Coastal BC Plants: Foxglove

Foxglove

When spring arrives, Coastal BC bursts into bloom. Many flowers are short lived, but the Foxglove can be found long into summer.

Foxgloves come in white, purple, pink, and a combination.  Like the Scotch Broom, they are a European garden plant that escaped into the wild, but are not considered a detrimental invasive species, even though they have proliferated in lowland areas along the coast.

Foxgloves grow in open disturbed areas. Their drooping trumpet shaped flowers open from the bottom to the top of a tall straight stalk. A unique feature is that the lower flowers are female, and the upper ones are male. Pretty handy for pollination.

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) plants are the original source for the heart medicine digitalis. In its natural state, all parts of the Foxglove are poisonous, so beware.

My favourite colour is the bright pink. I guess you can see why. -- Margy

Changing the Honda 15 Leg Oil

Wayne has a background in aircraft maintenance. He was in the California Air National Guard and was responsible for managing the maintenance of a fleet of C-130 aircraft. In that capacity, he kept extensive records for scheduled and unscheduled maintenance.

 

That has translated into maintenance schedules and records for all of our boats, motors, cabin batteries, generators, chainsaw; I think you get the idea. But it's a good thing, not a bad one.

The records showed it was time to change the leg gear case oil in the Honda 15 motor on our tin boat. Last time John took care it while the boat was out of the water for other repairs. This time the boat was in the water up at the cabin. Not so easy, but where there's a will, there's a way.

To get the motor in a vertical position to drain the leg oil, we pulled it up onto the dock where it's normally stored. We used a firewood log as a roller to reduce the friction and get father up onto the dock and higher in the air. The end result looks simple, but it took the two of us several tries to find the one that worked.

Wayne put a margarine tub under the bottom of the leg and opened the hole plug to let the old oil drain out.

Then he used a hand pump to replace the oil with new. Easy peasy, well not so much. But we learned a nice trick, so next time will be much easier. -- Margy

Seeking Winter Sun

January and February bring cloudy and foggy skies to Powell Lake. On those days, it's fun to take the quads out and try to get above the layer.

But some days all you can do is come close to the boundary between blue sky and the gray underneath. -- Margy

Coastal BC Plants: Evergreens

Evergreens

Evergreens are plants that maintain their leaves (or needles) throughout the year in all seasons. In essence, they are ever green.

Evergreens come in many sizes and shapes, from shrubs to trees.

Salal is an evergreen shrub that's ubiquitous in Coastal BC forests. They grow in the shade of towering evergreens, and in open areas along cliffs and log slashes. The purple berries provide food for bears, birds, and people who eat them fresh (they can be bland), in jams and wine.

Arbutus is an example of a broad-leafed evergreen tree. The tall trunks reach for the sun with branches at the top with egg shaped leaves. The trunks have smooth chartreuse green bark that turns a distinctive reddish-brown later in the season before peeling. Arbutus grow on bluffs along the Pacific Northwest coast up through British Columbia. They are a common site on the lower portion of Powell Lake

Cedar trees grow throughout the Coastal BC forests. At lower elevations the Redcedar grows in moist areas with rich soil. It was a vital resource for First Nations peoples because it was used shelters, dugout canoes, totem poles, tools, arrows, masks, paddles, and medicinal purposes. The bark became clothing, rope, and baskets. At higher elevations the Yellow Cedar grows. Cedar wood is valuable because of its quality and resistance to decay.

Firs are one of the most common trees in the forests around Powell River. They grew here naturally, and are now a favourite commercial tree planted during reforestation by timber companies. The trees grow tall and straight up to 80 metres (260 feet). Old growth trees can achieve a girth of 3 metres (10 feet) at one hundred years. On the cliffs near our cabin the trees are approximately 100 years old, but most of the cut blocks are much younger.

Pine is a less common tree in the Powell River backcountry. There are a variety of species in the Pine family that grow in Coastal BC. The Western White Pine is found at lower elevations on the mainland and Vancouver Island. Lodgepole Pines can be found at the higher elevations.

Hemlock is another commercially harvested evergreen that grows in the Powell River area. The Western Hemlock grows both naturally and is planted during reforestation. The wood grain is straight and it's commonly used today in architectural millwork. First Nations peoples carved the wood for bowls and implements.

Evergreens make our home up the lake beautiful in all seasons. -- Margy

Logging Leftovers

Rusted frying pan at Steam Donkey No. 1

When logging is done, some things aren't worth enough to remove from the bush. Some are too massive like Steam Donkey No. 1 that I shared a few weeks ago. Some are too small or worn out. Here are a few recent examples of treasures the bush has revealed.

The first three pictures are items left near Steam Donkey No. 1 up Museum Main from Chippewa Bay on Powell Lake. They came from a small cabin next to the donkey that the operator probably used to get out of the rain or snow.

Mismatched cooking pot with lid at Steam Donkey No. 1

In the early 1900s loggers lived in camps right next to their logging shows, he might have even lived in the cabin rather than across the way where the main camp was built.

Rusted out wash basin at Steam Donkey No. 1

There were also logging and shake block camps at the head of Powell Lake. The last of the logging camp was buried several years ago, but you can still find a shake block camp hidden in the bush along the lake shore if you know where to look and the water level is low.

Rusted shackle at the Head.

We found this massive shackle on our last trip to the Head. It's rusted and no longer in service, just left in the dirt next to the barge ramp. Maybe today's discard will become tomorrow's relic.

For more stories about riding in the Powell River backcountry, there's Up the Main and Farther Up the Main. Both are available in Kindle, e-book and print formats. -- Margy

Coastal BC Plants: Pacific Dogwood

Pacific Dogwood

The Pacific dogwood was adopted in 1956 as British Columbia's provincial flower. I think it's a great choice. The large white flowers really stand out when you get up close.

The Pacific dogwood is a small deciduous broad-leaved tree that grows from California to British Columbia along the Pacific Coast at lower elevations. It can reach 20 metres (65 feet) in height. Along Powell Lake, you'll find them near the shore.

In spring, the dogwood is covered with lots of large white flowers with four to seven "petals" around a greenish-white center. This makes the trees easy to find in the otherwise green forest.

What looks like white petals are really called bracts. A bract is a modified leaf that surrounds a flower, usually larger and more showy than the flower itself. In the case of the dogwood, the greenish white center is the true flowering portion of the plant.

"When the dogwoods are in bloom, fishing is good."

Rainbow trout from Powell Lake.

On Powell Lake there's an old fisherman's saying that goes, "When the dogwoods are in bloom, fishing is good." I'm not sure how true it is, but Wayne caught this one on the same day I took my Pacific dogwood pictures near our float cabin home. -- Margy

1915 and 1918 Powell Lake Fires

Not long ago Wayne and I were digging near our Powell Lake float cabin home and discovered a thick layer of ash.

We've heard about devastating fires around the lake and figured the ash layer must be related. I did some research online and found two British Daily Colonist articles that might have been related. This daily Victoria newspaper ran from 1858 to 1920. You can browse the issues online and they are searchable, a great feature.

The first article was from August 22, 1915.  It mentioned a number of fires raging in the lower mainland, along the coast and on Vancouver Island including fires on Gordon Pasha Lake (now Lois Lake), Powell Lake and in Sliammon that were nearly burned out.

The second article from July 9, 1918, mentions a fire sweeping up the west side of the Powell Lake through "young timber." Our cabin is on the west side up about 15 kilometres.

Later it mentions fires on the east shore in mature timber were under control due to efforts of fire crews. Because this timber was more valuable, I'm sure more resources were placed there.

Because there's one distinct layer, I'm guessing it's from the 1918 fire. Are there any Powell River residents that might know for sure?

The ash layer extends for a long distance, and we've discovered similar layers in other nearby locations. Because it's so thick and extensive I'm sure it isn't from something else man made.

Look at the top picture. You can see a layer of decaying wood over the ash, followed by a layer of finer humus and finally moss. It gives you a good idea about how much forest decomposition is generated in a hundred years. -- Margy