July 2015 - Sugar Lake, Paska Lake, Harmon Lake ...

 

July 2nd - Accident on Sugar Lake Road

Ambulance going by the campsite.

Wednesday we decided to drive up the road to view Rainbow Falls, about 20km away. We just got started down the road when we noticed a pickup truck had driven off the road down an embankment. There was a lowbed driver who had stopped on the road and asked if we were doctors. He had radioed back to the logging camp for the first aid attendant. There were 2 kids in the cab of the truck and 7 kids in the pickup box. 2 of the girls in the back were injured, one with a broken arm and one who had a concussion and had been unconcious. The driver had a laceration on his arm and a stiff neck. They were all lucky to be alive. We'd seen them go by the campsite quite fast a short time earlier. They were all 19 to 22 years of age.

We quickly went back to our campsite a kilometer down the road to call 911 as we have cell service there. Ambulances were dispatched from Lumby and the air ambulance chopper from Kamloops. Ray drove back to the accident site and told them the ambulance was coming and collected 2 of the boys so they could get their cars from 2 mile campsite. Lee-Anne, the camp host, asked us to let the park operators know about the accident. I left Ray at camp and drove the boys. While I was gone one of the girls got a ride to our camp hosts and phoned the injured girls mom. On my way back to our campsite I met the ambulance and first responder going to the wrong campsite! I stopped them and had them follow me back to the accident site. Good thing I know my way around logging roads. Once we reached the accident there had already been one ambulance on scene and the air ambulance team as well as RCMP. I was blocked in so I stayed with the uninjured kids and relayed info to them about their friends in the pickup box as the RCMP had them corralled about 50 feet down the road. It took quite some doing to get the girls up on back boards and they were loaded into the ambulance and driven further down the road to where the helicopter had landed. Within a couple of hours all emergency personnel had departed including the tow truck. Lee-Anne received a call back from the injured girls mom and I was able to update her on what had happened.

Needless to say we did not go to Rainbow Falls that day.

July 4th - Mabel Lake

The weather has been fantastic. To take a break from the heat, we decided to take a drive to Mabel Lake Provincial Park and check out the campsite with the plan to stop in Lumby on the way back for lunch (to celebrate our 38th anniversary).

At first we were confused as to where the Shuswap River goes. The river starts north of us at Sugar Lake. Because of water management for hydro generation, spring run-off and flooding downstream, the river was dammed to prevent too much run-off at once. Sugar Lake was dammed to create quite a large reservoir where we are now. The Shuswap flows out of Sugar Lake at the southend, goes around a mountain and flows north again to Shuswap Falls and Wilsey Dam which was made to make power for the area years ago. Next, the Shuswap River goes into Mara Lake. At the north end of this lake is the town of Sicamous where the Shuswap flows into the Shuswap Lake system. There does not seem to be a water shortage here. The Shuswap River at the north end of Sugar Lake is flowing quite strongly and they have closed the dam so the lake is rising about 8 inches per day. Apparently they do not release too much water out of this reservoir until September so makes for great swimming and fishing all summer.

We stopped at Shushwap Falls and Wilsey Dam on the road to Mabel Lake.

The Provincial Park is very pretty but most sites are way too shaded for us and our solar panels. Quite a few large sites that would fit rigs of any size including Dianne and Steve's. Although the website said 100% reservable there are lots of first come first serve campsites and only one loop that appears reservable. The lake looks very pretty and we saw some people fishing.

Back in Lumby we had a great lunch at the Blue Ox Pub.

Friday morning we decided to go up the road and finally see Rainbow Falls. We stopped at a forest service site on the river and then continued up the gravel road to the falls.

Shuswap River

Behind the camera is a campsite beside the bridge crossing.

Another 6km or so we arrived at the parking lot for Rainbow Falls. They have 2 viewing platforms to get a close look at the falls. We kept an eye on Freya as apparently a few weeks ago someone lost their chocolate lab into the water and he was gone. These falls are part of Scepter Creek which flows into the Shuswap River downstream.

No rainbow's as the sun is in the wrong position. Here's a view of downstream.

Now back to camp to jump into the lake. The weather has been consistently 32 plus degrees every day.

July 8th - The Jack fixed on Coach in Osoyoos

We left Sugar Lake on Sunday and made the hours ride into Vernon to stay overnight at the SuperStore parking lot. They have a free sani-dump there, access to good fresh water and of course groceries. Ray had a few other stores to check stuff out as did I as my campstove quit and I needed another one. Monday morning we left early at 7 am and made our way into Kelowna where I shopped at Walmart and Canadian Tire. Got the stove at Walmart for much less than the Wholesale Sports. We carried on as our appointment was at 1pm in Osoyoos at Okanagan RV Repairs. There is a beach beside the Nk'Mip RV Resort that we previously stayed at so we camped there in our recliners for the afternoon. There sure was lots of activity on the water compared to 3 weeks ago! and it sure was hot (35C) !!! It took 5 hours before we got the coach back and I was cooked! You can see the smoke in the sky from the fire in Keromeos as ii floated overhead but we could not smell it.

Osoyoos Lake towards Nk'Mip 

Freya enjoying the sand

Yup it is hot, and the water is lukewarm.

Damn it is hot, notice the white thighs!

Smoke from a distant fire.

When we finally got the coach back we decided to go as far as the Weigh Scale Station just outside of Okanagan Falls. Ray received a call a few days earlier from his fishing buddy "Mac" from Moosejaw SK and he was at Paska Lake and the fish were really biting. So that was our destination and to get higher up to get out of the heat. The last week had been mostly temps of 33C plus and it was not cooling down at night either, staying between 18 to 22C so Debbie was getting cranky! We were on the road by 6:15am heading to Paska. We stopped for breakfast in Merritt, fuelled up the coach, dumped garbage and filled up the blue water jugs before continuing on to Paska. A beautiful spot was available on the water, the last one, even though it was a double site we took it anyways. Debbie, the park operator remembered us from last year and also remembered that our friends (Dianne and Steve)  had jack trouble last year! She was really good about payment saying Ray was a senior so the double site is half price for him $6 for each side so $12/night for us instead of $24. Nice.

Mac's site is three down.

Campsite comes with a large living room

Our living room picture frame. What a view.

We caught up with Mac later in the afternoon and invited him over for dinner to catch up with all of the fishing tales! He is catching between 37 and 55 fish per night! (He has a fish counter on board his float tube) Ray will start tomorrow. The only drawback with the campsite is that we do not have any cell service or internet so I have to drive to Logan Lake, about 20km away to check phone messages.

Yesterday the temps only got to 28C and it cooled down to 8.5C overnight. Yeah! The forecast for Thompson/Okanagan for the next 3 days is 36 to 37C so I am glad we moved on. I finally got a good night's sleep!

This morning the fish were rising all over the place so Ray snapped this picture.

And this one while walking Freya.

There's a deer here who shows up every day and today she came very close to our campsite:

 

July 9th - Paska Lake Happenings

Ray went out fishing last night and had 16 fish on and landed 12 (2 of which he kept for breakfast) . He sure was a happy camper. Usually he is quite comfortable sitting in his float tube gently kicking but while he was out there last night his seat back sprung a leak and he had to hold himself up as he paddled back quickly from across the lake. He's paying for it this morning with having to take some pain medication, and will have to spend most of the day in his chair, especially if he wants to fish tonight with the repaired seat back.

What a beautiful day here yesterday. The temps here reached a balmy 28C or so and on the news this morning, they were saying that Kamloops broke a record yesterday at 38.6C and Kelowna 36.4C. Glad we are higher up in the mountains where it is cooler and overnight temps are 11C.

Yesterday Mac and Ray took a quick trip up the road at lunchtime to check out a different lake, Lodgepole Lake. This Forest Service Campsite is only 3km down a gravel road close by Lac Le Jeune. This site had at least 10 sites that would fit any size rig.  Mac talked to a few of the campers and apparently the fishing is good with bigger fish than here at Paska. It certainly is another possibility later this summer although with the hotter weather, Mac suspects the fishing will die down in a few weeks at all the lakes.

July 13th - Fishing in Paska Lake with Kristi

Thursday night Mac cooked up his famous spaghetti sauce from "road kill" as he calls it. Could be moose, elk or deer. Surprisingly it was fantastic, not at all gamey! 

When Kristi arrived we gave her a little present of an old five piece rod which converted to fly fishing or spin casting plus a little tackle box full of lures. She was thrilled and fished from the shore while here.

The next day it Ray and Kristi were off trying their luck at fly fishing from the tubes.

 

And off they go

Father and daughter time

Mac came over to drag Kristi off to another spot

There are two eagles who patrol the lake for food:

With Kristi here, I invited Mac over for a roast pork dinner. I planned to BBQ, but the weather turned rather stormy so we stayed inside. It did clear later in the evening so Mac went out, but my two fishers were done for the day.

Sunday morning Ray and Kristi went out again for an hour or so and Kristi and Ray both caught 4 more trout. We packed up with Kristi's help to be ready to hit the road tomorrow for Harmon Lake outside of Merritt. Kristi stayed for lunch, had a nap, and then hit the road for the 2 hour trip back to Kelowna. It was fantastic to see her.

Ray planned to fish this evening with Mac but as the afternoon ran on his "gas tank was on empty" so it was decided to put all of the gear away and he spent the rest of the afternoon on ice in bed to recover for the trip out tomorrow.

July 18th - Harmon Lake, Kelowna and back to Paska Lake


On Monday, July 13th, we decided to move from Paska Lake to Harmon Lake as Mac had never been there before. The other reason was that we would be closer to Kristi so she could visit us or we could visit her. Both rigs hit the road at 8am and we arrived in Merritt an hour later. After dumping and filling with fresh water, grocery shopping and fueling up we headed to Harmon Lake (25 min from Merritt) towards Kelowna. We managed to get the same campsite we had last year and did a minimal setup.

After spending the afternoon in his recliner, fishing was on the menu for Ray and Mac for the evening bite with Mac staying out far longer than Ray of course. They both were skunked. Tuesday morning Mac went out again and again, no fish. Boy did we feel bad bringing him here! Wednesday the boys tried out a few of the lakes that were just a few kilometers away with the same result. After doing some research we found out why no fish! Apparently someone illegally released some red shiners into Harmon Lake and they eat all of the bugs needed for the trout to grow. Fisheries then dumped a bunch of trout that specifically eat these shiners so they cannot be caught on conventional gear, flies etc. They seem to be caught on things that look like shiners and are deep in the lake and mostly caught trolling. Not conducive for fly fishing. I doubt we will be back at this lake in the future. We found it to be a very cold site as well with lots of wind this time. Cold enough I spent the day inside making cabbage rolls! All of the dinners had to be served inside as it was too cool to sit outside at the picnic table.

As we were close to Kelowna, Kristi had asked us to come and stay overnight for a visit so Thursday afternoon I drove us the hour into Kelowna to visit her. We decided to have lunch at the Old CN Train Station Pub. Food was great and they even let us have Freya just outside the patio in the shade and provided her with a dish of water. This was a very pleasant place to have lunch, they even have misters on for those hot, hot days.

With Ray's zero gravity chair packed with us he was quite comfortable sitting on Kristi's patio. Later in the afternoon Ray took a short trip to view the Father Pandosy Mission which was in Kristi's neighbourhood.

We decided to order take-out Mexican food when Kristi came home from work and Ray was able to sit in his chair and relax. After a great night's sleep we were back on the road by 6:45 am to get back to Harmon. We made the decision to finish packing up (I did the majority and we were done in 1 hour with things stuffed everywhere!) and we were off to Paska Lake where we know there is lots of fish. It was a quick turnaround as we did not need to dump, fill or fuel up this time. We made good time and arrived well before noon to get a prime spot even though it was Friday. After minimally setting up Ray and I relaxed outside for the afternoon. Lots of fish activity on the water and Ray was itching to go out but would have to wait to the next morning as his "gas tank" was on empty with the move.

Saturday morning after a great sleep in our own bed, Ray was on the lake by 7:30 am to fish right out in front of us so very little paddling needed. With his v-tube he can recline just like his zero gravity chair and is very comfortable. He sure is enjoying being able to do something fun while gently exercising his core and legs as per his physiotherapy plan. I think that we should be here for a week or so. There is another lake, Lodgepole Lake, that is about 1/2 an hour from here with spaces that we would fit in so we might move there for a short while to try fishing for bigger fish. Who knows, that is the beauty of this life! Kristi will be with us for the August Long Weekend so we probably will be at Peter Hope Lake for that period of time, which is an easy 2 hours from Kelowna. Maybe their house in Saskatoon will be sold quickly and Jason will be able to come as well. Fingers crossed!

Back at Paska Lake - July 17-21 

 

Ray's having a blast fishing here at Paska. He is getting 20 plus fish (catch and release) each time he goes out. Sure puts a happy smile on his face. The weather has been great with a breeze to keep things tolerable and not too hot.

Yesterday it was incredibly windy all day after the previous evenings thunderstorms which just missed us, you could see the lightning in the distance. No fishing that day. We did not see one fish jump. This wind sure was unfortunate for the wild fire situation in West Kelowna and Ashcroft which have evacuation orders in place. Good thing we are no longer at Fintry Provincial Park.

I previously mentioned that Ray's camera was not working properly, it was not focusing any of the lenses properly. It turned out that the camera body needed to be replaced. $$ ouch. I guess after 12,000 plus pictures on a base model, he wore it out! We had to stay with a Canon as that body is the only one his lenses would fit without getting adapters etc. Anyways, he is now excited to learn more things again seeing as the new camera body does a whole bunch of new things including taking sharper pictures and is a better body than his previous one. Ray is wandering around taking different shots from different perspectives to learn the functions. Some great pictures have been taken. Way to go Ray.

Recently I bought a little shower pump to be able to conserve water as well as being able to have a good warm shower. It sure works great. I fill up our jugs with water in the town of Logan Lake when I go in to check for cell phone messages.  We are able to have a shower "in the shower" standing in a rubbermaid tub so very little water goes into the holding tank. We are at nine days now with still 3/4 full of fresh water and less than 1/3 in both the black and grey water tanks. (They have clean and non-smelling pit toilets.) After going to Lodgepole Lake tomorrow for 4 days we will fuel up, dump and fill in Kamloops at the Visitor's Center before going to Peter Hope Lake, whether we need to dump or not.  At least that is the plan so far. Lodgepole Lake as well as Peter Hope have cell coverage so that will make it easier to keep in touch with family. 

July 27th - Lodgepole Lake

Woke up to a very chilly morning at Lodgepole Lake. 1.9C outside and 12C inside. Notice the frost on the picnic table! A little foggy on the lake. The rain has left the sun is out, nice as it is moving day.

Here fishy fishy, fn fishy

Nope no fish here, nice fishing buddy by the way!

Ray didn't catch a thing while we were here, oh well no one else that we talked to did either. With the weather turning cold and windy, it was a good spot to hunker down and we managed to go into Merritt to meet up with our good friends, Steve and Dianne for a late lunch on Friday at the Grande Pub.

We plan to stay a few more days closer to Kelowna and decided to head further north as Kristi is quite busy. She is working a lot of weekends and going back to Saskatoon for the August long to see her hubby. We've decided to see her for a week at the end of August before heading back to Vancouver instead when she is a little more settled in Kelowna at a house she has rented for the next year. So stay tuned for our next adventure!

July 28th - Dutch Lake Resort and RV Park, Clearwater BC

After settling in to our new home for the next couple of days at Dutch Lake Resort and RV Park in Clearwater, Ray took me out for my birthday dinner. They have a wonderful restaurant here called the Painted Turtle with fresh local produce, one of the reasons I chose this place, and reasonable prices for gourmet food.  The temps here much nicer at a comfortable 23C. This is the first time we have hooked up for services in 6 weeks so lots of laundry is on my agenda.

H

Wild salmon with scallops for Ray, chicken and prawns for me.

Below is a shot of us at the RV Park.  Interesting the Dutch travelers all come to this lake in their travels through BC.  They have no problem expressing their opinion and three different groups came to say the motorhome is excessively big and why did we need something so huge. After explaining to them this is our house, they acquiesced. 

We plan on taking a drive down Highway 24 to a few recreation sites to check them out. If we do not fit anywhere then I will have to resort to a plan "B" and find a resort to stay at as a "home base" so Ray can try fishing some of the lakes in the area.

Here are a few pictures around the lake. They imported fifty Dutch lilies from Holland, very pretty. 

Highway 24 Recreation Sites - 2015-07-29 

Yesterday we decided to take a short drive on part of Highway 24 to check out 3 Recreation Sites to see where our next "home" will be. That sure is some hill going out of Little Fort! 8% up grade for 10km. Kastle will handle it fine though. I think we will come back to Kelowna from the other side of Highway 24 though when the time comes.

First stop was Latremouille Lake. They were not kidding when they said the first part of the road was narrow and rough! No way we could get there with the coach and the campsites are small. There is however, fish in the lake as we saw a man catch one from his float tube while we were checking it out.

                                                                                    Latremouille Lake


Next stop 2 km further was Goose Lake. This site will be the one we go to next as the large grassy field suits us to a "T" across from the boat launch. We did not get a fishing report but I thought I heard some ones kid commenting to his dad who was fishing about the fish he just caught. The lake topograghy looks good for fishing with lilies and reeds. Ray could always go to Latremouille Lake for a short fishing excursion too. The only downside is no cell service so far along Highway 24 but Little Fort is only 15 minutes away down the very long hill!. This site is right off the highway so you do hear a bit of traffic. I suspect it will be quiet at night though.

Lots of room for Kyle's Kastle

Phinetta Lake was the next stop. A very pretty lake with only a couple of campsites. Unfortunately even though the road in was great the sites themselves were too difficult for our beastly size. Definitely an option for a short fishing trip for Ray though.

On the way back we stopped at Emar Lakes Provincial Park. We planned to have our picnic lunch there. Not a very well marked entrance and a very bumpy narrow road to the lake. We did not realize that this lake is part of a lake system similar to the Bowron Lakes where you portage your canoe between a bunch of lakes. There really is not any view of the lake just a spot to drop your canoes in with a rustic camp to set up before going. We decided to go back to Goose Lake and have our lunch there in the sunshine.

Back home to Dutch Lake to do more laundry! It was 18C at Goose Lake up at 4300 feet elevation and 25C down at Dutch Lake so it definitely will be cooler again but hopefully this means good fishing for Ray.