Category: Community Blog

Despite staggered spring breaks among the different school districts in BC and Alberta, visitors to the lake during March were considerable fewer than previous years.  The rare site of sound of children of all ages playing in the snow was enjoyed by the few full-time residents.  Tobogging seemed to be the activity of choice, taking advantage of the slopes on private land and the public access that allow sledders to fly down the well-worn paths and zoom right out onto the ice covered lake.  Since March, the mild nights have changed the surface of the lake to the point where it is not enjoyable for any type of play or work.  As with many lakes in the south Cariboo, a layer of water appeared on the lake on April 8 after an extremely mild night.  That water, along with the sun has pitted the ice with slush and light layers of hollow ice and, while there is plenty of ice below the surface for safe use, the surface is unstable and unpredictable and users will get wet.   Our local tree remover is counting on some chilly nights in April to finish removing danger trees from the lakeshore and hauling them over the ice.  Considering the snow showers we experienced on April 11, there is a good chance he will still get the cold weather he needs.

 

 

 

Snowshoeing is certainly gaining in its popularity among the residents at Lac des Roches.  So many of the challenges such as slopes, wind, slush and weathered trails just don’t matter when trekking with snowshoes.  Many of the trails made in the surrounding hills this winter are firm enough now to enjoy despite the softening snow conditions of spring.  Hikers have also found that several tracks can even be enjoyed wearing only snow boots although gaiters are highly recommended to keep snow out of the tops of boots since the snow is still well over 3 feet deep.  The ladies of Boultbee Road still go out on Sundays and extend an open invitation for other local ladies to join them for their weekly adventure.

Thanks to the efforts of a Boultbee Road skiing enthusiast, residents have been enjoying some terrific cross-country skiing throughout March.  Pulled behind a snowmobile and with family members perched on top for weight, the track setter leaves two near-perfect ski impressions which makes skiing – especially for novices – much more enjoyable.  Wind, snow, slush and inattentive sledders are continual challenges for keeping the trails open but keen skiers will do their best to maintain the trails as long as conditions allow it and non-skiers keep off the ski tracks.

One of the Boultbee ladies who snow shoes on Sundays has brought her dog, Nazko, on several of the group’s treks.  Nazko, a Belgian Shepherd, runs circles – literally – around her fellow adventurers on the trail.  She never stops moving unless of course, she is on guard duty over the smokies as they roast by the fire.  Her owner, Sandra Neill, got the idea that she could see just how much further Nazco travelled than her with the aid of her two handheld Global Positioning System (GPS) units.  Sandra strapped one of her GPS units on Nazko and took her for a wilderness hike in the hills above Kamloops this winter.  Here are some of the entertaining statistics from that walk.

………………………………………                  Sandra                         Nazco

Distance (km)                                                  6.1                               16

Duration                                                          1h 21m                         1h 21m

Average moving speed (km/hr)                       5.0                               13.0

Max speed (km/hr)                                           9.0                               51.0 (really)!

 

A portion of the walk, Sandra in blue, Nazko in red

Heavy snow – and lots of it – has affected the lake ice quite differently this year.  While warm days throughout the winter exposed some holes at underwater springs around the lake, frequent cold snaps froze slushy sections up until the end of March.  The spring warming trend is quickly softening the top layer of icy snow and walkers, skiers and sledders are finding themselves in several inches of water and slush which is sitting on the top of the ice.  Spring of 2013 was an excellent time to enjoy nordic skiing.  The day’s thaw of the top sliver of ice would refreeze at night, producing a near-flawless sheet of ice over most of the lake for morning skating.  One would almost think that a Zamboni had spent the night removing flaws from the surface and filling in cracks.  We may be running out of time to enjoy that type of skating again this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Warm weather has dislodged most of the snow and ice which can slide off structures.  Compared to last year, very little damage has been observed so far.  On Boultbee Road, two owners are dealing with fascia boards ripped off of eaves and a small roof structure pulled off a cabin by travelling ice.  Only one chimney has been crumpled by sliding snow although there are roof vents still under the watchful eyes of neighbours.  Melt water could still pose a problem to some known trouble spots around the lake but so far, the cool spring temperatures have kept melting and evaporating snow to a very slow pace.

Another benefit of living atop the interior plateau is the occurrence of beautiful sunsets.  As the sun drops over the horizon from the lake view, it has plenty of travel time below the clouds and to the lower, out-of-sight,horizon, to light up the sky with colours so vibrant and intense, they must be almost impossible to replicate on an artist’s palette.

Several Lac des Roches residents attended another “ladies only auction” on March 22 at nearby Lee Road. Twenty ladies from surrounding communities enjoyed an evening of laughter and bargain shopping. The idea of selling unwanted new and used items in not unique, especially with the availability of on-line methods but what better excuse for getting together with a whole bunch of ladies than for a fun evening of shopping from your seat? One active bidder claimed to be buying her 2014 Christmas gifts. What a great idea and what great deals she got!  Unsold items not taken back home by their owner are taken by the host and donated to the Cedar Crest Society Thrift Store in 100 Mile House.

Fresh sign of a badger digging out its den hole under several feet of snow along Boultbee Road is a welcome site to full-time residents.  In the past few years, several of these hungry critters have managed to practically eradicate the ground squirrels (gophers) that do so much damage to yards and gardens.  Thankfully there have been no reported aggressive encounters with people or pets so residents are still cautiously welcoming these critters to the neighbourhood for another busy spring and summer.

It is hard to believe that today, March 20, is the first official day of spring when there is still close to a meter of snow in yards and a doozy of a snow storm blanketed the entire area with fresh snow just yesterday.  If there is any doubt that spring is truly here, read the actual accounts recorded by residents over the last week or so.

March 11 – Hundreds of noisy common crows have appeared in the aspen and cottonwood groves around the lake, pairing up and searching out nesting sites.

March 13 – Two bald eagles were flying together around the west end of the big lake, scouting out last year’s nest on the peninsula between the two lakes.

March 15 – Pussy willows have appeared on the bushes at Access #7.

March 16 – A huge noisy flock of Canada Geese flew overhead, heading north.

March 17 – A single noisy red winged black bird is making a fuss in the trees near the McCarthy Road lake access.

March 18 – A survey down Boultbee Road indicates 95% of the snow has slid off the metal roofs – and with no apparent damage to any chimneys this year!

March 19 – Slush and wet spots are showing up on the lake at the usual places and frozen culverts are forcing melt water to overflow ditches.  It is time to replace winter boots with spring galoshes.