Annual Trek to Linton Meadows

On Wednesday August 29,2007, 3 brave women, 5 burdened horses, and 1 free-spirited dog set out on yet another adventure into the wilds of Three Sisters' Wilderness Area. We drove to the Foley Ridge Trailhead, ate some lunch, and packed up 2 horses, Chip and Tess, with all of our accoutrements for 2 days and 3 nights at Linton Meadows.
The ride is 8.5 miles and takes us from 4000 ft. elevation at Foley Ridge Trailhead to 6320 ft. at Linton Meadows. It takes about 4 hours of riding to get to our destination. The red dots on the map show the trail that we follow. Linton Meadows is nestled between 3 mountains...The Husband, South Sister and Middle Sister.

At the trailhead, we all get busy and help to load our food, tent, sleeping bags, clothing, etc. etc. into 4 bags...2 pack bags per horse. We carefully weighed each bag to get it perfectly even. Pam and Lorrie are the experts...I just do whatever they say!

Pam and Zane

Lorrie and Pam securing the pack on Chip

Lorrie bridles Tanner. She rides Tanner and will pony Tess.

I make sure we pack a very important piece of equipment...never go into the wilderness without your shovel!! I will ride Bucko.

Pam will ride Zane and pony Chip.

Sam loves to go on this pack trip. He scouts ahead of us...behind us...beside us! He keeps very busy!

The trek is on a well marked trail through beautiful tall trees. It was a warm day. We decided that the best order of riding would be Pam first, then me, and Lorrie brought up the back. We had a great ride in and stopped for a rest about half way.

Pam did have some challenges ponying Chip...sometimes he wanted to just do it his way!

We arrived at our camp about 730 pm. It is good to be here. The views are spectacular!
This is one of the meadows in Linton Meadows, and this is just below our camp, called Winter Camp. The first thing to do when we arrive is unsaddle and unpack the horses, hobble them and turn them out for a well deserved graze! When we arrived it was just starting to get dark. There was lightning just over the mountain, but we couldn't hear the thunder, so we knew it wasn't too close to us. We found out Saturday that the lightning had started a forest fire on the east side of the mountains.

Setting up our tent, getting a fire going, and eating Taco Salad came next. Food always tastes so good when you're camping out. We always eat so well...from breakfast to snacks to suppertime...we ate very well! We had steak, porkshops with fried apple compote and of course Lorrie's breakfast are a highlight of our day. We also had some great conversations and solved alot of the world's problems too. I love going with Pam and Lorrie...I feel well taken care of and they are both so good at all of this "packing stuff".

We spent the next couple days exploring the wilderness around us on horseback and on foot. We walked down to Linton Falls early one evening...it took about an hour and a half to hike there and back...that was beautiful. Another evening we walked and found a new place to set up camp next year...not too far from this Winter Camp, but with more wood, closer to Linton Creek and a lovely green grassy meadow to graze the horses.

We also found time to go for a swim in Lake Eileen. The day was warm and sunny and the lake was refreshing! One odd thing about this lake is that the shores are crawling with tiny little frogs about 1/2 an inch long...they are crawling out of holes in the grass and heading for water. Once in the lake they disappear. Amazing!

Two beauties frolicking in the warm waters of Lake Eileen! Nice back drop, don't ya think?!!?

Pam and Lori find some time for a little horse training.

The last day we packed up and left about 2 pm for the trailhead. We had a good ride out...only stopping once to fix Tess's packs. The day ended perfectly as we were met by Carm and Lee Anderson, Lorrie's Aunt and Uncle. They waited patiently for us and we arrived in the nick of time for a great supper they brought for us. We are always starving when we come out, a little bedraggled too. This was a perfect ending to a great weekend! It is now October when I am finishing this blog, and we are so very glad we went when we went, because the weather changed dramatically after this. The Sisters are covered with snow now!

Next year we will look forward to another adventure with 3 brave women, 5 burdened horses, and a very happy dog!

Life is good! God is good!

John Gets Close to Heaven!

John, Pam's youngest brother, went on a fishing trip a couple days after our cruisin' trip. He got to enjoy this beautiful day...just John and his boat! This time he went to Gold Lake...a couple of hours from here. I "stole" these pictures off his camera because I couldn't believe how gorgeous they were. He got to enjoy this little piece of heaven all by himself that day! I am so glad he took pictures of it...who would have believed it! I thought something like this was only to be seen in British Columbia! God made some beautiful places here too...who would have thunk it!!! Enjoy!!

I think John could win a photo contest with a couple of these shots...what do you think?!?

I think this last picture could be a calendar picture. WOW! Thanks John! Beautiful!

Cruisin' Cruisin'...Cruisin' Down the River!

Saturday, August 12th, was such a fun day! John, Lois, Pam, Jamey, Curtis and I had a fun time cruisin' down the McKenzie River. We had two drift boats, 3 people in each, and some fishing lines and a lunch that we threw together. John Lois and Pam

Jamey Curtis and Tricia

The weather was perfect for a cruise. We dropped the boats in the water at one launch and Pam and I waited while Jamey and John drove the pick ups and trailers to Armitage Park, our get out place at Hayden Bridge. That was about 7 miles down the river. Lois brought them back to the beginning and off we set. Curtis had his fishing line in the water right away and he got the first fish. That was the start of a great few hours of fishing, drifting and relaxing.

Jamey was the oarsman in our boat but did find a couple chances to toss his line into the waters. I was very glad that he was in charge as there were one or two times we needed his strong arms and his navigational skills! I found it quite amazing to watch Curtis and Jamey fish, as they could get the hook in the perfect place each time. It was like a dance.

The other boat was captained by John. They were fortunate to have an anchor, so when they found a hot spot, they would stop for a time and fish it. All of sudden we would hear a lot of yelling and cheering and look over to see Pam holding her hands out about two feet apart signalling a "big" fish, or rather, a big fish "story". We never really got to see the size as it was catch and release for the day. Most of the day it was Lois fishing...I don't think I saw her sitting much at all. Pam may look like she is fishing here but I think she was just holding the line for John. Right?!?! Pam!?! Holding the rod!! You did not catch the biggest fish of the day! Right?!...

...and Lois fished!

The MacKenzie River is fairly slow and quiet in some places and runs rapidly in a few other places along the way with some obstactles to get around. John and Jamey did a good job of navigating us safely...while Lois fished!

At one point in the river, we found ourselves in the company of a flotilla...some inflatable rubber canoe type flotation devices piloted by some very happy people with large coolers of beverages. Then two other men joined the flotilla...two policemen. We all had to pull over and they examined our boats, and checked out fishing licenses...and Lois fished! They pulled the four boats out as they have strict rules here about boats, drinking, and life jackets. We carried on down the river...and Lois fished!!

We got to the end of our journey far too fast. It was a great day! Enjoyed by all!

Let's do it again! I think Fall would be a great time of year!

Rock'n D Dude Ranch 2

Patrick & Candy's Dude Ranch Adventure

Patrick and Candy arrived back at the ranch on Sunday evening, after their big adventure in Disneyland!

Soon they were going to find out what adventure was all about.

They arrived to a cozy little room all to themselves overlooking the green trees and pastures of the Rock'n D Dude Ranch.

They were such a great couple to have here for a visit as they joined in all the daily chores and ranch life I had to offer. Both of them were pretty much open to everything. We moved irrigation, worked cows and calves, picked fresh fruit and vegies, canned peaches, made raspberry jam, rode horses, went antique shopping, went to a movie, out for dinner, ate here every chance we got, had a fire down at the river at Wallace's, and just enjoyed each others' company! Patrick got the stomach flu on Tuesday morning early, and laid low for that day but he rose from his bed bright and early on Wednesday to work cows and calves in the corral and then went horseback riding in the evening. He did great at both. He was cool calm and collected! Candy did a great job working with Pam in the corral too. She even grabbed a cow tail to move her along and was not at all pleased to find a handful of poop there. In fact, Candy attracted cow poop everywhere she went...it just wanted to be on her! Being the camera challenged person that I am, I only got pictures of Patrick riding.

Giddyup Horsey! First lesson is getting Bucko to move!

Next lesson is going round and round and round in the round pen....hence the name, round pen...walking first and then trotting!

Pam helped by hitting Patrick with sticks when he did something wrong!

He He HAW! Just kidding! She was doing her Dennis Reis training technique!

Trotting and doing it right!!!

And finally...out to ride in the real world. A little different than the round pen! But Patrick handled it all! He was not even nervous for a second! Candy might try it next time. Horses are a little big and unpredictable for her...and they kept getting in her bubble! She felt close enough to them on the other side of a fence.

Patrick and Candy said they had a great time here...better than Disneyland! I had a wonderful five days with them.

Rock'n D Dude Ranch

THE AWESOME ADVENTURES OF AIDAN & NANA

at the

ROCK'n D DUDE RANCH

I was so delighted when Elizabeth and Jason agreed to let Aidan come down to the ranch with Patrick and Candy. It was funny because I phoned a couple of times before his arrival day, and he was too busy with Uncle Patrick and Aunt Candy to talk to me. I was so excited but he was living in the moment like a 4 year old does, and he did not need to discuss his trip with me! Anyways, Aidan arrived and the first thing we did was go for a tour of "vehicles" as he called them. This tractor was the first one he saw and he very willingly climbed right up into it. He also calls them mighty machines. Aidan was mighty brave as this is a long way UP!

As you can see by the SMILE on his face, he is one happy boy on this mighty machine!

He also got a ride with Uncle Patrick on Jamey's tractor pulling the grain cart...Jamey even let him drive it. Candy and I were watching the tractor coming out of the field, and were wondering why it was driving loops and zig zagging all over...well...Aidan was driving. Sorry, no pics of that! But believe me, Aidan was SMILING again!The John Deere Gator was Aidan's next vehicle of choice. He loved spending time on this vehicle! He sat on my knee behind the wheel and he did drive it. He was doing very well by the end of his stay. He is so very smart...and adorable too!

It was really very cute when we came up to the house the first evening Aidan was here, and he had been on the first tractor, driven Jamey's tractor, and driven the gator...we parked by the shed and he saw the ride-on lawn mower...he said, "let's ride on that vehicle now!" He wanted to experience everything while he was here. He was also quite take with Sam and Ty. He did not like Ty licking him though and he tried his hardest while here to stop Ty's licking, but Ty could not help but lick, lick, lick! He also fed them doggy biscuits till they wouldn't even come anymore when he called their names...that was quite funny!

Please notice the SMILE!

This picture is how we rode another vehicle.
For the two mornings that Aidan was here he helped me move irrigation. We both got all dressed up in our rain gear...head to toe, and we were all set to get WET! That is what happens when you move irrigation here, as the sprinklers are running the whole time you are moving it. We move it on Aidan's next favourite mode of vehicle...the Honda four-wheeler! We tried him behind me on the Honda at first as I thought he would be more protected from the spray of water, but knew right away that he was not a boy to take a back seat. He moved up in front of me and off we went. He was such a good help. He learnt very quickly to duck at the appropriate time and he would yell "DUCK" to help me out. He also would hop on and off the Honda to pick up the rope and take it off the hitch or put it on. Nana loved that! We were a finely tuned team...he did not complain at all about getting the water in his face! He kept up with us and there was no reason to slow down.

This little trailer helps us do the irrigation too.

Aidan takes a well deserved break after moving irrigation.

Aidan was very pleased when I told him that he would get a ride on this mighty machine. It is the front end loader at the rock quarry. Loader Bob runs this machine everyday and loads all the huge dumptrucks that come to get filled up with gravel or rocks. I told Aidan that Loader Bob would give him a ride. Do you think Aidan smiled at that! Well, he not only got a ride. First he climbed up inside (about 10 feet off the ground) and sat beside Loader Bob and he talked to him. Aidan climbed up on Loader Bob's lap and off they went for an adventure. They went round and round the piles of gravel and Aidan was driving it...I knew because Aidan likes to go in circles. Then a truck came into the quarry. Loader Bob and Aidan were talking to the driver on the CB radio. The truck started blowing smoke out of its stacks, and spinning it tires, generally putting on a big show for Loader Aidan. It was quite funny to watch. He got loaded and off he went. Then suddenly there were about 5 trucks...some just dump trucks and a couple of belly-dumpers...Loader Aidan talked to them on the CB and filled them up. He got out of that loader with a SMILE from ear to ear! What a happy boy he was! HAPPY! HAPPY! HAPPY! Another fun job at the ranch is moving cattle to greener pastures! Aidan was very good at this job. He rode on the Honda with me and told the cows and calves to "HYUP! HYUP! Let's go cattle...let's go!" The first part of the journey was on gravel and grass and then......it got very dusty! But Aidan did not complain...he just smiled and said..."Let's do it again!"

While Aidan was here it was very difficult to get him into bed at night and very difficult to get him to take a nap...I think he thought he would miss something fun! I asked him on the second night he was here what his most favorite adventure was. He was quietly thoughtful, and then he said, "Nana, I liked all of it." I asked if he had to pick one thing only what he would say, and again, he said "Everything Nana!"

The last night he was here we had a fire down at the pond and Aidan did all his tricks for everyone there. He even got us doing our tricks! I wiggled my ears. We finished off our fire time with a rousing rendition of the "Hokey Pokey"! It was a great evening!

This is Aidan watching his favorite channel...Animal Planet, and sitting in his favorite chair...Ron's chair!

This is Aidan actually sleeping! He did not want a nap, nor did he need a nap!

SMILING AIDAN! MY GRANDSON! THANKS FOR COMING AND STAYING WITH NANA!

YOU MADE ME SMILE TOO!!

I LOVE YOU TO THE MOON!!!