Northword 2015-06

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June / July 2015

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Trailing Horses

Healing Flowers

Swinging Golf

Hiking

Wolverines

discover what’s new at www.northword.ca

Leaning Trees

4 | JUNE / JULY ‘15 |

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story page 12

Co ver Photo

s t o r y p a g e 14 s t o r y p a g e 18 story page 20

issue no. 58

Who needs rose gardens when nature’s gardens surround us? Photo: Paul Glover

Fea tures 8 10 12

story page 37

‘15

14

Region offers Banff’s beauty without the multitudes

By Tania Millen

Hope for the Nechako Sturgeon

20

Pistol Butts and Drunken Trees

30

Working to save an endangered species.

By Tom Walker

What plants can tell you about your land

By Norma Kerby

Medicinal Flower Power

More than just a pretty face

By Emily Bulmer

Depa rtm en ts 7

17 31

18

Kakwa by Horse

In Other Words

Editorial and cartoon from the seasoned and the silly

Top Culture

Explore the rural route to northern culture with UNBC’s Rob Budde

Measure Twice

Northern construction topics with Terry Fulljames

Story Comm en ts?

37

33 35 38

contents

story page 8

Jun e / July

Wolverine Range

Unexplored terrain, unparalleled views, and untamed canines

By Hilary Crowley

Golf the North!

Coastal, mountain and flat-land putting are all part of the northern experience

By Paul Glover

Up to Code

Could new regulations lead to a building revolution?

By Dan Mesec

Moonlight Mountain

A place for telling seasons. Map and trail guide

By Morgan Hite

On the Fly

Fishing in northern BC with Brian Smith

Resource Directory

Services and products listed by category

The Barometer

A seasonal reading of the Northwest

by Char Toews

Tell us what you’re thinkin’. Comment on any story at www.northword.ca

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Joanne Campbell

PUBLISHER/ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER

contributors

joanne@northword.ca t: 250.847.4600 f: 847.4668 toll free: 1.866.632.7688

Amanda Follett Hosgood EDITOR

amanda@northword.ca

ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE

shannon@northword.ca

Sandra Smith

LAYOUT DESIGN, NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE

sandra@northword.ca

Brian Smith is a writer and photographer who has fly-fished BC’s waters for over 45 years. He recently published his second book, Seasons of a Fly Fisher, and lives with his wife Lois in Prince George.

Amanda Follett Hosgood is a

Paul Glover is a piano technician,

Charlynn Toews has published

writer, editor and communications specialist who—finally—lives in a straw-bale home near Smithers with her husband and two huskies.

photographer, editor and gardener who lives in the hills outside Smithers. He accidentally became a golfer some years ago and isn’t even trying to kick the habit.

in daily and weekly newspapers, national magazines, and loves a good regional. She writes a regular column for Northword from her home in Terrace.

Hans Saefkow is an awardwinning editorial cartoonist, illustrator and set designer. If you see this man, do not approach him, feed him, or listen to his idle chatter. It is simply best not to encourage him.

Terry Fulljames is a certified

indoor air quality specialist and radon measurement professional, as well as a member of the Canadian Association of Radon Scientists and Technologists..

Morgan Hite has lived in Smithers

Emily Bulmer is a longtime Smithereen who enjoys subjecting herself to unscientific experiments in living. She occasionally records her findings and reports positive results most of the time.

Rob Budde teaches creative writing and critical theory at the University of Northern British Columbia. He has published seven books (poetry, novels, interviews, and prose poems). His most recent book is Finding Ft. George from Caitlin Press.

Tania Millen is a Terrace-based

20 years, makes maps, goes hiking, gets lost, writes articles, reads things and dreams about travel.

NORTHWORD MAGAZINE Northword Magazine the only independent, regional magazine that covers northern BC from border to sea. Our goal is to connect northern communities and promote northern culture; we put a vibrant, human face on northern life with great articles and stunning images. Northword Magazine—BC’s top read, for a reason.

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Shannon Antoniak

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Tom Walker is a former

Smithereen who defected to Kelowna by way of the Yukon. He misses Hankin-Evelyn, but enjoys growing eggplants and grapes without a greenhouse.

Dan Mesec has called the Bulkley Valley home for almost six years and as a photojournalist has covered everything from Tahltan blockades to salmon runs in Lake Babine. He lives in Smithers with his wild-dog Tosca.

Hilary Crowley is a freelance writer living at Summit Lake. Her nature and outdoor adventure columns have appeared in the Prince George Citizen.

She also writes about her experiences in India, Bhutan and Tibet.

Norma Kerby is a Terrace-based writer and environmental consultant.

Her passions include amphibians, natural ecosystems, sustainable living and adaptations of wildlife and people to northern British Columbia.

She occasionally writes poetry about the North’s uncertain future.

writer, backcountry rider and environmental consultant. Caitlin Press published her second book, Pack em Up, Ride em Out: Classic Horse Pack Trips in British Columbia and Alberta, in March 2015.

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editorial

In Other Words

The three Rs of pest control

by Joa n n e C a mpb el l ed i to rial@no rt hwo rd. c a

Reframe Take ants and aphids: Ants dig aphids because aphids ooze delicious honey-pee that makes everything sticky and mildewy-black and disgusting. But birds chow down on ants and aphids like kids on cupcakes at a birthday party.

Birds eat ’em like candy, so if you like birds, you’ve got to learn to love ants and aphids. Reframe how you think of them—not as miniature aliens and their vacuous sap-slaves, but as plentiful, free bird food. If loving them is not in your emotional repertoire, then consider this: Chickens eat them too, and we eat chickens. Reframe it as vengeance by vector.

We can also reframe how we think of spiders (my personal challenge). In tropical climes, bathroom geckos eat bugs that wander into the loo. Of course, I don’t have a bathroom gecko, but I do have a bathroom spider. Overcoming my shudder instinct, I taught myself to tolerate a single, large, crab-type spider that lives in my bathroom. His name is Horatio and he’s good-looking, for a spider. He doesn’t spin webs, at least none that I can see, and because he is handsome and loyal he

hans saef kow

Pest: “A destructive insect or other animal that attacks crops, food, livestock, etc.” Also, “An annoying person or thing; a nuisance.”

If your understanding of the word pest hinges on the word annoying, the surefire way to get rid of your pest is to stop it from being annoying.

When we stop thinking about pests as problems, they cease to be annoying and, by definition, they are no longer pests.

To eradicate pests by reducing or removing their annoyance factor, consider the three Rs of pest control: reframe, redesign and repurpose.

Following, are ways to implement them, using examples of pests that plague many of us here in the hinterland. Just remember, as with all types of social marketing, habitual use of the three Rs might be difficult to ingrain; baby steps may be needed to get started.

is allowed to hang out on or near the ceiling, so long as he doesn’t go near the floor. He is large, which means he must eat a lot of insects, for which I am grateful. All other spiders in my house can go straight to hell. Baby steps, like I said.

Redesign Deer are pretty, aren’t they? So graceful while they bound away after you throw your broom at them for eating your petunias. As my friend Sandra said, “Why can’t they eat dandelions instead of tulips?”

Why indeed? Now here’s a case for a little GMO: Designer deer that find dandelions delicious.

Repurpose Dandelions were once regarded as horrible pests.

That designation seems to be easing, thanks to the third R in pest control—repurposing. We’re starting to repurpose them as consumables: Their fresh young greens make nice salads and their

cheery yellow flowers make good wine. What other type of pest could we repurpose as a consumable?

Take the uber-pestiferous mosquito. If we can make wine out of dandelions, why not them, too?

It would be a full-bodied red, of course. We could bottle it and sell it as a unique northern offering and it would pair nicely with those moose-poopshaped chocolates you see in gift shops. Or maybe mozzy beer! I can see it on the shelves now: “Buzz” and “Buzz Light.”

So there you have it—the three Rs of pest control: reframe, redesign or repurpose. With them, we have the power to control anything that bugs us about living in the North!

N

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KAKWA

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Region offers Banff’s beauty without the multitudes

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Squish, slop, squelch. Blech. Three of us and our six horses were traversing a former mining road into Kakwa Provincial Park for a two-week horse pack trip. After two days of rain, the “road” had been transformed into a morass of clay mud and both horses and riders were soaked through.

But a bit of mud wasn’t going to dampen my enthusiasm. Horse pack trips are always an adventure and Kakwa is truly unique. Imagine the over-loved Bow Valley area of Banff National Park with no roads, minimal trails and few people.

Now add dinosaur tracks, grizzlies, the Mount Sir Alexander massif and access to the Continental Divide. Welcome to horse-pack-trip paradise.

Kakwa Provincial Park is located approximately 70 km northwest of McBride and is bounded to the east and southeast by the Continental Divide— which is also the BC-Alberta provincial boundary.

Kakwa Wildlands Park and Willmore Wilderness Park are located in Alberta immediately east and southeast of the park, and together the three parks form Kakwa-Willmore Interprovincial Park.

The southeast corner of Kakwa Provincial Park is the top of Intersection Mountain—so named because the peak is situated exactly at the junction of 120 degrees west longitude and the Continental Divide.

Although motorized travel is generally prohibited in the park, snowmobiles are permitted in winter. Hence, while the park is essentially bereft of summer visitors, it is a highly popular snowmobiling area. Publicly accessible huts are located at Kakwa and Jarvis lakes. Informal camping is permitted throughout the park.

Permission from BC Parks is required to travel with horses in Kakwa Provincial Park. Regardless of your planned mode of transportation, check with Parks before your trip regarding access road conditions (which vary significantly from year to year), bear and porcupine concerns, plus current regulations for publicly accessible cabins and park fees. For explorers venturing into neighbouring Willmore Wilderness Park, contact Willmore Wilderness Foundation in Grand Cache for trail updates.

Packers’ paradise The scenery in Kakwa Provincial Park is dominated by the Mount Sir Alexander massif (named after Alexander Mackenzie), which soars to 3,270 m. The lakes and easily accessible subalpine and alpine areas are an explorers’ paradise.

Kakwa is a Cree word for porcupine, which are ubiquitous in the park, and archaeological evidence suggests that the area was historically used by First Nations people. The earliest expedition record into the Kakwa area was in 1875 when E.W. Jarvis and C.F. Hanington crossed Jarvis Pass in what is now Kakwa Provincial Park while searching for a railway route through the Rockies.

In 1877, George Dawson indicated “unexplored region” on his map of the area southeast of Pine Pass (located northeast of Prince George).

In 1909, the top of unnamed Mount Sir Alexander was seen in the far distance by a mountaineering party on Mount Robson. The so-called Big Mountain subsequently became a sought-after objective by explorers and mountaineers of the day. In 1912, Samuel Prescott Fay—a hunter... continued on Page 32

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by To m Walker w a lk e r t t fn@ g m ail.co m

When fisheries biologist Cory Williamson tickles the water to simulate feeding, a two-metre dinosaur ghosts out of the shadows and glides across the brood-tank floor. Khaleesi (named after the Game of Thrones character to reflect her feisty nature when captured) is a 70-year-old female white sturgeon.

Light grey in colour and covered in bony platelets, this prehistoric holdover is a resident of the Nechako River. She is being kept through the winter in the new Nechako White Sturgeon Conservation Centre in Vanderhoof, in anticipation that she will be ready to spawn this spring.

Life is pretty easy for the queen sturgeon. Square meals have led to a nine-kg weight gain since last April and she has another 45-year-old female, Slimey, as a companion. But I can’t help wonder if she realizes that the fate of the entire Nechako population rests on her bony shoulders.

“The International Union for Conservation of Nature describes the 27 species of sturgeon that occur worldwide as the most endangered vertebrates on the planet,” Williamson says. In BC, sturgeon in the Nechako, upper Fraser, upper Columbia and Kootenay rivers are endangered under Canada’s Species At Risk Act (SARA), while sturgeon in Alberta and across the prairies to Ontario and Quebec are also at risk. Nechako white sturgeon were SARA-listed in 2006.

The largest North American freshwater fish, white sturgeon have been around some 200 million years. Historical estimates suggest there were once 5,000 to 8,000 sturgeon living within the Nechako River watershed, including Stuart Lake. That number has plummeted below 500. Scientists believe that Nechako sturgeon have not successfully spawned and reared in the wild in over 40 years. Indeed, Slimey may be one of the youngest naturally spawned sturgeon living in the river today.

If Khaleesi could talk, she would tell you the tale. The Kenney Dam was built in the early 1950s to power what is now Rio Tinto Alcan in Kitimat. The dam blocks the Nechako River’s natural headwaters, once considered the Fraser River’s second largest tributary. Most water in the dam’s 900-square-km reservoir runs west, tumbling through a 16-km tunnel in the Coast Mountains to turn the generators at Kemano, 800 m below. Some 75 km west of the dam, excess water is released over the Skins Lake Spillway into the Cheslatta River, which joins the Nechako eight km from the dam. But the Nechako flows have never been the same— and that’s the problem.

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Working to save sturgeon SARA documents clearly state that lack of water has led to the sturgeon’s demise. The river is prone to silting and greatly reduced spring water flows do not clean out spawning and rearing habitat, nor is there a flooded nursery area for the tender young fish.

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since some 15 years after the dam was built.”

In 2011, the recovery team placed clean gravel on the spawning beds and deposited fertile eggs that successfully hatched. “We also have fish swimming around from 2011,” Williamson says.

But many areas of the new gravel have filled with silt.

“We think we know the biology of what is going on there now,” Williamson comments. “It is a matter of understanding the physics of how the river moves its sediment.” He says he has spent a lot of time working with hydrologists. “The next move is to take that info to some engineers and say, ‘This is what we want, how do we build it?’”

brude r/fre s hw a te r fis he rie s s o c ie ty o f bc

C or y W i l l i am s on an d n i n ey ear-ol d L i am W i l l i am s on rel eas e a tagged N ech ak o w h i te s tu rgeon i n May 2 0 1 4 .

As soon as we started putting fish in the river, that’s a big success.

White Sturgeon Conservaanother two weeks. In just over a tion Centre, which opened in month, they are juvenile sturgeon, Vanderhoof last June. The Sturcomplete with long snout. Juvegeon Recovery Initiative based niles eat insects, freshwater clams in the centre has a mandate “to and snails, while older adults eat return the sturgeon to a selffish, particularly salmon. In the sustaining population.” That Nechako, a fully-grown adult can means replacing lost stocks that be up to three metres long, weigh are not building naturally, as 125 kg, and live for over 100 years. well as restoring and building Cory Williamson spawning, rearing and wintering Silty setbacks habitat and engaging the public to A trait that puts sturgeon at be stewards of this fragile species. risk worldwide is their habit of Ongoing sturgeon research is also spawning in only one location: part of the job. The centre is operated by the Fresh “That is consistent with what we see in other Water Fisheries Society of BC, with Williamson as populations,” Williamson says, “which is their the manager. downfall. If you change a river, you change a “The hatchery facility is only a stop-gap,” specific location and they don’t have the ability to Williamson says. “If the sturgeon don’t spawn adapt. They are not colonizers like salmon.” In the naturally, it is only going to go so far. But as soon Nechako, that spot is just up from the Vanderhoof as we started putting fish in the river, that’s a big bridge. success.”

“As a result of flow management and land pracSturgeon are late bloomers, which doesn’t make tices, their spawning habitat has been impacted,” the recovery initiative’s job easy. Males mature Williamson says. “So the other big job is to figure after 20 years, while females may take up to 40 out how to fix the problem and get them spawning and only spawn every three to 10 years. When on their own in the long term.” they do, they make up for it with 3 to 4 million Back in 2007, Mother Nature showed that she eggs from the largest adults. still had the chops, with a flood on the Nechako Spawned sturgeon eggs are naturally sticky, that cleaned out the spawning beds and provided helping them stay put in the crevices between more water suitable for early rearing. “Lo river gravel while they incubate. Eggs hatch and behold we got some natural spawning,” in about 15 days and are at a larvae stage for Williamson says. “It wasn’t much, but it’s the first

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Will it work?

A Quebec project makes Williamson optimistic: a spawning platform designed for sturgeon impacted by the James Bay hydro project in northern Quebec.

“They kept the same real estate—the square footage and the location—but they have engineered some structures that are pretty amazing and they work,” he says. “Our task now is to design something that is both cost effective and does the job.”

He credits community support, noting volunteers were involved with early hatchery experiments run out of a C-can from 2006 to 2009.

The District of Vanderhoof donated land for the conservation centre and the town raised $300,000 to help with construction. Operating funds have been established to sustain the hatchery program for 10 years with support from Rio Tinto. Local First Nations have also been involved.

During the 2014 spawning period, the conservation centre had 72 different sets of eggs hatching in rapid succession and needed extra hands. Each batch had to be stirred with a feather for an hour to mix in industrial clay to remove their stickiness so the eggs would hatch evenly. Sixty volunteers showed up through the week to help out: “When you have a dozen people standing around a trough stirring eggs, there are lots of cool conversations about sturgeon and about what they see in the river,” Williamson says.

In May, area schools joined centre staff to release 700 hatchery-raised juveniles tagged with transponders that will allow students to track the fish. Sturgeon located by researchers have their tags scanned and recorded on the Where’s My Fish link on the conservation centre website. Students can log in and see if their fish has been spotted in the river.

It may just be the start of engaging the next generation in saving this prehistoric species.

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Pistol butts

&

drunken trees

What plants can tell you about your land When trees are crooked, some event or ground condition is causing them to not grow correctly.

by Nor ma Kerby nkerby@t elus.net

A piece of property is like a good novel: full of opportunities and mysteries about its past. The challenges of knowing how to live with a piece of land are made easier by reading the natural vegetation growing on it.

A walk around your property to look at the types of species and how they are growing will tell you a lot about soil drainage, soil richness and nutrients, and whether it is subject to flooding or slope slippage. Here are some common examples that will help you understand the history and conditions of your land.

Water warnings Cottonwood, a common tree species in floodplains, can indicate an entire set of land-use problems.

Governments have floodplain mapping that can tell you the frequency that your property may flood; for example, a one-in-80-year floodplain is likely

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to flood every 80 years, on average.

Floodplains have implications for building construction and land development, including minimum house elevation levels and potential land erosion. Careful planning is required to avoid potential hazards.

Cottonwoods away from a floodplain can indicate a water table that is reasonably close to the surface. Your property may have a perched water table from an impermeable subsurface layer, such as clay, located metres below the surface.

Drainage may be a significant problem. If the cottonwoods follow a line down a slope on your property, often in combination with devil’s club, and there is not an apparent stream drainage, this suggests subsurface water flow. In these types of conditions, or if there is a band of cottonwood trees along the base of the slope, be aware that these zones have groundwater accumulation and higher water tables. They can also be subject to slippage, as the subsurface water flow weakens soil structure and makes it prone to sliding.

A stronger indicator that you are dealing with consistently high water tables and bog or swamp conditions is skunk cabbage. The types of areas dominated by skunk cabbage often have nutrientand organic-rich soils, but they are so wet year round that trees will only grow on elevated mounds or rotting stumps. Although farmers will consider these areas for crops, water saturation can be a significant problem, even with ditching.

The organic soils of skunk cabbage bogs are also very difficult for road or building construction.

In more open areas, especially around the edges

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of lakes, ponds and swamps, the shrub hardhack can be another sign that your land is wet. In the Northern Interior, hardhack might be an indicator of a frost pocket, where cold air drains and accumulates in winter. In the North Coast inland valleys, the presence of hardhack on what appears to be flat, well-drained benches tells you that there are most likely clay subsoils near the surface. Hardhack in odd locations, such as the edge of a sandy bench, strongly suggests that particular spot has groundwater close to the surface due to a perched water table over an impermeable layer such as clay or bedrock.

Plants indicating drier soil conditions include lodgepole pine, aspen and birch. Lodgepole pine is most common in dry-surface, lower-nutrient conditions on sandy, gravelly or rocky subsoils.

Trembling aspen and paper birch are species that grow best in well-drained, moist soils, but neither thrives on soils with consistently high water tables. If you are looking for higher-nutrient areas for cultivation, and are not located on floodplain, then loamy soils with natural covers of aspen or birch are normally more nutrient rich than areas with pine-dominated forests.

How it’s growing The history of the land is also written in the tree species and how they are growing. Cottonwood, lodgepole pine, trembling aspen and paper birch are all species that tend to grow in areas disturbed by events such as floods, forest fires or past landclearing. The forest here is re-growing and the

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The “pistol butt” tr u n k s on th i s c l a y s l o p e i n d i c a t e s l o w d o w n h i l l m o v e m e n t .

organic layers on top will be shallower. Other larger trees, such as western hemlock trees on the coast or white spruce in the Central Interior, indicate that the forest has been in place for 100 years or more and the land has most likely not been cultivated.

What is happening to the ground is also evidenced by how the trees and shrubs are growing on your land. Trees, given ideal conditions, grow upright and straight as they compete with each other for light in a forest. When trees are crooked, some event or ground condition is causing them to not grow correctly.

“Pistol butts” are tree-trunk bases that have thickened and curved to the shape of an old

pistol from a 1920s pirate movie. Trees look like this when the slope on which they are growing is slowing slipping downslope and the tree is trying to compensate to stay upright. Building a root cellar into such a slope may be problematic as the same forces could buckle walls over time.

Slipping slopes are caused by several factors, including groundwater, material at a steeper angle than what is naturally stable, or a slope that has been disturbed, such as the removal of its base for fill material or by a road cut. Clay soils on slopes are even more problematic, as clay will deform over time and slopes will slip slowly away, even at angles less than 10 percent.

When slopes suffer total failures and move

in blocks or fluid flows downhill, their trees are dislodged and left at various angles. This is known as “drunken trees.” If the slope slid decades ago, trees will compensate, leaving a drunken forest of bases while the upper trunks continue to grow vertically. If you notice this type of slope on your property, you might want to seek professional advice as to its safety and future potential to fail.

As you assess your property and your future years living with a piece of land, a walkabout is a good investment. Look at the species and the patterns in which they are growing. An 80-yearold tree is an 80-year diary of what has happened at that location. It can provide you with valuable information of how to work with your land.

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em ily bu lm er

B orage i s p rol i f i c to the poi nt o f i nva s i v e — f ortunatel y, i ts uses rang e f ro m so o th i n g f e v e r, sti mul ati ng mater nal mi l k pro d ucti on a n d a s an energeti c p i ck- me- up .

MEDICINAL

FLOWER POWER

More than just a pretty face

by Emi ly B u l m e r advent uremily@ya h oo. c a

Flowers are widely viewed as something decorative to put in the front yard or to help improve pollination for squash by attracting bees. Some serious vegetable gardeners see space given up to flowers as wasted, because they cannot be eaten.

As recently as one or two generations ago, flowers were grown specifically to be harvested and used in the family medicine cabinet to treat everything from diaper rash to insomnia. Cultivating an appreciation for flowers is a fantastic way to round out the garden, provide some visual interest and try out some remedies your great-grandmother could have taught you.

Flowers have a multitude of uses, and many medicinal flowers can be grown in the North. The six flowers below are a brief introduction to useful blooms. These plants are easy to grow and common to many gardens; you may already be growing some of them.

Calendula The cheery orange and yellow blooms of calendula brighten up the garden throughout the entire season, as it is an early bloomer with significant frost tolerance. A prolific self-seeder, it will appear year after year without much encouragement. Calendula officinalis is the variety used for medicinal purposes.

Calendula is excellent for healing burns, cuts, rashes, insect bites and bruises, and for treating strains and sprains. A compress of freshly crushed petals can be directly applied onto the area of concern. To make calendula salve, soak one-quarter-cup dried (or one cup fresh) calendula petals in a half-cup of extra virgin olive oil on low heat in a crockpot for three hours. Strain through cheesecloth and discard the petals. Transfer to an old pot, add one-eighth-cup 14 | JUNE / JULY ‘15 |

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grated beeswax and stir until melted. Add a few drops of lavender oil if desired.

Echinacea This distinctive flower cone is spiky and round with purple or white petals and can be recognized on the labels of many products found in health food stores.

A native plant to North America, it has been used for centuries to relive sore throats, cough and fever. Echinacea angustifolia, Echinacea pallida and Echinacea purpurea are the varieties used medicinally. Echinacea is a perennial herb and flowers late in the summer and into the fall. Its flowers and leaves can be used topically as a cream or in a tincture to be taken internally. The root is also used. To make echinacea tincture, fill a canning jar with dried flowers and cover with vodka, leaving air space at the top. Leave four to six weeks, shaking every few days. Strain through cheesecloth when finished and store in a glass container. Use an eyedropper to administer orally.

California poppy The bright orange blooms and feathery foliage of the California poppy are distinctive and easy to identify. These poppies are hardy and easily grown in the North. Another enthusiastic self-seeder, the plant will return year after year in otherwise-inhospitable corners of the garden. The long, thin taproot allows the plant to take advantage of dry, poor soil conditions. This flower can be used as a remedy to reduce stress and insomnia. The whole plant can be harvested and dried and made into a tincture. Not to be confused with the opium poppy, it has a milder effect than its relative.

Borage The sky-blue flowers and fuzzy leaves of the borage plant have been used in a wide range of applications from soothing fever, stimulating milk production for nursing mothers, and as a pick-me-up for people who are exhausted and burned out. The oil contained in the seeds is rich in gamma-linoleic and linoleic acid, which is effective in treating inflammatory problems such as eczema and rheumatoid arthritis. The flowers and leaves have a cucumber flavour and can also be used in drinks or jellies. Borage is extremely prolific to the point of invasive—fortunately, it is also used as an eating herb and the leaves are good for making soups. Pull young plants you do not want to mature before the flowers set.

A productive, well-rounded garden that includes flowers can help soothe both physical bruises and mental cramps.

Yarrow Achillea millefolium, or yarrow, was named after Achilles, the Greek war hero. Achilles painted himself with yarrow to become invincible to the enemy—unfortunately, missing one famous spot. Traditionally, yarrow was applied to the skin for wounds and minor bleeding, and taken internally to reduce inflammation and to relieve anxiety or insomnia. Yarrow blooms from mid-summer into the fall and has white or light-pink flowers. The flowers, leaves and stems are used and collected while in bloom. To help stop a wound from bleeding, use fresh yarrow in a poultice form by chopping up the plant and applying directly onto the affected area.

Lady’s mantle This plant is more green than flowery with rounded leaves, earning itself the name bear paw or lion’s paw in Europe. The flowers are small and yellowish green. It was well known to relieve menstrual cramps and other uterine problems such as endometriosis. The leaves are harvested when the flowers are in bloom and used dried to make tea.

Port Cle

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying And this same flower that smiles to-day To-morrow will by dying.

While he may not have meant this literally, it is excellent advice for the modern herbalist.

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Tips for use Always make sure that the flowers and herbs you are collecting have not been sprayed with pesticides or herbicides. Collect flowers and leaves when they

are in their prime and either use them immediately or dry on a rack or on low in a food dehydrator. Ensuring the plants are fully dry is important to prevent mould. Store the finished product in glass sealer jars and check them every now and then to make sure they are still fresh.

It is important to remember that using plants as medicine is not necessarily a weaker form of drug. Just like modern pharmaceuticals, the compounds in plants have the ability to strongly affect the body and can interact with other medications or cause allergic reactions in some people. Fully researching the properties, dosages and interactions of any plant before using it is critical, and talking to a practising herbalist or knowledgeable medical practitioner is good common sense.

There are also many non-clinical benefits of flowers: they can reduce stress and lift the spirit, which is an important element of overall wellbeing. First, there is the pure joy they can provide for anyone who receives them. Growing flowers simply to give away is a very easy way to connect with your neighbours and cultivate the practice of generosity. Secondly, spending a few minutes picking flowers from the garden can ease the tension of a stressful day. “Stop and smell the roses” feels like clichéd advice, but spending time each day appreciating beauty is an actual skill that builds resilient spirit and calms the mind.

A productive, well-rounded garden that includes flowers can help soothe both physical bruises and mental cramps. Learning about the medicinal properties of flowers is another opportunity for self-sufficiency in the garden that goes beyond food security.

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column

Top Culture

Ground-Truthing the storied land: Derrick Stacey Denholm on the north coast

by Rob Budde

Derrick Stacey Denholm’s recent publication Ground-Truthing: Reimagining the Indigenous Rainforests of BC’s North Coast is a unique and tricky combination of philosophy, literary non-fiction and cultural studies. Like he did while he was surveying, planting and cruising northern BC for the past 25 years, the Prince George resident walks a variety of paths in this book. He engages the language of scientific botany, First Nations’ traditional knowledge, personal accounts of his time in the region and critical anti-colonial philosophy. In the tradition of Hugh Brody and Barry Lopez, he incorporates a whole range of perspectives to triangulate a creative and compelling argument for a transformation in human behaviour in this region we call home.

There are so many ideas in this book it is hard to know what to focus on.

My sense is that the most groundbreaking element is the way Denholm acknowledges First Nations’ territory and respectfully relates with the dynamic ancient knowledge of this region. His approach is rooted in an extensive familiarity with the history, diversity and fundamental principles of First Nations’ traditional knowledge and wisdom. Fittingly, he begins the text with a quote from Walter Blackwater, mentor to poet Ken Belford (in turn, one of Denholm’s mentors): “To speak thoroughly and accurately about this countryside is impossible in English.” These indigenous ideas, apparently and tragically invisible to the visitor or colonizer, are the foundations of his worldview. And this is from a “typical Canadian of European origin,” but one who inhabits a healthy sense of what being an ally means in cultural politics.

Denholm’s writing is also rooted in a parallel, allied sense of the wisdom of plants and animals. I adore that he concentrates on lesser-known creatures, those that are not sexy enough to land on ad-campaign posters. Mountain hemlock, devil’s club and blue chanterelles are distinctive but relatively ignored species and Denholm relates to them in a thoughtful and loving way. This contact with what Denholm terms “the Wild” is the main inter-

In Grou n d-Tr u th i n g : R ei ma gi n i n g th e In di gen ou s R a i n forests of B C ’s N or th C oa st, D er r i ck S tacey D en h ol m en gages th e l an gu age of s ci en ti fi c botan y, Fi r s t N ati on s ’ tr adi ti on a l k n ow l edge, per s on al accou n ts of h i s ti m e i n th e regi on an d cr i ti cal an ti col on i al ph i l os oph y.

c o urte s y c a itlin pre s s

rb u d de@shaw.ca

text to what he is writing; he listens to the forest and learns from that system of thought through writing. That the land and the larger-than-human have things to teach us human creatures is an idea that has arrived full force in philosophical discussions in many different ways. While emphasizing the “local, wild, and Indigenous,” Denholm’s work is planetary in its scope—a book that will be read and studied widely.

Underlying all of this is Denholm’s primary methodology: “groundtruthing.” He defines this as a largely scientific method that “uncovers the biological facts that hide within the profuse material confusion of any given situation.” This is not a unique method, but the way he applies it to social, philosophical and literary material is what makes Denholm’s book truly remarkable.

The tangled roots of thought Denholm grows are a lot to take in. Is northern BC ready to step into the woods with him?

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Wolverine Range Unexplored terrain, unparalleled views and untamed canines lyle daly

A w ol f bar ks a n d h o w l s i t s d i s c o n t e n t a t m e m b e r s o f t h e grou p, l i k el y w h i l e s h e l t e r i n g i t s p u p s i n t h e n e a r b y ro c ks .

H i l a r y C r ow ley edit or ial@no rt hwo rd. c a

Last August, a helicopter picked up nine hikers, mostly seniors and all members of the Prince George Caledonia Ramblers, from Germansen Landing, 219 km north of Fort St. James. It carried us to an alpine tarn nestled under imposing ridges to start our week-long hike in the Wolverine Range, which runs 50 km lengthwise between the western shore of Williston Lake and the Omineca River.

Dave King, who had led us on Kakwa and Mount Edziza hikes in recent years, had asked Germansen Landing storeowner Lynae Muller, whose family had lived there for generations, if they had ever been up in the Wolverine: “No,” she replied. “In fact we don’t know anyone who has ever just gone hiking up there.”

Our backpacking route would take us 65 km south from this alpine lake along ridges toward Manson Creek. With no trails, and most of the hike in the alpine, we relied on topographical maps and GPS. As rain and nearfreezing temperatures the first couple days gave way to mostly T-shirt-andshorts weather, crossing valleys involved bushwhacking through shoulderhigh alpine fir.

Big days and bigger views The Wolverine Range sits in the Omineca Provincial Park and Protected Area, which was designated in 2001 and contains historic mining sites from the Omineca Gold Rush, as well as extensive opportunity for wilderness

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m o rg a n hi t e

T h e Wolve rin e Ra n g e runs 50 k m between the wes ter n s h ore of W i l l i s ton L ak e an d th e O m i n eca R i v er.

recreation. The park provides habitat for caribou, moose, goat, wolverine and aquatic mammals. The Omineca River also provides important habitat for redlisted arctic grayling.

The ridge above our first camp offered an expansive view of Williston Lake.

We were directly opposite the Peace Arm with the Parsnip Arm extending to the south, the Finlay to the north and the Omineca spilling into the lake below us. Just a little to the northeast was the Ospika Arm. We could see it all from our vantage point, surrounded by rocky ridges folding away in each

direction. We overlooked where Finlay Forks once existed, now submerged beneath manmade Williston Lake.

We were up at 6:30 a.m. most days and on the trail by 8 a.m., where we saw ptarmigan, one hummingbird and several marmots. There were no signs of bear, but several caribou sheds and goat droppings. Some days involved a considerable amount of climbing up and down through sub-alpine growth. It is easy to trip and fall on hidden rocks and roots, but almost impossible to get ... continued on Page 34

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NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA

GOLF the NORTH

Coastal, mountain and flatland putting — all part of the northern experience St a nd s of ra infore st add a co astal elem ent to g ol fi n g i n P r i n ce R u per t.

channel collective

Paul Glove r

We work to minimize our environmental footprint.

amount of exercise. In an 18-hole round on a full-length course, you will walk at least eight to 10 kilometres (or more, No one ever thought I would take up golf, least of all me. My if you play like me), up hills and down, pulling or carrying entire life, I thought it was the most ridiculous game, the your bag of clubs. Swinging the clubs takes more energy greatest waste of time, and the worst use of land. Mind you, I than one would think. And if you’re like me, peering beneath had never actually tried it. bushes and into tree branches in search of missing balls is It was my mother-in-law’s fault. She loves golf, and I played even more exertion. a couple times to humour her. On our third time out, near the One of the golf-related issues that concerns many people, end of the game, a strange feeling came over me: I wanted to including me, is the use of herbicides on the course. These keep going! I had hit a few shots that sort of went where I’d are intended to keep plants like dandelions out of fairways Steve Haggard been trying to get them, and I thought, “Hey, maybe I can that are deemed preferable if they are just grass. In general, figure out how to do this!” I’d been bitten by the bug. the trend in turf management is increasingly to accept plant As a result, to the astonishment of my friends, I have spent diversity more and use as little herbicide as possible on golf a surprising amount of time in recent years tramping around courses. Some courses in our area do not use herbicides at all. northern BC’s golf courses. I am not that good, even after 10 years, and my If you are new to the game, you can rent clubs or find a second-hand set to shots tend to fly in unexpected directions. I’ve spent a lot of time in the woods start. Fees to play an 18-hole game range from $20 to $50 on our northern and bushes and along the shores of ponds, streams and rivers searching for courses—less for juniors and seniors. Most offer lower rates in the evenings my errant balls. and for early- and late-season play when conditions may not be perfect. Most But, hey—it turns out that there is a lot to enjoy out there. All of our courses rent clubs and carts and provide lessons. Some have a driving range. northern courses are in idyllic natural settings, usually with spectacular Most have a coffee shop or restaurant and lounge, which you may be grateful views. Wildlife is remarkably abundant: moose, deer, bears, foxes, coyotes, for at the end of your game. beavers, muskrats, weasels and fish—including salmon and steelhead. If Although Mark Twain characterized golf as “a good walk, spoiled,” I you’re a birdwatcher, there is a wide variety of habitat in and around our golf recommend you give it a try. Once you get to know one course, you will want courses; I have spotted well over 100 species while golfing. to explore others. Each one provides a different experience.

I was happy to discover that, on a clear day, a golf course is a beautiful place Some of my friends still chuckle at the thought of me out golfing. Mind you, to be. And contrary to what many people think, golfing provides a surprising most of them have never actually tried it. p aul@no rt hwo rd.c a

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... continued on Page 22

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su b mitted

Te r r a ce’s Skeen a Va lle y Golf C l u b provi des gre a t golf in a d r a m ati c l an ds cape .

Bo t h c o u r s e s o n H a i d a G w a i i h a v e s o m e s e a s i d e f a i r w a ys . S h o w n h e re i s D i x o n En t r a n c e G o l f C o u r s e , n e a r Ma s s e t .

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Wi l d l i f e i s a b un d a nt on mo st g o l f cou r se s . Here, a c ro ss f ox ob se r v e s th e act i o n.

... continued from Page 20

Haida Gwaii Willows Golf Course, Sandspit Dixon Entrance Golf & Country Club, Masset Golfing at the edge of the world! At these two seaside courses, some holes are exposed to the ocean weather while others are protected by forest. Both facilities are working hard to encourage young golfers by providing free golf to anyone 17 and under, thanks partly to the efforts of Vince Brzostowski, manager at Willows Golf and creator of Golf Haida Gwaii. “My goal is to

promote golf on Haida Gwaii, as well as pushing to make golf free for all youth across Canada,” he says. Both courses have a policy of no herbicide use.

Weekly burger night tournaments at both courses are fun for all.

Willows: (250) 559-4709 • www.willowsgolfcourse.com Dixon Entrance: (250) 626-3500 • www.dixonentrancegolfcourse.com Golf Haida Gwaii: www.golfhaidagwaii.com ... continued on Page 24

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... continued from Page 22

Prince Rupert Tucked among towering stands of coastal rainforest, the Prince Rupert Centennial Golf Course is lush, challenging—and sometimes quite wet! This is a fun course, winding its way between the town and the steep slopes of Mount Hays. Although rain is common here, there are lots of trees to take cover beneath. It’s a good place to play in the early spring when other courses in the region are just starting to wake up.

(250) 624-2000 • www.princerupertgolf.ca Terrace Skeena Valley Golf & Country Club lies at the foot of Thornhill Mountain just outside Terrace. The beautiful course is varied with rolling hills, water and trees throughout. You may spot climbers scaling the dramatic cliffs that tower over the course, and occasional booming reports from the nearby gun range add to the exciting atmosphere.

(250) 635.2542 • www.svgc.ca Kitimat The Hirsch Creek Golf Course has two distinct flavours: the first half has been chiselled from coastal forest with outstanding views, while the second nine is a more traditional, wide-open layout. The dramatic elevation drop on Hole 2 makes it a favourite. “We work to minimize our environmental footprint here,” manager Steve Haggard says.

(250) 632-4653 • www.kitimatgolf.com Hazelton Remote, uncrowded and herbicide-free, Mossy Acres is nestled beside the Kispiox River with 360-degree views of the surrounding mountains and glaciers. The family-run course operates on the honour system: put your money in the Tupperware bin, sign the guest book and off you go! “It’s basically a hobby farm—we cultivate and harvest golf balls,” owner Cliff Hagen says.

Sitting a half-hour drive north of Hazelton, it’s best to call for directions.

(250) 842-0348

cl iff & s tep hanie hagen

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Gre at vi s tas accompa ny g o l f e rs at th e Hi rsc h C re e k Go l f Cl u b i n Ki ti ma t .

Th e H agen fam i l y en j oy s a n e a r l y s p r i n g g a m e a t M o s s y Ac re s . “ Th e cat fol l ow s u s th e w h o l e w a y w h e n e v e r w e p l a y,” s a y s ow n er C i l ff H agen .

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NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA

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san dra smith

A g o l f e r tees off on th e se ven th h ol e at S m i t he rs Par 3 an d RV.

t herese s cot t

For a real “down-to-earth” golfing experience, try Manure Meadows along the Telkwa High Road. As the name suggests, the course is laid out through an active cow pasture. “Not for the faint-of-heart,” says Joe Toner, a regular. “The holes are long, and the putting is rough!” Look for the golf flags beside the road and hop the fence to begin your game.

Houston Willow Grove is a fun course: not overly challenging but with many trees and lots of water to complicate things. Located just east of town, you will enjoy the welcoming, down-home atmosphere.

(250) 845-2100

H il l y terrai n by sc e nic Fra nc ois Lake m akes Moly hills Golf C l u b on e of th e re gion’s most c hal l en gi n g course s.

... continued from Page 24

Smithers Literally two minutes from downtown, the Smithers Golf and Country Club is rated one of the best courses in northwest BC. The spectacular location at the base of Hudson Bay Mountain makes you want your game to never end. A creek that winds through the course provides scenic variety as well as challenge. The many trees provide extra difficulty; the resounding thwackof balls ricocheting off them is a common sound.

(250) 847-3591 • www.smithersgolfclub.com If you’ve never golfed before, a par-3 course is a good place to start. Smithers Par 3 and RV is an easygoing, family-oriented course, complete with driving range.

It is super scenic, set beside the Bulkley River with Hudson Bay Mountain close by. This is one of the facilities that, as a policy, does not use herbicides.

Ask about their many specials.

(250) 847-3229 • www.smitherspar3andrv.com

26 | JUNE / JULY ‘15

Fraser Lake Named for the high concentrations of molybdenum nearby, Molyhills Golf Course is off the beaten path. The idyllic-but-hilly location on Francois Lake guarantees a lot of exercise. On several holes, the ball is hit from a hilltop toward the green far below—or from a low tee to a green far above! Views over the lake will take your mind off the shots you muff, and there is plenty of wildlife sharing the course with you.

(250) 699-7761 Vanderhoof The Omineca Golf & Country Club offers a full-length course in good condition.

The first half winds through aspen forest with some tricky gullies and ravines, while the rest is out under the open prairie sky. The comfortable clubhouse is a cool place to relax on a hot day.

(250) 567-2920 ... continued on Page 28

NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA

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Fort St. James Stuart Lake Golf Club is a challenging course on the shore of Stuart Lake, five minutes from Fort St. James. You will be distracted from your game by the views over the lake and the sheer rock face of nearby Mount Pope. The friendly hospitality of this historic frontier town will keep you coming back.

Wednesdays are two-for-one.

(250) 996-8736 • www.stuartlakegolfclub.net Prince George A few minutes north from downtown, Aberdeen Glen Golf Course follows a series of undulating ravines that wander through the countryside. This course provides lots of exercise if you are walking; some hills are steep enough that there is a shuttle service to the top. The course is superbly maintained and provides a golfing adventure. And if you want to live on a golf course, this is your chance, with homes and building lots available alongside its fairways.

(250) 563-8901 • www.aberdeenglengolf.com Alder Hills Golf is a beautiful par-3 course on the east side of Prince George. A gully that runs through the middle adds excitement and entertainment to the game at all skill levels. Course owners and builders Lee and Rita Sexsmith and their family are proud of the facility, including the six bridges that are incorporated into the layout.

(250) 963-7500 • www.alderhillsgolf.com Water hazards, natural creeks, and lots of trees make life interesting at the walkable and affordable Aspen Grove Golf Course. “It’s quiet—and quite enjoyable,” says Jen Brander, a member of the Norbraten family who has been operating the course since it started 47 years ago. Pay for one game and golf all day!

(250) 963-9650 • www.aspengrovegolf.com The Links of Maggie May started 16 years ago as a family project. In a relaxing country atmosphere, its large greens and open fairways help to keep your game from getting too complicated. A unique feature: “We’ve put eight-inch holes in the greens, as well as the usual four-inch size, to make it more fun for beginners,” says Margaret McConaghy, whose family still owns and operates the course.

(250) 963-9561 or 1-800-491-0991 • www.linksofmaggiemay.com

28 | JUNE / JULY ‘15

pa ul g l o ve r

su bmitted

Th e en ti ci n g fairwa y s a t Princ e Ge orge ’s A berdeen G l en follow a se rie s of na t ura l r a vi n es th rou gh t he la ndsc a pe .

N or th er n gol fer s can en j o y t h e c r i s p , a u t u m n d a y s u n t i l t h e s n o w f l i e s .

Pine Valley Golf Course, Prince George’s only community-owned course, serves golfers at all levels of ability and mobility. The landscape of this 18-hole, par-3 course changed dramatically when the pine forest in which it was located was cleared due to pine beetle infestation. Since 2010, the city and volunteers have worked together to plant thousands of seedlings and new trees, and otherwise improve the course’s landscape.

(250) 562-4811 • www.pinevalleygolfcourse.ca The challenges at the Prince George Golf Club will require all the clubs in your bag. This level and rolling full-length course is easily walkable.

(250) 563-0357 • www.pggolfandcurling.com Quesnel Richbar Nursery Golf & Gardens’ nine-hole course provides a “more intimate experience,” with most holes separated by native timber and landscape plantings. Occasional 100-foot fir trees guard some of the greens, adding character and challenge. The course is joined to a garden nursery and the 24 Carrot Café.

(250) 255-4653 • www.quesnelgolf.com Have you ever wanted to own a golf course? This one’s for sale! At the Quesnel Golf Club, set in the typical rolling terrain of the Cariboo, the first half of the course is open, straightforward golf with “no gimmicks.” The second half provides many challenges as it dodges a meandering creek through large trees and wooded hillsides.

(250) 249-5550 • www.quesnelgolfclub.com N

NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA

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For information on travel opportunities in Northern British Columbia visit w w w. no rthwo rd .ca northernbctourism.com

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ken alton

A La r so n tru s s s ys tem wa s wr a p p e d arou n d th e Alt on’s h o us e , m aki n g w al l s 20 inc he s th i c k a n d al l ow i n g more spa c e fo r b l o w n -i n cel l u l os e insula t ion.

Could new regulations lead to building revolution?

ke n a l t o n

e d o c o t p U Ri c h a rd Al t o n b l o w s c e l l u l o s e i n s u l a t i o n i n t o t h e c a v i t i e s o f t h e Al t o n s ’ L a r s o n t r u s s s y s t e m . T h e s y s t e m , kn o w n f o r c re a t i n g g re a t e r s p a c e f o r i n s u l a t i o n , a l l o w s t h e wa l l s t o b e 2 0 i n c h e s t h i c k.

by Da n Mes ec d a nielmesec@gma i l . c om

As I walk through the entrance to Vicki and Ken Alton’s new home it’s hard to tell it apart from any other. The uniqueness of this house does not just exist on the surface; it’s deep within the walls.

Gorgeous hardwoods stretch throughout the main floor and the small, European-style refrigerator catches my eye: stainless steel and about half the size of a conventional fridge. “We wanted to keep everything as efficient as possible,” Vicki tells me as she pulls out the energy consumption card confirming its efficiency.

She tours me around the still-under-construction house, highlighting several characteristics that will allow the Altons to drastically cut back on their energy needs. Plywood sealed with adhesive tape was used as vapour barrier, with a Larson truss system (known for providing more space for insulation) wrapped around the house to make the walls 20 inches thick. Cellulose insulation, made from recycled newspaper, was blown inside the wall cavities, making them incredibly dense and more than doubling the recommended requirement.

“We wanted to build something that was going to last 150-plus years and require very little upkeep,” Vicki says. “There are many factors to consider, from how a product is made, re-using or 30 | JUNE / JULY ‘15 |

www.n o rthword .ca

recycling, to using local expertise and material, to the energy-efficiency aspect.”

Code confusion Until now, throwing up a conventional stick-frame house was relatively straightforward: foundation, exterior walls, roof, moisture-barrier, windows, doors, insulation, drywall and you’re halfway there.

But BC’s new building codes, which came into effect in December, make it a bit more complicated.

The building envelope is where it all starts. It’s like a jar of pickled cucumbers: as long as it’s sealed properly, it’ll last forever. Because of BC’s climate diversity—dry, cold, hot and moist—with a temperature index that tips near -40 C in the far reaches of the North to 10 C in Victoria in January, the province been broken into six climate zones with the Bulkley Valley in Zone 7A, Prince Rupert in Zone 5 and Prince George in Zone 6.

In Smithers, for example, this means the average climate requires a tighter barrier against the elements: more insulation combined with increased airflow throughout the home, not to mention new ventilation standards for an abundant, odourless gas known as radon (see Silent but Deadly, page 31).

But not everyone is cheering the recent changes.

In April, a group of local contractors gathered at Smithers’ town hall. They came to hear and learn about new building regulations that could potentially make their lives a bit more hectic. Although the update is well intentioned, some feel the new regulations border on excessive and, in some ways, are so convoluted even the local building inspector and contractors are having trouble making sense of them all.

“For me, the larger questions are regarding the ventilation requirements and the use of heat recovery ventilators,” Smithers building inspector Roye Lovgren says about the new code’s suggested HRV systems, which continually replace interior air and run consumers around $4,000.

“Incoming air needs to be tempered or heated with a dedicated ducting system. At -20°C, will that incoming air increase by 20 degrees Celsius?

No, it certainly won’t. The code also calls for efficiency to heat that air and I’m not quite sure what that efficiency means. It could mean an additional duct heater may be required, which one could expect increased costs to bring in that extra heated air.”

Silent but deadly: new building code requirements aim to lower radon exposure

by Ter r y Fu l l j a m e s

column

Mea sure Twice tfu l l j ames@g mail.com

Radon gas is the vehicle that allows radioactivity to enter your home. It is colourless, odorless and tasteless and can be found everywhere in Canada, including northern BC. According to Health Canada, it is the second-leading cause of lung cancer. Fortunately, its effects are easily mitigated.

Uranimum breaks down in radium and then radon gas. Uranium occurs naturall in some rock tyles. During the ice ages over the past million years glacier ice reoded uranium-bearing rock and spread the ground-up and pulverized rock widely by ice and melt-water transport.

If micro-atomic explosions weren’t bad enough, combined with radiation the exposure to this ongoing barrage can cause significant lung damage. Polonium and lead stick to almost any surface or adjacent particles such as airborne dust and building interiors. When we breathe these particles, the damage can hit us in one of our most vulnerable spots: our lungs.

A 2012 study by Health Canada estimates that 3,200 people die each year from radon-caused

lung cancer. This accounts for 16 percent of all lung cancer cases, putting radon second only to smoking. The organization recommends conducting a three-month radon test in your home, preferably during heating season when indoor concentrations are higher due to frozen ground moisture preventing radon from naturally dissipating into the atmosphere. Homes with exposed soil in closed crawlspaces can be at higher risk, although radon levels are not predictable because they depend on mineral composition under the building.

In BC, building code updates came into effect in December that aim to reduce radon gas in homes constructed in 2015 and beyond. They require concrete slabs in basements and crawlspaces be properly ventilated to the exterior with PVC pipe— this is good news, since it is relatively inexpensive to install at the time of construction. The current Canadian guideline for radon in indoor air is to remain below 200 Becquerels per cubic metre (200 Bq/m3), with a Becquerel meaning one radioactive

disintegration per second. However, there is no actual safe level; in this case less truly is more.

When drilling for water on my Smithers property, I learned that my home is located on 90 feet of clay, and the seasonal radon levels are highest on the lowest level of our home, ranging from 30 to 75 Becquerels. The highest radon readings were present when there was no air movement, at 4 a.m. each morning. This is one of the advantages of using a continuous indoor radon monitor.

I speculate that if my home had the radon protection now required for new homes, that the radon levels would be close to zero.

For more information, visit the Health Canada or BC Lung Association (www.radonaware.ca) websites. The latter allows you to order a radon test kit for about $30 that includes laboratory fees. The average costs for mitigating a home with elevated radon levels is between $500 and $5,000—a small price to pay for your health.

The town hall workshop was supposed to answer some tough questions for builders headed into another construction season. However, rather than bringing clarity, most left with more questions than answers. To most contractors, the new codes seem like unwanted hassles.

“My initial thoughts are it’s going to be a better product,” says general contractor Jason Konst. However, he questions the incongruity of removing certain items from exterior walls in order to make more space for insulation. “For example, we’re no longer allowed to put an electrical panel or pipes in an exterior wall. A lot of new designs are open concept so you don’t have a lot of interior walls to put pipes in, but you can put as many windows in an exterior wall as you want, so where is the practicality? We’re talking about thousands of extra dollars here.”

A contractor’s job is about to get a lot more interesting and calculated. Building a standard two-by-six wall will no longer cut it in a climate Zone 7 dwelling. The new code looks at the wall’s R-value, or measure of insulation, as a whole, taking into account studs that transfer temperature more effectively than the wall’s insulated cavities—known as thermal bridging. The more studs, the greater the heat loss.

As a result, not enough insulation to meet regulation can be stuffed into the 16-inch-wide cavities of a standard wall and additional Styrofoam sheeting may be required. An overall value of R-17.5 (achieved with R-24 insulating batts) for exterior walls is now the minimum requirement.

Concrete foundations must also have Styrofoam sheets on the exterior bottom and sides to ensure

sufficient insulation. Instead of calculating the amount of insulation needed just for one wall cavity, you now need to calculate the R-value of the whole wall to meet regulations: no more thermal bridging and no more air pockets prone to mold and other climate-related damages.

To build a better house, more research needs to be conducted in the planning stages and innovative ideas need to be implemented, such as engineering walls that are either thicker or allow for wider insulation cavities than the standard 16-inch-on-centre. The changes mean a shift in construction practices and philosophy.

be downsizing: cutting down on square footage and increasing the functionality and livability of smaller spaces, as well as getting creative and finding solutions that not only make a house more efficient, but also sustain the high-quality lifestyles to which many North Americans have become accustomed.

According to a recent presentation by geoscientist David Hughes in Smithers, the average Canadian uses 19 times more energy per capita than the average citizen in India, one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. This should be an alarming reality check. We waste immense amounts of energy heating and cooling overly large, inefficient houses.

Although spending more money up front will save in the long run, it’s going to take a major buy-in from both industry and consumers to make it happen. With technologies such as solar cells, geothermal heating, LED lighting, better use of recycled materials and using 40-year-old technology like structurally insulated panels (SIPs), whose pre-fabricated plywood-and-polystyrene inserts go above and beyond new requirements, the tide is turning.

Perhaps the recent building code changes will inspire a new building standard that values efficiency and functionality over convenience and second-rate construction projects, creating more homes like the Altons’.

“We wanted to keep our footprint small,” Ken Alton says. “Despite the pressure to keep building three-bedroom houses for ‘resale,’ we wanted to invest up front in insulation rather than the longterm expense of heating costs.”

Downsize to up efficiency As non-building folk, terms like R-values, thermal bridging and heat recovery ventilator mean very little. What does matter is the bottom line: what does this mean for the homeowner? Very simply, it means building your dream home is going to cost more.

Typically, a new house in Smithers is around $300,000. According to several local contractors, the average increase on a project under the new building codes will cost about 10 to 15 percent more, adding roughly $45,000 to the total cost— potentially a deal-breaker for many homebuilders: “They’re saying it’s going to save energy and I agree,” Smithers contractor Dwayne Van Veldhuizen says. “But the initial building cost is going to go up at least 10 percent.”

It begs the question that if people can’t afford to build a new house, will there be fewer people constructing them? Not necessarily.

A way to offset increased building costs could

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scientist-explorer—reached Kakwa Lake, but did not have time to explore the Big Mountain. However, in 1914, during a grand five-month journey from Jasper to the Peace River and back to Edson, Fay explored the Kakwa region as well as the massif that he subsequently named Mount Sir Alexander.

Through the first half of the 20th century, the remote location and special scenery of Mount Sir Alexander and surrounding area drew hunters, scientists, mountaineers and tourist pack-trippers to the area. With the decline of horse-pack tripping after World War II, the Kakwa area was forgotten by all but a handful of trappers and hunters.

In the late 1970s, Ken Farquharson—an environmental consultant known for his conservation efforts—flew over the Kakwa area in a helicopter while returning from a trip to Tumbler Ridge and was entranced by the exceptional scenery.

He subsequently alerted BC Parks to the area’s qualities, and in 1987 Kakwa Recreational Area was born. Due to the potential for a quartzite quarry within the recreational area, Kakwa did not become a Class A provincial park until 1999.

In 2000, hunters in the park’s northern portion discovered dinosaur tracks across steep alpine rock faces. The discovery led to many years of paleontology research, the results of which are displayed at the Tumbler Ridge Dinosaur Discovery Gallery. The story of the site’s discovery and subsequent struggle for control between amateur and professional “dinosaur chasers” is told by Vivien Lougheed in Sidetracked: The Struggle For BC’s Fossils (Creekstone Press, 2011).

planned to ride up onto the Continental Divide, but after three days of sunshine, the weather turned and seemingly endless rain ensued. Prior to our trip, the weather forecast looked promising, but the massive mountains that the park is known for create their own weather.

During the brief sunny spell, we spent a day drying out sopping-wet gear and resting the horses, while a second day was spent riding up to the former quarry. From the horse campsite at the south end of Kakwa Lake, we followed the tote road north along the west side of Kakwa Lake then turned west up a side valley to the subalpine. A variety of wildflowers and stunning views of colourful Babette Lake made lunch a memorable affair. The return trip was easy, although fresh bear tracks along our trail—in an area well known for grizzly—were disconcerting.

On what would be (unbeknownst to us) the last of our sunny days, I rode solo to the east toward Broadview Lake to find a trail for our planned trip along the Divide. The trail was muddy, with many trees down, but generally easy to follow. As the clouds re-appeared, I turned and rode back to camp just in time for the next storm. It was a doozy, and after many soakings, no scenic views, sodden grazing areas and an inability to continue our trip onto the Divide, it chased us home.

However, Kakwa still beckons. I’ve yet to see the Mount Sir Alexander massif as it was covered in cloud the entire trip. Additionally, the remote, horse-friendly, mountainous country along the Continental Divide is a major drawing card, along with routes and trails that extend to Mount Robson Provincial Park, Jasper National Park and Willmore Wilderness Park.

For keen explorers, Kakwa is one of those special areas it’s hard to believe still exists. It’s remote, under-discovered by summer visitors, and gets under the skin of those who are fortunate to experience its wonders: definitely worth the trip.

As the clouds re-appeared, I turned and rode back to camp just in time for the next storm.

Deterred but not defeated There are no roads into Kakwa Provincial Park; however, there is an old—and becoming overgrown—tote (mining) road that traverses the park from the McGregor River area in the south to Kakwa Wildlands Park in Alberta. This was the road that we slopped along. Our route took us to Kakwa Lake—surely one of the Rockies’ gems—where we camped for the duration of our trip. We’d

32 | JUNE / JULY ‘15 |

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column

On the Fly

Still-water caddis, anyone?

Brian’s Caddis Mikulak HOOK:

Tiemco 2312 nos. 8-10

THREAD:

UTC 140 tan

TAIL:

deer hairs ½ body length

BODY:

dubbing, Haretron HET2 dark hare’s ear; two turns between stacks of wings

WINGS:

4 stacks of deer hairs, between body dubbings

HACKLE:

1 grizzly, 1 brown, three turns of each

b ri a n sm i t h

Tying tips: Use less deer hair than you think; a five-mm width is plenty. Use strong tying thread or mono and to keep the deer hair wings from flaring use a soft-but-firm loop to begin and then tighten progressively harder to really tight, otherwise it will spin on you.

N

T h e au t hor’s st ill-w a t er caddisf ly, a k no ck o ff f ro m pi on eer fl y -fi s h er A r t Mi k u l ak ref i n e d ove r 3 0 or 4 0 years, has rewarded with m an y gl or i ou s fi s h i n g day s .

by B r i a n S mith fl yfi shingnut 4 7@gmail . c om

I think the ultimate challenge and satisfaction for a still-water or lake fly fisher is to bring a large trout to the surface and to capture it with a floating fly. For the angler, this climax is a culmination of several factors: the right choice of fly, the correct time of day and year, and having the good fortune and experience to be in the precise spot on the lake where the action can take place.

Trout have a difficult time refusing a wellpresented caddisfly. Despite aquatic research and estimates by many fly-fishing experts that a trout’s diet consists of only four percent caddis or sedge flies, and much of that diet will consist of sub-surface larvae and pupal stages, my favourable experiences with top-water caddisflies tell me that trout relish them throughout the fishing season, even when they are not present in the form of a hatching insect. Trout are opportunists, and nothing affords a better chance for a large meal than a big, juicy caddisfly flittering on a lake’s surface.

My still-water caddis imitation is a knockoff that began by looking at pioneer fly-fisher Art Mikulak’s pattern and re-designing it to my personal fancies over a period of 30 or 40 years. For the past 10 years, I have settled on what I call my Caddis Mikulak pattern, and it has graciously rewarded me with many glorious fishing days.

I fish my pattern beginning in late May about a month after ice-off and will continue to fish it through the summer months into late October.

The key to success with a floating caddisfly is to find fish that are happy, indicated by trout that are moving and rising on the surface. The time of day is important, with low light conditions of early morning and evening best, but not as crucial as finding areas of visible activity at any time of day.

Concentrate your efforts on the shoals of a lake, looking for long shelves of structure and weeds from two to 12 feet deep with a drop-off that continues into the lake. Trout enjoy a habitat that affords them deep shelter from bird prey, but will circle onto a shallow shoal to feed on emerging insects and to forage on crustaceans and larva that form the majority of their diets.

My favourite caddis lakes in the North are Tory, Wicheeda and Dragon. There is nothing more satisfying to me than casting a long line and Caddis Mikulak to their shoals or to a rising or cruising trout and letting it sit for a minute or two, then, if refused, giving it a twitch or skitter to mimic an escaping insect and having it slaughtered by an unsuspecting bruiser of a trout.

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Discover a whole lot of fun in

BURNS

LAKE

HEART OF THE LAKES DISTRICT

Come ride Burns Lake!

Home of Canada’s First International Mountain Bike Association Ride Centre.

Trails located 2 kilometres north of Burns Lake on Boer Mountain Road.

www.visitburnslake.ca

or www.burnslaketrails.ca

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back up with a 30-pound pack on your back and your head hanging downhill—it was always good to have a helping hand out of the predicament. We clambered over rocky side-hills and by the time we found a suitable alpine lake each night with a nice grassy patch to camp, we were usually exhausted.

It is easy to trip and fall on hidden rocks and roots, but almost impossible to get back up with a 30-pound pack and your head hanging downhill.

Smoke signals and steep ascents The summer had been unusually dry with above-average temperatures and while resting for lunch one day we noticed a plume of dark smoke rise above Williston Lake down the Peace Arm. It grew at an alarming rate, billowing into mushrooms of white smoke; then we saw another fire farther northeast. While the fires didn’t endanger us, the smoke limited views and we only used camp stoves for cooking.

During one long day’s hike, we doffed our packs to climb Mount Porter, at 2,100 m the highest point on our trek. A cairn marks the peak, so it was obviously not a first ascent, but there were no trails or other signs of human life. From the top, the distinctive rolling ranges of the Omineca Mountains spread out around us.

But Mount Porter didn’t present our most chal-

lenging day. That came on a day of steep climbs, vertical drops and long ridge traverses. Ahead lay a cliff and Dave King, our six-footplus leader, tested it by reaching for distant foot- and handholds while the rest of us discussed how we would get help in an emergency. He returned safely, saying, “No problem, you’ll all manage it fine.” He was so confident that he’d left his brush-cutter and pack at the top.

What he didn’t know was that a couple of members were quaking in their boots and had decided, There’s no way we’re going up there! The group split, one half descending to a lake below and then climbing up to the saddle while three of us followed King, finding our way down sheer rock before starting the ascent. As we climbed, we clung to the rock along a narrow ledge with a precipitous drop below, reaching for tentative foot- and handholds up a steep chimney.

King helped us up the last steep pitch with a much-needed strong arm. It was a great feeling as we reached the top with a fabulous view of the next long ridge. We re-united with the rest of the group at the saddle and continued traversing before climbing up the final ridge.

Perturbed pooch in paradise One thing we weren’t expecting in this untravelled terrain was the sound of a barking dog. We were amazed to see a large, grey wolf vocalizing its discontent at three group members perched on a rock below us. The stragglers watched as it emerged from a rock outcrop toward them.

Standing aggressively, it continued to bark with an occasional howl to prove that it was, in fact, a wolf, eventually loping away as the hikers donned their packs and continued. We presume it was protecting its young, hidden in the rocks behind.

Beyond our vantage point on the ridge were two beautiful lakes where we set up our tents and enjoyed a much-needed alpine bath and change of clothes. A family of ptarmigan walked right into our camp before being silhouetted on the rock.

That night we watched russet alpenglow dance on the mountains.

The final day, we descended over windfall to a clear cut, which had grown up over our heads. It took four hours to walk four km and a total of 12 km to get out to the road. We camped that night at Wolverine Lake, a pretty spot close to Manson Creek.

We returned home by a different route, via the Finlay Forest Service Road, to Highway 97 just north of McLeod Lake then to Prince George, all agreeing that although it was a tough hike, we were now stronger and fitter and it had been exciting to explore a new area.

N

Ruth Murdoch MC, CCC, RCAT

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A place for telling seasons

by Morga n H ite

mo rgan hit e

Moonlight Mountain

Moonlight Mountain trail is about an h o u r f ro m N e w H a ze l t o n , s t a r t i n g ro u g h l y 3 0 km u p f o re s t s e r v i c e ro a d s f ro m K i s p i o x Vi l l a g e .

morga njh@bulkley.ne t

The alpine ridge that I was introduced to as “Moonlight Mountain” is a spur of the larger Kispiox Mountain, an arm flung out first north and then northwest to enclose the headwaters of one of the tributaries of Moonlit Creek.

On top of it, you are on the divide between the Kispiox and Kitwanga rivers. Down to the southwest, Moonlit Creek flows into the Kitwanga. To the northeast, where the trail comes up, are tributaries of McCully Creek flowing into the Kispiox.

This is not the only peak in the Hazelton area that gets called Moonlight Mountain. It’s a local, and certainly informal, name.

The forestry roads to the trail do not require high clearance, but it is a long way: 23 km up the Date Creek Forest Service Road from the Kispiox bridge and then six or seven km more up the twisty 2300 road. It’s about an hour from New Hazelton.

The trail (completely unmarked, but poke around on the uphill side at the road’s end and you’ll find it) is easy to follow and recently cleared (fallen trees sawed). It goes down across a creek and then ascends along the ridge heading south. It’s more or less moderate all the way, which is to say you’re going steadily uphill, but none of it is horrendously steep.

Although you drove up through cedar forest (the road flanked by piles of abandoned stacks of cut trees, perhaps from when Carnaby went under),

you’re now in spruce-fir forest and you come to parkland (heather, smaller trees, openings) in less than an hour. Here the trail begins to disappear and at a couple places you notice other trails joining in from the side, places where it might be easy to choose the wrong path when you are returning.

After the parkland ends (note the small, pink ribbon on the last tiny tree) you are on a broad, ascending ridge of heather and grass. It narrows to a ridgeback, beyond which you come to a broad area at the base of the final climb up to Moonlight. This short-but-steep climb to the top is through finely bedded black rock (the strata tilted almost vertical) that shatters into tiny pieces. They are Bowser Basin sediments, the kind of oil and coal-bearing rock that has attracted geologists to the area between Hazelton and Spatsizi for years.

On top are splendid views. To the south, a ridge like a crescent dune connects Moonlight to the more massive Kispiox Mountain—high, orangey, dotted with permanent ice, draped with drippy lobes of scree, trimmed in patches of grass.

An interesting bit of trivia to contemplate when gazing at Kispiox Mountain is that it is one of Canada’s 141 “ultras.” An ultra-prominent peak is one from whose summit you would have to descend more than 1,500 metres to walk to a higher peak. Other local ultras include Brian Boru, Mount Cronin, Howson Peak, Hudson Bay Mountain and the Seven Sisters.

It’s about an hour to the parkland, two hours to the highest point on Moonlight, and about an hour and a half down.

N

Trail Map sponsored by Valhalla Smithers

www.valhallasmithers.com

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column

Ba rom eter

Big. Red. Fish.

by C h a rlyn n To ews edit or ial@no rt hwo rd. c a

To me, warmer weather means hiking, camping, canoeing and shouting nonsensical things in the wilderness.

In the olden days, hubby and I would drive along Copper River Road. We would drive to the river and take a hike; then it became a hike and a snack; then it became a short walk and elaborate tarp arrangements and a barbecue; finally, it was simply a set up for supper as near to the truck as possible, no hike involved.

This only took a few months to evolve from sweaty hungry hike to delicious dinner prep. We drove along that twisty, diamond-sharp-gravelled road often that summer. We got a few flat tires, which was part of the adventure.

One time a juvenile moose was travelling along opposite to us, looking like it might veer out into the road and charge us head-on. It would gallop along in the ditch, then change its mind and aim toward our excellent red truck, and then go

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toward the ditch again. It was frightening, the teen-moose’s eyes all wild and its tall, ungainly knees bouncing up and down, and when it looked like we were in for it, I shouted, “Duck!”

Which I did, I ducked. Good thing hubby chose elsewise, kept his eyes on the road and on the moose-ling, and navigated us away from the oversized youth.

“Duck?” he asked. Never mind.

Another time we were camping along a tributary of the Skeena River. We (the husband, the kid and I) were camped on the roadside of the beach on the river. Hubby took the canoe to the opposite bank to do some fishing.

No problem, only the Skeena River is mighty and I saw, from the safe shore, that the canoe was drifting fast, straining at its skimpy rope, and the calm husband casting from a standing position could be swept away to the far shores of the wild north coast at Rupert.

Distracting me from my intense worry that my hubby would end up in Japan, a hummingbird kept circling my kid’s red backpack, saying, Please be a flower, please be a flower!

Then, it happened: a huge deciduous tree—an alder or cottonwood—gave its life to the Skeena, lost its rooted footing and crashed with a thunderous splash into the fast water.

“Whale!” I shouted. Yup. “Whale, Mom?” asked the kid. Well, um, now you watch yourself, be careful that hummingbird doesn’t mistake your red hair for a flower and poke you right in the eye.

Hubby paddled back. “Whale?” he asked. Yes, you were both on the whale-watching trip, that’s exactly what it sounded like. And you, do you have any fish for dinner? Alrighty then.

Another day, late summer, we paddled the canoe from a beach at Lakelse Lake to Williams Creek and paddled uphill, like a returning salmon.

Kid was in the King of the Nile position, in the middle on a pile of cushions, paddle stowed and Lawrence of Arabia hat plunked on his head. I was up front in the Queen of Sheba spot, paddle in use but not providing all that much forward motion. Hubby was in the Voyageur seat at the back, where he steered and actually made the boat go.

As we travelled from sparkling sunlight to deep shade, I saw what was below. The creek was chock full of giant salmon. “Big!” I yelled. I pointed frantically and shouted, “Red!” I turned so they could hear me and clarified: “Fish!”

Say it, it’s fun: Big. Red. Fish. Those two do it now: All. The. Time.

N

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