The deal with the latest three wwoofers was that they would work for three weeks at Ginty Creek then fly to Nuk Tessli with me for two weeks' vacation (wwoofers are supposed to work about half the time.) But the snow was so heavy that the ice did not go off the lake until 13th June, a week later than the absolute latest it had ever gone off before. Usually, when the ice goes out, most of the snow has gone around the buildings, but this year more than half the ground was still covered and there were some huge drifts;
Ice hung about in a bay for days.
Oddly, though, the bugs were already a major pest. Usually I have about three bug-free weeks after the ice goes out, and often don't have any until July. But 2007 turned out to be the most horrendous bug year ever. Not only were they more numerous than ever before, they also seemed more aggressive. Bug protection was imperative.
Despite efforts to stop them, my two dogs, Bucky and Raffi, got up to mischief at Ginty Creek chasing moose. I ended up having to go for walks with one of them on a leash. I figured there was less opportunity for wildlife harrassment at Nuk Tessli so both dogs were free.
One day I was hiking up Otter Creek en route to the North Ridge when a large animal made a great crash in a patch of thick brush a couple of metres in front of me. An enormous cow moose leapt across the creek. The dogs, however, did not follow - they ran up the trail. "Oh no", I thought, "This must be the cow and calf whose tracks we had been seeing on occasion. Bucky's yapping drew away, then became closer again. Suddenly a moose calf as big as a pony galloped by me close enough to touch, bawling for its mum just like the baby across the river had done. Close behind was Raffi, whom I could usually call off a chase, but not this time, and in the rear was Bucky whom I hit hard with my stick, but who never faltered. "Oh well," I thought. "They'll soon give up"', and continued for my day's hike.
Friends were staying and they were due to fly out at noon. From far up the mountain, I heard their plane land and take off. When I got home I found a note on the table saying, "We don't know what the dogs killed but we think it was a moose calf." Apparently they had chased it half a km down the creek then a full km across the lake. When my friends flew out they saw the victim floating in the lake near the outlet.
That was the last straw. Bucky has always been a killer of small animals and a chaser of livestock; this time he had to go. He is now with friends in Burnaby, who take him jogging every day and really love him, but who would welcome another home for him as they have three cats. Bucky is very cute and a great pet - so if you want an affectionate dog and dislike your neighbour's cats, he is the perfect pet for you!
The big event for the summer was my 60th birthday party. 17 people stayed for six days. My brother came from England - I had not seen him for 28 years and rarely before that - and when we were kids, we fought - so it was an interesting reunion. Cousins also came from Germany. I felt very honoured that so many wonderful people came and made it a very special celebration. Logistics make it hard to make a surprise party for me at Nuk Tessli but the surprises within the party were multiple. The next one at Nuk Tessli will be in August 2013, when Nuk Tessli will be 25, but before that will be a housewarming at Ginty Creek September either 2009 or 2010 - so mark your calendar!
I came out of the bush in time for the fall colours at Ginty Creek at the end of September.
I finished clearing the yard and enclosing the porch with the last of the season's wwoofers. I usually take the Ginty Creek wwoofers down to Bella Coola for the day to see the bears - in spring they are grazing by the road and in fall they are feeding on the spawning salmon. In early October we had a most spectacular day of bear sightings - it is truly amazing that so many bears and people all quietly moving around each other doing what they want to do. A year or two ago I would be the only bear watcher - now the place was full of people. At times we were a little too close for comfort but it was really wonderful to see these creatures at ease in their own environment.
Black Bear
Grizzly and two 2-year old cubs
I had only a small book tour this year as there was no new book - in 2008 a nature journal will be published so I will organize a bigger one. I planned to arrive back a bit earlier - near the beginning of December - and phoned a neighbour to try and find out how much snow there was. There had been a couple of good falls but people were driving in and out of their places without ploughing so I thought my all-wheel-drive wondervan could do the same: it bucked 30 cms of snow last year no problem.But of course I got stuck half way along the 4 km road. It was about 2.00pm and -10C with the forecast to get to -27C overnight. If left in the vehicle, my 80kgs of expensive and very hard to get organic produce would freeze. (I am still having food sensitivity problems so buy organic where possible.) The nearest neighbour was 3 kms' snowshoe away in the oopposite direction fromn my cabin, and there was no guarantee he would be home or would have a working snowmobile. So best to get to the cabin. I had packed a toboggan and snowshoes into the van just in case and now broke trail in what proved to be 40 cms of snow, dragging the first load. I had left my gate open - some kind soul (probably the rancher rounding up his range cows in the fall) had shut it so that had to be dug out. I tried phoning around to see if anyone local had a snowmachine and skimmer to haul the rest of my produce, but no answer. There are few neighbours here and almost everyone had left for the winter. So I slogged back up the steep trail - even broken, it was still very hard work - and dragged two more loads. Raffi had to carry his share, too. The whole job must have taken at least five hours - the last load was completed totally in the dark by flashlight. I thought my retirement home at Ginty Creek was supposed to make life easy for me.
And so we are back into winter mode.
Those of you who have read my books will remember John Edwards of Lonesome Lake who was burned out during the 2004 fire. He passed away this summer from cancer. He was 79. I also heard, just a few days ago, that Jack Turner, husband of Trudy, also died of cancer. This was quite sudden. Trudy still lives in the Bella Coola Valley. She is quite crippled but is positive about staying in her own place for a while yet. She has made herself an appartment in her barn to be closer to her firewood. Her son-in-law lives across the road and is very helpful, and she has kind neighbours.My cabin at Ginty Creek is not yet finished outside, but is warm, weatherproof and packrat-proof inside. The enclosed packrat-proof porch and attic make life a great deal easier as well. I have lots of manuscripts to work on and hope to do a bit of print-making too. So I am looking forward to a comfortable and creative winter. I wish the same for all of you.
