I thought I’d share a photo from a few days ago. We spend some time here while we are summering, and it can be quite rewarding.
Moyie Lake: A Rewarding Summer Retreat
Tag: Canada
Iconic Athabasca Falls: A Timeless Picture from 2011
Way back in 2011, I posted this one as the first picture I personally took on here. It is fitting today as it is a shot of Athabasca Falls, which is close to Jasper, Alberta. I haven’t heard anything about the status at the falls yet, but I’m sure we will at some point. It was a terrible day for the people who lived there and a tragedy for the rest of the world. It is iconic, beautiful, and basically irreplaceable.
Sailing Misfortune: JohnLoriEh’s Boat Adventure on Kootenay Lake
As promised, here’s a quick tale of our sailboat, the JohnLoriEh. The boat was a 25-foot 1979 O’Day moored for the winter in Kaslo Bay, part of Kootenay Lake. As you may notice, there is a bit of snow onboard, and this was after cleaning most of it off. As a point of interest, Kootenay Lake does not freeze up.
Long story short, it was tied up to the dock alongside a boat shed. The shed collapsed due to snow load, immediately sinking several not-cheap cruisers and, in the process, amputating the dock from the shed. Our boat went Flying Dutchman and crossed the bay. Once there, it met up with a steel-hulled houseboat. Once there, it bounced up against it for a day or two until she was noticed. By that time, a major gash was formed at the point where the hull meets the deck.
We were contacted by a friend in the area who recognized the boat. We were leaving for Mexico the next day and had to cancel everything and drive from Calgary to Kaslo to facilitate the next steps. Once it was safely docked and inspected, we decided to motor to Jones Boys, a boat dealer and shop about an hour south on the lake. The forecast called for no wind and two above, so we made the run. We got the motor going, and I headed out alone, with Lori meeting me there with the car and trailer.
There were definitely some worries here, as the lake can get quite rough at times. The vessel was not exactly seaworthy and could easily take on water. Fortunately, the lake stayed calm, with barely a ripple to be seen. All in all, it was a beautiful run, albeit a bit cool for boating.
Once we reached Jones Boys, they hauled it out of the water onto our trailer. It was then placed in their lot, waiting for an insurance inspector to estimate the damage (it was a write-off). We stripped it of whatever was on board and drove away, never to see her again.
The main downside to it all is that we stopped sailing, something we truly loved to do. Maybe someday we will do it all over again, minus the snow.
Under Sail, What A Feeling
The JohnLoriEh under sail on Sunshine Bay near Harrop and Procter, BC. On a bit of a memory bender, bear with me, I’ll move along soon. This shot was taken in 2017.
Creating Our Year-Round Haven: Leasing and Developing in BC
So far so, so good, 2 days in a row. Let us reach into the vault and see what we have.
Let’s go with this from 2017. A blank canvas, otherwise known as the lot we lease in BC. I’ll drop a new one chronologically from time to time. We has an extensive search throughout the Kootenays, trying to find a place that would serve us year round, with power, sewage and water. As you can see, power was not an issue. Conveniently neither was water or sewage. Resort is open year round as well. The vacant lot backed onto the Moyie River and we could see lots of potential. We settled on this location and have been working on it ever since.
Glimpse of Kootenay Lake: Captivating Sailing Moment in 2016
Trying something to spur my momentum. I have a gazillion photos , why not share. And if I try 1 a day for the next whatever days in my earthly existence, I’ll never run out of material. Sounds easy right, let’s see how it goes. Hopefully I’ll be inspired to get back into writing and interviewing.
First shot.
Yes we’ve sailed. We have done some West Coast in Canada and a bit of the Caribbean as well. This shot was a beautiful day in 2016 (not a sailing day) on one of the prettiest spots on the planet, Kootenay Lake in beautiful British Columbia. We had a 25 foot boat, based in Kaslo, BC. I say had, but that is a story for a different time.
Canada’s All Time Top Songs – #98
At 98 is a signature song from former Sweeney Todd singer, Nick Gilder. The track is Hot Child In The City. Nick was born in London, England in 1951 and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia.
His music career began as the singer for a group called Sweeny Todd and had a major hit while with them, “Roxy Roller”. After that success, Nick left the band, going solo and signing a record deal in the USA. In a strange twist, when Nick left the band, his replacement was a young Bryan Adams. That deal spawned the featured song, “Hot Child In The City” which hit number 1 in both Canada and the USA.
Riding the success of his new solo career, he won 2 Juno Awards (Canada’s Grammys), Most Promising Male Vocalist of the Year and Single of the Year. He also won a People’s Choice award in the USA. Other than North America, the song did not have much success internationally and did even chart in the United Kingdom.
This song was the high point of his vocal career. He never again charted in the USA and had only a few songs chart in Canada.
He did have success as a songwriter as well, penning hits for diverse artist as Pat Benatar and Bette Midler. He is still touring in Canada and now lives back in Vancouver.
Canada’s All-Time Top Songs – #99
After a Visitor break (some old friends from Saskatchewan on their way to the Chepe Express) and a bit of a cold, maybe CoVid, I will continue to move forward to where I left off; here is 99 on the top 100 list. I have also added a few notes as an upgrade. I think I was in a hurry when I did this one. As for the Chepe Express, we plan on that one next year.
At 99, we present “We Run” by Strange Advance. A Vancouver new wave band, they formed in 1982 and were almost immediately nominated for a Juno (Canada’s Grammy) as the most promising band in 1983. We Run was taken from their album, “2WO”, and released as a single in 1985. It reached number 28 on the RPM pop chart. The band never made strides outside of Canada. In addition, they were mostly a session band and apparently had never played live before 1985.
They released 3 albums overall and essentially went dormant after releasing the 3rd in 1988. There is talk about a new album being released shortly.
There is more information on that release and the band overall at their website.
https://www.strangeadvance.com/
Scenes From A Hike – September 4, 2021
Went for a nice hike on a forestry road that led us to the shore of Monroe Lake in the East Kootenays of British Columbia. The trek was 3.21 miles or 5.2 km. A screenshot of the route is below, in and out via the same route.
The scene below is indicative of the scenery along the road.
Once we reached the lake, there was a footbridge and an old dam, now in various stages of deterioration.
It is also the mouth of a creek, pretty much dried up as we are at the end of the season. Most creeks and rivers out here are snow and rain-fed, meaning they tend to dry up, or they are spring-fed, which this one is not. We have seen this creek higher up in the mountain in the past, but it was late October and there was runoff.
We continued to the right on the map and discovered some well-worn elk trails that we will explore later. We turned back and took the left spur to some amazing scenery. We have done this path before this and knew what we were in for. We have also kayaked through the meadow, a post I will put up once I finish playing with the video.
We also know about how to relax. A conveniently placed bench to look at the landscape.
And of course, it is not all about the scenery, let’s not forget the foliage and critters. In this case an interesting mushroom and some pretty butterflies.
Zoolights 2023
Each year the Calgary Zoo transforms into a sea of Christmas lights. There are over a million lights and 250 figures. It is quite the display as seen in the shots I took. All pictures were taken on my iPhone 13.
