A fishing trip foiled by mother nature (pics)

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A fishing trip foiled by mother nature (pics)

September 13, 2005, 04:45:57 PM

My parents are in Edmonton for two weeks to visit the family and meet my daughter. Since Dad is such an avid fisherman, it was pure luck that he showed up the day before I was to go on my first fishing trip with a neighbour. Anyway, it rained a torent the whole time, which we were expecting. The waters were wo high and murky that not one fish was caught. Not a surprise, since we only managed to have our lines in the water for about a half hour. This is why.

Day one, we setup our tent at 10:30pm in a downpour. Our bedclothes were wrapped in a tarp (in garbage bags), but managed to get soaked through and through. Jimmie's (my brother) stuff was dry, but there was only three dry blankets for Dad and I, and no pillows. The rest were dripping when they left the bags. It was about 2*C (35*F) and we were drenched. Try and imagine the cold.

Day two, we head to town to dry that stuff at a laundromat and get some sleeping bags while we're at it. We get back and fish for about a half hour, then gave up on the vain attempt at catching blind fish in a rushing river. We gather some wood for the fire, then it starts to snow! We only stayed long enough to take the tent down.

We ended up getting a motel room in Blairemore, in the Crowsnest Pass. It snowed so heavy that the giant poplar branches were falling all over town, and by 10:00 the power was out. As far as I know, the power is still out.

Re: A fishing trip foiled by mother nature (pics)

Reply #1 – September 13, 2005, 04:46:29 PM

We headed back to camp to get the stuff we had to leave behind with Dave (neighbour who had a bowler, so he was good to stay the night out there). But before we meet up with him, we stop to take a look at the Frank Slide. This used to be a town, until a kilometer wide chunk of the mountain broke loose in the early morning and burried the entire town in 90 seconds.

Halfway to Beaver Mines we see Dave coming and he had all our stuff, so saved a trip. Anyway, we went to see the Lundbreck falls on the way to brunch in Longview.

Re: A fishing trip foiled by mother nature (pics)

Reply #2 – September 13, 2005, 04:50:25 PM

Then we backtracked a bit to take a secondary road out to the Kananaskis Highway. It is breathtaking out there. My favorite place in all of Alberta, which I visit at least once a year. I wanted to share it with Dad, so we got ambitious. Turns out the highway was dirt all the way, and we ended up climbing up a mountain that was smack dab in the middle of the pass. One lane plowed, and there had to be twice as much snow up there than there was in the Crowsnest Pass. Just our luck, we meet a double blade grader style plow right at the crest of the road. We were lucky it was really wide up there, so he could go around us. Then we met two more trucks, still only one lane there, so both vehicles were sing snow banks up to the fender flares. But what a view from up there.

After about 50-60km chewing through the snow, a good hour and a half, we come to the point where the plow stopped. :dohh: 2km of 4low 2nd gear all season stock height chewing, we decided to turn back, since we knew we would be stuck with no way of getting back if we continued on. Still, I was very impressed with how well the ol' Jeep handled it all.

On the way back, we got stuck behind a female Big Horn Sheep with a Kidd that couldn't have been more than a few months old. I don't know if you know these animals very well, but they are quite wiley and will ram your car in a heartbeat if it feels challenged. What does Dad do, being green to the area? He gets out and throws snowballs at it, me protesting the entire time. It took off, Kidd in tow, until it got to a texas gate, where it stoped and turned. Ok, now this is the point where it's daring you to do something. Dad got out again, and was planning to take it by the horns and wrestle it out of the road. Jimmie and I both got after him for that. He was thinking it couldn't be as tricky as wrestling a steer. But these things are too unpredictable. Heads like plate steel and horns that will pierce body panels easilly. Not to mention one kick and the hoof would be six inches into his gut. It eventually took off to the side when it saw it was stuck between us and the gate.

Re: A fishing trip foiled by mother nature (pics)

Reply #3 – September 13, 2005, 04:51:41 PM

Well, we started heading home, since Kananaskis was out of the question. :disappoin We stopped in Bragg Creek to see if we could find a decent stream to drop our lines in, but again, the water was too high and too murky, so from there we headed straight home.

All in all, the trip that took us 6hrs on the way down, ended up taking 14hrs on the way back. I got home Sunday at midnight.

Nothing went right the entire weekend, and the wife was good and mad when I showed up at the witching hour. But it has to be one of the best times I've ever had camping, and certainly with Jim and Dad, since we never get to spend any time together. You just have to laugh at it. I just wish my other brother Troy had been there. He's home in NS though.

And now for some Video of the insane trip.

Our camp in Beaver Mines.
http://media.putfile.com/Breaking-down-camp90

Blairemore the next day, after the big snowstorm. You can see where all the limbs kept breaking off as you drive down the main drag.
http://media.putfile.com/Blairemore-Inn--Dad
http://media.putfile.com/fell-trees-Blairemore

Frank Slide. Yes, there's a 100+yo town under there. You can see where the chunk of mountain broke off too. Hard to believe the boulders went half way up the mountain on the other side of the valley, and filled in a lake.
http://media.putfile.com/Frank-Slide

Lundbreck Falls.
http://media.putfile.com/Lundbreck-Falls
http://media.putfile.com/Lundbreck-Falls-2

The mountain pass, and the Big Horn Sheep with her Kidd.
http://media.putfile.com/Mountain-Pass--Dad
http://media.putfile.com/BH--kidd

And that concludes my journal.

Re: A fishing trip foiled by mother nature (pics)

Reply #4 – September 13, 2005, 04:57:43 PM

Snow in September..... not cool..... At least dad got to see the baby
--------------------------
Current Conditions
Updated: 3:53 PM EDT on September 13, 2005
Observed At: Farmingdale, New York
Elevation: 82 ft / 25 m
86 °F / 30 °C
Clear
Heat Index: 87 °F / 30 °C
Humidity: 46%
Dew Point: 63 °F / 17 °C
Wind: 12 mph / 18 km/h from the South
Pressure: 30.00 in / 1016 hPa
Visibility: 3.0 miles / 4.8 kilometers
UV: 4 out of 16
Clouds: Clear -

Re: A fishing trip foiled by mother nature (pics)

Reply #5 – September 13, 2005, 05:06:37 PM

True enough. It was a lot of fun, despite the weather and bad luck. Actually, that's a lot of the reason it was so much fun. It was an adventure none of us will forget. Oh, and snow in spetember isn't all that normal.

Re: A fishing trip foiled by mother nature (pics)

Reply #6 – September 13, 2005, 05:18:34 PM

Those kinda pictures just make me want to take that roadtrip across america even more, visit the rockies see how beautiful it is. But you got yourself some nice pictures there.

Re: A fishing trip foiled by mother nature (pics)

Reply #7 – September 13, 2005, 05:57:28 PM

If you like those pictures, I could give you a link to my photobucket account with some of my more serious photography. :) Lots of Rockies.

http://photobucket.com/albums/v613/oldraven/

You just have to sort through the junk. :D

Re: A fishing trip foiled by mother nature (pics)

Reply #8 – September 13, 2005, 06:03:34 PM

The trips where things mostly work against you almost always are the most fun and memorable.
Very nice pictures.

I think it's kind of cool seeing snow in September. What makes it cooler is that it's not around here and I don't have to drive in it. :D

Re: A fishing trip foiled by mother nature (pics)

Reply #9 – September 13, 2005, 11:21:39 PM

Nice pics! I'm not ready for snow I bet it sucks trying to drive on the ice in a TC this will be my first winter in it unless I get the cougar back together in time.

Re: A fishing trip foiled by mother nature (pics)

Reply #10 – September 16, 2005, 09:50:43 PM

Is the highway on which you had to turn back #40 (the strech that is only open from june to nov). I got stuck their once my self, one day in june several years ago while trying to take a senic route home from nakiska ski area. That is one very beautiful area. I highly recomend skiing nakiska and hiking in kanaskis prov park.

Edit: Their is also a place in Bragg Creek (in a log strip mall) that has some of the best coffee and hot chocolate around. Not meaning to knock Tim Hortons.

Re: A fishing trip foiled by mother nature (pics)

Reply #11 – September 17, 2005, 02:41:08 AM

thems is just little hills. The rockies are better then that. But then again I am sitting pretty at about 4,000 ft above sea level with moutains as high as 13,000 all around.

Re: A fishing trip foiled by mother nature (pics)

Reply #12 – September 17, 2005, 02:47:24 AM

Ummmmmmm... Those are the rocky mountains.

No doubt the american side of the rockies is beautiful too.

Re: A fishing trip foiled by mother nature (pics)

Reply #13 – September 19, 2005, 12:02:15 PM

Quote from: Haystack

thems is just little hills. The rockies are better then that. But then again I am sitting pretty at about 4,000 ft above sea level with moutains as high as 13,000 all around.

Like I said, we only made it within 25km from Kananaskis, which is where the Rockies really start. So you're looking mostly at foothills.

That was the painful part. Seeing the first range, but never reaching it that weekend.

We did stop in Bragg Creek, to get gass and find another stream to drop the lines in. No such luck.

These are the Rockies.

Re: A fishing trip foiled by mother nature (pics)

Reply #14 – September 19, 2005, 12:06:29 PM

they get taller by wyoming I think, honestly I am not sure.