Had a good night's sleep in spite of having only 5 hours darkness.
Back to my story about N and her fishing adventures. The next morning we walked up a trail along the lake to the gravel bar near the mouth of the river. The first thing we saw was a large bald eagle as she lifted off from her nest scolding us for disturbing her morning. The next thing we saw were eleven, yes eleven loons patrolling the waters off the bar diving and fishing for breakfast. Never saw so many loons together in my life.
We didn't dare start casting for fear that a loon might decide that the lure was edible and gobble it down. It was frustrating, because the fish were jumping as the loons were diving and we couldn't cast out to where they were.
Finally the loons moved off and we could start fishing. The sun was out and things were starting to warm up from the 0C night temperature we had just had. Fished for two hours and never got a single bite. On the way back to the campsite we noticed a path down through the trees to a nice little beach in a small cove and decided that we would come back in the evening and fish from there. I didn't bother to mention to N that there was a pile of bear scat beside the trail as she has this thing about big bears. They scare the he-- out of her!
After we had dinner we walked back to this new spot and started fishing. The fish were breaking and jumping and we really should have been fly fishing. N started casting out with a red devil lure and on here second or third cast got a strike and hooked one. Her first catch. She was holding on for dear life pleading with me to tell her what to do next. Now, this was a first for me. N had never asked me what she should do so I was enjoying the situation as much as she was. She finally landed her first rainbow trout. A small one, a little over 12 inches long, but a nice one. She was grinning from ear to ear and I knew that a new fisherman had just been born! It's not a two headed fish but rather hers and mine.
In the next 20 minutes I was able to land two more that were bigger than hers, thank heavens, and we decided to call it a day. When we got back I cleaned the fish and reminded that her next lesson was going to be fish cleaning. I'm a firm believer that if you catch them, you clean them! Tomorrow night's dinner was in the refrigerator.
I have now been informed that when we get to Whitehorse that we have to buy her a rod and reel so she doesn't have to use mine. I'm also faced with double the costs of a fishing license, one for me and one for her. The cost of living on the road has just gone up again! Look out for a decrease in the Yukon fish population. There is a new threat out there.
We left the next morning and headed towards the next fuel, and food stop at Dease Lake. It was slow going as there were several delays for road construction and a lot of dust. Finally arrived and stopped at the ultimate one stop shopping outlet. Diesel fuel, gas, groceries and a liquor store that stocked black rum. The rum was a key find as I was down to less than a 1/4 bottle from my stock purchased in N.S. N assured me that fuel and food had a higher priority, so we fueled up, bought groceries and then I bought the rum.
We arrived at another of our favorite Provincial Parks, Boya Lake, by mid afternoon. The color of the waters in this lake is beautiful. N's enthusiasm for fishing waned a bit when the ranger advised us that there were bears in the area. We had another good site, right on the water, so we sat back and enjoyed the late afternoon peace and quiet.
The next morning, July 20, drove the remaining 90 km of the Cassiar hwy. N, ever alert for bears finally got pictures of a small one about 10 km from Boya Lake. The rest of the drive to the Junction of the Alaskan Highway was uneventful as was the drive up to Caribou RV Park, in Whitehorse, where we are going to spend the next three days re-stocking our supplies, picking up a new fishing rod for N. and get a rough idea of how we will spend the next month up here. We want to get to Faro, Ross River, Mayo, Keno City. Dawson City, Dempster Highway, Inuvik, Kluane National Park and the Top Of The World Highway to name a few. Internet and cell phone service is available in major centers, according to the brochures so we will post whenever we can from where ever we are.
Spent the morning in Whitehorse picking up a few things. Found a great little local meat market and deli. They carry bison, reindeer, caribou meat along with wild salmon etc. Also found out that next weekend in Faro they are having a wild meat bar-b-q. Sounds like fun! Got to run and hide as N has started house cleaning.
Addendum for the Quesnel post. I was playing darts with N and she said she was not going to leave until she hit the bulls eye. I suggested that being the case we would be there all night. The next dart she threw resulted in this. I was forced to add this to this post!
Quote for the day: You can only be young once. But you can always be immature.
- Dave Barry
P & N
No comments:
Post a Comment