August 18 to 24, 2019 ; home to Duncan Lake, Kootenay Rockies

Sunday ; Princeton

Sunny and hot. A nice day to attend a music festival.

We left home this morning around 11 AM heading west on Crowsnest Highway 3 to Princeton, and day two of the annual Princeton Traditional Music Festival. We arrived there around noon, and stayed until 6 PM.

Around 4:30 PM, while we were at the Museum Stage, the smaller of the two outdoor stages, a large, black, Standard Poodle romped into the audience, then onto the stage. We had seen the dog yesterday, so knew that his owners were at the festival, probably at the other stage. The dog was obviously lost, and panicked. He jumped off the stage, ran over to the side of the stage, and peed on a musician’s guitar case. The musician was NOT amused ! ! ! Nobody else was moving, so … I jumped up, left the audience, and ran over and caught the dog. 
I dragged him over to a nearby picnic table, then sat down and tried to calm him. A woman at the picnic table read the dog’s name tag ( Julian ) and phoned the number on the tag, advising the owner where the dog was. Sure enough, she was at the other stage, and was unaware that Julian had left ! Not the sharpest knife in the drawer ! ! !

We were back home around 7 PM. Had perogies for supper while watching a documentary on the Woodstock music festival fifty years ago. < blink blink > … Geez, we’re old !

Monday ; home to Vernon

Sunny and very hot. Too hot in the camper for Emma !

This morning we prepared for departure, finished loading the camper, and left home around 12:45 PM. We stopped at Sanderson Farms in Keremeos to buy fruits and vegetables. We stopped at the Yellow Lake rest area halfway to Penticton and had lunch.

In Penticton we exchanged a defective item at Wal-Mart then went to Total Pet to buy dog food for Ozzie. They were out of stock of Ozzie’s food … < sigh >. They phoned the store in West Kelowna ( a.k.a. Westbank ) who ( allegedly ! ) said that they did not have the large bag that we wanted, but they did have a small bag. We ordered a large bag to be picked up in the Penticton store in a couple of weeks, and headed to Westbank for the small bag.

Battling regular Okanagan / Westbank / Kelowna traffic congestion we arrived at the address the Penticton store gave us for the Westbank store and … 
< sputter > … it was not there ! ! ! We returned to Hwy.97 and continued northbound, finding the pet food store in a newer, larger mall just down the road ! I waited in the truck with Ozzie while Joanne went into the store to buy the small bag of dog food. They didn’t have it ! ! !

They claimed that there must have been some manner of misunderstanding on the phone call between the two stores. < sputter … fume > They phoned the Kelowna store who ( allegedly ) had a small bag, but not a large bag, of Ozzie’s food. Off to Kelowna we went ! When we arrived at the Kelowna store, there on the shelf was … wait for it … a large bag of Ozzie’s food ! ! ! < shaking my head in despair > Yes, yes … it’s still very difficult to get good help in a pet food store ! We bought the large bag and asked the Kelowna store bimbo to phone the Penticton store bimbo and cancel our order for a large bag.

While in Kelowna we checked out a couple of malls that are apparently good overnight boondocking spots, then drove into, around, and out of the Kelowna airport so that I could have some advance familiarity with the airport before Joanne’s flight departure from there in a few weeks. We continued northbound on Hwy. 97 to our boondocking spot for tonight, the parking lot of the Superstore in Vernon, arriving around 6 PM. Boondocking acceptable, sani-dump station in the parking lot, and fuel bar beside the parking lot. Absolutely everything RV’ers need ; safe and quiet overnight parking, groceries, fuel, freshwater refill, 
sani-dump station ! Thank you, Superstore !

Tuesday ; Vernon to Armstrong to Vernon to Lost Lake Rest Area

Sunny and hot.

This morning Joanne went into Superstore to buy some groceries while I dumped our waste holding tanks and refilled our freshwater tank at Superstore’s 
sani-dump station. From there we drove north on Hwy. 97 about 20 km. / 12.5 miles to the village of Armstrong. Our destination there was … WOO-HOO … Village Cheese Factory. We arrived there around noon, and browsed for cheeses before having lunch. We bought four packages of different cheeses, put them into the fridge in the camper, then went back into the store to have lunch. AND … look through the glass wall into the factory and watch this week’s batch of cheese curds being made. WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO … a fresh batch of cheese curds was going to be ready by the time we were finished lunch.

I had a bowl of ( extra hot, of course ) beet borscht with today’s fresh cheese curds added, and a turkey baguette sandwich. Joanne had a bowl of asparagus soup with today’s fresh cheese curds added, and a ham baguette sandwich. Lunch was overpriced but … there’s not that many places where one can get 
( extra hot ) beet borscht with fresh cheese curds, n’est-ce pas ? HA HA HA ! By the time we were finished lunch today’s cheese curds were ready for sale. An employee was bringing packages of cheese curds out from the factory floor, a few packages at a time, after pricing them, and … she was not getting an opportunity to place the packages on the shelf. People were lined up to take them from her as soon as she came through the factory door into the store. HA HA HA

We got a package of cheese curds ( twenty-seven bucks a kilo ! ), paid for them, and left. OOOOO … cheese curds so fresh they squeak loudly when you chew them ! ! ! HA HA HA ! AND … we discovered … Ozzie and Emma love them too ! HA HA HA HA HA !

We drove south on Hwy. 97 back to Vernon where I returned to Superstore to refill Lanoire with diesel. AND … Joanne decided … since we had fresh curds … she should run back into the store and buy a can of poutine gravy, and make poutine for supper tonight. WOO-HOO … HA HA HA !

We headed east on Hwy. 6 through Lumby and Cherryville and beyond. We explored forest service recreation sites / remote wilderness campgrounds as we traveled. The last one of the day … we failed to find. HMPH ! After about twenty km. of rough gravel road, which became a terrible dirt road, one lane wide, we failed to find the campground which should have been at about km. marker 17 on the forest service road. SO … we turned around, and drove twenty km. back to the highway. HMPH !

We stopped for the night at Lost Lake Rest Area, at the Monashee Summit on Hwy. 6. For supper we had fresh corn picked and bought yesterday at Sanderson Farms, and … poutine ! It was SOOOOO GOOOOD !

Wednesday ; Lost Lake Rest Area to Box Lake BCFSRS

Mostly sunny and warm, a bit of light drizzle in the evening.

We got a late start to our day, leaving the Lost Lake Rest Area shortly before noon. We continued east on Hwy. 6 until we reached the Lower Arrow Lake ferry at Needles. It’s a free ferry that takes just a few minutes to cross Lower Arrow Lake, from Needles on the west side to Fauquier on the east side. While on the ferry a similar Lance camper on a similar Dodge truck was parked beside us. 
I chatted with the Alberta young couple that were travelling in a rig similar to ours … with three young children ! YIKES !

After crossing Lower Arrow Lake on the ferry we continued eastbound on Hwy. 6. We stopped at McDonald Creek Provincial Park to have a late lunch and refill our freshwater tank. We continued northeast on Hwy. 6 until reaching Nakusp where the highway turns southeast. About 10 km. / 6 miles after Nakusp we turned off the highway to reach Box Lake Forest Service Recreation Site remote wilderness campground.

Box Lake is the first British Columbia Forest Service Recreation Site remote wilderness campground that we went to, about a dozen years ago. We have no recollection of why we were inspired to try to reach a remote wilderness campground while towing a large fifth wheel trailer, but … we did ! Joanne remembered Box Lake with fondness and wanted to return.

After enduring the difficult, rough two km. trail to reach Box Lake we found an empty site and settled in. We chatted with a woman who was carrying a beautiful, fragrant, large mushroom that she identified as a Pine Mushroom. We were not familiar with anything called a Pine Mushroom, and our Mushroom Hunter book has no listing for that name. The woman said that Pine Mushrooms and Lobster Mushroom were now “in season” in this area.

We took Ozzie for a long walk, and searched for mushrooms as we hiked down a forest trail. The terrain was cedar forest, with ground ferns and moss. Rainforest ! I found a batch of mushrooms that I thought were Boletes, probably King Boletes. I harvested a dog poop bag full. HA HA HA ! Joanne found a batch of mushrooms that seemed likely to be Lobster Mushrooms, a type of mushroom we have never seen except in our Mushroom Hunter book. I harvested a dog poop bag full of those as well.

We returned to our campsite and got our Mushroom Hunter book. It was easy to determine that what we thought were Lobster Mushrooms were indeed. What we thought were King Boletes were not so obvious. Finally we each tasted a tiny, raw piece of a mushroom. YUCK ! Very bitter aftertaste. A bit more research brought me to the conclusion that these were Bitter Boletes, an inedible member of the Bolete family. Joanne was convinced that they were Death Caps. GEE … 
I certainly hope not. We had each eaten a tiny piece. I am writing this about four hours later and we haven’t died yet, so … ! Wish us luck. HA HA HA !

The Lobster Mushroom is very interesting. It starts out as a nondescript, somewhat tasteless type of mushroom, and only becomes an edible, tasty Lobster Mushroom when it becomes “invaded” by a microscopic parasite. So … it’s only edible and tasty as a parasitized fungus. HA HA HA ! Joanne sauteed them for supper. They were good !

I lit a campfire and cooked burgers on the open fire. Cheese curds on top of the burgers. Lobster Mushrooms on the side !

Thursday ; Box Lake BCFSRS

Sunny and warm, a lovely day for relaxing by a beautiful mountain lake.

After morning chores we went for a long mushroom hunting hike in the cedar rainforest with Ozzie. We’ve never seen him so eager and happy ! The trail through the forest was soft, covered in cedar needles, the forest floor covered in moss. He excitedly trotted ahead of us, then behind, then off the trail into the forest to check things out … repeat as necessary. HA HA HA ! We hiked for quite awhile, perhaps an hour or so, and he covered about three times the distance that we did. That would explain his five hour afternoon nap. HA HA HA !

We were looking for more Lobster Mushrooms, or perhaps Pine Mushrooms. What we found were … Cauliflower Mushrooms. We picked a poop bag full. This was another type of mushroom that we had never seen before, except in our Mushroom Hunter book.

HEY ! I’m sitting at the picnic table in our campsite, typing this at 5:30 PM, and a little wasp has just landed on my laptop screen. GO AWAY !

A few minutes ago I discovered that I forgot to bring my laptop’s power cord, so … in a few days the laptop battery will run out of power, and … I won’t be able to write my daily journals. HMPH !

After lunch Joanne cleaned the Cauliflower Mushrooms. We will have them for dinner tomorrow, in pasta. The Lobster Mushrooms that we ate yesterday with our burgers were good, and caused us no stomach upset, so … they are safe to eat. Hope the same is true of the Cauliflower Mushrooms.

In the evening I lit a campfire and cooked packets of meat, potatoes, and vegetables over the open fire. After dinner we sat around the campfire enjoying the lovely evening … and the single mother / tween daughter drama next door. HA HA HA !

Friday ; Box Lake BCFSRS to Duncan Lake

Overcast, warm, intermittent light rain in the evening.

This morning as we were leaving the Box Lake campground, we “hunted for mushrooms” as we slowly drove the two km. of rough dirt trail back to the highway. I saw a solitary Lobster Mushroom in the rainforest on my side of the road, stopped, and picked it. Before reaching the highway Joanne thought she saw a Lobster Mushroom in the rainforest on her side of the road. OH MY GOODNESS ! ! ! Not only was there a batch of Lobster Mushrooms, one of them was HUGE ! We picked them ! AND … nearby we found a White Russala Mushroom, the “host” for the microscopic parasite that then turns it into a Lobster Mushroom. Our Mushroom Hunter book says that where Lobster Mushrooms exist … invaded by the parasites … there will be no parasite free White Russalas. HMPH ! Proved that wrong today !

We drove southeast on Hwy. 6 to New Denver where we shopped, but did not buy anything, at the weekly Farmers’ Market. We drove about 5 km. / 3 miles out of town to Rosebery Provincial Park to check it out, and have lunch there. As we drove throughout the day, as we passed provincial parks or forest service roads leading to remote wilderness campgrounds, we checked them out. After lunch we drove back into New Denver where we dumped our waste tanks and refilled our freshwater tank at the municipal campground, then went to the grocery store in town to buy some luncheon meats and buns.

We drove east on Hwy. 31A to Kaslo where we refilled the truck with diesel, and refilled our five gallon water jug at a grocery store. From Kaslo we headed north on Hwy. 31, along the west side of Kootenay Lake. We checked out a couple of provincial parks on the way. At the northern tip of Kootenay Lake we took a gravel road about 15 km. / 9 miles along the east shore of Duncan Lake to Glacier Creek Regional Park, an unserviced campground on Duncan Lake. While Joanne prepared a surprise ( for me ) appetizer for dinner, I fished from our lakeside campsite, catching and releasing a Mountain Whitefish.

Joanne’s “surprise” appetizer was sauteed Lobster Mushrooms, picked this morning, covered in Havarti Cheese ( from Village Cheese in Armstrong a few days ago ) then baked in the oven. < big eyes > It was stupendous ! In the evening she cleaned and cooked the rest of the Lobster Mushrooms, packing them in ( three ! ) plastic containers and freezing them for later use, probably to make Lobster Mushroom Bisque, a recipe in our Mushroom Hunter book.

Saturday ; Glacier Creek Regional Park on east side of Duncan Lake to Howser BCFSRS on west side of Duncan Lake

Mostly sunny and warm, a few drops of rain around 5 PM.

This morning we refilled our freshwater tank at Glacier Creek Regional Campground before leaving around 11 AM. We drove south on the gravel road about 15 km. back to Hwy. 31 where we turned north, following the west side of Duncan Lake. Just north of the tiny village of Meadow Creek we took a detour to view the Kokanee Salmon spawning channel on Meadow Creek … the creek, not the village. HMPH ! No spawning Kokanee Salmon yet ! We continued north on Hwy. 31 to Howser Station Road, then turned east. Through the village of Howser, then just a few more km. to Howser BCFSRS remote wilderness campground, on the west side of Duncan Lake. It’s a small unserviced campground with about half a dozen sites. We selected a site, had a late lunch, then I napped with Ozzie.

After napping I went fishing for about half an hour or so, catching nothing. But it was nice to be sitting on a large piece of driftwood, on the pebble beach, fishing in the emerald green lake surrounded by mountains.

We went for a long mushroom hunting hike. Joanne found a few more Lobster Mushrooms which we picked. Her “mushroom hunter” eyes are better than mine. HA HA HA ! Once again Ozzie had a wonderfully happy time on the hike. It’s very rewarding to see him so happy, so late in his life. Back at the camper, when Joanne began to clean the Lobster Mushrooms, she found that their flesh was a bit spongy, so she discarded them. The previous ones we picked all had firm flesh.

Shortly after 6 PM I lit a campfire. I baked potatoes over the fire, then grilled a thick, juicy, marinated steak on the fire. MMMMM … great supper ! We shared a tiny bottle of Zinfandel wine we bought in Los Algodones, Mexico last winter.

DSK