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Personal Blog of Steve Baumber
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A friend recently emailed me after finding me through an "old-fashioned" Google search, reminding me that Facebook has yet to fully take over and hence there is still some value in having a personal webspace and a Blog. And it also means I should keep throwing up content like spaghetti at the wall...
 Picking up from where we last left off, Erin and Darren's wedding was a lovely success in that the couple were married and we drank and danced the night away. The couple were last seen escaping the festivities hoping that no one would notice two people in a tux and white dress strolling through Kamloops.
 Moving on in our Summer of Adventure we headed north to Bowron Lakes Provincial Park, rated as one of the top ten destinations for canoe tripping. With four friends (hello Brenna, Jenny, Mark, and Geoff) we spent the next 6 days paddling the chain of lakes that form an amazing rectangular freshwater circuit. We rented canoes and put in at the shore of Kibbee Lake, and there upon began to learn that paddling a canoe is not like paddling a kayak. After spinning dramatic doughnuts, veering into bullrushes and generally having a swearing wee of a time we portaged to the next lake, reassessed our skills and put me in the back and Rosemary in the front. We then went slowly but mostly straight.
 Bowron Lakes is a very well-serviced circuit with clean, numerous maintained campsites along the lake shores with pit toilets and sturdy metal bear caches (which avoids the old hanging your food from a tree difficulties). Luckily, a canoe holds even more than a sea kayak, so our commitment to cooking gourmet foods whilst camping in the backcountry continued its mad pace. Fresh curries, Cornish game hens, eggs benedict, vegetarian chile, blueberry pancakes, and hot soup lunches were all trotted out using fire pits and white-fuel stoves.
 Evening sing alongs courtesy of my Australian guitar featured repeat renditions of Jenny's new favorite campfire ditty "The Last Saskatchewan Pirate". Under overcast skies and intermittent rain we paddled sometimes on glassy smooth water and then in the next moment across chilly wind swept chop where it seemed our strongest strokes were only keeping us from being blown backwards or into the rocky shoreline. It was a mix of beauty, physical discomfort and quiet contemplation.
 After a particularly trying day, which included 8 hours of padddling, Rosemary spent her birthday on the shores of Sandy Lake, where we stayed up late sining songs and having shots of Fireball whisky to warm our bones and ease our aching arms. The full moon came out in the first cloudless sky we had seen in three days, and the brilliant light was enough for a long shutter speed on the beach. We awoke to sunshine that went a long way to drying out damp gear and soggy spirits. We passed by indifferent moose feeding at the shoreline, skittish deer, spawning salmon but, thankfully, no bears. It was truly a unique experience!
 Returning back from the lakes we were thrown into wedding celebrations with Arwyn and Rich, and then back full-swing into the school year for Rosemary in her CMA program and me in my Masters. I'm sitting in on a course and pecking away at getting the last of my interviews organized. Hopefully one more trip into the interior will have my research phase completed and I can begin the long process of analysis and writing. For the scholastic ventures we're seeking to finish and the life-long unions we've been witness to this summer, what else can we wish for but smooth sailing and a good J-stroke.
posted by Steve @
11:24 AM
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9.09.2007  |
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