Tuesday, October 09, 2018

Overnight Trip to the Head of Powell Lake

We woke up Monday with a workboat neighbour.
Our ocean-going 24' Bayliner spends the winter in Powell Lake's fresh water to keep it clear of marine growth. It's good for the boat and us. We get to use it for mini lake cruises.

In late September we found two good weather days in a row, so we loaded up for an overnight trip to the Head of Powell Lake.

A typical Powell Lake waterfall.
We were amazed at the number of waterfalls and the huge amount of water cascading into the lake. Many of the falls had long drops down sheer rock faces.

We went on a weekend so we could tie up to the logging dock. When we arrived we were the only boat and relished the privacy.

This is a busy logging area, sometimes even on weekends.



On the bridge over the Powell River.
We tied up and walked to the bridge where the Powell River enters the head of the lake. It's the single largest water source. The swollen river crashed down its rock chute to the lake surface. The last time we were here it was summer dry with low lake levels.

On the way we passed an active logging area. I love looking at the big equipment. Several years ago I got to go on one of Western Forest Products' forest tours. Click here to see a harvester in action.


Logs processed and stacked ready for extraction.

At the log sort near the dock there was one logging truck waiting to bring the logs from the work site to the skid where they will be dumped into Powell Lake. Click here for a video of one in action.

A "fat truck" used only on logging roads for log hauling.

Here's a video of a log dump here at the Head.


We ate dinner on the boat's back deck and the night was calm and good for sleeping.

Leaving the Head of Powell Lake for our float cabin home.

Do you do fall or winter cruising? What are some of your stories? -- Margy

14 comments:

  1. That waterfall is amazing! Sounds like a good trip.

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    1. This time of year we can really hear them roaring, but the greatest amount comes during the spring snow melt. - Margy

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  2. Beautiful place - and I can smell that fresh air just looking at your pictures! We took our C-Dory out for the first time two weeks ago, a shake down trip. The weather turned rough and we learned a lot! Will be going out again this next week if the weather stays good. No overnights on the boat but lots of enjoyment in the fall weather.

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    1. Good to hear from you. The C-Dory sounds like a stable boat in rough water. There used to be a C-Dory parked next to our boat when we stored it at the airport hangar rather than up the lake. Where do you take it out? - Margy

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  3. I often wish we had a boat but we really don't have much time (or space) for it at this point. Looks like a lovely time!

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    1. We don't have any land space. If we didn't have the float cabin we couldn't afford to keep this many boats. - Margy

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  4. Margy - the biggest boat we own is a 2-person inflatable kayak (2 of them), and they are clean and stored in the garage for the winter. In other words, no fall or winter cruising for us! But I enjoyed living vicariously through you. The logging information was very interesting since we often see full logging trucks, but never the process.

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    1. That's one great thing about the Internet. You can live vicariously through other's experiences and learn a lot of new things. - Margy

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  5. Margy ~ great photos ~ love the waterfall!

    Happy Day to you,
    A ShutterBug Explores,
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

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    1. We have some that can rival those in state and national parks. - Margy

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  6. That's quite the process. We just watched Highway Through Hell, where they showed a logging truck rescued from a flip into the ravine.
    You have such a great time!

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    1. YouTube has lots of videos of logging accidents. When they have a large crew out the send out a "ambulance" rescue vehicle, but they have limited resources. - Margy

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  7. Wow. Really interesting and I wish we had some of those big straight logs here. Trying to build a workshop with a bunch of banana shaped poles just now...

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    1. We get a few of those around here next to the edge of the lake, but where they log they grow straight and tall. The first cuts are the premium poles used for telephone/power poles. - Margy

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We welcome your comments and questions. - Wayne and Margy