Here it is Tuesday, almost a week since my last post.  Another beautiful autumn day!  Dennis came home Saturday evening from Nanika Lake.  He enjoyed his time there a lot.  He drove to Collins Lake, then took the Beaver to Nanika Lake.  I cooked at Nanika several years ago.  It is such a treat to get into backcountry that is pristine in the true sense of the word.  Here are some pictures from Dennis' trip:

 

The hunters parked their truck and trailer at the Collins Lake cabin.  While they were gone we had the huge wind storm that blew trees down.  One landed on their trailer:

 

 

It was a pretty big, dead pine.  I hope the damage was not too much.  These hunts cost the hunters a fair bit of money.  Adding a damaged trailer to the bill can really hurt!

Looking back in my files of my trip to Nanika, I found some picturs you may be interested in seeing.  Here is a photo of the cabin where we stay.  The kitchen is a decent camp kitchen.  Water is hauled up in buckets from the lake:

Here are the cooks quarters:

Now, here are a few pictures I took at Collins Lake.  It is a spot one can drive to.  It is on the way to Morice Lake:

I was looking at the date on my pictures.  It was 2006 when I cooked at Nanika.  Another beautiful, warm autumn, like this year. 

Thanksgiving

We had a pleasant Thanksgiving day, with the smallest group for dinner that I can remember.  Son Thomas and grandson Matthew came from Houston for the day.  They came for a late breakfast of bacon, sausage, eggs, hashbrowns and toast, and lots of good coffee.  We then wandered up to look at the barn and count the sheep.  It was a year ago that we lost 2 ewes to a cougar, so this year our vigilance is ramped up.  The sheep are in the pastures close to the Colleymount Road to deter predators.  The nice thing about having Amigo around is that he barks when there is any kind of activity across the road.  I think that is a good thing in that it warns a sneaky cougar that a huge dog could come and interrupt his hunt.  So far so good.

After that we went fishing, touring around the lake more than fishing, but a good excuse to get out in the boat.  It was so warm we were in t-shirts.  After docking the boat, Dennis, Thomas and Matthew played crib while I got the potatoes, carrots and brussels sprouts on to cook.  We didn't raise turkey's this year but I had a half a turkey left from last year.  This 1/2 turkey weighed 20 lbs so was plenty for the 4 of us!  We had enough food for 10 people.  For dessert we had pumpking pies (2) and an apple pie.  Needless to say, we were stuffed!  It was a quiet, pleasant day, one I enjoyed a lot.

Did anyone see the northern lights last night?  They were not really active, but lit up the whole sky.  At one point they came together in an apex over our head, with a brighter light dancing around in the middle.  I love watching northern lights.  Sometimes they are so bright they reflect off the lake.

Today Dennis is off to town to take Simba back to her owners.  We do board dogs now and then.  Simba is one of our regulars.  Right now we have Bella staying for the week, Thomas' young Akita.  She is a beautiful girl and absolutely LOVES Niko, our young border collie with the compromised back legs.  Amigo, Niko and Bella all get along well.  They run and chase and play when out of their kennels, tiring each other out.  It really is good for them to be together once in a while, teaching them social skills and dog games.  One of the things they love to do is to run down the lawn and into the lake, splashing about, then suddenly running back up the lawn and around the house.  Looking after all these dogs is a lot of work, but it is fun too.

Naiomi, my neighbour and owner of Nanika Lake Guide Outfitting, came today to borrow a crate to take her dog, Haida, to the vet.  Naiomi stopped in on Sunday to borrow some graham crackers, and mentioned that Haida was not well.  We decided she should see the vet and as Naiomi was up to her eyeballs in hunters and cooking, I offered to take Haida in to the vet.  Poor Haida was painful in the forward part of her stomach, vomiting and clearly not well.  The vet prescribed some meds for her stomach but it seems she is now worse so Naiomi is back to town to the vet.  It is difficult to determine what is wrong so maybe they will do blood tests today.  We couldn't do blood work on Sunday as the couriers were not working Sunday nor Monday.  So, we'll see about poor Haida.  She is a mixed breed but looks like a yellow lab.  She is a sweet, sweet dog.

Last night Amigo was barking and looking up to the sheep enclosure. It was pitch black, so out Dennis and I went with our flashlights. We counted the pairs of eyes and all was well. Sheep don't like to be surprised in the dark, so they were stamping their feet and huffing. I wondered what I would have done had there been a cougar there. Next time I take the gun which will be more effective than a flailing stick.  I would love to be able to train Amigo to stay with and guard the sheep.  I don't know if it is possible now that he has bonded with people.

I think we are now up to date.  Not exciting stuff, but busy all the same.  Today I am going to finish my generator platform and try to resume digging up my herb bed.  I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving weekend.