More Fires

We finally gave up watching the forest fire airshow going on just west of Castlegar, BC, and decided to head a bit north, up towards Slocan Lake.  After checking out a couple of side roads, we settled for this short spur road off the highway, with a nice high lake view.  The ‘watch cat’ was on duty watching for anyone else that might try to get too close!

Next day, we continued on northward, through Silverton, New Denver, and Nakusp.  We have traveled that way many times, but it was a pleasant surprise to find a brand new (still under construction) Forest service rec site – right on the water, just a few km north of town!

Because of it’s convenient location close to town, the highway, and the lake, I suspect it will become very popular when people discover it.  I also suspect it will be a ‘fee’ site.  So It was greatly enjoyed before the crowds come.

Though the ‘plan’ called for a continued northward trajectory, that all changed in the morning when a msg arrived advising that friends Gary and Kim were camping south along the lake at Burton.  So we headed that way instead.

We were reminded the fire season was not yet over as we headed south of McDonald Creek PP.  Helicopters were working this fire, bucketing out of the lake, and a couple of firefighters were spotted along the highway, presumably setting up a pump in the creek.

As usual, we were not in a rush, so found an out of the way spot to watch the air show for a while.

A ‘cat line’ (no relation to Hailey) had just been completed at the base of the fire above the highway, so the cat was loading up and getting gone.

We met up with Gary and Kim and some golfing friends of theirs near Burton, enjoyed some refreshments by the lake, and returned to their campsite for some supper and to solve a few of the world’s problems around the (propane) fire.  With the fire bans in place for most of the province most of the summer, the firewood sales people will not be making a buck – unless they also sell propane burners!

Hailey and I retreated to our ‘new-found’ spot by the lake with only the sounds of the loons, geese, herons, and osprey to wake us in the morning.

After that, the original ‘plan’ was back in effect, with a few more photos of the fire as we passed by.  This time we made it all the way to the Galena Bay – Shelter Bay ferry, and crossed the lake.

Since last time we had spent any time in the area, a new log dump had been constructed, and the first few km of the road along the lake shore greatly improved.  We just had to check it out, and it proved a good spot for some aerial views.

About 10km down the lakeshore is Eagle Bay forest service rec site, so we carried on to check it out.  It is a pretty nice spot and I suspect it is packed with families most of the summer (the price is right), and there were a half dozen rigs still there after Labour day, but there was plenty of room, so we got a private spot by a gurgling creek.

The fire ban was still in effect, but I guess someone determined that it was serious enough to put 3 signs at the entrance, as well as at least three more down among the campsites!

According to the calendar, we have been on the road this time for going on three weeks.  With luck, as long as the fires quit burning and the creeks don’t rise, we might be back home in a week or so to see if the grass needs cutting yet!