We have spent several days cleaning and de-junking our house. I would say some of the junk in our basement was down there since 1964, the year this place was built: old paint cans, screws & nails in little glass baby food jars, all inherited by us from the former owner of this place. I am loving our basment now and all the empty space that has suddenly appeared! There is something to be said for empty silent space... Why, we even found a secret passage, sort of like the Tudor mansions used to have to hide away priests or other such persons who may have needed to be hidden from the law. We also have two huge plastic bags full of plastic containers which we now seek to somehow recycle. From now on, I vow to avoid plastic at all costs if I can. It is ever-pervasive!
Then we got to the point where we needed to get out for a good hike in the wilderness so last Friday afternoon we made it out to Esker's Provincial Park just north of Prince George and unfortunately, I forgot the camera, so forgive the lack of photos of that gorgeous day!
This park is full of lakes & eskers (ridge walks between the lakes), and we were greeted by a great golden early-autumn colours dotted by purple asters and ruby red rosehips. En route, we feasted on many high-bush cranberries (now quite ripe) & thimbleberries along the way and jumped into Camp Lake for a spontaneous swim.
On Saturday morning bright and early we left our house still in a state of disarray (we are slowly getting there, to an organized stated!) and headed just over 2 hours east to Dunster cradled in the Rocky Mountains near the Alberta border.
Our destination was the organic garden of Peter Amyoony, long term Dunster resident & one of the generous & community-minded people we know.
Last year we WWOOFed with Pete for a week and just had to go again to stay in his "magic school bus" which is fully decked out with comfy beds and a stereo.
At Pete's place, we weeded the garden of chickweed, ate yummy food (including Pete's famous tomatoes & basil), had great chats with Pete about how to live life fully while following your bliss (and not necessarily the status quo) and listened to the melodic notes of Pete playing the harp by the glow of the early evening sun streaming in the window.
After 2 days, we headed up a well-known local hike, Tom's Cabin, a lakefront cabin way up in the alpine with stunning views of snow-capped mountains and glaciers all around.
On the one side was Mount Robson, the highest mountain of all of the Canadian Rockies, in its full spendour, and on the other were the impressive peaks of the wild and rugged Premier Range.
Below the Premier Range flows the Raush River through a break-taking and still pristine river valley full of old growth forests and waterfalls crashing down from the glaciers to the steep valley far below. Sitting up there on an alpine ridge we tried to imagine a route through to gain access to the mountains on the other side of the valley.
I was heartbroken to learn on my return to Dunster that plans are afoot by a a wood products / logging company based out of Prince George BC to punch a road all through the valley to gain access to and log the old growth forest. We also learned that the Raush Valley is the ONLY pristine (untouched) tributary of the whole Fraser River watershed, and I do believe it is truly sacred ground.
A group based out of the Robson Valley - the Fraser Headwaters Alliance - have fought long and hard to save this valley but for many years, but they have been up against indifferent politicians and greedy and short-sighted corporate goals that would see this area reduced to clearcuts for the sake of profits for the current generation. According to the website of the Fraser Headwaters Alliance, the Raush River watershed is "the largest uncut, unprotected watershed in British Columbia south of 54 degrees latitude." Their website address is: http://www.fraserheadwaters.org.
It is in my view, a worthy cause to fight to save the Raush Valley, for our sake and the sake of future generations, and I do hope that people may take up the cause and do what they can for this sacred piece of earth where fresh waters flow out of the mountains into one of our province's mightiest rivers.
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