Park Your Disappointment Here

I seem to spend at least some time hiking the trails in the National Parks of the Rockies each summer. I really have to say that I continue to be disappointed by the abysmal level of trail maintenance, backcountry campground maintenance and that sort of thing. It seems as though National Parks has given up on looking after anything further than a couple of km from the main roads and the hordes of tourists. Bridges over major rivers and streams are out, large deadfall blocks many trails and the backcountry campgrounds are scruffy, much as they were 25 or more years ago when I first started hiking in these areas.

Now I know the Parks have a cash flow problem and are chronically underfunded, but they have been collecting backcountry fees for years and those fees plus park entry fees have been rising much more rapidly than the rate of inflation in recent years. Where is that money being used? Do the Parks have trail maintenance crews? Do they ever leave town with a chain saw? How scruffy will they let the backcountry "facilities" get before they just fall apart? Is this a plot to discourage people from even visiting the backcountry?

What Parks doesn't seem to understand is that if there is a log across a trail, people will go around it, making a new trail and damaging more vegetation. Keeping things clean and maintained goes a long way to fostering respect for our wilderness. Parks needs to clean up its act.

Cooking in the Rockies

A recent post from The Clothesline speaks to the heat. Seems to be everywhere this summer. I just spent 3 days with some Saskatoon friends while doing some mountaineering in the Rockies. Saskatoon is cooking. In the Little Yoho Valley, where we were climbing, the tactic was to get up at 4:30 am, eat and get the climbing done by noon before we cooked too. My eyes seem seared by the heat and sun even with the sunglasses I always wear. Snow and ice up high is melting at an astounding rate and more parts of the glaciers are bare of snow than I've seen at this time of year. Needless to say, the glaciers are falling apart more quickly each year, it seems.

I spent a week on the Wapta Icefield and 3 days in the Little Yoho, climbed several peaks and generally wore myself out, but the one thing that stands out is the heat. Makes you yearn for days where it "only" gets to +23C.

Turning up the Heat

Just got back from a week on the Wapta Icefield. I was somewhat shocked to see more bare ice than I've ever seen at this time of year. This despite a heavier than normal snowfall this past winter. A couple of weeks of super hot weather just stripped the snow off the glaciers. In addition to seeing the glaciers melting faster and faster, other problems are showing up. For instance, the route up to the Balfour High Col is showing signs of falling apart. New crevasses are opening up that are threatening to block the route. We passed debris from a huge serac fall from the cliffs high up on Mt Balfour. The debris did fill the crevasses, but it's an indication of how the route is changing. It may not be long before that route is impassable.

Baking in the Kootenays

No picture today - hard to take a good picture of the inside of an oven. At least that's what it feels like outside. It's not as hot here as some places in the Interior of BC, but it's nearly +35C along Kootenay Lake today and nary a cloud to be seen anywhere. It's the sort of day where you're eager to get up and busy at 4 am just so you can spend the afternoon in the basement. I suppose I could go find a cool stream somewhere or a shady spot next to the Lake but I think I'll just stay in the basement. Tomorrow is supposed to be even hotter.

Makes me think that I ought to find plans for a solar oven, solar panels, solar hot water production. Thouse could be projects for later to get ready for next summer. I remember that August 2005 was likewise hot and sunny. We get lots of cloud in the winter, but summer would normally have lots of solar potential.

I've been using my inside time sorting out camping equipment, cleaning up and even digging around in some of boxes that we haven't unpacked yet.

Seems like there will be another reason to be glad we don't live in Vancouver. There's a chance that "sanitary engineers" will be on strike shortly. With the heat working on all that uncollected garbage, Vancouver would be a good place to avoid.

The Shed - an Update

Another blistering hot day in the Kootenays, indeed all of southern BC. Temperatures well into the 30s and not a cloud in the sky. I got my outside work done early, had a momentary lapse of sanity and rode my bike into town and I'm now back in the basement, keeping cool.

The shed now has a roof. I finished that on Sunday, added the ramp this morning and now there's just shingles, a door, a woodshed on the left side and some siding. All projects for August or September.

One of our interior BC realities, at least where we are, is lots of water (in the lake) but somewhat restricted water pumping capabilities. The little neighbourhood where we live owns and operates its own water system: we pump water from the lake, then filter and chlorinate it. Trouble is during such hot weather the system has a bit of trouble keeping up with the demand. We've gone to drip irrigation in our garden because it really saves water. That and a little computer that controls when things are watered (ie: 4 am before the sun gets up). No signs of any rain or cooler weather on the horizon (or out in the Pacific).

Evolution of a Shed

We decided quite awhile ago that we would need a garden shed. This was to be storage for tillers, shredders, garden tools, potting equipment - all the stuff that I really didn't want in the garage. It started out being something I'd probably build in late summer or the fall....

Well, with the stinking hot weather we've been having lately, and a few days to go until a mountaineering trip near Lake Louise, we made a quick trip to Nelson for some building materials and serious work on the shed began the other day. I say serious, but Catherine has been working on it for a week or so, and I don't mean just dropping subtle hints. I'd mark out the corners and she'd dig holes in the rocky BC soil so I could pour cement posts to support the shed. We finished that 2 days ago and I've been spending mornings in the shade getting the building up.

Wednesday I got the base built and one wall up. Today it actually started looking like a building. I quit around noon because the sun starts hitting the construction site again. Temperatures today are forecast to hit the high 30s. I'm cooling off in the basement and will probably spend the afternoon in the garage. If I overheat, it's back to the basement.

Tomorrow I get to decide on roof designs. I'm thinking of some home-built trusses.

Canada Day - Eh to Zed

As noted on The Yarn Harlot. I'm really not into the knitting theme that pervades most of the postings on that blog, but I did get a chuckle out of Oh Canada. I think all real Canadians will understand.

Exploring the Koots 0702

Coinciding with the Canada Day long weekend and a visit from Andi, Demitri and a friend from France, we decided to do a day hike to either Woodbury Cabin or Silverspray Cabin. We discovered briefly into the hike that the first main bridge was out so we changed plans and hiked up to Sunset Lake. The lake was actually quite nice, set back against Pontiac Peak. Views were available over to the Silverspray area, bear droppings were common along the road and we did have to walk through some snow. There is actually quite a bit of snow up high. The Silverspray bowl seemed to be still full of snow. Given the amount of snow we had this past winter, it seems possible that some areas won't lose their snow this summer. That could be good news for glaciers this year.

By the way, booo to BC Parks - their trail signs could be a bit more informative. A few more words would have made the trail conditions much clearer.

Canada Day

Yesterday - 140 years for this improbable country. Spent most of the day with a mild stomach upset, reading, drinking liquids, sleeping, lying in the sun. It was another beautiful West Kootenay day. By evening I was feeling well enough to go out for desserts at friends who live above Kaslo and watch the fireworks over Kaslo Bay. This is our 2nd Canada Day in Kaslo and I have to say that fireworks against the backdrop of mountains across the lake and the booms echoing off the surrounding hills makes for an excellent location for a firework display.

We've been hiking too - more on that once I do some work on my pictures.