Barns of Highway 195

Continuing on our trip from Spokane to Pullman, Washington, on Highway 195, this barn was all by itself in a wheat field. It may have served its purpose, or maybe it's still used to store or protect the large equipment needed to plant and harvest hay and grain. The peaked metal roof looks newer than the peeling wood sides.


The open doors and windows made me think of the old saying, "It's too late to lock the barn door after the horse has been stolen." -- Margy

"Three Against the Wilderness" by Eric Collier

Our good friends Dave and Marg head for the Chilcotin each spring with camper and quad. Like us, they like reading about the regions they visit. Three Against the Wilderness was a book they recommended. It's a compelling tale of pioneer life far from civilization in the early 20th Century.

Eric Collier immigrated to Canada from England in the early 1920's. He was educated, and came from a family of means. But he was more interested in the outdoors than studying.

Eric made his way west to British Columbia and ended up in Riske Creek, a small trading post in the Chilcotin interior. Here he worked as a clerk and met his wife to be Lillian. Before she died, Lillian's grandmother LaLa, a 97 year old First Nations woman, passed on her dream of repopulating her homeland on Meldrum Creek with beavers.

Eric registered a trap line that included the Meldrum Creek area, and moved his wife Lillian and newborn son Veasy 25 miles into the wilderness. With all their worldly possessions and provisions in a horse drawn wagon, they undertook building a self-sustaining home and life in the bush.

Over the years, Eric, Lillian and Veasy worked hard to make a living in the beautiful, but often unforgiving, land. The book, written by Eric Collier, covers over thirty years of their exciting, harrowing, and heart-warming adventures.

I found a series of interviews with Veasy Collier conducted by James Stewart on YouTube, and a blog he wrote. Take a look for a first hand account.

Three Against the Wilderness is available in both print and Kindle formats at Amazon.com, on BC Ferries, and in many book stores. -- Margy

The Undulating Hills of Highway 195

As Wayne and I drove Highway 195 from Spokane to Pullman under cloudy skies, we were very interested in the geology of the area. There were a few hints, volcanic rock visible under the surface in the road cuts, and the smooth surface of the undulating hills rolling from horizon to horizon. I went online and here is a great article at the US Geological Survey website.

Eruptions 30 to 10 million years ago covered a vast area including parts of Idaho, Washington and Oregon with molten lava. Subsequent tilting and folding, and the deposit of wind blown silt (loess) and ash over the surface gave this wheat growing region the beginning of its fertile soil.

Glacial ice fields with melt lakes at their bases encroached on the area about 100,000 years ago. Lake Spokane covered what is now the city and much more. Massive Lake Missoula to the east filled beyond the capacity its ice dam. The resulting flood of catastrophic proportions flooded west towards the Pacific, scouring the surface down to the volcanic basalt, creating the water eroded channeled Scablands to the west. - Margy

Road Cruise Works on Powell Lake

Boat names that have caught my eye and shutter.



Road Cruise is a boat I see frequently near my float cabin home. Powell Lake is a working lake in addition to a recreational lake. The waters are used by logging companies to get to and from remote sites, and to transport their logs and shake blocks to Mowat Bay for extraction.

Before logging can begin, roads have to be cut into the dense bush. That's where Road Cruise comes in. She carries the road "crews" to their work destination and home again. Here she is with Mr. Boat up the lake. Her crew was working, our "crew" was goofing off as usual. -- Margy

Corner Shelf

Our cabin improvements are continuing with the help of our good friend John. Our great room is where we spend most of our time when indoors. Especially in winter, it can get a bit crowded with wood and kindling near the wood stove. After we got rid of a large, overstuffed rocker that we never used, we purchased a chest of drawers. It seemed the perfect solution, until we got it in place.

Getting the drawers open to access the contents became excessively frustrating. The solution was to take the chest of drawers up to the loft (it held mostly clothes anyway), and ask John to build us an open shelf for the same location. I made a sketch and talked the design over with John. He added his own suggestions and this is the result. With the existing wall mounted shelf, it looks like a complete unit.

The shelf has exactly the same footprint as the chest of drawers. But look at how much more accessible it is. The open bottom was John's idea to gain a few extra inches. And there's still space on the side for our fishing poles and kayak paddle. On top is one of my thrift shop treasures, a 1950's wood magazine rack I got for $1.99. Doesn't it look perfect? -- Margy

Coastal BC Stories for Kindle and E-books

Have a Kindle or E-reader?

We have the books for you!

PowellRiverBooks has just what you need and want at a price you can't beat. Take a look inside these exciting books in Wayne's Coastal BC Stories that are ON SALE right now at Kindle!

Up the Lake with stories about hiking, boating, flying and survival off the grid in a floating cabin on Powell Lake. This was the first book in the series and has a variety of stories about the Powell River region. Kindle for $.99 or E-book for FREE.

Up the Main focuses on getting into the backcountry by bike, quad and hiking. Come ride along with on a quad to places like Theodosia Inlet, the head of Powell Lake and on logging roads near and far. Kindle for FREE or E-book for FREE.

Up the Airway wings you across Canada to show off our beautiful country from up above. Fly along with us in our Piper Arrow, land to camp at remote strips with gorgeous scenery, and meet unique animals like the muskox. Kindle for FREE or E-book for FREE.

Farther Up the Lake follows in the footsteps of Wayne's most popular book, Up the Lake. Read about living off the grid in a float cabin, the beauties of Powell Lake and the many different ways you can enjoy the backcountry. Kindle sale $2 off, now only $1.99 or E-book for $1.99

Farther Up the Main takes you beyond the original Up the Main to explore the glaciers of Mt. Alfred, the remote Theodosia wilderness, a logging road ride to our cabin, and on an impromptu overnight stay waiting for a summer swollen stream to subside. Kindle sale $2 off, now only $1.99 or E-book for $1.99

All books are available in Kindle and print formats through Amazon. Other e-book readers can find the books available online through Smashwords. Or, you can check online at Kobo, Sony, Apple, and Barnes & Noble.

For more information, go to www.PowellRiverBooks.com. Happy e-reading! -- Margy

Alternate Light Source

As I've mentioned, getting enough electrical power during winter is a challenge. One thing we do when the sun shines bright is charge up our Nautilus Booster Pack from Canadian Tire. The Nautilus is an 800 A portable battery that can start a vehicle, power 12 volt DC devices, and 120 volt AC appliances. This model gives us 33 amp-hours of stored energy.

It has an internal inverter for AC operation, but based on problems with a different brand, we've opted to use the built-in battery posts and an external inverter. After two years of use we've had no problems.

We can also plug DC devices directly into the built-in DC socket. The Nautilus comes with a bright LED light with a 3 m (10') cord. Because it's a DC light, it uses virtually no power. That gives Wayne the perfect alternate light source for reading on long, dark winter nights.

Regular price for the Nautilus at Canadian Tire is $249.99 CAD, but we got ours on sale. We always say, everything in Powell River goes on sale if you just wait long enough. -- Margy