We are in Wenatchee Wa.

Unfortunately my trip is over. I must now leave the brigade and go home. Sadly, I am leaving many new friends behind. The Wenatchee World has done an article on the brigade and put me on the FRONT page of the Saturday morning paper. I took a lot of raspberries about being a "rock star" and a "photo hog" etc.I am hoping it was ALL in good fun.!  We had many good laughs all day about this. NALS team was just fantastic for this entire trip. Denny and Delores DeMeyer do not get enough acculades for this. They even took us out to lunch yesterday for a very good Mexican Lunch. This is a recurring theme. We need real good Mexican food in Slave Lake if anyone is listening. On another note , I spotted a Smittys Rest. in Wenatchee yesterday. I was unable to convince the 14 other people to go there for lunch.
      The City of Wenatchee showed up in throngs and were rewarded with fabulous sunshine on one of the hottest days we have experienced since we started. Again I am very impressed with the way people have grabbed hold of the Brigade and made it part of their heritage. The local government and the state legislature both made resolutions based on the Brigade and on David Thompson. How to go Wenatchee. The City claims to be the Apple Capital of the World. It is very pretty in town for sure and you can hear the scatter guns going off on the orchards as you paddle the Columbia.
    The City  fed us a very good BBQ meal and all in all it was fabulous. They had dancing,professional musicians,camp fires and songs and the whole scebang was really great. I had to go to my hotel around 8 Pm as I could not keep my eyes open. Starting at 4:30 AM does that to you. I even fell asleep on the phone with my wife I was so tired..
    I have always loved being on the water since I was a yound kid,if it is in my kayak or any boat but there is a different feeling when you are working as a team to generate the power to get a 280 lb boat accelerating through back waters and eddies. We had an unfortunate incident yesterday that bent our flagpole that showed how people could work together to accomplish things even under duress. I have added up all my mileage and I  only paddled about 478 km of the estimated 1600 to do. Half days (sharing the paddling so everyone gets some) and issues with Power Dams made for a couple of short paddle days. I have some great pictures and videos that I will edit clean up and upload to my flickr site in the next month.All my best to one and all and thanks for following my little adventure.Here is the photo that made the front page of the Wenatchee World.

The website isn`t setup the same as the paper was but it is a very good read indeed.  :-)




Wenatchee World June 26-2011/Kathryn Stevens



An extreme takeout

Hand over Hand and Up the Bank.

Bernie Couldn`t stay awake either !

Denny and Delores.

Oops sorry Buddy :-)

 

We are in Pateros Wa.

June 20

We had a 54 km paddle today to the mouth of the Spokane River at Twin Rivers where we had a decent campground but NO casino.
What kind of organization closes their Casino/Restaurant etc on a day of 87 º F ( 31ºC)  with 150-200 Paddlers coming into the main campground area.? Twin Rivers Casino does.!
The headwind was pretty strong most of the day and we were all feeling it at the end of the day.
Besides only having about half of the facilitys available we all made do. 3 of the showers were broken but the toilets worked and that sometimes makes all the difference.I went down to the Spokane River and washed in the river. A fellow paddler came down ,she walked into the river screamed " It is very Invigorating " at the top of her voice and went back up the hill.I never had a chance to tell her it was only COLD for a few minutes until you got used to it. :-)
June 21 - The Solstice
Split the teams into two as we only had enough paddlers to make it a split. The first team (6 paddlers )did 18 km and then we met them at a very nice campground Take Out. We (6 others) then had a fantastic paddle for 22 km to Kellers Ferry. The National Park is absolutely beautiful, as is the entire Columbia Basin on both sides. We have seen small amounts of deer and actually saw a couple of Rattlesnakes in this camp. I never did see one but did hear about two encounters. On the previous day we saw a garter snake swimming in the river.Tried using Collect on a landline and my credit card was not allowed as I didn`t have a 5 digit Zip code.

June 22
Very Hot at 89 º F. I paddled 22 Km to the Grand Coulee Dam and we had another fantastic National Park Campground.We were there very early and basically had a very easy day. Several people went to town for the Dam tour several of us went geocaching and tried to teach a newbie about it.I do not believe we created a convert.We had fun anyway. Grand Coulee is a very nice town indeed.Snake was spotted here as well.
June 23
The proposed days trip was supposed to be hard paddling with a strong headwind and 73 ºF.We had to move the boats about 20 kms upriver to put in so we were up at 4:30 AM (the sun was up already) and we had all the boats in the water by 7:30.Taking down the tent and packing everything every day into a truck you can actually get fairly good at it.The people who run the grand coulee dam had a large amount of water coming out of Lake Roosevelt when we went by it, so we had a good current for the first +_ 20 KMs.With a good current and a tailwind we were scooting along very well. We got to the crew change and the other team never showed up so I got a 39 km paddle. The problem is that we have 2 canoes and only 14 people in camp. We have to move 3 vehicles so we need extra people. As there are 9 teams there are a lot of paddlers and sometimes we cannot get that extra person to help us move a vehicle.Hence we only get one canoe into the water.You have to have 6 people minimum in a boat as anything less is just too hard.We are averaging 50 - 60 strokes a minute so when it gets hot we need to stop about every hour for a small break.

We are in Inchelium and off to Two Rivers Tomorrow

We had a beautiful day with overcast skys, not to hot and pretty darn Skookum paddling. We started at 7:30 Am which means we were up at 5 AM and tearing down our camp.I finally have everything in one Hockey bag and have sent much extras home with Monroe and Ellen Kinloch. The new people took to the boats with a zeal today which helped as we did a fair day at 44.5 km paddle. When we arrived at this Indian Reservation they had the boats do the figure 8s with the black powder charges and the grand entrance. The Band had the drums and did an official welcoming and prayer. I have left the grandstand so I can blog this. I ahve NO camera as the camera lent to me finally broke down so I am out of photos. To bad because the drum and native dancers are going full tilt with the bagpipes and dancers doing their thing as well. We were fed venison roast and ribs(very tender and not gamey in the least)brown beans ,coleslaw,salad,potato salads and chicken (very tender) breaded and baked. Sorry Marilyn I ate the coating scolding my self all along the way. TWO brownies for desert and a bottle of water finished off a very hard day. Tomorrow will be harder with 54 km as the paddle length. I have no new pictures but I will see if I can upload something nice from before.The Columbia basin is absolutely beautiful all down this corridor.

Happy Fathers Day to one and all.

We are in Kettle Falls Washington

Wow What a great community. Lots of interesting things to see and do. Colville just down the road is the main centre with a Wal Mart etc. There is an interesting restaurant that I really like the name of. We are moving tomorrow with a 50 km paddle to Inchilin. The last two days have been nice with the tent set up and NOT being moved. As usual we went down to the lake (no falls here anymore ) to do a Brigade Paddle and the skies opened up...sigh That is about 12 days in the last 13 with rain. You kinda get used to web feet and damp sleeping bags. I got bit in the neck last night either by a spider or an ant. The rigors of tenting I guess.
The town had a BBQ for us last night with a breakfast this morning for $4.00. The supper tonight is BBQ pig smoked in a huge BBQ right beside where I am sitting in the light rain writing this.I really like the feeling when all the paddles are working in sync and the boat actually lifts out of the water. Yesterday we had an experienced crew and we got up to over 20 km per hour with a current going into Ione.

Jack Nesbit was here at the Museum again last night. I never get tired of listening to him. Proof is I own 2 of his books. One signed The Mapmakers  Eye when we were in Idaho. Tonight we are watching The Shadows of David Thompson and the director of the film will be here in the museum. 

Guess why I like this restaurant?

Cusick - Kalispel Band Drumming


Here is Stan with his new tent sheet!

I am having major issues with the internet and my laptop so no more pics today.

We are in Oldtown Idaho

We arrived in Oldtown today. The bridge is 100 metres away and we will be in Washington.The towns have stood on their heads to greet and meet us. Fabulous receptions and great party atmosphere. Last night we were in Sandpoint Idaho. We arrived soaking wet and cold and nearly hypothermic. The rain never stopped all day. Just about everyone booked into hotels and few people camped. Jack Nesbit the author  was at the
landing at Dover Idaho and gave a talk to the group on David Thompson.He was here tonight in Oldtown as well.

Take off at Clark Fork



Lake Pend Oreille in the rain

My Green Condo



Camp at Oldtown





Found a WiFi

I only have twenty minutes to tell you to go visit Thompson Falls Mo. It is as beautiful and friendly as Libby.

The Brigade Arrives

We had a great turnout yesterday as most of the town showed up for the parade and today they had people in boats. It was somewhat busy. They had a wildmeat soup and totally awesome [ very good from many sources] buns and to die for cookies. Included with the real frontier meal and woodsman ie: mountain man it was  a real treat.This guy above is a local but not the man who made the stew from beans wildmeat etc.

Linda Haywood wife of Local Author

The real joy is in the paddling and the Clark Fork is riding high which means easy paddling downstream.

I have to leave now...

I am out Of Coverage

I will not have Internet until the middle of next week.Take Care

Border Ceremony

The Border Ceremony was a very good time. As to my previous post, the Plaque had already been surveyed into place and it was placed on a reconstructed monument on the high ground on the East Side of Kootenai River (Koocanusa Lake). There were a few dignateries there and one of them who was from St. Albert Ab. didn`t show up at all. That aside the whole thing went off quite well. It started raining last night and it will rain for the next 4-5 days if you believe the weatherman. I have been looking out my hotel window trying to get it up to go setup my tent to be part of the crew. As much as the task is disagreeable it is necessary. If it was just one night I might just stay in this hotel but it isn`t.I got into town about 11 PM last night,so I hoteled it instead of sleeping in my truck. The town of Rexford gave up their gymnasium so everyone could sleep inside out of the rain. The NALS Team  presented me with dinner and a very nice NALS shirt donated by Bill Chapman from Chapman  Surveys out of West Vancouver. I have to leave my truck here in Libby so when I am done the paddle I can Amtrak back to Libby. I will officially be on the Brigade tomorrow when we move overland to Thompsons Falls.

                                                      

Dry Land

       Below is the actual Border Crossing Routine.

All brigade members had  presented our passport numbers and info weeks ago. This way everyone just presented their passports to the Border Guards and they stamped them and processed right on the beach.





The Official Plaque

I LOVE THIS AREA

   I did that TITLE IN CAPITALS because today was one of those days. I discovered Conrad Kains Cairn (say that 5 times after a few wobbly pops) in the small town of Wilmer. I then drove out a couple of miles Northerle of Wilmer for the 2 km walk down and back in an area called Richies Point, also known as Wilmer Bird Sanctuary. The views are stupendous. As if this wasn`t good enough for exercise, after lunch, I decided to walk to the top of Dutch Creek Hoodoos.wow wow wow. There were of course, 4 geocaches on top of those ridges and they certainly made the walk worth more. I would recommend this trail system to one and all if the terrain is not to much. As I was not needed by the Brigade today I had a chance to start sorting the 5 tons of gear I have spread all over the place in Fred and Joans condo. I think I should just give it up. I cannot believe I am actually going to have to leave stuff behind because I have no wheels while on this brigade.  Do you know how scary that is. ? I need at least 18 rechargable batteries and a Charging system.

 I have 2 cameras, 5 GPS units, (I will have to leave 3 of these behind, including the SPOT) I HAVE  TO HAVE a laptop, so I also need the chargers, mice , keyboards, and USB plugins etc. On top of that I will also need water bottles, clothes, a tent, sleeping bags, pillows,2-3 pairs of shoes, socks, wet gear, hot weather gear,etc etc etc....  Its just gotta be done. I am only allowed to bring it all in just 2 Hockey bags.Insane.!

Change of Topic
We had the first geocaching event in Fort Steele yesterday and it was a howling success.Over 40 people showed up and signed the official logbook.
 We sold 20 of the NALS geocoins that we had brought across the border and most of the Brigade coins. These are to help finance the brigade costs for the teams.On another note I am told that the brigade had 3 parties yesterday. Breakfast,lunch and a supper from the local communities, and then a final play was put on for the brigade at Fort Steele by the Fort performers about 6 PM. It was a play about/of David Thompson. I missed it because our old Slave Lake BM is now in Canmore. He ( Darrin Connatty ) showed up at about 6 PM and together we went to Cranbrook for one of the best meals I have had in a very long time. His schnitzels took up a platter and he couldn`t finish it all.I ate all my prime rib. Thanks Darrin.!
  Franks Steak and Schnitzel House should win awards. If you are ever in Cranbrook it is on the main drag just after you get in from Invermere or Fernie on the right hand side.

Tomorrow is June 7th. This is the big party at the border crossing. Somebody important and someone with a bunch of letters after their names are going to dedicate a plaque to David Thompson near the Koocanusa Lake on the 49th.This is beautiful country down here for sure.
    Local geocachers reported that the monuments on the Canada / USA Border are no longer at 49 degrees since we are all using WGS 84. I wonder if they will take that into account.? Has anyone thought about that?
   Which country`s soil will the plaque actually be placed on? This just  reminds me of that old childhood joke. If a plane crash landed on the Canada/USA border, where would you bury the survivors?
 I am sure that they will survey it in after the ceremony.Won`t they?
In regards to the ceremonies. I haven`t heard Rick Mercers name in months, so I guess he declined the offer for a boat ride at this event. Thats all folks.I should of been in bed hours ago.

 Here are some photos of the Brigade yesterday and the hoodoos today...man I love this area

Did I say that yet?

                                           The Geocachers Official Photo DTCB 2011 at Fort Steele

Libby Montana

I drove down to Libby yesterday June 4th for the opening of the Libby Heritage Museum.I  have never been to Libby and what a great loss that is. What a beautiful little town nestled into the valley with mountains on all sides and the Kootenai River and Koocanusa Lake with the Libby Dam. I saw at least 15 eagles with one golden nearly becoming a hood ornament. The entire town has eagles all over the place real and sculpted. They have one at the end of one street that is massive. I will get a photo next time as I was late getting into town.
   The drive down and through Roosville is very scenic. I left at 5:30 AM as I wanted to walk into two historic sites that David Thompson had been to. One was a campsite entitled Tiger Encampment where they killed and ate a cougar (They thought it was a tiger hence the name in his notes.)
and the other is the famous river crossing at the big bend.The museum is very well done and I will have to come down here and stay for a visit. The people are all very friendly. Carl W Haywood did an hour lecture on the life of David Thompson for a small gathering of about 30-40 people and then we went to lunch. Mr and Mrs John McBride from Libby and Mr and Mrs Carl Haywood and myself went to a fabulous Mexican restaurant and ate and discussed DT until we were all quite full. Mr McBride has the distinction of recently selling a civil war rifle for ".......$800,000.00 US". He is a retired soldier as was his father.The trip back to Cranbrook was uneventful and warm at 24 celsius at one point. Great day with lots of memorys.

The Ceremonies Kinsmen Park Invermere June 3 2011

Late June 3 the Brigade came back to Invermere from Canal Flats. The Columbia River drains Northward out of Columbia Lake at Canal Flats and the river is running very low.  To make it easier on everyone the run was reversed for this leg only.Here is some video I have shot of the festivities when they arrived in the town.I will upload one and see how it plays out on this blog. Someone let me know what you think.This is 36 megs and on high speed in my hotel it is taking about 1/2 hour to upload.

That was the Metis Dancing

 

Here is the Grand Entrance in two vids.

The Brigade Starts Paddling Today June 3

Yesterday was probably one of the most interesting days I have had in a very long time. We started the day with instructions on everything about big boats from getting in and out to doing the Grand Entrance. I was in both canoes and learned somewhat clumsily the fine art of "Shift". This is were they have everyone but the bow and stern change sides of the canoe so your muscles do not get strained. It is supposed to be very fast and work well once you have it down pat.[Insert leering smiley here] The principle works well. The sliding your lard ass across a bench is the hard part, on water,while the guy in front of  and behind you go the other way, and at 215 I am a featherweight compared to some of these guys.After the canoe stops rocking everyone gets into rythym again with the stern paddler and off you go. Then just as you get into the rythym
it is time for a change again.Well this was a lot of fun. The grand entrance is pretty darn cool.

All these boats get into sync and start making figure 8 `s crossing in seguence until the lead boat pulls up to shore and everyone lines up side by side bows all in a perfect line. Then the lead boat fires a black powder charge and asks for permission to come to shore. The party on land replys with a black powder shot and all the canoes race for shore as fast as they can. Then they back paddle and foam up the last few feet so the boats do not grind out on shore. After the first run everyone stopped for lunch and Barbara Belyea showed up. I had a nice long talk to her about all things David Thompson and a few other topics too long to get into here. She signed a copy of the Columbia Journals for Robert Allen and he secured it into the boat for todays first leg. It will ride with the Koo Koo Sint all the way to Astoria.Here is Robert Allen with the book.

                                          



                                                      "The Columbia Journals"

Dwaine and Ken in Regalia

Around 3:30 PM it was time for a break and everyone got dressed in their regalia wear.We then proceeded up to the David Thompson and Charlotte Small statue in the centre of the town for a photo shoot.Unfortunately I was on the wrong side of the camera and never got a group photo.There were probably 100 of us walking up main street in a parade with flags for all the communitys and every boat has their own flag as well. Here is a photo taken of Ken and Dwaine before the parade walk.
   Koodos to Marilyn for getting me an authentic togue that NO ONE else has. I got an awful lot of comments on it and it breathes so it is not as hot as you would think.
      After the photo shoot I was one of the first to head back to Kinsmen Park when we met up with Robert Allen. Some juvis had been drinking in the park and had grabbed one of our canoes when no one was looking and we were all up the hill in town.They had taken it across Windermere lake.We organized up a canoe and 8 of us took off in the Paddle Song after the Koo Koo Sint.They were way out past the point and sitting flat when we got there. We took 8 men in our canoe which delegates 2 to side by side in the two centres so no switching now because we were in a hurry.
This was very taxing as we didn`t stop or rest until we got to the boat,we just drove hard to catch these kids. As we got near them Ted Bentley and 5 other very experienced paddlers caught us.That made for a good chuckle about the boat.Nobody was too happy as we approached our boat.

The 2 young men in question had stolen a kayak paddle from  near the Clubhouse and dragged the Koo Koo Sint down to the lake shore.Dragging some of the paint job and decals off of it. That really pissed off a certain member that wanted to throw them overboard and let them swim back. Cooler heads prevaled and we assigned myself and three others to take these two back to the beach. They had broken this carbon fiber kayak paddle and were trying to get away with just the broken bits.They finally settled down and we talked to them and had the hot heads stay out of it.They were two brothers who were drunk as skunks and were talking about swimming for it. I reminded them if they drowned it was because they were in OUR boat and we would be held responsible so they had to go back to the beach and get out of our boat there.That didn`t really dissuade the talk but gave them the excuse they needed to not try to swim in frigid waters. Drunken talk aside they finally settled into the fact that they were going back to the beach.
      The reality of it finally started to kick in when we  got them to the beach and they were arrested. Not very easily as they seemed to think they could out wrestle the RCMP and their handcuffs. They didn`t. 
Here is a shot of the David Thompson and Charlotte Small Statue that we all had our picture in front of and that this little adventure is all about. I will also include one of the shots I took of the amazing scenery around here and call it a day,so I can head of to Libby Montana and meet up with Carl W Haywood who is an author and David Thompson specialist in Thompson Falls.