Sunday, July 24/2016 - Saturday, July 30/2016

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This week, we have the kids at the lake and as always, there are plenty of trail rides that we can join in on.  We made arrangements to meet the kids at Mile 8 for a bit of a ride and then got a call from Kimmy saying she was lost in the bush and didn't know where the other riders were.  We managed to give her directions and she eventually met up with Jace and Justin and Alissa and we eventually met them all at Vimy.  It was a bit further for us but we simply modified the ride.

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It turned out to be quite a LONG ride but I am sure fun was had by all.   We headed from Vimy, accessed the trail about a mile north of there and eventually hit 8 Mile.  We stopped at the snowmobile shelter then hit Eddie's Trail and headed over to The Block.  It is always a good ride along Deer Lake and today was no different.  We stopped at Five Corners then headed over to the trails around Timberlost Cabin.  Justin blew a belt along the trail and was lucky enough to have had a spare so we took an hour out of riding to do the necessary repairs.  John and I saw a black bear along the trail just before the break down and Alissa was hoping to get to see him as well.  Kimmy.... not so much!!  Once back on the trail, we crossed the river where the "old bridge" used to be and headed down the trail.  John and I were in the lead and had just mentioned to me that this was prime moose country and no sooner had he said the words....out of the bush comes this moose crashing and smashing through the trees and onto the trail in front of us.  Man, she was not wasting anytime around us.  She took a few steps down the trail and then went back into the bush.  She left us in the dust!!

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We accessed the Big River grid and we took the kids into Utah Lake.   Jace had not been there before and was interested about what kind of fish were swimming around in the lake.   We told him that Dave catches some decent sized Jackfish out of the lake.  It has easy access from the grid so he said they just might make a day trip out of it in the coming week.  We then left the kids at the junction and John and I headed back into Leoville (34 kms) while they continued on back to Lac Eau Claire.  We had about the same mileage to go.   All in all, it was an awesome ride.  Lots of miles and of course it ended up being a night ride which was pretty cool with the new light bar!!

Beautiful trails

Fixing Justin's belt

One cannot dispute the beauty of our North

Poor dear has no toys....so has to settle for a water bottle!!

Shirley, scooping mud out of the side by side on Huard Tower Trail

John says this is a woodpecker.  He was busy at the feeder.

We also took a quad trip with Dave, Shirley and Gary this week.  I wanted to see if I was actually able to sit on my quad so decided to ride mine on the agreement that if my hips got too sore, that someone would trade spots with me and I could sit in one of the side by sides.  I actually did very well and only required a short stint in the side by side before getting back on my quad and riding home.
Cooper took my spot in our side by side and totally enjoyed the day although he did get thrown out of the quad during one of the infamous water/mud crossings.  He came up totally black as the mud he was wallowing in!!  No worse for wear....he quickly swam out to Dave and Shirley who were stuck in the mud in the middle of the swamp!! Dave had to save him from the bog by reaching over the side and hauling his ass into the quad!!  Cooper then jumped over the  windshield and proceeded to sit on the hood of Dave's side by side to survey the situation.  Shirley, in the meantime got out of the quad and was making her way over to John and his winch!!  She eventually got the quad hooked up but not before she as dirty as Cooper!!  Needless to say, fun was had by all.  Gary rode my quad across the swamp and I will forever be grateful for that.  My walk across was pretty hard with these damn sore hips but I did manage to reach the other side!!  Once we got off the Huard Shelter Trail,   we travelled to Huard Lake trail over to Vimy.  We then did the back way to mile 12 eventually hitting the North Road and headed home.   Another great trip behind us.  No injuries and only one minor breakdown. Dave's side by side got a flat tire so that had to be dealt with and then we headed back to Leoville.
In amongst all this fun, I did manage to work three shifts this week so needless to say, it was a busy week for us!!  Life is good.

Sunday, July 24/2016 - Saturday, July 30/2016

Add caption

This week, we have the kids at the lake and as always, there are plenty of trail rides that we can join in on.  We made arrangements to meet the kids at Mile 8 for a bit of a ride and then got a call from Kimmy saying she was lost in the bush and didn't know where the other riders were.  We managed to give her directions and she eventually met up with Jace and Justin and Alissa and we eventually met them all at Vimy.  It was a bit further for us but we simply modified the ride.

Add caption

It turned out to be quite a LONG ride but I am sure fun was had by all.   We headed from Vimy, accessed the trail about a mile north of there and eventually hit 8 Mile.  We stopped at the snowmobile shelter then hit Eddie's Trail and headed over to The Block.  It is always a good ride along Deer Lake and today was no different.  We stopped at Five Corners then headed over to the trails around Timberlost Cabin.  Justin blew a belt along the trail and was lucky enough to have had a spare so we took an hour out of riding to do the necessary repairs.  John and I saw a black bear along the trail just before the break down and Alissa was hoping to get to see him as well.  Kimmy.... not so much!!  Once back on the trail, we crossed the river where the "old bridge" used to be and headed down the trail.  John and I were in the lead and had just mentioned to me that this was prime moose country and no sooner had he said the words....out of the bush comes this moose crashing and smashing through the trees and onto the trail in front of us.  Man, she was not wasting anytime around us.  She took a few steps down the trail and then went back into the bush.  She left us in the dust!!

Add caption

We accessed the Big River grid and we took the kids into Utah Lake.   Jace had not been there before and was interested about what kind of fish were swimming around in the lake.   We told him that Dave catches some decent sized Jackfish out of the lake.  It has easy access from the grid so he said they just might make a day trip out of it in the coming week.  We then left the kids at the junction and John and I headed back into Leoville (34 kms) while they continued on back to Lac Eau Claire.  We had about the same mileage to go.   All in all, it was an awesome ride.  Lots of miles and of course it ended up being a night ride which was pretty cool with the new light bar!!

Beautiful trails

Fixing Justin's belt

One cannot dispute the beauty of our North

Poor dear has no toys....so has to settle for a water bottle!!

Shirley, scooping mud out of the side by side on Huard Tower Trail

John says this is a woodpecker.  He was busy at the feeder.

We also took a quad trip with Dave, Shirley and Gary this week.  I wanted to see if I was actually able to sit on my quad so decided to ride mine on the agreement that if my hips got too sore, that someone would trade spots with me and I could sit in one of the side by sides.  I actually did very well and only required a short stint in the side by side before getting back on my quad and riding home.
Cooper took my spot in our side by side and totally enjoyed the day although he did get thrown out of the quad during one of the infamous water/mud crossings.  He came up totally black as the mud he was wallowing in!!  No worse for wear....he quickly swam out to Dave and Shirley who were stuck in the mud in the middle of the swamp!! Dave had to save him from the bog by reaching over the side and hauling his ass into the quad!!  Cooper then jumped over the  windshield and proceeded to sit on the hood of Dave's side by side to survey the situation.  Shirley, in the meantime got out of the quad and was making her way over to John and his winch!!  She eventually got the quad hooked up but not before she as dirty as Cooper!!  Needless to say, fun was had by all.  Gary rode my quad across the swamp and I will forever be grateful for that.  My walk across was pretty hard with these damn sore hips but I did manage to reach the other side!!  Once we got off the Huard Shelter Trail,   we travelled to Huard Lake trail over to Vimy.  We then did the back way to mile 12 eventually hitting the North Road and headed home.   Another great trip behind us.  No injuries and only one minor breakdown. Dave's side by side got a flat tire so that had to be dealt with and then we headed back to Leoville.
In amongst all this fun, I did manage to work three shifts this week so needless to say, it was a busy week for us!!  Life is good.

Wednesday, August 17/2016

Fireweed along the Microwave Trail and a small waterfall

Today, Lorne went to work in the morning then took the afternoon off. There is construction on Highway 3 outside of Fernie and Lorne says the back up of traffic is terrible in the afternoon so works only mornings before all the traffic gets bad.

more water falls

Checking out a waterfall

Wild Daisies

Lorne and Marilyn love to travel the back roads around their place and Lorne is a historian of the area and loves to share his knowledge.  He is incredible to listen to and the bits of information he is privy to is so very interesting.  He knows the history of this area back for years.
They decided to take us up to the microwave tower that sits on one of the many mountains above their acreage.  The trip was beautiful as we traversed roads and trails that zig zagged the mountain as we made our ascent.  As we climbed higher, the flora took on the quality of the alpine ecosystem that they survive in.  It was incredible to start at the bottom of the mountain where the trees tower over the land to end up where the trees are much more stunted.  The air was crisper too and bunny hugs were needed!!  It was a really good spot for an adult beverage!!

Lorne

John, standing on top

More beauty

the pools at the top of the falls

Lorne helping Marie down

Awesome views

A field of wild alpine daisies

Lorne and John looking down at the town of Fernie

incredible views

The ride down the mountain was just as spectacular as the ride up.  Lorne took a detour showing us even more country.  Man, are we blessed that we live in such a beautiful country!!

Wild Alpine Daisies - Beautiful

Mountais - they seem to go on.......forever

The Elk River Valley

Lorne pointing out their place

Lorne reading a survey stake

A hawk posing for us

Wayne and Theresa joined us for supper and John cooked ribs for us.  Once again, they were delicious.   Marilyn was responsible for the potatoes and the carrots. Mmmm.   We were all full and totally satisfied after the meal.  We sat around the campfire again tonight and we all had several laughs and enjoyed the evening!!  It was sooo good to see our friends again.  Life truly is good!!

Sunday, August 21/2016 - Saturday August 27/2016

Marie had a new friend when we got home

Sunday, July 17/2016 - Saturday, July 23/2016

This week started out with a quad ride.  Dave, Shirley, Jeff, Gary and John and I hit the trails.  It had been raining off and on for the past week so we knew the trails were likely going to be a bit wetter than the previous time on the trails.  We had a short but powerful storm go through last evening so wet ground was inevitable!!
We got down to Deer Lake and it reminded me of the trails of a few years.....mud, mud and more mud!!  Oh dear.....this is going to be a very "dirty" day!!
Gary's quad was making quite a noise so he decided to head back to town.  The rest of us continued on and we did a big loop trail that took us to Hooker Lake, past Harry Piche's cabin, past the old truck, to the shelter and back to Heart Lake.  It was awesome but I was covered with all kinds of mud and dirt.
When we got to the turn off to Heart Lake, John asked if anyone wanted to check out the trail to the south end of Otter Lake and everyone was game for that so we took a detour to Otter.  We stopped along side Beau Creek and Dave noted that the beavers were building a dam and that the flow of the creek was greatly reduced.  Well, it wasn't too long before there was a huge hole in the dam and the water was flowing freely into the creek!!  I am sure Mr. Beaver will not be too impressed when he sees Dave's bit of destruction!!
We carried on the Otter Lake and I was really surprised to see how low the water level was again this year.  There is no way that Leon is going to be getting his fishing barge off shore and into the lake this year!!  The water's edge is just too far away.  One would probably have to extend the dock another 100 feet to get to water!!
All in all, it was a good trip.  Losing Gary was our only casualty but Jeff had a flat tire by the time we got to Otter so that had to be dealt with.  We all arrived home safe and sound and that is always a good thing.
This week also marked Cooper's surgery.  It was time for him to get "fixed".  He went in Tuesday morning and John and I picked him up around 4:30 that same day.   He was looking pretty sad and spent the rest of the evening puking his poor little guts out.  He obviously did not take well to the anesthetic.  He also got chipped and had a good examination of his mouth injury as well as suture removal from his lip.  All in all, the surgery went well.  Bonnie (the vet) was really pleased with the way his mouth healed.  She had an issue with the first micro chip she inserted so had to insert another. Apparently the first chip wasn't transmitting so now Cooper has two!!
The evening went quietly along until it was time to put the cone over Cooper's head so that he would not lick the incision.  Well, I no sooner got in on than he began freaking out.  Jesus, I have never in my life heard such shrieking and sheer and utter terror coming out of a dog in my life.   Cooper took off and did a spin around inside the trailer hitting every possible object in here all the while shrieking at the top of his lungs.  I finally caught him in the bedroom and by the time John got his cone and collar off, we were both traumatized.  John opened up the door and Cooper took off into the night!!  Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I wanted to take off into the night as well!!  Holy Buckets Batman!!
After giving him about 20 minutes to settle down, we went out to try and find him.  We found him under a trailer in the corner of the yard looking like he had been beat!!   It took a minute to convince him to come out but eventually we did manage to get him back into the trailer.
By this time I was exhausted.....Have I ever mentioned that I really did not want this dog in the first place!!   Time for me to head to bed to calm my nerves.   Jesus......
The rest of the week passed quietly with Cooper feeling better and eventually feeling so much better that he decided that it would be OK to chew the brand new iPhone cord.  So glad it wasn't the old one!!  Holy Buckets!!  Man, this animal is trying my patience!!
The kids arrived for their two weeks at the lake.