Earlier this month, my curiosity got the better of me, so with pad and pen in hand and a digital camera in my pocket, I set out to investigate the reason for the large green tent erected on Little Lac des Roches. What I found were 16 members of the Canadian Navy Dive team conducting training sessions. They were very enthusiastic about explaining their training techniques and invited me to watch their exercise. For the fourth consecutive year, 16 of the 45-member dive team from CFB Esquimalt – Colwood Base, have used the Lac des Roches Resort as their week-long training base. They practice diving and rescue techniques in the 30 foot deep water under the lake ice. Their training area simulates an actual dive site, possibly the result of an accident such as a plane crash. Their site uses about a quarter of an acre of ice surface. They start by clearing a large three-foot wide circle pattern on the ice. Next, they clear several straight lines or spokes, across the circle to resemble a “wagon wheel” image. This wagon wheel shape is visible to the divers under the ice. It is used to orient them back to the access hole, which is cut through the ice in the center of the wagon wheel. It is large enough for three divers to be in at once. The ice removed from the hole is saved so that it can be replaced at the end of the exercise. Finally, a tent is erected around the hole to provide shelter for the above-ice crew, as well as the air and communication equipment used on the dives. Divers are tethered to the surface with an air supply line and a communication cable allowing them to converse with those above the ice as well as the other divers. They are led through several maneuvers under the ice, including fastening themselves to the ice from below with a long screw. Most of the exercises are recorded with an underwater motion camera, also part of their training. They have two specially equipped vehicles to carry their gear, including air tanks; compressors; communication radios and lines and snow recovery vehicles. This year, they brought a newly constructed lifting devise to remove the large chunk of ice in one piece so that it can be replaced in the hole to presumably refreeze and remove a potential safety hazard on the ice. The lifter was used to remove a triangular ice divot approximately four feet long on each side and two feet thick estimated to weigh 600 kilograms. The divot has since been reset in the ice and the area is marked with some twigs.
This picture, courtesy of CFB Esquimalt, shows the new lifting device with the ice divot, which will be reset into the hole, refrozen and will maintain ice integrity for other users of the lake.
Keep ice holes safe
On the topic of holes in the ice, one neighbour suggested that ice augers are designed to limit ice fishing holes to six, eight or ten inches in diameter so that people and pets won’t fall through the thin ice on an unmarked abandoned hole. Whether this is the reason or not for ice auger sizing, it is important to think of the safety of others when making any hole in the ice on the lake. Last year, a resident stepped through a hole about 2-foot square that had been cut in the ice to install anchors for a new wharf. Although the surface had refrozen, snow had drifted over the top and hid the very thin layer of ice underneath. Luckily, only one leg of the adult went through the ice, but it could have been a disaster if a child or family pet had stepped on the thin ice. All abandoned holes should be marked with a stick for the protection of others and extreme caution and extensive warning should be erected where bigger holes are made in the ice.
Development
While the development on Crown land at the east end of Lac des Roches has been set aside for now, there continues to be development of private land in the area. With the decrease in available bare land for purchase throughout the Cariboo, it seems many landowners are looking at subdividing to meet the demand. Although rezoning notices are posted in a local paper and on the subject property, it may be more convenient for readers to access the available information from the regional districts directly. For our area, Cariboo properties subject to a public hearing can be found online at www.cariboord.bc.ca. Information for Thompson-Nicola properties, at the east end of Lac des Roches are available from the planning office in Kamloops, toll free 1 877 377 8673.
Gravel preparation
The recent clearing and burning in the gravel pit across from the Wavey Lake Forestry Service Road is the result of the Ministry of Transport’s pit expansion project. The additional gravel will most likely be used for many projects, hopefully including the much-needed repaving of the stretch of Highway 24 that skirts Lac des Roches. The ministry is not expected to announce its paving plans throughout the province until late spring. Our stretch of highway has been criticized for years. One visitor, upon hearing the distinctive “clackety clack” noise along the hillside, commented to his host that he wasn’t aware that there was a train track so close by. He was informed that that noise was not the clacking of train wheels on the tracks but rather the thumping of truck tires hitting the cracks in the pavement! In the past, I added my criticism of the condition of Highway 24 to local discussions. Earlier this month, I traveled the Trans Canada Highway between Kamloops and Calgary and was appalled at the number of severe potholes and frost heaves without warning signs. Even travelling below the posted speed, these bumps were bad enough to result is daylight between the truck tires and the asphalt. After that trip, I have re-thought my position on the state of Highway 24. Repaving would be nice and yes, our stretch of highway is particularly bumpy, but at least all of the tires stay on the pavement. A neighbour travelled the same stretch of Highway 2 weeks later and reports that all the frost heaves are now marked. I guess I wasn’t the only one who called the Ministry about the need for “air traffic control.”