Snow in the High Country

Someone forgot to tell Mother Nature that it's spring. She's still letting it snow in the high country.

But I guess that isn't a bad thing. Next summer we'll appreciate the extra snow melt when the rains leave and the lake needs more water. -- Margy

Barrel Cowboys

Another side effect of storm winds is bouncing cabin floats. As the wind builds, so do wind waves.  Hole in the Wall may be in a protected bay, but we can still get waves several feet high, especially on John's side of the bay during a clearing northwest blow.

During the recent storm, one of John's barrels popped out from under his cabin and we found it floating in his back bay.  Wayne "lassoed" the barrel with a rope and John tipped it with a pipe pole to empty the water trapped inside.

Once empty, they could lift the barrel onto the float to store until the water warms and it can be reinserted under the cabin float.  Several years ago we added barrels under our woodshed float. Here's a video about how it's done.

When John comes to work on his float, we'll have him return to our cabin to replace a few of our barrels as well. Float cabin maintenance is an ongoing process. -- Margy

Boats, Boats and More Boats

Our first boat, a Hoursten Glascraft.

Living on the water makes it important to embrace all things nautical. As you can imagine, we have quite a few boats. In addition, there are other watercraft that don't qualify as boats, but definitely float.

When we got our float cabin on Powell Lake, Wayne and I had to get nautical right away. We bought our first boat from Barry who had the houseboat rental at the Shinglemill Marina. It had a good fiberglass hull, but the outboard motor was a piece of shit.  We got a new Honda and shortly thereafter sold it to our friend John.

Our next boat was a new Campion bowrider.  Wayne bought it from a dealer on Vancouver Island and they both came home on the ferry. This runabout still provides our regular transportation up and down the lake. "Her" name is Mr. Boat.

Our next nautical adventure was a boat for the chuck (ocean). John helped us find our 2352 Bayliner called Halcyon Days. For eight years she took us to remote and tranquil anchorages up and down the Strait of Georgia. Now she resides at our cabin for winter transport when the waves can get pretty large.

When we're at the cabin, we use a tin boat to bomb around and do water-based chores.  John helped us find this one as well.  She's welded aluminum and used to leak like a sieve, but after Wayne sealed the hull with Cabela's boat patch sticks, it's watertight.

The call of northern inlets made us want a larger boat for the chuck. Foghorn, a 3058 thirty-foot Bayliner, became ours.  We've taken several local cruises to Cortes and Quadra, and hope to head up north this coming summer.

This probably sounds like a lot of boats, but each has its own purpose. And now that we have Foghorn, it's time to sell Halcyon Days. When that happens, who knows.  There just might be another boat in our nautical future. -- Margy

Chippewa Bay

In the northwest corner of southern portion of Powell Lake you will find Chippewa Bay. Chippewa is well known for several reasons.

One, it has a large dock and booming area for loggers working north and west into the Bunster Hills. Logging equipment comes up the lake on barges and booms of logs are towed back in the opposite direction. If you arrive by boat, it's best to come on weekends when logging is less active and you can explore on your own.

Two, you will find a natural forestry museum up Museum Main. This logging road runs near two historic steam donkeys with lots of interesting items strewn across the forest floor. One is near the main, the other is about an hour hike from the road. If you arrive by boat, it's a long walk up to the first steam donkey. If you arrive by quad from Theodosia, it's easier. Well, relatively so. It's an all day ride over Heather Main, but well worth it.

Three, in the summer Chippewa Bay is great for swimming with warmer water than the rest of the lake. This is probably due to the shallower depths and position away from the natural flow from the head to ocean. In the middle of the lake it's over 1000 feet deep, and that can keep it pretty cold all year long.

Four, CB CB'ers. What's that? Chippewa Bay Cabin Busters are strong northwest winds that often follow major storms. They swoop out of Chippewa Bay and blast down the lower lake, trying to level everything in their path, including unsuspecting float cabins. This is one reason you will find some of the heaviest protective booms around cabins in this area.

Up the Lake has a chapter about Wayne getting caught on the lake in a CB CB'er. Click here to read the chapter for free and find out more about life on Powell Lake. -- Margy

Quick Repair for Float Cabin Anchor Cables

Our float cabin is anchored to shore with steel cables. Steel is extremely strong, but it doesn't last forever. Our transition float that allows us to get to shore is attached to the rock cliff with a 5/8-inch twisted steel cable. It's the original and has lasted since our cabin came to this spot back in 2000.

John was heading up the stairs to our cliff to help his dog Bro find a "tree" and noticed that the only connecting point for our transition float was wearing through and fraying. Rain accelerates rust, but it's heavy winds and rocking floats during winter storms that puts the greatest stress on the cables at their connections.

We didn't have any spare cable to make a permanent repair, so we made a temporary fix with a cable clamp and rope. First, Wayne attached and tightened a second cable clamp below the existing one.

Then he threaded a rope under the new cable clamp and through the eye of the connector driven into the granite cliff. This quick repair will hold through any storms that pass through until John can return with his tools and some fresh cable. Thanks Wayne, I'd hate to have my transition float break away and keep from getting to shore. -- Margy

Powell Lake Doldrums

This time of year it's unusual to get calm weather, but when it occurs, the surface of Powell Lake becomes like a mirror.

Chippewa Bay in the southern portion of the lake is usually known for strong winds and rough waves.  But on this day, it was calm and glassy.  Come back on Tuesday to learn more about this well know location on Powell Lake. -- Margy

"Eating Dirt" by Gharlotte Gill

Powell River, BC, my home town, attracts and nurtures writers, artists, musicians, film-makers, and all sorts of creative people.

I recently read Eating Dirt:Forests, Big Timber, and Life with the Tree-Planting Tribe written by Charlotte Gill who has chosen Powell River to be her home. Before that, she was a tree planter for over two decades.  That's twenty years of back-breaking work in reforestation.  Eating Dirt follows Charlotte through her seasons in the bush. After loggers leave, tree planters follow to start a new generation of trees.  Here are a few memorable quotes from the book.

Logging road and slash overlooking
Powell Lake.

"Logging roads cross-cut the landscape like old surgical scars."

"Creamed, as we are fond of saying. The term is always the same. No matter the province, no matter the branch of the clan. Cream. An absence of impediments to the eyes, hands, and feet."

Emergency Transport Vehicle (ETV)
Chippewa Bay on Powell Lake

"We’re a hundred miles from the nearest hospital. The only ambulance is our ETV, a work-thrashed Ford F-350 with a fiberglass canopy. Our emergency room is a backpack stuffed with first aid supplies and a spine board strapped to the roof rack."

Young trees growing up in a slash.

"Forests for the Future. Forests Forever, as the slogans and the T-shirts say. Not a salve or a fix for the planet, not exactly. We gave the trees some small purchase in the world, and they gave us the same in return."

I see evidence of logging and tree planting every day I'm at home in my cabin.  I have never been a tree planter, nor could I have handled the extremely hard work required.  However, I appreciate the efforts of all the men and women who toil to make our forests a renewable resource.

Eating Dirt is available at Amazon in both print and Kindle formats. -- Margy