The Ongoing Adventures Of Sabrina & Scooter

 Date: Thursday, August 7
Day: 41
Kilometre: 8165
Location: Lac la Hache Provincial Park, British Columbia

I was tired and beat from my cold and (still) dead right ear. My voice was gone altogether now. Time for a rest! I broke down and picked up some DRUGS from Shopper’s - some little box with a card of 10 pills called FX ULTRA II GEL CAP MEGADOSE SUPREME, triple-filtered with Fabulon 5 or something like that. I think all I really needed was an antihistamine, but I do appreciate that placebo factors can make a difference too. Oh, I got me a big box of Kleenex too!

I made camp here, a few K’s north of the town of Lac la Hache (named by the Voyageurs for a much-valued axe head that was lost through the ice on the lake whilst chopping wood).

I had my pick of many campsites. In BC, you just drive in, find a spot and dig in. A fee collector comes by and issues you a permit. I found one that fit my criteria (shade, proximity to others, view; in that order) and some nice Douglas firs surrounding it, covered with the requisite colonies of lichen.

See pic below:

This is no rain forest here (actually, it’s historically quite dry) but one cannot escape the dangling displays of lichens in BC. Bring a small lichen-covered branch down to your level and look at it up-close with a magnifying loupe. You may be surprised by the number of different species you find!

I decided there was no need to have a fire, as the day was hot and the night promising to be warmer than your average bear. There were two  motorcycle guys about my age at an adjacent site when I pulled in. Their bikes were big MX bikes. Later in the evening one of them came by and we began chatting. But I didn’t want to chat with anyone. I explained that I was resting my voice but it made no matter. He began by telling my that he and his buddy were doing a logging road trip up to Alaska from their hometown in Portland, Oregon…an hour later I begged off to bed.

On Tuesday I awoke and all my neighbours were gone, including the two motorcycle guys. I never did meet other motorcycle guy.

Should I stay or should I go now? If I stayed and just rested my voice, I would get better faster. I decided this was the right course of action, so I spent the day writing song lyrics and such and time passed swiftly. This was a wel-treed spot - I needed to shift the squirrel’s outdoor cage only twice during the day to keep it in the shade. Juvenile red squirrels come by and just stare at me, I suppose waiting to see if this animal will throw some food in towards them.

Wednesday morning I felt MUCH better, and my voice was indeed back, albeit in rather tender fashion. The ear was still incognito and did I mention there some tinnitus going on? I decided to stay one more day. This time, I felt well enough to go across Highway 97 to the Park’s beach on Lac la Lache. Not a great beach nor swim in the high-in-particulates water, but restful and restorative nonetheless. When I got back to my campsite, I caught a juvenile red squirrel runniung off with one of my spent green jasmine tea bags. It ran up a fir and placed it 5 metres up in the boughs, as it would with a mushroom, to “air dry” it. I have no idea what the squirrel thinks it is going to do with it later! Note the tea bag “handle” and string in pic below.

I packed up camp on Thursday morning, but decided to stay a while before I left as it was going to be a scorcher this day (35 deg C) and I did not want to be entering the Greater Vancouver area during rush hour in this heat with my squirrels. I had I headed to the beach at Lac la Lache and hung out there grabbing some rays while the squirrels stayed in the travel cage, well shaded. At about 2:15 pm I enjoyed a great outdoor shower, then pointed the car towards Vancouver.

Date: Sunday, August 10
Day: 44
Kilometre: 8775
Location: Surrey, British Columbia

I had not traversed this route to Vancouver ever before and I was treated to the beautiful (but desolate) Cache Creek area, where sagebrush, sand and tall cliffs make up the stark landscape. A virtual desert. Great to look at but I would not want to live there. Eventually I was bypassing Hope and within spitting distance of my first destination, my sister Bonni’s place in Surrey. Bonni is my most distant sibling (geographically, that is) and has been living on the left coast for 15 years or so now. She lives with her boyfriend Norm near the Canada/US border, in a house that was built in 1920, surrounded by highbush blueberry farms. It was great to see her again.

On Friday morning the squirrels and I took the ferry to Vancouver Island, to meet my friend Mary Hampson. Mary is the wife of the late Cy Hampson. Cy was a professor at University of Alberta and they both looked after colonies of northern and southern flying squirrels when Cy was studying them and writing papers. I had never met Mary before, as we had only communicated via email over the years. So I was really looking forward to this. I was picked up by Mary and her friend Sharon. We cruised a bit around the Victoria area - much has changed since I was last here in 1977. Then we headed for Mary’s house, situated right on Saanich Inlet with great views of the water.  We enjoyed a great, diverse luncheon and chatted about many things.  Time passed swiftly and before I knew it, I had to head to the ferry terminal to catch my 3:00 sailing. I am so glad to have finally met this remarkable woman!

Below: Mary and Sabrina hit it off right away.

Below, Mary and Steve going over Cy’s Ph.D. Thesis from 1965, also note one of Cy’s many groundbreaking strobe photos involving glide dynamics on couch.

On Friday night, Bonni went out with a friend to watch her son Christian play in his band at The Commodore in Vancouver. The band is called Michael White and the White - they are a Led Zepplin tribute band and Christian is the lead guitarist. I decided I had best stay close to home as I was still a bit sick and wanted to be at my best for the show the next morning in Vancouver.

The show Saturday morning in Vancouver was for the Stanley Park Ecology Society (SPES). Jarrid Jenkins, SPES’ Public Programs Manager, and his crew of dedicated volunteers helped me unload my gear, then pack it up and load the car after the show. The show was well-attended and went very well. Jarrid played his guitar and sang two of his great tunes, and I tried out my new song I had been working on - all three songs were very well received! Whew! I may not be as bad as I think I am!

Below from left to right: Lisa, Jarrid Jenkins, yours truly, Michelle and Kristin

Today, Sunday, I am leaving my sister’s place in Surrey and head for the Okanagan region, towards my next show at Shuswap Provincial Park. Pic below is of Bonni and Norm just before I say goodbye.

Stay tuned….