Madison5716 Posted February 26, 2023 Share Posted February 26, 2023 (edited) On 2/16/2023 at 5:32 AM, cmknight said: Right now, though, I have to recover @cmknight, hope you're feeling better soon! Edited February 26, 2023 by Madison5716 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmknight Posted February 26, 2023 Share Posted February 26, 2023 17 minutes ago, Madison5716 said: @cmknight, hope you're feeling better soon! I am, thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC witness Posted March 20, 2023 Author Share Posted March 20, 2023 Our incessant rain, wet snow, and wind have finally eased off, and the last few days have been sunny and spring-like, though there's still lots of wet, greasy snow as soon as you gain a bit of elevation in the local mountains. Today I took the opportunity to get out of the house for a while, going this morning to a local gun show with an old hunting buddy that I hadn't seen in person in almost a year. We spent a couple of hours perusing a lot of overpriced weaponry and gear, and all I bought was a nice leather wallet to replace my old worn out faux leather unit, while my buddy found a couple of pounds of powder that he wanted. We left there for lunch at a local eatery, then he headed off on a road trip with his lady friend, and I headed for the nearby mountain trails for some scouting and soul refreshing. The Heritage Arms show was in Chilliwack, so the closest option was the Chilliwack River Valley, and its many offshoot logging roads and trails. My first choice was Tamihi Creek, towards Border Peaks, and as expected, I encountered snow about 5km in, as the elevation increased. I continued on a few more km, but as the road climbed, the snow got deeper, and slicker, so I opted to turn around before I found myself needing a rescue, as happened a couple of months ago. Even so, I had gone a little too far in, and needed to deploy my traction boards and air the tires down to 15 psi to complete the turn around on the narrow, steep road. Once pointed downhill, the going was easy, and I went back down to the river valley, and followed another road that Gaia showed crossing from Chilliwack River over to the next valley west, Cultus Lake, but at a lower elevation than the Tamihi trail. I had never driven the route before, but the map proved to be correct, and it was a very pleasant 10km cruise over a scenic, but rough, narrow road through second growth forest, ending at the back side of the resort village of Cultus Lake. The only disappointment was not seeing any wildlife at all on the trails, and no tracks or droppings either. From there it was only a 20 minute drive back to Chilliwack, where I stopped at a service station to air the tires back up, and go through the car wash to get the mud off the H3 before heading home for supper. The whole day made me feel good, I really needed to get out there! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmknight Posted March 20, 2023 Share Posted March 20, 2023 3 hours ago, BC witness said: Our incessant rain, wet snow, and wind have finally eased off, and the last few days have been sunny and spring-like, though there's still lots of wet, greasy snow as soon as you gain a bit of elevation in the local mountains. Today I took the opportunity to get out of the house for a while, going this morning to a local gun show with an old hunting buddy that I hadn't seen in person in almost a year. We spent a couple of hours perusing a lot of overpriced weaponry and gear, and all I bought was a nice leather wallet to replace my old worn out faux leather unit, while my buddy found a couple of pounds of powder that he wanted. We left there for lunch at a local eatery, then he headed off on a road trip with his lady friend, and I headed for the nearby mountain trails for some scouting and soul refreshing. Feel like taking a run with myself and a couple of others up north of Ruby Creek? They had an encounter last February, where one of their tents was pushed down on, to the point of collapse, and had some vocals the same night. It will probably be a weekend camping trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC witness Posted March 20, 2023 Author Share Posted March 20, 2023 That sounds interesting, CM. Keep me informed of your plans. I don't often do overnights, as my wife is in a wheelchair, and needs my help to get in and out of bed, but sometimes I can arrange for other family members to help out so I can get away. Ruby Creek is close enough to me that a day trip is easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catmandoo Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 On 3/20/2023 at 2:20 AM, cmknight said: They had an encounter last February, where one of their tents was pushed down on, to the point of collapse, and had some vocals the same night. Collapsing of tents has been carried out by bears. Any prints to indicate the culprit or just the usual suspect? "where one of their tents" --- more than one tent. Was it the 'snoring' tent? 'Cartoon snoring' is a simple auditory bait peculiar to humans. I used to be good at cartoon snoring. Another nocturnal activity is the lifting and dropping of a tent flap. Lifting of a tent flap to peek inside requires opposed digits or a very clever / smart 4 legged animal. My tent has two entrances. The outer tent flaps are zippered, rectangular in shape with a pocket across the base. The stock tent has plastic rods in the pockets to weight down the flaps. I added stainless steel rods into the pockets for more weight and leave them unzippered. In the middle of the night, you want to hear the tent flap drop. Sleep tight and be tuned to the tent noises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmknight Posted March 22, 2023 Share Posted March 22, 2023 12 hours ago, Catmandoo said: Collapsing of tents has been carried out by bears. Any prints to indicate the culprit or just the usual suspect? "where one of their tents" --- more than one tent. Was it the 'snoring' tent? 'Cartoon snoring' is a simple auditory bait peculiar to humans. I used to be good at cartoon snoring. Another nocturnal activity is the lifting and dropping of a tent flap. Lifting of a tent flap to peek inside requires opposed digits or a very clever / smart 4 legged animal. My tent has two entrances. The outer tent flaps are zippered, rectangular in shape with a pocket across the base. The stock tent has plastic rods in the pockets to weight down the flaps. I added stainless steel rods into the pockets for more weight and leave them unzippered. In the middle of the night, you want to hear the tent flap drop. Sleep tight and be tuned to the tent noises. This was during February, when the bears in that area should be hibernating. One of the tent members stated that it was being pushed down on from the top, where the poles cross over each other. Tent was 6 feet high at the peak (your typical 5-person domed model). The ground was rocky, as they were under a Hydro power line tower. They also reported that they were hearing whoops and howls the night before. I know the leader of this group, and they often go out to this area to camp. They are all part of a club that finds and restores former military vehicles. While I'm not ruling out bears, their story does warrant more investigation. Another acquaintance of mine, who BCWitness also knows, has been out to this spot with his wife before, and they also had an experience in this area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catmandoo Posted March 23, 2023 Share Posted March 23, 2023 12 hours ago, cmknight said: Tent was 6 feet high at the peak (your typical 5-person domed model). The ground was rocky, The reach at 6' height over to the pole cross over point is long. A good point for the back story. They know that they can do this on rocky ground and not leave tracks. In my area, the power line right-of-ways have dense tree line borders. Easy for sneaky animals to watch humans who are in open spaces. Ruby Creek sounds promising. Did the name evolve from mineral prospecting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmknight Posted March 23, 2023 Share Posted March 23, 2023 @Catmandoo, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmknight Posted March 23, 2023 Share Posted March 23, 2023 ruby_creek_pdf.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmknight Posted March 23, 2023 Share Posted March 23, 2023 40 minutes ago, Catmandoo said: The reach at 6' height over to the pole cross over point is long. A good point for the back story. They know that they can do this on rocky ground and not leave tracks. In my area, the power line right-of-ways have dense tree line borders. Easy for sneaky animals to watch humans who are in open spaces. Ruby Creek sounds promising. Did the name evolve from mineral prospecting? Nobody seems to know how the name came about. There is a Ruby Creek, in Washington State as well, that was named after three prospectors who thought they had found Rubies, but they turned out to be Garnet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC witness Posted March 23, 2023 Author Share Posted March 23, 2023 (edited) @Catmandoo Ruby Creek is loaded with bright red garnets. I've gold panned there, and there's more garnets than black sand, and only a tiny bit of flour gold. The next creek east of Ruby is Garnet Creek. Edited March 23, 2023 by BC witness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catmandoo Posted March 23, 2023 Share Posted March 23, 2023 Thanks for the info on Ruby Creek. I have panned on a river that was loaded with garnet. Same story, not much there except flour gold. There is gold there but it is about 30' down and I don't have a back hoe. Ruby Creek and Harrison Hot Springs. The legends will never stop for those areas. I checked on tent details out of curiosity. Without getting into brand names, a 5 person dome tent with 6' of headroom has a footprint of about 10' X 10'. Know anyone whose shoulder is 6' off of the ground and can reach out 5'? That was not a bear. Messing with humans seems to be a game or a test. Be safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmknight Posted March 23, 2023 Share Posted March 23, 2023 @ Catmandoo Thanks. I have a Backwoodz Truck Tent on my 2019 Ram. If something pushes that thing down, I'm done and outta there! LOL jk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PNWexplorer Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 (edited) On 2/7/2023 at 7:26 PM, langfordbc said: Not necessarily higher maintenance than EV's and ICE modes of transport, but they definitely have different needs. As someone who grew up with horses and mules, I would have to vigorously disagree with that statement. My folks currently are down to one horse and one mule. They have their own barn and about 4 acres left of the 500-acre homestead. They bought the mule last Fall for $1500. He's a smaller mule and 18 years old. Their horse is a larger quarter horse and 20 years old. They have them because my mom refuses to not have horses and mules. She is over 70 and can't ride. I asked my dad last year what the monthly cost was of feeding and maintaining a horse or mule. He said it was about $250 per month, per animal. By the time you factor in the hay, grain, tack, vet bills, farrier bills, etc, it is quite expensive. The last moose my dad got was hauled out using his 1987 Honda 300 ATV that he bought in 1992 for $1500. He has changed the oil a few times and put new tires on it once. He has about $500 in maintenance costs into it over the past 30 years. No way you can claim that ICE vehicle maintenance and upkeep costs are anywhere close to costs for a horse. Edited March 25, 2023 by PNWexplorer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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