Ella Does Squamish

There is always some excitement each week in a small town.  This week it was a 77 year old male found floating in the Mamquam Blind Channel.  The office where I work was all a buzz for an hour as this is two blocks away.  Emergency workers revived him and last I heard he was still in hospital.  Local gossip is that it might have been a suicide attempt as rumour has it that he wanted to return to India but his family was against the move.  Who knows! 

I also heard about the genesis of Rose Park and Lily’s Garden here in town.  Rose was at one time editor of the local newspaper.  When she died the house she had lived in on the river was razed and the property was donated (I presume) to the city.  From what I heard, a competition between Rose and and a woman named Lily existed and when Lily died her family did not want to be outdone by Rose having had the park named after her.  They proposed a public garden and shrine to Lily and her family which now exists in Rose Park.   It is a very lovely spot though I expect was even nicer in the old days before the highway was built nearby.

Another bit of news was that the Squamish council voted to make owners financially responsible for grow-ops and crystal meth. labs found on their property.  This strikes me as quite a bizarre way to deal with an issue.  Crystal meth. labs, in particular, can cause alot of contamination and are a fire risk.

You, too, can keep up with Squamish news (sans local lore and gossip) by following The Squamish Chief at http://www.squamishchief.com/madison/WQuestion.nsf/SCnews/C6C3CA997975842888256E240001F4B0?OpenDocument

It is 30 or so here this weekend, sunny and not a drop of RAIN.  I drove up to Pemberton yesterday and took some pictures of the gorgeous scenery.   Since I do not know how to download pixs on the computer (I will try this evening), I found these pixs of a trip Chris and Irene took to this area in July 2003 (see http://www.cmkl.ca/gallery/v/bchikes/?g2_page=2) on Chris’s site.  Gives you an idea of the geography less than an hour away from Squamish.

Here is Mallory, the sweetie pie of Irene and Chris (see Chris’s pix at http://www.cmkl.ca/gallery/v/mallory/DSC_0016_002.JPG.html).

Last week I bought a book on hot springs in Western Canada.  Did you know that British Columbia has about 85 hot springs (I didn’t).  And Japan is thought to have 4,500- wow!  There are about 6 hot springs within a 4 to 5 hour drive of Squamish apparently.  Some are quite small and remote so that will be my mission in the coming months. 

I posted a pix of Patricia M., a friend and former colleague, at the B & B in Fort Good Hope.  She is working in Norman Wells for the next year.  Go to My Pictures. 

Bears, mostly black bears, are a concern in the Squamish area and one was shot last week as it was harrassing a newspaper carrier.  This is what you are supposed to do if you see a bear:

Stay calm and Don’t Panic.  Speak to the bear in a normal voice to let it know you are nearby (Kind of difficult to do I expect). 

Give the bear plenty of space.  Allow the bear an easy exit route.  If you suddenly come face to face with a bear, back away slowly, moving in the direction you came from.  Do not run.

Calmly take your children and pets indoors.  Call your neighbors to advise them to BEAR-PROOF their yards (this means keeping garbage inside and removing fruit from any fruit trees.  No bird feed is supposed to be out from May until October either.

I haven’t seen a bear yet (thankfully). 

Other weekly news here are the accidents or death from mountain climbing.  A 73 year old experienced climber fell 60 ft. last week and survived the fall with a few broken ribs.   He was actually just on a trail, not actually climbing apparently, but slipped and then tumbled off a cliff.  I expect I will climb to the top of The Chief eventually by the back trail - takes about 3 hours I hear and the view is incredible - but that might be it in terms of my mountaineering. 

I have added a few pictures of Ella’s 4 day car trip across Canada.  Go to My Pictures to take a peek.  C

T - Thanks for posting the pix of Squamish.  In the background is the Stawamus Chief (2,303 ft., 702m.) which is visible from the back porch (and from most parts of Squamish).

Here is the "official" Squamish website for your interest.  C

http://squamish.ca/visitors/DiscoverSquamish.aspx

Sorry for the hiatus - I couldn’t figure out how to access blogsome.  Fortunately Tracey could help.

Then I just spent an hour writing an update and lost it all when I tried to add the pictures of Ella’s cross-Canada trip.  Oi. 

I will try again tomorrow.  Apparently, the trick with blogs is to write whatever first in Word and then cut and paste entry.  Now I know!

Toodles, C