saturday. fish for dinner.

Saturday Wes picked up my canoe and I and off we went to Beaver Lake. Our mission was simple... catch fish.

Wes pointing to where the fish are.

saturday in the 4runner, and out of it.

saturday is here. what to do? a few options presented themselves, and we ended up in the truck heading up beaver lake road. knowing the rec sites would all be pretty crazy busy, we headed up a little trail towards some of the more little known rec sites. they were busy too. but we stayed anyway.

flyfish lakes #2

a 4runner friday

friday night my neighbour and trusty backyard mechanic mike and his buddy dave says to me "we are going 4bying at 6:00. wanna come?" i said "yes". so off we went up oyama lake rd. about 5 k up the road, we left the road in favour of some sweet trails none of us had explored. these are their stories...


first was a greasy uphill.  time to use the 4wd.  dave didn't have quite enough momentum had had to stop and air down half way up.  i learned from him and fully committed in 2nd gear.  the rain made it sketchy but pretty doable.

a weird place to stop, but not much choice.

saturday. time for another shot at beaver lake. i packed up the fishing stuff, the canoe and louie and off we went. not as empty at the campsite as last weekend, and the ice is officially all gone!!

louie in the bow

i also packed the pellet gun and we both had some beer.  it was sunny, and i wore sunscreen.

all loaded up

We caught 4 fish.  only 1 was keepable sized, but we didn't keep it.  let it go to catch it again.

yea fish!!

On the way back to the truck, we stopped at our usual camping island.  the new canoe performed awesome.

the ripper.  good times so far. 

The island was not as we left it.  some people decided to build a big log thing.  not sure of it's purpose yet, but it's there.  seems like more than an elaborate way to store firewood.

the log thing

We spent an hour on the island shooting cans and chilling out.  a pretty amazing camp spot.  might be back next weekend, with tents.

louie showing how it's done.

pellet catching tree

Then it was back in the canoe and back to the main camp site.  we fired up the chainsaw and then the fire and then some smokies.  like i said, it was fuller than last weekend, but not as full as it will be next weekend.

You should come may long.  there will be a special guest and the usual suspects.  It will be good.

oyama and beaver, in white.

Sunday... time for the church of 4 low. I called up James, a dood i met on the toy run, and we met up at the bottom of oyama rd. It was pretty cloudy but not too cold. It snowed all night, so this promised to be a pretty white adventure. not like white power, but snowy i mean.

We headed up oyama lake rd, past km 6, where truck 1 was last seen rubber side down. we paused for a moment of silence.

Then up to oyama lake resort. The lake was frozen over, but probably not frozen solid. there was a dood fishing on the ice about 10 feet from shore, but we stayed on solid ground.

oyama lake from the rec. site.

ice fishing time soon.  very soon.

Then we hopped back in the trucks and began the snowy road to beaver lake.  it was pretty much 2nd gear and 4x4 the whole way, stopping in strategic spots only.  If you stopped in the soft stuff, it might get dodgy.  about 12-18 inches of fresh pow pow.

following james along king edward rd.

winter was full on.

We stopped a few times to check out maps and talk about how awesome we were, but other than that, spent most of the time in our trucks.

don't go that way.

This was the same road we met bob on last weekend.  crazy how a week can change a road.

final stop before heading down.

I still got the firewood from this weekend in my truck, so i think we'll head out and burn it next weekend.  you should come.

beaver lake, in white.

Monday was a holiday. So a few of us decided that the best way to celebrate remembrance day was to go and have a fire and cook hotdogs. there may also have been a gt racer involved.

the rec site.  rhymes with white.

We were tho only ones up there.  didn't have 1st tracks, but it was all good.

louie's truck and truck 2.

Lunch was buffalo smokies from the butcher in winfield, and truck-a-q sauce.  mmm mmmm  good.

a fj40 snow wheeling by the lake.

some cool frosty views.  the island we camp on is off to the left.  not sure how long the snow will last up there, but it looks like winter is officially here.

the guys and the fj40.

It had snowed all weekend, and it was no surprise that there was about 5 inches of snow up there.  slippery roads on the way up, but we all made it up and down all good. 

spion kopje. near my house. with my brother. and naomi. and snow.

Not far from my house (like 5 km) is spion kpoje. its a small mountain with some houses at the bottom. It's not a long hike, but there are tons of trails. It was a great place to spend the afternoon.

naomi on the way up

its a place i've been quite a few times before, usually on my bike.  we stuck to the wider trails, but still had a big climb time.

okanagan lake from just below the top.

The best views are looking south, towards kelowna.

okanagna lake on the right.  wood lake close left.  duck lake far left.

my house is just to the left of centre.  

towers at the top.

a great day and a great adventure.  come back soon mark and naomi!

the paddle around dee lake

Dee lake is at the top of the beaver/crooked/deer/island/dee lake chain. i'd paddled them all except dee. saturday was the day to change that. Christine and i packed up the truck and headed up beaver lake rd to island lake. there we took off the canoe, hopped in and got to it. heres the photographic evidence...

through the channel between island lake and dee lake.  dee lake resort.

into dee lake

this island put the island into island lake

the island campspot.  menatl note to self... go here with a tent

christine checking out the island

good camping views

looking towards the island lake rec. site.

It was a sweet little day trip.  good roads (though bumpy enough to rattle off the front license plate it turns out).  we'll be back.  maybe ice fishing??  definately camping on that island.