We loaded the car with a propane tank, blue water containers, 4 bags of laundry and the laptop and headed off into Logan Lake. Our first stop was the bank to buy a roll of loonies for the laundromat. When we got to the laundromat, we were happy to see it empty. I got our 3 loads of laundry into the machines while Steve went to fill the propane tank and get fresh water from the visitor centre.
And the laundromat is where we spent most of the day…they have a chair and table near an electrical outlet, which was perfect for the laptop and working on a blog update. Luckily, no one else came to do laundry until the afternoon. Mind you, he came in, put his laundry in the machines and took off…perfect.
Even though our laundry was finished, we stayed in the empty laundromat until we had the blog update done and posted. It was just after 2:30 when we packed up the laptop and headed off. After a quick stop to pick up a few groceries, we headed home. Wow, that was a fast day!
After we had put everything away, it would have been a perfect late afternoon to sit by a campfire. The sun had “semi” come out with just a light cloud covering…however, the wind was miserable, so inside we sat. At least with all our windows, we can still enjoy the sunshine and view!
As the wind really started to kick up, we ended up inside for most of the afternoon....but we did get out for a quick walk!
On the cliff top overlooking the spit...
We looked over the cliffside and found a mother goose sitting on her nest below...
It was about 10:30 when we headed into Logan Lake…again! We seem to be making a lot of trips into town…mainly to fill propane tanks. With the cold nights hovering at or just below freezing we are going through quite a bit of propane with the heater.
Filling up with fresh water at the visitors center....
Of course, we caught up on a bunch of stuff that requires internet…email, facebook, banking…all that good stuff that you take for granted when you have a constant internet connection. We also had video calls with Rob, Conner and Bryce, as well as Chris and Isaac. We called when neither of the ‘Angelas’ were available…oh well, maybe next week! Just before leaving town, we also had a video call with Dennis and Suzanne (my brother and SIL). Good talking to family…all are healthy, thank goodness.
This area has a long history of mining...
We discovered that we have a neighbour in our site...
We had our first campfire late this afternoon…and, as usual, the smoke went every which way! The wind seems to change directions every few minutes, LOL.
We managed to roast hot dogs over the fire for dinner and finish just as it started to sprinkle…good timing! We retreated inside for the rest of the evening.
Our view from inside...
We had a very productive morning finalizing our outdoor set up…awning out, mat down and barbeque in place. Steve also took care of a bunch of chores. While we were outside some horseback riders came long....
After lunch we took Buster down to the boat launch to off-load the boat. The lake is calm, there are lots of fishers out in their boats on the lake and Steve can hardly wait to be one of them. All went well until Steve went to put the gas container in the boat and found that the primer bulb on the gas line was as hard as a rock. Well, it has been a couple of years since we’ve had the boat in the water, so I guess it’s not too surprising. We had planned a shopping trip into Kamloops later on in the week…guess it will be tomorrow!
Back at camp, Steve took the bikes off the back of the trailer. We took them for a short spin and then I decided to get out for a walk, leaving Steve relaxing outside enjoying the view.
We sat outside for the rest of the afternoon, taking in the calmness and beauty of the lake as the sun went in and out of the clouds. But there was no wind…a lovely afternoon!
Monday (May 3) morning we headed out just after 8:30…a shopping trip to Kamloops. We had planned on going later in the week but with Steve needing a new primer bulb for his boat gas line, today was the day!
Monday (May 3) morning we headed out just after 8:30…a shopping trip to Kamloops. We had planned on going later in the week but with Steve needing a new primer bulb for his boat gas line, today was the day!
We took a route that we have never driven before, instead of going south to Logan Lake and then east to the Coquihalla highway and north, we went north to Savona…a beautiful but very windy route as it made its way down the mountain.
Kamloops Lake...
At Savona, we caught the Trans-Canada highway east to Kamloops.
Our first stop was at Costco…which was incredibly busy! They also didn’t seem to worry about limiting the numbers inside, which surprised me, but at least everyone was “masked up”. After that, we went to Canadian Tire, Walmart, Lordco…lunch at an A and W Drive-thru…then to Shoppers Drug Mart, Save-On-Foods, Jaxsen-Pacific Marine and Motorsport and finally back to Lordco.
We got home around 3:30…a very busy (and expensive) shopping trip! But we also had internet access, so Steve caught up on his stuff while I was shopping…and vis-versa.
A beautiful sunset tonight...
Steve repaired his boat gas line while I puttered around inside. And then we got out for a walk around the campground. With the ice off and the snow melt he creek between Tunkwa and Leighton Lakes is really full…
The waterfall from Tunkwa to Leighton Lake...
I walked home and then sat outside in the off and on-again sunshine, knitting and just enjoying being in my happy place.
A couple of hours later Steve was back. He hadn’t caught anything…particularly frustrating with fish jumping all around! But he had forgotten a bunch of his fishing stuff in his fishing vest in the trailer.
He got a campfire going and we sat enjoying a cocktail, the fire and the view. After dinner Steve headed out again returning a couple of hours later...skunked again!
Wednesday (May 5) morning was beautiful…just a light cloud covering, letting plenty of sun come through and just a light breeze.
We spotted these birds from our trailer and thought they were Snow Geese but when Steve took his camera down for a closer look, he discovered they were American White Pelicans...
Steve went out fishing and I headed out on a walk up to “the bench”. Unfortunately, by late morning the breeze had increased and the cloud covering had thickened.
When I got home from my walk, Steve was back and taking care of some outside chores. Steve had a couple of strikes but still no landed fish.
Steve here: 99% of the fishers in this lake use Chironomids which involves casting out and sitting for long periods waiting for your strike indicator to go below the surface. To me this is like watching paint dry as it requires a lot of patience. I prefer to fly-cast or troll but for the most part that doesn't work on this lake. So I guess I'll have to break down and try some chironomids I do have...and maybe go down the road to the lodge and buy what's popular here!
The wind had died down somewhat, so I managed to sit outside knitting for a bit…until it was too chilly and retreated inside.
Thursday (May 6) morning we woke to clouds and a cool 1.5C outside…still getting pretty chilly overnight.
Steve headed down to the boat just before 8:30, leaving me to finish cleaning up inside. Once I was done, I went out for a walk around the campground. There are 3 roads…I started by going down to the water, walking that road, back along the middle road, then up past our site and back down to the water and around back to our site. My tracker said it was 2.7 kms…not too bad, some exercise at least!
I captured a shot of Steve fishing...
On my way back down to the waterfront, I ran into Steve who had just stopped in at the day-use area to use the outhouse. There was a big black cloud coming in from the south and it looked like rain was imminent. Sure enough, I had just gotten home when the rain started…and Steve called on the radio to ask me to bring the car down to get him.
It was a very blustery afternoon. After lunch we went into town for propane and fresh water. Once those chores were done, we parked in the Rec Centre lot and got caught up on the internet. I did a bunch of banking…month-end update of accounts, pay bills, etc. I also like to check in with Rob and Chris to ensure they and their families are all okay.
It absolutely poured in Logan Lake while we were there but as we drove back up to the lake, we noticed it was still quite dry…but very windy.
Friday (May 7) was a very bizarre day weather-wise. We had everything…starting with some sunshine, then rain and hail…and then a full-blown snow storm!
Steve got some chores done outside first thing in the morning then we went for a quick walk. The clouds are extremely low today looking rather ominous...
We both got a few things done inside as it started to snow!
By midafternoon, it had stopped and any that had accumulated on the ground had melted, so we got out for a walk around the campground. But it was definitely chilly! When we got back, we decided to have a campfire. We enjoyed that until the hail started again and we retreated inside.
Saturday (May 8) started off with broken cloud and quite a bit of sunshine. But it was a frosty and cold at -1.5C.
After breakfast, Steve headed out fishing and I decided to hike around Leighton Lake…taking the trail to Leighton campground, then over and through Leighton North campground and around the lake, arriving back at Tunkwa campground…a great 5.38 km hike!
Time for some new fishing gear as Steve's rods are pushing 30 years old and this is the second rod to break since we got here!
Sunday (May 9) and a very Happy Mother’s Day to all those special women! We went into town for propane and water…and of course, have video chats with both of our boys and their families.
There really isn’t anything open, especially for patio dining, in Logan Lake so when we got home, Steve barbecued hot dogs for a late lunch…thanks honey! (My pleasure! :)
Monday (May 10) we decided to head into Kamloops. To our surprise, we have been able to get a fleeting “one bar” signal on our cell phones by placing them in the window sill facing south, so we thought we would try getting a cell booster. We had been holding out for Starlink, the new satellite internet system but it seems it will be a while before it’s available for mobile use. And since we are spending the summer here…well, we thought we’d try a booster. Steve spent a good part of our time yesterday in town researching. Our small bedroom TV is also starting to “go on the fritz” (the picture goes blank -occasionally, but comes back on once turning the TV off and back on again) so Steve packed it into the car trunk and we will see if it’s worth fixing.
Our first stop was at Giddens Services, who said that it would cost us $50 to even have them look at the TV…is it really worth it, especially not knowing if it can be fixed. No, guess not…a new small TV like that is probably around $100 (or so we found out at Walmart). We decided to just wait until the TV gives out completely and then get a new 120 volt model as the 12 vdc TV's are all over $400! We have a little 300 watt inverter in the bedroom that we run our Shaw receiver on so we can run a new TV on that as well.
We went to Walco Radio and Electronics, a place that our friends, Deb and Ray, had purchased their cell booster from a number of years ago. Steve was after the “We Boost”, formerly Wilson however, Walco no longer carries them, deciding to go for Smoothtalker, a Canadian company. The price tag is pretty hefty at $750 plus tax (total $840), so we hummed and hawed about it, finally deciding to “bite the bullet” and give it a try.
Next on the agenda was to find a restaurant with an outside patio for lunch. The sun had come out and it was really quite lovely out! Not knowing the area, we chose Brown’s Social House. Not really much ambiance with the patio being right on a busy street, but it was still great actually going out for a meal. We enjoyed a brew and a delicious lunch….
Steve checked this out and it looks like a wash out below...
We back tracked a bit going around and back to the powerline trail...
This is new...
Finally onto the main road up to Savona Mountain which is a climb for quite a few kilometres...
We have arrived...
We washed our quads...LOL!
Onto the side trail to the Leighton Campground staging area...
Tunkwa Lake is barely visible above Leighton Lake...
Horse corals on the right as we near the campground...
Arriving at the staging area...
It was going on 4:30 by the time we got back…then had to load the quads back into the truck. It’s too bad that Leighton North campground does not have long-stay sites like Tunkwa campground…it would be so much easier to just have the quads out and available to go for a ride whenever we want.
Once back home, we put our riding stuff away and then sat outside to enjoy the late afternoon sunshine with a bevie!
Another beautiful day on the water!
Just inside this small island the fish were jumping. There are geese nesting on the spit...
Looking back towards the campground...
I finally figured out the Go Pro so have proof of fish caught! Three caught and two shook the hook. Notice the Loon on the far right. He kept chasing after my fish but two of the three were too big.
We ran into some rain as we left the restaurant on our way home. Crazy weather…seems you can have pockets of blue sky and sunshine, as well as dark clouds and rain all at the same time!
And that is the way the rest of the day was…sunshine intermingled with rain.
Tuesday (May 11) morning we woke to beautiful clear blue sky…just a tad bit chilly at -1.5C but the sun soon warmed things up.
View from our back window...
After our usual morning, I drove Steve and his fishing gear down to his boat and then headed out for a hike around Leighton Lake. This time, I went the opposite direction…another great hike!
I hadn’t been back long when Steve arrived back…no fish this morning. It was such a nice day that we decided to go for a quad ride. So Steve took care of some things in the box of the truck to make it easier to get the quads in and out while I made a lunch to take.
By the time we drove over to Leighton North staging area and off-loaded the quads, it was shortly after 1:00. Today we headed to Mt. Savona Provincial Park…way up on top of the mountain! It took us a lot longer to get there than I remember, but then it has been 4 years since we’ve ridden this area.
Photos from our Go Pro video...riding along the powerline trail...
The trail next to it looked worse...besides it's too steep for me:)
A cattle guard...
We enjoyed a late lunch on the mountain top overlook the village of Savona on Kamloops Lake….
Time to head back...
We are nearing Leighton Lake...
Once back home, we put our riding stuff away and then sat outside to enjoy the late afternoon sunshine with a bevie!
We woke to clouds Wednesday (May 12) morning but it was at least warmer at 5C outside. It wasn’t long before the rain started…and it was “socked right in”. Such a change from the weather yesterday…but it was expected.
So we spent the morning preparing to head into town later…a good day to do laundry and work on a blog update! Steve downloaded the videos taken on his GoPro yesterday while on our ride…and then he edited pictures. I cleaned up and got all the laundry ready to go.
It was after 12:30 by the time Steve had finished the pictures and we had had lunch…a late start to be going into do laundry! I worked on the blog update in between watching laundry. Unfortunately, we ran out of time…the laundry was done but not the blog and it was after 4:00. Steve had gone to fill a propane tank but we still had water to get, so we will have to finish the update another time. We will be back in town Sunday, so we’ll likely try then.
Thursday (May 13) started with more clouds with a few bits of blue showing through. The lake was so calm…just like glass. Too bad it’s going to be awhile before Steve can get out on it…today is resistance exercise and shower day! LOL
After dropping Steve and his fishing gear off, I pulled out my walking pole and headed off for a walk around Leighton Lake. It was a beautiful day with just a few fluffy clouds hanging around.
Steve arrived back home shortly after me.
We had lunch and then he did some chores outside while I set our chairs up in the sunshine. We enjoyed the afternoon sunshine…finally in shorts and flip-flops again! This is more like it!
On a bike ride around the campground, we found Doug and Hugh working on the dock and asked the cost of a truckload of firewood…$150, a little steep but cheaper than buying it by individual box. So a little while later, Doug delivered it. Sue also stopped by and we had a nice visit with them. We really haven’t talked to them since arriving here…just waves as they drive by. They’ve been busy working…lots to be done with the campground open, and for the most part the weather hasn't been conducive to sitting outside visiting.
Friday (May 14) and an absolutely beautiful start to the day. It was one of our warmer mornings too at 5C.
I dropped Steve off at the boat with his fishing gear and then I headed into Logan Lake for a virtual doctor’s appointment…nothing like sitting in the car in a parking lot having a video chat with your doctor LOL!
I took care of a few other things while in town and then started home. As I turned onto Tunkwa Lake Road, I was greeting with dark clouds and rain! And when I arrived back at the campground it was super windy…what the heck happened to our beautiful sunny day? Well, it was a brief “blip” and the calm and sun returned after about an hour.
After lunch, Steve finally took a drive over to Tunkwa Lake Resort to buy some chironomids at $3.00 each. The owner Al was very informative as what to use and the depth to fish at...under 10 feet. Once back, I walked down to the boat with him…and he headed out fishing while I went for a walk up to “the bench”. It was a great hike, but there were swarms of tiny flies all over the place which were very annoying!
When I got back from my hike, I sat in the sun with my knitting watching RVs arrive for the weekend. Steve went to the far side of the lake and had a very successful fishing afternoon. He seems to be getting the hang of this chironomid fishing! He caught six and lost two! Unfortunately due to operator error with the Go Pro remote while fighting the fish no pictures were taken :)
Steve here: I went back to the same spot at the far end of the lake...
I finally figured out the Go Pro so have proof of fish caught! Three caught and two shook the hook. Notice the Loon on the far right. He kept chasing after my fish but two of the three were too big.
The Loon may have gotten this one after I released it as I saw it come up swallowing a fish. A neighbour told me they will wait for a sluggish released fish.
The sun had been going in and out as the cloud covering thickened through the afternoon. But it was warm and we sat out with our adult bevies…it’s Friday night, after all!
When a big cloud covered the sun, Steve got a small campfire going. We roasted smoked brats over the fire for dinner and shortly after that, our neighbour, Dan joined us. We enjoyed an hour or so getting to know him. Great chatting, Dan! Doug, along with Wyatt also popped by…Wyatt was getting some leash training. We called it a night just as it started to rain.
Saturday (May 15)…and another absolutely beautiful start to the day! Not a cloud in the sky but it was also a tad bit cooler at 2C. And what a fabulous day it turned out to be! The warmest yet with afternoon temps around 22C.
Steve went out fishing in the morning while I took care of a few things...put on a batch of yogurt, made granola and baked a walnut-raisin loaf.
Steve had another good morning of fishing catching three smaller trout. This mother goose was turning her eggs...
After lunch, Steve took care of a few chores and then joined me sitting outside. As I mentioned, it was a beautiful day!
And finally we are up-to-date again! Having no cell/internet is a real pain! LOL!
Great to see you out fishing, those trout had to be fun to catch on the flyrod!
ReplyDeleteThe trout here are quite the fighters and give you lots of air time too.
DeleteCrazy weather, but then again May can be so unpredictable. Hope your new booster helps, I think I would go crazy without any connectivity for that long.
ReplyDeleteWe are quite high in elevation here so the weather very unpredictable. We forgot to mention in the blog that the booster did absolutely nothing for us. ☹️
DeleteGlad you are finally catching fish. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks...it only took me awhile. 😉
DeleteGlad the crazy weather got nicer. Nice trout!!
ReplyDeleteThe fish here a happy scrappers!
DeleteGlad Steve is finally catching some fish, even though he had to resort to the chironomids. lol Your view is awesome.
ReplyDeleteThe lodge owner that sold me the chironomids caught 45 fish the other day so I have a ways to go. 😉
DeleteCrazy weather patterns for you guys to deal with, good thing it's not an hour to town. Fresh fish for supper mmmm they are probably good eating in the cold water. Keep up with the walks and all the fun stuff! We're getting snow tonight too....yayy :(
ReplyDeleteI like to catch them but not a huge fan of the taste. I’ll keep the odd one for appies at happy hour though.
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