Sunday ; Wekusko Falls Provincial Park to Snow Lake to Reed Lake Campground, Grass River Provincial Park
Mostly sunny, very warm. Severe thunderstorms overnight last night.
We pulled out of our campsite this morning around 10:30 AM, refilled our freshwater tank, dumped our waste holding tanks, and paid for last night’s camping fee before leaving Wekusko Falls Provincial Park. We headed north on Hwy. 392 to the small town of Snow Lake.
What a scruffy, old mining town. Two fuel stations, one out of business, the other one not open on Sunday, so … unable to refill with diesel. Library closed on Sunday, so unable to access Wi-Fi to upload my blog entry. Very few businesses, and half of them were closed permanently. No grocery store apparent. A large mine and mining camp. Many work camp dormitory trailers, and a LOT of relatively new looking Ford pickup trucks. And a Ford dealership. What a license to print money that must be ! Saw no one, place was deserted on a Sunday morning. Maybe all the miners were in church ? <snicker>
We returned south on Hwy. 392 to Wekusko Falls Provincial Park and went over to the day use area. We went for our morning walk, hiking to the two suspension bridges over Wekusko Falls, where the Grass River empties into Wekusko Lake. We had lunch. I went fishing for half an hour. Caught another Northern Pike. I shared my fishing area with a family of ducks, two Pelicans and two Bald Eagles. <blink blink> Pelicans ?
Around 2:30 PM we decided to leave Wekusko Falls Provincial Park. Our original plan had been to stay two nights at Wekusko Falls Provincial Park, but … ! We headed south on Hwy. 392 back to Hwy. 39, then west towards Flin Flon. Our destination for today was Reed Lake Campground, the first of three campgrounds in Grass River Provincial Park. We selected a campsite then went for a walk around the campground and boat launch areas. At the rear of our campsite I fished briefly, catching nothing but the rocky bottom of Reed Lake, resulting in lost fishing tackle ! HMPH !
Joanne napped late in the afternoon, a rare event for her. I woke her at 7 PM and we went for a long walk around the campground. Around 7:30 PM I started a campfire and cooked supper on it. We spent the evening sitting around the campfire. The weather was perfect. The bugs weren’t too bad. I fished again briefly.
It’s not really getting completely dark at this time of the year this far north. Around 10:30 PM it sort of becomes dusk, then stays like that for a few hours until it begins to become light again in the middle of the night.
Monday ; Reed Lake Campground to Iskwasum Lake Campground, both in Grass River Provincial Park
Sunny and very warm.
This morning we dumped our waste tanks, went for a long walk, paid our camping fee for last night, and departed Reed Lake Campground around noon. We continued west on Hwy. 39 for about … only half an hour ! To Iskwasum Lake Campground, the second of three campgrounds in Grass River Provincial Park.
We did not refill our freshwater tank at Reed Lake Campgound because their water system is a shed containing a large tank of water that is refilled by tanker truck. The water flows out by gravity. The level of water currently in the tank was obviously lower than the height of our camper’s freshwater tank inlet, because water would not flow out of our hose when the hose was lifted to the height of the water inlet on the side of the camper. <sigh>
As we pulled into Iskwasum Lake Campground we encountered the same gravity fed water tank system. Again it wouldn’t flow into our camper because the camper’s freshwater inlet was too high. So … we had to resort to our Northwest Territories “Plan B”. We carry a one gallon fuel jug dedicated to freshwater. We put it on the ground, filled it from the gravity water system, then hoisted it up and poured it into the camper’s freshwater tank inlet. A dozen times ! Evidently we had used a dozen gallons of freshwater in the previous 24 hours.
We selected a site, had lunch, and I napped. After napping I went fishing for 45 minutes, on the campground’s dock. Didn’t catch anything, but … while fishing I heard a loud noise crashing around in the forest a few hundred feet to my right. I thought it might be a bear when … <sputter> … suddenly a large male caribou with a huge antler rack … <blink blink> ... came crashing out of the forest and splashed loudly into the water, where he proceeded to noisily drink and/or eat for awhile.
This afternoon I decided to tackle a truck repair project. A reflector inside one of the headlight assemblies had become detached. With considerable difficulty I removed the truck headlight assembly, but was unable to repair / remount the reflector. Looks like I’ll have to order a new headlight assembly upon our return home. I reinstalled the headlight assembly into the truck, which was even more difficult than removing it !
<sigh> Whatever happened to the “good old days” when headlights were big round clunky things that you could buy at Canadian Tire for three bucks ? ! And it took about ten minutes with a Philips #2 screwdriver to remove and replace one !
At 7 PM we went for our late walk then I started a campfire and cooked supper on it. We relaxed around the campfire until 9:15 PM, then I went fishing on the dock for 45 minutes. Again I didn’t catch anything, but it was a very peaceful and pleasant time. Perfectly calm, glassy water, reminding me of my 4 AM glassy water landing float plane training in 1988. Three loons calling to one another around the lake, their sad calls echoing in the distance.
I’m typing this in the camper at 11 PM and the sad sounding loons are calling again. What a beautiful Canadian sound !
Tuesday ; Iskwasum Lake to Simonhouse Lake
Sunny and very warm.
This morning we did our morning exercise walk around the campground, dumped our waste holding tanks, refilled our freshwater tank … twelve gallons, one gallon at a time … paid our camping fee and departed Iskwasum Lake Campground around 11:30 AM. We continued west on Hwy. 39 for about half an hour to the third and final campground in Grass River Provincial Park, Gyles Campground on Simonhouse Lake.
We selected a site then I spent about half an hour cleaning the fire pit. It was the worst case of fire pit abuse I have ever encountered. It was filled with all manner of garbage, which isn’t really unusual, unfortunately, but it was also filled with a lot of broken beer bottles. I have never been able to understand campers’ propensity for treating fire pits like garbage cans.
HEY … ASSHOLES … THERE’S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A FIRE PIT AND A GARBAGE CAN … YOU IGNORAMUSES ! ! !
We had a lazy, leisurely afternoon. We had lunch. We went for a walk to the beach. I napped. I cooked a pasta salad to be eaten cold for lunches. We sat outside, I read a book, Joanne worked on crosswords. I downloaded photos from my camera to my laptop and processed them. We went for another long walk around the campground and along the beach. I prepared a campfire in the CLEAN fire pit and cooked supper on it. Just as we were serving supper it began to rain lightly (and briefly), so we ate supper indoors.
Wednesday ; Simonhouse Lake to Flin Flon to Bakers Narrows Provincial Park on Athapapuskow Lake
Mostly sunny and warm. Brief severe thunderstorm while we were in Flin Flon.
This morning we dumped our waste holding tanks, paid our camping fee, and left Gyles Campground on Simonhouse Lake around noon. West on Hwy. 39 until it ended at Hwy. 10, then north on Hwy. 10 past Bakers Narrows Provincial Park, our destination for today, to Flin Flon for fuel and groceries.
We had lunch in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Flin Flon then replenished supplies at Wal-Mart. While Joanne finished up at Wal-Mart I walked across the street to buy mosquito repellent coils at Canadian Tire. Then we drove a short distance to the Co-op supermarket. While Joanne replenished groceries in the food store I stayed in the camper and used Co-op’s Wi-Fi to get some online work done, primarily the posting of my blog entry. Last errand in town was to replenish diesel at the Tempo fuel bar. Sheesh … a hundred and fifty bucks didn’t even fill the tank !
Joanne wanted to explore Flin Flon so we drove through town exploring. As we drove by the very tall smokestack of the mine (near the centre of town !) on which Flin Flon was founded and still exists … fork lightning hit the smokestack ! YIKES ! As we rounded a corner, a very strong gust of wind came up and … blew a large gas barbecue off a second storey balcony (without a railing !) sending it crashing onto the patio furniture below. YIKES again !
By the time we returned to Bakers Narrows Provincial Park around 6 PM the rain had subsided. We refilled our freshwater tank (WOO-HOO … flowing water !) then got settled into our chosen campsite. We went for a long walk around the campground, then around 7:30 PM I started a campfire and cooked supper on it. EXCELLENT supper, a new creation of mine, sort of a campfire version of (all beef Angus) weiner wraps. Daniel’s bannock dogs !
Thursday; Bakers Narrows Provincial Park
Cloudy, cool, windy, a teensy bit of rain.
Today was planned to be a “rest day”. Go nowhere, do nothing, maybe fish a little, read a book, sit by the campfire, nap in the afternoon. Our “work day” lives and our “rest day” lives are remarkably similar, n’est-ce-pas ? HA HA HA HA HA !
This morning we went for a long walk then took the truck and camper out of our campsite to drive to the sani-dump station, dump our waste tanks, and refill our freshwater tank. After that tough morning of “work” it was time for lunch, followed by a nap. HA HA HA !
I did some camper maintenance, and convinced myself that I need to replace the camper’s “house” battery tomorrow. From 5 PM to 6 PM I went fishing, catching nothing, but enjoying the process nonetheless. For me fishing is therapeutic, like meditation. I returned to our campsite just as it began to rain lightly, eliminating a campfire cooking opportunity.
Friday ; Bakers Narrows Provincial Park to Flin Flon to Clearwater Provincial Park
Cloudy, cool, a teensy bit of rain.
This morning we went for our long morning walk, then dumped the camper’s waste holding tank, refilled the freshwater tank, and left Bakers Narrows Provincial Park around 11 AM. We headed into Flin Flon for the second time. I checked the prices of deep cycle RV batteries at Wal-Mart first, then Canadian Tire. I removed the old battery from the camper and went into Wal-Mart to buy a new battery.
From that point on things went awry. I installed the new battery incorrectly. And as a result created a problem within the camper’s 12 volt DC to 120 volt AC inverter system. I corrected the incorrect battery installation but was unable to restore functionality to the inverter. <sigh>
We drove a short distance to Co-op and while Joanne went into the store to refill our freshwater jug I continued working on the inverter, hoping to get the problem solved quickly. <sigh> No such luck. I fussed and fiddled with it for about two hours before finally giving up. We ate a very late lunch in the camper while still parked at Co-op, then refilled the truck with diesel at Tempo Fuels before leaving Flin Flon and heading south on Hwy. 10 towards The Pas.
Our destination for today was Campers Cove Campground on Clearwater Lake in Clearwater Provincial Park. We arrived around 5 PM, checked in at the campground office, selected the only site available for the next two nights, and settled into our chosen campsite. I decided that removing the inverter from inside the kitchen cupboard was the only way I was going to have any reasonable chance of figuring out what was wrong with it.
I spent another couple of hours on the inverter problem, getting all the complicated wiring disconnected, and removing the inverter from inside the cupboard. Nothing was apparent on the outside of the unit, so … despite the warning label “do not open, no user serviceable parts inside” … I began disassembling the inverter. I removed the outer case, and quickly found the two fuses that had blown, thanks to my incorrect installation of the new “house” battery.
Well … now I felt better ! Identifying the problem is almost the entire solution, n’est-ce-pas ? I did not have the correct size of fuses in my inventory of spare fuses, but they should be easy to obtain in The Pas in a couple of days. At least now I know that I didn’t completely destroy the very expensive (true sine wave) inverter with my incorrect battery installation error.
At last … around 7 PM, and with me feeling much less stressed and upset, we went for our late exercise walk around the campground. By the time we returned to our camper around 7:30 we had both decided that making another campfire and cooking outdoors was not in tonight’s plans. Joanne cooked supper indoors while I worked on the laptop.
Why would a manufacturer mark an electronic component that has two protective fuses inside with a label that says “do not open, no user serviceable parts inside” ? ! ?
Saturday ; exploring Clearwater Provincial Park
Cloudy, windy, cool, light rain early in the day, becoming clear and mild late in the day.
We spent the afternoon exploring Clearwater Provincial Park. It was slightly disappointing. After morning chores, including dumping waste and refilling freshwater, we headed east through Clearwater Provincial Park to explore. A short distance east of Campers Cove Campground (where we are staying) we came to The Pas Airport. We are about 30 km. / 20 miles or so from the small city of The Pas. I don’t know why their airport is so far from the city, and in a provincial park. But from the appearance and layout of the airport I suspect it was originally a World War II military airbase, or maybe even a DEW Line (Distant Early Warning) airport, and after the war there was nothing better to do with it than re-purpose it as The Pas Airport.
Oddly, there were no private aircraft at the airport. Maybe getting a pilot’s license and buying a small airplane are strictly a “white boy” gig ? There were two interesting Canadair CL-215 water bombers operated by Manitoba (government) Air Services stationed at the Pas Airport for wildfire fighting.
We continued east through Clearwater Provincial Park, all the way to a remote boat launch at Hugo Point on Clearwater Lake. We had lunch there, I napped, then went fishing briefly. Very briefly, because about fifteen minutes after I started fishing it began to rain. We began to drive west back towards Campers Cove Campground. We explored some of the cabin roads along Clearwater Lake’s shoreline. Too many young men with too much money (and consequently too much credit) building way too large “cabins”. Wonder how that will turn out when their half million dollar mortgages rise from 2 % interest to more than 5 % interest !
We went on “The Caves” hike. It was about a 1.6 km. / 1 mile hike over difficult terrain to “the caves” along Clearwater Lake’s shoreline cliffs. Well … first of all, they’re not “caves”. They’re not even slot canyons, like those we’ve visited in Nevada. They’re simply shoreline erosion in limestone and similar rock. Secondly, I was thoroughly disgusted with the quantity of empty booze cans and bottles strewn along the relatively short hike. We picked empty booze cans and bottles until our pants and jackets pockets were full. And we left many more behind !
I’m struggling with finding the politically correct way to express my disgust with and contempt for the ...<ahem>... “cultural” component of this problem ! ! ! ! !
After returning to our campsite we went for a long walk, then began preparing for supper. While Joanne worked on “indoor” preparations (prepare salad, wrap potatoes, cut zucchini and onions, etc.) I got a campfire going. We sat around the campfire while I cooked supper, we ate outside at the picnic table, then spent a lovely evening sitting and chatting around the campfire.
DSK
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