Fort Nelson

Another northern BC trip under my belt. This time it was to Fort Nelson, a new destination for me. And again, as usual, I wanted to explore a bit since I had some extra time. My building review only took about 4 hours, but I’d only have had about 2 hours on the ground at most if I’d wanted to catch a same-day flight back to Vancouver.

My first stop was the Visitor Info booth where I learned that if it hadn’t been snowing, reportedly the conditions were right, high above the clouds for the Northern Lights phenomenon to occur. Better luck next time I guess. It snowed the whole time on this trip. It wasn’t ridiculously cold however, only about minus 10.

I wasn't familiar with the location of Muncho Lake in relation to Fort Nelson
 so I asked. Turns out it's about 3 hours west. No time to drive that far this trip.

Too cold for jogging outdoors, but since I’m training for the Sun Run next month I didn’t want to miss a training day. I was resigned to probably having to use the hotel treadmill. Not exactly ideal. The Visitor Info office came to my rescue by introducing me to the new Aquatic Centre right next door which houses an indoor walking/running track. And it’s free! This discovery, added to the hotel swimming pool (with corkscrew water slide) and hot tub more than compensated for the snowfall.

A bit too early for picnic season.

Another item from my Visitor Info session was that just up the road was a turn-off onto the Old Alaska Highway. It looped back to the main highway a few miles north of town so I took a drive. In reading the map I’d noticed that this intersection coincided with an access road to Parker Lake. It was of course snow-covered, but flat and recently traveled judging by the many tire tracks. In a couple of kilometers I reached the lakeshore to discover a tracked vehicle plowing the surface of the frozen lake. I had exited my vehicle to get a couple of photos, and as I stood there two snowmobiles approached. They stopped and I asked one of the pilots what was happening on the lake, as the previous day when I’d first checked it out it had been desolate and pristine. He informed me that there would be a sled dog race occurring on Saturday. Wow…can’t get much more Northern Canadian than that.

The access road to Parker Lake.

Parker Lake.

If you're looking for a place to happen, I'd suggest this is it.

I think this is a turning point for me. Upon arrival in small towns and cities I'm unfamiliar with, time permitting, I will definitely seek out a Visitor Info booth.

Can you believe it? They had the actual furnace that cremated Sam McGee at the
 museum across the road from the Visitor Info office.  ;-)

We celebrated Tannah's 10th birthday this past Sunday. We even got her a cake from a pet supply bakery on Main Street. We don't normally go nuts for a dog's birthday, but considering she's 10 and just got a good report from the vet, and of course since she's just such a great dog, we decided to have a bit of fun this time.


Mmmm...cake!

Happy Birthday Tannah!

Snow Fatigue

This year I think we're getting a sense of what winter really is for the rest of Canada. I think I may even be starting to sense "snow fatigue". As you may have guessed, it snowed again in East Van last night. Honestly, I can't remember a year where it snowed this much in four consecutive months. Mind you, I've only lived in Vancouver 17 years. The rest of my memories are from White Rock, but in terms of distance it's not that far away. However, I think where I live now is a bit higher in elevation.

Crocuses: normally a sign of Spring. Not this year.

Tomorrow's commute to work should be interesting. The snow has stuck to the side streets and it's forecast to dip down to about minus 1 tonight. That'll mean crusty ice tracks in my 'hood tomorrow morning. Maybe next year we'll revert back to the norm and I'll actually appreciate our typical West Coast catch phrase regarding the rain; "At least ya don't have to shovel it!"

Big Yellow Trucks



Somewhere between Prince George and Burns Lake.

We just attended a friend's birthday last weekend and he had an interesting item from our childhoods on display. It was a yellow Tonka dump truck. We both had one as kids and apparently his Mom kept his and gave it to him recently, used as a prop for a plant. I'm not sure if this gift occurred for this recent birthday or not, but that would certainly make sense. Like I said, I had one too. I asked my Mom about mine and, sure enough she said she's kept mine all these years as well.

"Tonka Tough"

I think we were probably about 4 years old when we got these trucks and we'd lean on the dump bins of the trucks, crouched over, and run behind them. I'm surprised we didn't wear out the plastic tires. I guess there's some truth to "Tonka Tough".

Interestingly enough I traveled to Prince George this past week and drove to Burns Lake to review a building. Somewhere along the way (I've forgotten the name of the small town I passed through and can't seem to find it on Google Maps Street View) I came across a real-life Tonka dump truck. Not really made by Tonka of course, but it's pretty cool to stand beside to get a sense of how big one of these things really is. And this isn't even as big as they get. The bottom of the dump box on this truck was higher than I could see into. I think the tires were each about 5 feet high, and the truck's certainly too wide to navigate a standard width traffic lane. I'm not overly familiar with the Prince George/Burns Lake region in general, but I would think this truck was used in the mining industry, although all the large trucks I saw while I was there were involved with the logging industry.