Where the Alaska Highway passes through the Rockie Mountains, north of Fort Nelson, I always got a chuckle at a particularly windy spot where progressive road signs cautioned drivers to slow down. They were “dangerous curve”, then Ld bad corner” and finally “very bad corner”. It was effective, everyone slowed down. Now, the Highway 24 corner at the Boutlbee Road turnoff will forever be a “bad corner” in the memory of the driver of an eastbound truck with travel trailer attached who was forced to pull onto the shoulder on the morning of April 29 when an oncoming vehicle “drifted” across the centerline. The shoulder is extremely soft, and the truck and trailer came to an abrupt stop and precarious angle in the soft gravel. The driver jumped from the truck, thinking it was all going to topple down the steep bank. Luckily it didn’t. It took two tow trucks and their skilled operators to pull his unit back up onto the highway with no apparent damage and the driver was able to continue on his less “exciting” journey. The white crosses already erected at the sides of the highway at this spot are indicative of several accidents and close calls at this “very bad corner”.
Late spring
No two springs seem to be alike when it comes to the ice going off the lake. The ice can melt around the edges of the lake and shift slightly with the wind in one huge chunk. The only way we can tell is that it moves our dock with it. When constructed, our dock was straight as an arrow but it has taken on a more meandering “S” shape. The late winter drop in the water level causes the ice to go down too and since it is often frozen to our dock piles, takes our dock down a few inches with it. Walking on our dock is like walking on a roller coaster track! This year the ice is behaving well and melting slowly with our mild days and cool nights. I expect the ice will have gone out during the May long weekend, for my visiting grandkids to see and hear.
Condolences
Some sad news on Little Lac des Roches, as one of our community’s family recently experienced a heartbreaking loss. Jolie, the two year old granddaughter of Joe and Darlene Maddalozzo, died suddenly April 29 from a virulent strain of meningitis. The family is understandably upset by this event, but are trying to cope by raising funds for the B.C. Children’s Hospital. So far 39 people have joined Kelly and Jason Maddalozzo’s (Jolie’s parents’) team in the HSBC Children’s Run. Friends and neighbours are invited to donate to the BC Children’s Hospital in Jolie’s memory.
Friends keeping busy
Shortly after the ice is off the lakes, members of Friends of Lac des Roches and Birch Lake will commence water testing and send their results to the BC Lake Stewardship Society. While the lake was deemed “healthy” last year, annual monitoring provides base line data to understand if certain changes such as pH spikes or algae blooms are normal. The group has published its annual community newsletter which will be available on their revamped website, www.lacdesroches.org early in June.