Author: lacdesroches

 

The two male occupants of an eastbound pickup truck were lucky to escape a serious rollover accident with relatively minor injuries on September 30. As with many stretches along Highway 24, the soft shoulder and deep banks are unforgiving if a vehicle strays from between the centre and curb marker lines. Lac des Roches residents have experienced several single vehicle accidents in the past year which serve as a sobering reminder to advise family and friends to be extra cautious on this scenic highway – full of curves and dips – which demand the full attention of every driver.

 

Rain and cool temperatures throughout August have had an incredible impact on the local landscape. Green yards, green fields and flourishing gardens are predominant, making the neighbourhood appear more like a scene from June than the first of September. Absent this year is the familiar sound and feel of stepping on crunchy dry grass and weeds. The storms that have rolled through the valley have also had an incredible impact on the local landscape.  Heavy downpours have left trenches on several driveways all along the lake. Fierce wind gusts uprooted and snapped off aspen and spruce trees, both dead and alive prior to the breeze. Once the open burning ban is removed, residents can get on with the chore of cleaning up branches and trees that litter so many properties as well as the annual fall chore of raking fallen leaves, already showing distinct signs of their early autumn colours.

The spectacular lightning show on the afternoon of August 2 literally “hit a little too close to home”.  A brilliant streak of lightning contacted the top of the mountain several kilometers east of Lac des Roches and ignited the forest.  The immediate plume of smoke was obvious to a deck full of onlookers at a Boultbee Road residence, who immediately reported the incident to the BC Wildfire Management Branch at 1 800 663 5555. As of the morning of August 5, the small fire located at “Eakin Creek” is listed as “active”.

After years of observing and reporting lightning strikes in the hills around Lac des Roches, residents are reminded that the best information to give the wildfire operator is the estimated location of the fire as it relates to longitude and latitude.  The skull cliff on the south hill across from the rest stop is approximately:

Latitude: 51 degrees & 29 minutes North

Longitude 120 degrees & 37 minutes West

An estimated distance and direction from this point is enough for the wildfire center to dispatch a spotter plane to the observed fire or smoke location. To view update to wildfires in the province, go to www.bcwildfire.ca.

The sound of heavy equipment working in the clearcut on the south hill at the east end of Lac des Roches brought back some unsettling reminders of the surprise logging the residents witnessed earlier this year.  As previously mentioned in this forum, the harvesting of logs is complete on the south hill facing the lake however Interfor’s Forest Stewardship Plan for the site included remediation work on roads and livestock fencing. There is, however, active logging in progress adjacent to the west side of the Wavey Lake Forest Service Road, between #201 Road (located at the Helipad in Rabbit Meadow) and Wavey Lake. Also, flagging on the Eakin Creek Road indicates there is planned salvage logging adjacent to the old highway beginning near the Birch Lake Dump Road turnoff and proceeding east, past Phinetta Lake.

 

Power “blips” are quite common for those residents on the grid at Lac des Roches where the eastern hydro line along Highway 24 ends. Despite the installation of smart meters, residents must continue to be diligent when it comes to identifying and reporting power abnormalities and outages. A healthy looking spruce tree fell on the hydro lines at the east end of Boultbee Road early in the evening on July 17. The branches cause an electrical arc which tripped the breaker for the line and ignited the spruce tree.  The ensuing tree fire alarmed nearby witnesses who called 911. Volunteer firefighters responded but the fire was isolated to the tree top, high above the ground which did not spread to the surrounding woods. A BC Hydro crew removed the tree, repaired the broken line and restored power to the neighbourhood late that night.  A Telus lineman repaired the stretched telephone cable the following day.

 

Thankfully, summer is here…’nuff said!

Just as the groomed lawns around Lac des Roches were starting turn brown and crispy, the weather changed and the area was bombarded with heavy rain for almost a week. Thanks to the spectacular storms rolling in from all directions, creeks started flowing again and the slowly decreasing lake level temporarily ceased. Several residents admitted that they had thought they were finished with summer grass mowing and had all but put their mowers into long term storage.  Sporadic sprinkling from mother nature and high daytime temperatures have prompted a mid-summer growth spurt for lawns and provided the stimulus needed to kick start some vegetable plants such as zucchini squash and beans into rapid growth mode. Local saskatoon bushes, sadly draped with inedible tiny green berries have – in a matter of only a few days – transformed into a healthy crop of juicy and abundant purple berries, just about ready for picking

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Lac des Roches air quality was significantly impacted by the forest fire smoke that blanketed the Cariboo in mid July. While many residents wisely stayed indoors and mitigated their own discomfort from the heavy smoke, several boaters took advantage of the still evenings on the water to enjoy some spectacular rare sights of eerie sunsets.  Here are a few pictures taken between July 16 and 19 when the smoke was at its thickest.

Residents may have noticed the heavy equipment working early this summer in the gravel pit south of the Wavey Lake Road interchange. Considerable logging and excavating in the east side of the existing pit has unearthed a significant amount of gravel to be used for highway maintenance throughout the South Cariboo.

Although many residents have observed a noticeable decrease in the local ground squirrel population this summer, there are obviously enough vermin around to keep several badgers fed.   Regular sightings of badgers around the lake and near the highway are proof that they are still here.  One yard along Boultbee Road houses two fresh badger holes, with at least one resident badger. Ground squirrels usually den up very early for winter, and sightings beyond the end of August are rare however the lush grass this year from the mid-summer rain may keep them, and their key predator – the badger, active a little bit longer into early Fall.