Wednesday, April 21 to Wednesday, April 28, 2021 (Tunkwa Lake Provincial Park, Logan Lake, BC)

Our morning pack-up Wednesday (April 21) morning went smoothly and we pulled out of Claybanks RV Park at 9:35. We had an uneventful trip to Tunkwa Provincial Park, arriving about an hour later…a little slower with Buster towing up the hills. Still find it strange following in the car! LOL

As we pulled into Leighton North Campground, we were pleased to see our favourite campsite available…#1. We got situated on the site, leveled…and again happy that we did not have to unhitch!

Such a beautiful warm morning, we immediately changed into shorts and flip-flops and got to work setting up our camp. Its definitely a change getting back into power and water management…and outhouses…after over a year of RV parks and full hook-ups! However, the thing we miss most is not having internet! I wanted to share this beautiful view on-line!

 Steve cleaned the outside of the windows and I did the inside...

Unfortunately, clouds rolled in in the afternoon along with a breeze but we sat outside taking in our view…Steve with the binoculars and camera watching for wildlife by the lake, and me knitting.

A flock of Sandhill Cranes

As it got chillier, we switched back into pants, hoodies and shoes…and Steve brought out the propane campfire. Brian, the volunteer taking care of Leighton and North Leighton campgrounds came by to clean out our firepit but we don’t have any firewood…yet.
We went in just before 5:30 and powered up the big TV to watch the news…also a couple of programs after dinner. We shut it all down about 8:30, heading into the bedroom to watch the smaller 12-volt TV. We also had the generator on for a couple of hours just before bed to bring the batteries up.

Thursday (April 22) morning it was 4C when we got up but as the sun came up, it dropped to 2. We thought we’d get out for a hike, so shortly after 9:30 we headed out. It was a beautiful sunny day but the wind had come up and it was cold!

We are taking the trail that goes around the Leighton Lake to Tunkwa Lake. We’re likely the first ones on it this season, so we shall see what shape it is in.

Lots of Canada Geese here ready for nesting...

View as we leave Leighton North Campground...

View of our site from across the lake...

Volunteer Brian's site at the still closed Leighton Campground...

Ducks...

...and Geese...

Leighton North left and Leighton campgrounds right... 

Killdeer...

We are headed for that hill ahead...

We are now at the opposite end of the lake from the campground...still lots of ice!

View from the bench. There are cabins on both lakes even though this is a provincial park. They were here before this area became a park...

Our destination...Bench Hill...

We took the trail that goes up to bench overlooking Tunkwa Lake...much steeper than it looks!

Great views of Leighton and Tunkwa Lakes. Note the swirls in the ice...

Tunkwa Campground where we will move to for the summer...

Looking towards the entrance to the park. New workcampers rig on the left...

Eagles on the ice...

Time to continue on...

Back down to the main trail, we continued towards Tunkwa campground, crossing the foot bridge that goes over Tunkwa Creek, between Tunkwa and Leighton Lakes…beautiful waterfall…

As we sat at the site we hoped to get at Tunkwa this Eagle was checking us out...

We continued on the trail to Leighton campground…

Entering the still closed Leighton Campground...

Volunteer Brian stays here. The creek from Leighton Lake...no fishing within 100 metres of it's mouth...

Leighton North Campground where we are...

We completed the loop back at North Leighton campground. I didn’t record our route because I didn’t think the app would work with no internet but my FitBit said we had taken 12,000 steps.

The wind was howling outside…which is good for breaking up the ice on the lakes…but it was cold! So we basically hunkered down inside enjoying the sun as it streamed through the windows.

Friday (April 23) morning we woke to -6C with heavy frost on the ground and car! Clear and cold overnight! I got up at 5:40…I just can’t seem to sleep very well these days! So I got up, turned up the heat and put on the coffee. We use the Coleman propane coffee maker when we have no electricity and it takes twice as long to brew the coffee as the electric pot does.

We headed into Logan Lake mid-morning…to fill a propane tank, pick up a few groceries and, of course, get updated on the internet. I had text conversations with both of our sons, checked email, and got all our pictures uploaded to the laptop.

We had a late lunch once we got home and then Steve went to work on some chores outside…mainly filling the trailer’s fresh water tank. That involved many trips back and forth to the hand pump, which hardly pumps but is conveniently located just across the road. 

Unfortunately, the clouds have rolled in and it looks like we’re in for change of weather. We’ve had a fantastic 12-day stretch of above seasonal temperatures…back to some rain. We managed to sit outside for happy hour and then headed in as the breeze got too chilly.

Saturday (April 24) morning was a tad bit warmer than yesterday…hovering around freezing outside. As usual, I was up first, turned up the heat and got the coffee going. Not having internet is really hard to adjust to…so much for our morning routine of catching up on our devices while watching the morning news. We had our first cup of coffee sitting in our recliners and then at 7:00 grabbed our second cup and went into the bedroom to watch the news on the small TV.

After breakfast, Steve decided to try fishing from the shore. He was out there for about 40 minutes with no success, so came back to the trailer. I cleaned up inside and then walked down to watch him.

I guess they didn't like what was on Steve's menu. Pumpkin heads usually work well here...

We believe there could be some rain showers this afternoon, so decided to get out for a walk this morning. Besides we wanted to check out Tunkwa Lake to see how the ice is. This time we walked the trail from North Leighton campground to Leighton campground, catching the trail from there to Tunkwa campground.

These feathers weren't here 2 days ago...

Not the best picture but these are Snow Geese sleeping on the ice...

To our surprise we found the ice was off Tunkwa Lake! We went to the compound and talked to Sue. They were planning on opening the campground (and the long-stay sites) Monday morning…unfortunately, we later heard that BC Parks has delayed the opening. Doug came by later to let us know and have a quick chat.

So we continue to enjoy North Leighton campground…which we basically have to ourselves. There had been 5 other campers (including 2 in tents!) but they all left this morning. However, by the time we got back from our walk, another truck and trailer had pulled in down along the lakefront.

Sunday (April 25)...Well, we have not had any rain but the clouds and wind have rolled in over the last couple of days. The daytime high today was about 7C but that wind, which would gust and then die right down and back up again, was cutting…especially in the afternoon.

I did some baking this morning while Steve decided to fire up the quads…a ride this afternoon might be in order! It’s great here in Leighton North campground because you are allowed to ride to the trails from your site. There is also a huge staging area.

Steve’s quad fired right up…but not mine. He ended up having to jump-start it from his. I guess it has been a while since it has been started. Steve had been so good at routinely firing them, and the generator, up monthly since we got back from Arizona over a year ago now. But obviously that seemed to go by the wayside during the winter months. His was used during his hunting trip last October, so it was fine.

Once the quads were off-loaded, he started to check the tire pressures. He had the compressor on my front right tire when all of a sudden, the valve step tip broke off! Well, so much for our afternoon ride!

He had the tire off and in the trunk of the car ready to take it into Logan Lake to have it repaired when we realized that it was Sunday. Oh well, we decided to go into town anyway…have an internet fix LOL!

We had also learned from a fellow that drove through the campground this morning that we could fill our water jugs up at the Visitors Centre in Logan Lake. He is staying at the municipal campground there and although he has power and sewer, the water is not on yet. Thanks for the info, Andrew!

We checked where we thought the tire repair could be done…yup, closed today, and then drove to the Rec Centre parking lot where we sat on our devices…internet, yay! We have actually returned to our boondocking ways very easily…but it’s the internet that we both really miss! Sure hope that the new Starlink --- is available for mobile RV users soon!

After catching up on emails and FaceBook, we had video calls with both of our sons and their families (I think we will made it weekly Sunday drive into Logan Lake), and then we headed home.

We had a late lunch and then Steve went out to do some maintenance on the quads. Good idea since he won’t be able to have them out of the truck when we are at Tunkwa campground.

He changed out the dusty air filters to some clean spares...

After dinner Steve decided to try a little fly fishing again...

I took my glass of wine and went down to watch...

Unfortunately a headwind came up almost as soon as we got there making fishing difficult, so he called it a night.

Picture of 2 Eagles taken from inside our rig...

Monday (April 26) morning, we headed into Logan Lake first thing to get my quad tire fixed. Of course, while there, we took advantage of having internet and parked in the Rec Centre’s lot for a bit. After getting some banking done…and catching up a bit on email and FB…we headed back to the lake.

Once home, I did the dishes while Steve put the wheel back on my quad…then we were ready for a ride! I quickly made a lunch to pack with us and we were off shortly before 11:30.

We decided to ride to Savona...a very scenic ride...

Me coming down a hill that's much steeper than it looks. On the way back we took the snow covered road on the left that bypasses the hill...

Lunch break with a view!

We came across free range cattle that went on for miles...

They have lots of calves...

Some didn't want to move...

Kamloops Lake ahead...

Savona coming into view and the road ahead...

Not a very big place...

We were back home just before 2:00…a great ride!

While watching TV Steve noticed something out of the corner of his eye. It was a Coyote. Picture taken from inside our rig...

Tuesday (April 27) and another chilly morning when we got up…-1.4 C and only 8C in the trailer. Steve had decided to leave the propane heater off and only rely on the furnace. We have never used our furnace much while boondocking so really didn’t know how much power it would use. Turns out it wasn’t too bad…Steve is just figuring out the temperature to set it at. A tad chilly last night!

After exercises, breakfast and showers we drove the car over to Tunkwa campground. We had learned that the campground is opening tomorrow and wanted to be first I line. We met Doug and Sue who recommended we not leave it parked there. They would watch for rigs coming in and let us know. Well, we weren’t home long and I was helping Steve load the quads in the truck, when Sue came by. Apparently, someone is in line already for the 7:00 a.m. opening tomorrow morning. So I drove the car over to park it behind Dan’s trailer…he will keep an eye on it for us. Thanks, Dan!

I timed my walk back to our site…about 22 minutes. So we will be up and out bright an early tomorrow morning to walk back to our car. We have picked up a small tent to put on the site we want since a camping unit must be there…no just leaving chairs or car there.

Meanwhile, Steve was loading the quads back in the truck and packing up what he could.

Duck!!!!

That evening the clouds and snow came down low on the mountains across the lake...

Wednesday (April 28) morning we were up, had a cup of coffee, and were ready to head out at 6:00 a.m. for our walk over to the car, in line for the opening of Tunkwa Campground. It only took us about 22 minutes and it was a beautiful walk...

And there is the line-up...9 RV's waiting for the 7:00 a.m. opening. We are second in line...all hoping to get their favourite 'long-stay' site.

We had no problem getting the site we wanted...site 54, is the same site we had 5 years ago when we stayed here for 6 weeks. The long-stay sites are $280 for 4 weeks and include the extra vehicle...pretty darned good at $10/night!

The views out our windows...

After our set up, we relaxed outside taking in the view and then went for a walk around the campground.

Ah....it's so good to finally be settled in for the next 4+ months!