on land first to get the hang of flyfishing. While this was happening I had to cook a peach cobbler for Kristi as she had bought some fresh peaches on her way here so I could make it for her!  We had to wait an hour for the baking so played a game of string golf on the road behind us. When the cobbler was out of the oven we loaded up the cars with the chairs, cooler, and float tube and drove the short way to the dam and spillway at the end of the lake where Garrett had caught a fish a couple of weeks ago. With many hands we were all set up in no time and after Kristi was shown how to put all of the gear together off she went. No fish for Kristi unfortunately but she did see a muskrat float quite close to her scaring all of the little fish.

This guy checking us out!

Set up perfectly! 

After a hour and a half it was time to go back to camp for happy hour as Steve and Diane were invited over and I had a prime rib roast to cook! Before cooking it was time for all of us to have a bath!

Mommy it is cold! 

Dinner of roast beef, fresh corn and mashed potatoes and gravy all came out wonderful with the peach cobbler for dessert.

After dinner Jason went back out to fish until dark .... hurrah! he had 7 fish on, 3 in the boat, 2 on and off, one almost to the boat and 1 that took him for a ride in the float tube before it got off so needless to say he was a happy camper. We sat in front of the fire and Diane came over for dessert and tea. Once the sun was truly down, both Jason and Steve came to the fire and had their dessert. What a lovely day.

Sunday morning by 7am Kristi and Jason were on their way to Vancouver to meet up with Grandma and go to Garrett's so they could all go out for lunch. All that was left here of their visit was the dirty dishes! (Both Kristi and Jason offered to do them.) Kristi will be back with Garrett next Friday for 2 days so Ray and I will be able to spend a little more time with her.

August 25th - Forest Fire and Steve Colibaba's Birthday Dinner

 

The ice bucket challenge has even reached the wilds of Peter Hope Lake. The neighbours were videoing their challenge before packing up for the weekend. The guys open mouth says it all.

Diane invited us over for happy hour and dinner yesterday in celebration of Steve's birthday. While we were just sitting down for happy hour, we heard many planes flying overhead. It turned out to be a forest fire just behind the ridge across the lake, behind the very expensive cabins. We were told by the camp host to be prepared to evacuate if the forest service came around to tell us. Well what to do? I checked the web site and there was no news regarding this fire. We all decided to wait it out as there was so much air support with dumping fire retardant and a bucket attached to a helicopter, 2 truck loads of Ministsry of Forest fire fighters that we thought that it would be put out. At one point the smoke was getting quite thick, you could smell the fire, but within a couple of hours it had cleared. I guess with the forecast for thundershowers sped up their response time.

Happy Birthday Steve. 

Diane convincing Freya to drop her stick so she can throw it.
 

See the smoke, look how fuzzy the plane looks.

Quite the afternoons excitement. Patrick, the camp host, drove by and said everything was under control and the fire was just in the mopping up stages by 5:30. Just the tanker truck being filled at our boat launch to take to the ground crew. They were still filling the tanker today at noon for the ground crew for spot fires.

Thankfully the lasagna dinner was still served at 6! Yumm.

This morning Ray finally managed to get a picture of one of the blue herons that fish in the pond every morning. They sure make a really loud call.

The cows were back this morning guarding the outhouse! At one point this one actually walked down the ramp to the road.

We see multiple types of birds, heard the coyotes howling in the middle of the night, saw a snake swim by our beach several times, lots of ducks, leaches, snails and muskrats swimming by. I call the little opening at our beach "Debbie's Wild Kingdom" as you never know what you will see.

This afternoon went the short distance to Stump Lake with Diane to dispose of our garbage. On the way back just before you come down the hill for our turn-off we noticed the smoke from yesterday's fire. It is still smouldering! and not very far from us. Ray figures about 1-2 km as the crow flies.

Looking from Highway 5A towards the road to Peter Hope Lake.

The water tanker was on our road sucking water from a stream a short distance from Highway 5A.

August 27th - Blue Lake Fishing

Steve and I (yes that is Ray on this post) decided to drive the short distance to Blue Lake for a fishing experience.  Blue Lake is managed as a trophy lake for fly fishing only and the daily quota is one over 50 cm (20").  As soon as we got there we got our first fish.... the one Steve is holding below was still breathing, but on it's side at the edge of the lake.  I've heard the fish here grow like torpedoes and this was approximately 24" long but had no girth to speak of.

The lake is absolutely pristine and the shoreline is this light green all the way around.  When out fishing all you can hear is the odd bird chirping.

Did all this really fit in the car?

Steve had one more on, but lost that one.  I did manage to get one on but was more interested in getting the following "bent rod" picture than landing the fish and it got off 10' from the boat.

This area includes a large population of Dragon Flies, which explains the lack of mosquitos... unless you're up late in the evening.  These pretty flies love to come and check out who you are and hover just in front of you.  I love the blue faces with their large yellow clown mouths.  Steve managed to get a pic of one, just at the 8 o'clock position from the tip of his rod.

See the Dragon Fly?

Love a bent rod!

A very rickety dock and campsite in behind.

You can see Steve and the car in the distance.

Steve managed a fish on his semi sinking line and a home tied Pumpkin Head within the first five minutes. This one had some girth to it but I didn't manage to get a picture, but here's one of the fight anyway.

Once again, I limited my time on the water and was comfortably set up in my lounger doing a crossword puzzle while Steve continued to fish.

What an awesome way to spend a beautiful sunny day... and to actually get into fish to boot!

August 31st - Kristi and Garrett

Friday shortly after 10:00 am Dianne and I made a run to Quilchena, dumping the garbage at a rest area along the way. We filled the water containers with fresh water, and I picked up some eggs in the store for Garrett and then we headed back. We were only gone about an hour.

When we got back Kristi had phoned and said that Garrett and her would arrive Friday afternoon instead late Friday night to spend a couple of days with us. I cannot remember the last time it was just the four of us! The weather has been rainy and windy all day and quite cold. They arrived in shorts and soon changed. They had not planned to get here until late, but plans changed when Kira, Garretts dog, had to be taken to the vet earlier that morning. I threw a quick dinner together of spaghetti and meat sauce and it was early to bed as Kristi had been very busy with her Vancouver visit, Tacoma visit to see Ray's sister and was down a few pints of sleep.

We woke up Saturday morning surrounded by cows!

Out our front window...there were approximately 10 in all.

Kristi trying to feed the cow some grass.

Garrett seeing how close he could get before they moved on!

 

Off for an afternoon stroll.

The never-ending rematch of cribbage. 

Saturday morning was still quite windy so Garrett delayed using the V-tube for fishing until the afternoon. I think he had a couple of fish on, so had a great time. I invited Dianne and Steve over for happy hour and homemade rib and bean dinner that was enjoyed by all. We ended up eating inside as it was cold and windy.

Dianne's picture of me basting the ribs.

Garrett entertaining us with the guitar.

 
Yup those dogs are tired.

After dinner, Garrett went out fishing and Steve took Kristi in his boat for a couple hours. Garrett had a couple of bites and Kristi landed an 8" trout so she was very pleased. Thanks Steve.

Sunday woke up to sun but a very chilly 6 degrees. Fixed up a full breakfast for everyone and Kristi did 2 loads of dishes for me. Thanks a lot Kristi. They were on their way back to Vancouver by 10:00 am so that Kristi can catch her flight back to Saskatoon tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow we leave. It will be nice to be on the road again.

PS:  Largest fish for us was a 17" trout Ray caught on Thursday night. We were going to feed it to the kids but they preferred spag so the fish is in the freezer.