first snow

It was snowing sunday morning. not at my house, but i could see it falling in the mountains. since i never took the winter tires off my truck, might as well go get them white. the snow started falling on the truck about 15 minutes up from my place. mike lau and i were pumped. fishing gear and pellet guns in the truck, and we both had long underwear on.

doreen lake.  same view as last week, just whiter

parked on the way up

we decided to head back to aberdeen lake.  we didn't really give it a good explore last weekend, so we went back this weekend to take care of unfinished business.  we drove almost completely around the lake and ended up at a sweet little camp spot.  it was sweeter after we put the old tires littering the site into the back of the truck for a proper removal.

finally settled at a sweet spot on aberdeen lake

Needless to say, it was a little chilly.  the roaring fire really helped.  we fished (mike got 2) and shot some guns and generally dominated the situation. 

mike casting into aberdeen lake

On the way down, we decided to take the awesome way.  its a trail we'd done before, and this was the perfect time of year to do it... so we did.

the trail down was a bit wet in places.

We stopped for firewood near beaver lake, and headed back home.  another solid week.  why weren't you there?  really.  i want to know.  you can come next weekend.  should be good.

saturday to aberdeen

Saturday... why not go on an adventure. a well rounded adventure that includes, but is not limited to the following; 4x4ing, fishing, canoeing, pelletguns, campfires and exploration. so thats what we did. packed up the truck with mike lau and headed up beaver lake rd. to aberdeen lake. i'd never been there before, so thats always sweet. the weather was threatening rain, but we headed out anyway, and 75% of the day was rain free.

after beaver lake rd, we took some of the roads less traveled by.  the first one was a trail that tom and i had been on before.  a short trail from beaver lake rd. to haddo lake.

up the road to haddo lake

the haddo lake dam

After leaving the haddo lake dam, it was time to hit some new trails.we randomly arrived at the haddo lake rec site.  a small little site that is certainly worth a visit in the future.

the rec. site.  a big rv was there, but i left it out of the picture

Then towards aberdeen lake. some of the roads were a little rough, and i'm not sure how we would have found our way without the backroads map book on the gps. best invention ever.  We got to the dam at the bottom of aberdeen lake and decided that was the place to chill.  We lit a fire and out came the pellet guns.  good times were had.

mike in the rain, by the fire, near the lake, with a bag.

we got into the canoe to try for some fish, but we were only on the lake for 25 minutes before the spitting rain turned to pouring rain and headed back to the shelter of the trees.

no trip is totally complete without a random drive by from a random car. here's  a bmw that rally'd by. 

About 5 o'clock it was time to make our way back out. we tok a few new roads and ended up back at beaver lake rd. without too much trouble.

and the road gets a little smaller

we stopped quiclky at doreen lake to check it out. we had been there before, but we felt we needed to check it out again. we also stopped at a random slash pile to cut a bit more firewood. can't get enough of that wonderful stuff.

doreen lake rec. site.

It was another successful weekend of missioning. there is still maybe one or two canoe trips left before fishing involves an ice auger. you should come. it'll be fun...

thankful for 2 wheels and 4

The Sunday of a 3 day long weekend seems like the perfect time for an adventure, so thats what we did. Pat, Charlie and I piled our bikes (not charlie's bike...he's a dog and can't ride a bike yet) into the truck and headed up beaver lake road. destination: high rim trail. This is a part of the trail i've been on a few times, and also the part of the trail the Herman the Adventurous mouse started his journey in the geocache christine and i placed.

We unpacked everything and immediately got riding.   Weird that i had no recollection of the long uphill right at the beginning.  Once we got to the level top part, it was hard smooth single track.  good times.  We chilled out in a meadow that overlooked the central okanagan pretty awesomely.

the sweet singletrack through the meadows.

stopping for some pictures (and a beer)

okanagan lake in the back, duck lake in the front.

sweet okanagan day.  20 degrees.

The spot we stopped also happened to be in wrinkly face cliffs provincial park.  A place i can see from my living room window.  Cool to be ion the top of it looking down, instead of the other way around.
 

patrick chilling atop the cliff.

And, wouldn't you know it, we stumbled upon a 1971 plymouth gtx.  Stopped for some pics with it.

patrict and the gtx

hope the owner doesn't come find us messing with his car

after our break we got back on and kept on keeping on up the trail.  Patrick uttered the words "looks like this is where the shit starts" referring to fallen logs and more pointy rocks.  at that exact moment, i got a flat tire.  the shit did start there.

a little flat repair.

After fixing the flat, it was time to turn around.  there was a campfire to be had and some green army guys that we needed to shoot with the pellet gun.  so we returned to the truck and quickly found a close place to have a fire.

there are 7 army guys hiding in this picture

We spent the rest of the afternoon/early evening shooting and generally relaxing around.  good times.

It's starting to get colder here.  freezing at night and stuff.  not sure how many biking adventures we can have before we trade the bikes for snowshoes.  I'll obviously let you know.

Or... come for a first hand experience yourself sometime.  we got room.

a sunday afternoon... living the dream.

Sunday equals adventure. from the word "sun" meaning "adventure". hense, sunday is adventure day. Tom and Partick and charlie and I got into the truck and headed up into the hills. on the way, i rolled over 300 000 km on the truck.

300,000 km.

We got to a cool spot on a quiet lake and got ready for a little paddle.  Tom and I hopped in and went on a short tour.  The lake was pretty shallow.  We didn't get any fish from the boat, and Pat was empty too when we got back to the shore.

launchy launchy

!/2 way around the lake, tom a i got out of the canoe and explores around the bush a little.  It was tough going with so much deadfall.  but we wore jeans and not-flip flops after the lesson we learned at reluctant dragon cove a few weeks ago.

tom

lots of deadfall, like i said.

On the way back, we tried more fishing, but no dice.

tom, trying to use his mental powers to catch fish. 

late afternoon

We messed around the site for a few hours.  We had a pellet gun, some hot dogs, some beers and a chainsaw.  we used them all.  it was good times.

the little camp spot

army guy.  aka. pellet gun target.  the smoke reminded me of 'nam.

packing up

sniper tom

Weirdest thing.  while we were up there, a '71 dodge demon came ripping by. 

the muddy road out

one last photo on the way down.

It was a sweet afternoon trip, and only 25km from my front door.  Possibly a place we will return to.

More adventure next weekend, you should come.

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.

an adventure with dad

since we had spent the last 2 days in a truck driving from manitoba, smelling each others pizza hut farts, it was time for a short, mid-week adventure. outside of the small closed cab of a ford f-150. it had to be somewhere kinda close, not too crazy, and cool. beaver lake rd it is.

1st stop, high rim trail.  we headed south from beaver lake rd, on the part of the trail that tom and i snowshoed on.  pretty cool.  we saw a bear.  after about 5 km, it got pretty muddy, so we turned around.

vernon creek.  before it gets contaminated by civilization

trail workers bridge across vernon creek.

Next stop, beaver lake forestry rec. site.  we ate smokies and explored around, and schpitzeered all afternoon.  good times.  not a cloud in the sky.

rude dog at beaver lake. 

Next we took echo lake rd to king edward and into specs lake.  a spot mike and i have camped before.  a helicopter came and hovered about 3 meters off the lake.  not sure why, but it was cool.

the site at specs lake.

then it was on to oyama lake.  a short stop there to look around, then down oyama lake rd. to civilization. 

the oyama/wood lake land bridge from the viewpoint on oyama lake rd.

It was a solid adventure by all accounts.  thanks to dad for indulging some 4x4ing.  hope we can do it again soon.

2007 km from pinawa mb, to kelowna, bc.

After 10 years of my 1984 mazda rx-7 GSL-SE being parked in a barn in manitoba, circumstances arose that needed the car to be moved.  to my house seemed like a good place.

Here is the set up. 

Friday am - fly to winnipeg, get picked up, go to uhaul, get the trailer, drive it to said barn, load the car, pack some other stuff, go to pinawa, chill out.

Saturday - more chilling out.  more packing

Sunday 6:30 am.  get in the truck, drive to the barn, hook up the trailer with the car on it, start driving.

the car, on the trailer, behind the truck.  sunday morning

1st stop was brandon for gas.  while we were there, surprise surprise, a 1984 rx-7 was seen.  what are the chances of 2 1984 rx-7s in the same random parking lot?

what is this?  another 1984 mazda rx-7?

 We made it to the border not long after brandon.  here are some pictures...

car, truck, trailer, border.

the blue mazda pulled up while we were peeing at the border.  feels like we're being followed.

 After dinner in swift current, we made for medicine hat.  the evening prairie sunset is something we don't get in kelowna.

near piapot, sk.

getting into the rockies

the blue mazda in banff at a lookout near the bow river

wildlife overpass

 The next day, crossing into bc, what did we see?  the blue mazda again.  that guy is making good time.

parked by the blue mazda at the bc border.

tried to get a shot of the blue mazda on the bridge, but it was fully ripping

but we saw it again in golden.

and at rogers pass.

the silver mazda at rogers pass.

another shot at rogers pass

 

forest fires near rogers pass

drafting behind the blue mazda

 When we got to glacier park, just eat of revelstoke, i realized just how close to home it is.  definitely a place to check out more in the future.  only 2 hours away!

glacier park

glacier park

 

glacier park

After revelstoke, it was a quick beeline for home.  My mazda made it to our place saftely, and the truck has since returned back to manitoba with the driver... dad.

speaking of dad... thanks for the use of the truck and you accelerator foot.  look forward to you next visit.  maybe pick you up from the airport in my rx-7.