Sunday, August 23, 2009

Are we hot or what?

Day two of our cachouting into the Fraser Canyon was a hot one...it beat the previous day by a full degree...39C... but it felt much hotter, probably because it was hot earlier and therefore we had to deal with it for a longer period of time. But we managed, I better than mom because I seem to deal with heat better. So some of the caches were attended by just me while she stayed in AC'd comfort.

Our day started cool: 24C...how pleasant! Really! Ideal weather to have breakfast on the deck of the motel instead of inside.

Our first cache was a visit to the one we could not find the night before. It proved to be something I had touched but not examined closely enough to recognize it as a cache. It was part of a Gold Country series, and several were identical...we did about 7 or 8 of them...our total for the day was 30...not bad eh?

We were very happy that we were led to the Thompson River a few times. It gave mom a chance to take off her shoes and find refreshment for her feet and face. I was foolish enough to do that too, but only once...I hate wet feet in sandals...

We visited Ashcroft, a city neither of us had ever been. It is off HWY 1 into the hills. It is the town where most of the Fraser Valley ships its garbage...fortunately we saw or smelled no evidence of that. It is a pleasant little town, prosperous too by the looks of it, possibly because of the large (Bethlehem) copper mine nearby, and perhaps a bit because of our garbage...

For one cache we had to walk up a hill that had a flourishing population of cacti(usses...take your pick). It was a different feeling to discover how easily these little creatures change hosts...



At one of the caches we found the log before we saw the cache - in the hand of a fellow cacher who was busily signing it...they were from Prince George. It is always neat to meet a fellow cacher.

As we traveled south we continued to do the Gold Country series which brought us to a number of interesting old churches...for some reason all Anglican...with names like St. Alban's the Martyr, St. Aidan's of Pokeist, Church of St. Mary and St. Paul (I guess if one saint is good two must be better...). I admit shamefully that I have not done my research on how those names came to be so I had better not make fun of a name...sorry St. Mary and St. Paul...:(

During the two days we did a number of BC Spirit Quest caches. They are there to draw attention to old cemeteries and the pioneers that were buried there. Although the actual cache is never in the cemetery proper (unlike in the States where every, and I mean every cemetery has a cache on the grounds) but usually we go to have a look at some of the old tombstones anyway. Often they are hard to read because of their age, and neglect, but it is still interesting. This day we did not do any of that...too hot...get back to the car...cool off...

A very interesting experience was a trip on the Lytton Reaction Ferry which took us across the Fraser River. It is a vessel without an engine. It is attached to a cable strung across the river by four cables. The current moves the vessel, and I guess the operation of the cables brings it to the other side. Being on it, and sitting on a bench positioned on a grate (here we go again! but this time the openings were rather small! and we were only one foot above the water so no need to fear heights here except for perhaps the lack of same) we got a very good feeling for the speed and force of the current. Very good feeling! Very good speed! Very good current! Both ways! But not scary...

Did I mention that it was hot...we have the proof right here...The picture is not too clear...it says "Canada's Hot Spot - Lytton BC"...It does not mention a temperature. That way it stays current...?

I think that wave means, 'Bye for now'.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Oh, Alexandra...




This week we had a chance to break out of it for a couple of days. Gerry and Alice VandeBurgt had offered to be here to feed the dogs and attend to whatever might need attention.
A couple of weeks ago we had dreams of going to Oregon for two weeks but that never happened...not a good time, too many things to do...

Seeing that G. & A. were planning to come here anyway so Gerry could do some carpentry stuff, we asked them to stay for a couple of nights.

On Wednesday we took off for the Fraser Canyon. A lot of new caches had been placed there so it looked like we could easily spend two or three days there.

The Fraser Canyon never stops to fill me with awe and wonder for all its beauty...not necessarily 'nice' beauty but often brute forces, unstoppable currents, mountains shaken by the hand of God and dropped down again so that all the seams run any which way...

It is hard to catch depth in pictures...this lady, below, is a few feet away from a 100 meter drop into the river...it makes me uneasy in my stomach just to look at the picture...but she has no fear...


On our way along the river near Yale, we came across this interesting structure...



We have had a lot of very large and destructive forest fires this summer but fortunately that did not affect this area. We did see smoke, probably from the fires that are still burning near Lilloet.

A pretty picture of a sand castle?


One spot that always intrigued me as we drove through the canyon was the reference to the Alexandra bridge, the first bridge across the Fraser in that area to accommodate the Cariboo Wagon Road which was built during and after the gold rush(es). I had seen glimpses of the bridge but never been close to it. This time we had no choice for there was a cache across the bridge so down the very good trail we went, across the railroad, of course, because they are just everywhere, and suddenly, there was the bridge. Not a ramshackle, ready to drop-into-the-river structure of rotting wood but a solid steel bridge with a solid deck.

But alas...the deck is of the kind that is in my bad books...it is a metal grate so that when you walk on it you are at all times aware of how high you are above the rushing current...no escaping that...
Look ahead and up as you go, you say? Don't work, I am afraid...my eyes are inexorably drawn to where I need to walk, and the spot I am about to set my foot is on see-through grate...step after step after step...

I have to give myself credit that I ventured out out onto the bridge...just like the little doggie that just could not stay behind but had to follow its owners...but its poor feet were too small for the sizeable openings of the grate so it had to place its feet on the edges...you get the picture...it made it back safely...and so did I after turning around after about 30 or 40 feet. It just was no go...

It helped to know that I did not really have to make it to the other side because I was not there just by myself but accompanied by my faithful caching partner who is either going or gone depending on the situation. This time she had no problem being the going one so there she went.

It is unfortunate that we did not take any pictures there, choosing instead to do a bit of a running commetary on the video camera. However, since I do not know whether you can attach that to a blog or how to get you to look at it in one way or another, you may never see it...too bad because I found myself to be quite capable of keeping the chatter going, much better than my feet a little earlier. Instead of the bridge, here is the Alexandra Lodge along the TC...


Mrs. Going made it safely to the other side which put her out of view because the bridge has a bit of a hump like most of their ilk...so now it was waiting and watching other people cross the bridge. Quite a variety of nationalities...I heard French, German, Dutch and what not all...

I was mightily comforted in my soul when one member of a party decided that he was not the graty type either. I endeavoured to draw him into a conversation about being kindred spirits and all that, but he declined because he did not understand me. Briefly I entertained the idea of conveying my thoughts to him by means of mime but it was beyond me...well, if you think it is so easy you try it...

Make the graty shapes with your two hands...yes you need two hands, that's how big the holes were...than try to step on your hands and walk at the same time...and while doing that show well camouflaged fear...note that little touch...show something that is camouflaged? try it sometimes...all the while being in extreme agony, of course, because my hands are not made to walk on...So, in spite of the fact that I had it all figured out, I had to give it a pass. I let him go to pick blackberries...

In the meantime, time was a-moving right along. The estimated time of return by Mrs. G. passed and passed some more...quite some more actually...it became somewhat uncomfortable to be honest...I knew she had to go downslope toward the river somewhat and I was beginning to worry whether she had slipped and hurt herself or what...mind you, I was not too greatly worried...there were enough people at the other side to be there to help her should she need it, saving me from having to cross after all...

All is well that ends well...she did return, rejoicing at having found the cache at the fourth maple she visited...maple was the hint, you see...
However, when she had arrived safely on the safe side, the exertion combined with the heat got to her (I have not had time so far to mention the heat...38C!)...she became very uncomfortable, red, and nauseous...perhaps a light case of heat stroke...
It did not last too long, and our way back up to the car was mostly in the shade (shadow for those who get the wink...:)) so by the time we got to the jeep she was okay again.

At one of our caches we were forced to search for gold...mom's necklace broke spilling the two pendants into the gravel...fortunately, her sharp eyes quickly located them among the rocks...


We had booked a room in Cache Creek because we could not really find anything that appealed to us in the closer-by towns so when we had enough of caching for a day (we had done 26 by then) we drove an hour to get to CC...

Wave to the old Indian if you wish...


We went for dinner to a small restaurant and found that their AC had broken down...why we did not turn around and go somewhere else we will never know so I cannot tell you...but we made it through our meal and went back to our AC'd room...

Seeing that it was not yet totally dark we went out again to do one last cache but we failed to find it...which was a good motivation for doing more caching the next day...so see you then.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

On the Road Again...

We have had very little time to do any caching since we moved to Deroche. Just two days is all we managed, once a whole day with another couple, and once part of a day when there were all of a sudden five new caches in our immediate area. Of course, that meant 'Boots On' to go after the FTF's, and small miracle, we got them all. Talking about people wanting us back into caching to go to all the trouble of placing these caches just for us! It isn't that only we went after them, but we were just too close to give anyone else a chance.


These past four weeks were very busy with Stepping Stones going on. Perhaps I will write about that in a new blog I have wanted to start for quite some time but so far never got around to. But now those four hectic weeks are behind us, and we have a chance to catch our breath, we want to get back into caching to a degree.


Yesterday saw us make that desire the first reality. We went into Mission, but mostly into Abbotsford where enough new caches had been placed since we moved that they easily kept us busy for a day. We did not really have any spectacular things happen to warrant a special post to this blog, but I figured that if I do not start writing again it will not happen...how is that for logic...must be all the sunshine we have been having...sunshine and some extreme heat!


So beside the fact that we did 17 caches, four of them multis which always take more time, there is not really anything to report. So I will insert some pictures to liven this one up a bit, and that will have to be it for this time.


One cache was just a monster as far as weight was concerned, but it had a cache in it so it had to be lifted to get at the bottom...




But then some people just laugh at the pull of gravity...



Caching always brings you to interesting, historical places...




A mother and her children beside Stoney Creek in Bateman park...



And with this one we wave you goodbye for now...