MOOCHDOCKING IN DONNELLY, AB

We're still parked in Cousin Judith's driveway in the little village of Donnelly, Alberta.  we've been enjoying visiting with Judith and Doug and sharing some meals.  Judith is one of those rare people who can sit through hours of my photos so we've done that a few nights.  She'd gone down to Sylvan Lake to return her grandson and visit daughter Jill for a few days and now has gone back to work for the school year at the local high school.
Our plan is to stay here through the Labour Day long weekend then head for Jasper National Park on Tuesday, depending on the weather.  We hope to spend a week of more exploring in the Rockies before heading into the East Kootenay then later the West Kootenay.  I'm looking forward to some hot spring visits in the Kootenays.  After we finish up the Kootenay region, we'll return to the Shuswap until time to head south.  I did get around to buying our travel insurance this week so that is out of the way.

Taken last night with the old Kodak point and shoot digital which is why there is so much noise.  We were out for a stroll around the village with Judith and thought we were going to get wet but it didn't rain at all all night.  Shortly after making my post, I saw on the internet that Calgary and Edmonton were both hammered by a thunderstorm yesterday, so I guess what we saw was the edge of that storm!  Edmonton is southeast of us.

Spotted these old farm buildings while out geocaching the other day east of Donnelly.  The caches are mostly few and far between in this big country

Sunrise out the bedroom window one morning this week

There were some mushrooms pop up in a couple old Aspen stumps across the street from us.  They only lasted a couple days and are now shriveled and mushy

We arrived at my Cousin Judith's in Donnelly, Alberta late Tuesday afternoon.  She and her husband Doug have grandson Carson visiting for a few days so it is very busy around here.  I've been out doing some exploring and geocaching and have found several old farm buildings.  Geocaches are few and far between in this vast country.  Several of the caches I have found hadn't been visited in two years as they are further off the beaten path.  We're going to spend a few more days here and do some day trips out with the car to do more exploring.  Our current plan is to wait until after Labour Day before moving down to spend some time in the Canadian Rockies. 

Early morning across Qwillim Lake north of Tumbler Ridge, BC where we stayed a week ago

Two of the four beavers we watched in Gwillim Lake one morning

The WAC Bennett Dam on the Peace River in northern BC.  Last time I was here was 1966 with my brother Tom and they had just started to build the dam.  It is larger than it looks as the two lane road across the top is pictured below.

The road across the top of the dam

Bad weather moving in on the dam as we leave

Spotted these guys in the town of Chetwynd

Just as we were leaving Chetwynd we had to stop on the highway for this guy.  He was afraid to cross the newly painted yellow line.

We had a wiener roast for lunch yesterday.  Doug, Carson, Aileen, Judith and me.  Mitzy was behind the camera ensuring it worked correctly

This was once someone's dream

Mid 50's Plymouth

A wee house and an old threshing machine

An old Binder

Showy Asters are the dominant flower in the north right now

The roof has had it on this old barn

A once nice house has had its day

A VISIT TO TUMBLER RIDGE AREA

We've stopped in Chetwynd to get online for a few minutes before heading to Moberly Lake Provincial Park for tonight.  Our plan is head to my Cousin Judith's in Donnelly, AB tomorrow.  Perhaps we'll have more regular internet while we're there.  Note: Kinuseo Falls are 65 kms south of Tumbler Ridge, BC which is in the north east section of the province.

A wasp nest along a trail

Azouzetta Lake along Hwy 97 in Pine Pass

The Murray River approaching Kinuseo Falls 

The top of the falls

Kinuseo Falls 60 m (197 feet)  It was nearly an hour and a half of very washboard gravel road to reach the falls and it rained like crazy the whole time we were there.

Looking downstream shows a bit of the lousy weather

Next was a walk in to Barbour Falls, again in the rain which finally quit just as we got back to the car

Just a walking in the rain, getting kinda wet

Lots of interesting fungi along the trails

No rain going up to Nesbitt's Knee Falls

Lots of coal mining activity in the area

Qwillim Lake Provincial Park where we spent the past two nights

FIVE DAYS OFFLINE IN WELLS/BARKERVILLE BC

We met Jacquie and Jim at the Lowhee campsite between Wells and Barkerville and spent four days with them exploring the area, geocaching and a bit of gold panning.  Three of the evenings were games nights.  It is amazing how many more hours there are in a day when there is no internet or cell service!

We are currently sitting in a parking lot in Prince George having resupplied the larder.  Next is to find some gas then head north to find a campsite for tonight.  We are heading for the little town of Donnelly, AB to visit my cousin Judith and Doug for a few days.

Wells visitor's center down the muddy channel

Old Timer along the road

City Hall on the left and the community center

Old log house on a Wells back street

We had a couple of dandy thunder storms.  The ground was awash with rain drops bouncing high

We picked lots of wild blueberries

Lots of interesting colours in the local housing

Certainly would be cheerful through the long winter

A different wild huckleberry

Jacquie in an old miner's cabin

One of hundreds of little lakes

This was aptly named Toilet Campsite - there was a newer one hiding in the trees

STARTING A ROAD TRIP

We left the Shuswap this morning and have made it to Lac La Hache this afternoon.  Since it is a very warm afternoon, we are at Big Country Campground so we can run the air conditioner.  Tomorrow we plan to head up to Barkerville.  Jacquie and Jim will meet us there on Monday.  Jim has a new mining claim he wants to explore.  It is in an area that has had a lot of gold taken out in the past so maybe there’s still some left for us to find.

We are hoping to wander our way to northern Alberta after we leave Barkerville.  No timeline for that yet.  We’ll see how things go in Barkerville and then along our way after that.  As a broad (very loose!) plan, later we’ll spend some time in the Rockies then the Kootenays of BC.  We hope to head south across the border along about mid October.

Jim and I went geocaching both Wednesday and Thursday afternoons finding about 40 caches.  Thursday saw us going over the mountains from Shuswap Lake to White Lake on less than ideal old logging roads that were getting overgrown and washed out.  We’re planning to find a few caches in the Barkerville area next week.  There aren’t many and they are fairly far apart.  We may not have much for internet for the next few days.  We'll have to wait and see what there is.

Looking down to Sicamous known as the house boat capital of Canada.  The Canadian Pacific Railway mainline follows the shore on the right and the Trans Canada Highway is that slash in the trees partway up the hillside.

A few miles north of the last picture, we found this view looking further up Shuswap Lake.  All those white dots are large house boats.