River Walker

Over the past week I have been spending a large amount of time walking along the river. Something has drawn me to its shores, as if I wish for the mental chatter in my head to be wiped clean by the rush of water over smooth stone. And now with my new walking partner, Hunter, I am once again free to cruise what I call "cougar canyon" after a local told me that he has seen a cougar on the rocky bluffs each time he has walked there, "but they don't get very big," he reassured me, "a one-hundred eighty pound cat is rare around here."

Hunter and I have been beaching it whenever we can :) This one's beside the old Haylmore site.

Here's Hunter.

And one further down the canyon which is always full of animal bones. I call it "kill beach" for dramatic effect.

Late last week I also went for a walk with Sanford's owner, which was liberating for my soul. We walked a favourite walk that Sanford and I used to take, along an old road leading up to an abandoned mine portal now even more shut off from the outside world from rockfall after this year's thaw. It was nice to reminisce a little, and hopefully to ease a little of his guilt over a situation that he had no way of predicting. He also asked if I had my neck x-rayed. BRILLIANT! Why had I never considered this before? I'm heading into Lillooet on Friday for the 3-day forum put on by the Rivershed Society of B.C., who hosts the Sustainable Living Leadership Program, and I plan on seeing a Doctor there to discuss the option. It would be nice to know if anything strange is going on in there, as it still bothers me for at least a small portion of each day.

This weekend I had some visitors stop by the house, which is wonderful. A couple of friends stopped  in on a lazy Saturday, me still in my pyjamas at noon.

I also had my friend Phora come up to visit from Lillooet for the night, and we went on a SERIOUS hike on Sunday. We went up the Hurley River from Gold Bridge, at first following the old road Sanford and I used to walk before the mountain slid it away and we had to make our own path. We hopped between rocks on the river shore when we could, and bushwhacked when the river left us no ledge on which to stand.

The beginning, Phora and her girl Taya when the road is easy to follow...

There was one point when we had to scale a ledge beside the river, which was not dangerous in itself, for the fall was a mere foot into the water, but it would have been an uncomfortable rest of the walk if this had befallen us. The road disappeared completely in many sections, and then it would miraculously reappear, rock walls covered over in moss, old camps left in ruin. There was even a cabin and green bus across the river from us, and we wondered how the people would have made it over there. How fun it would be to explore the other side!

Getting a little harder to follow, but not much...

Hikes like this remind me of why I live out here.

Finally it seemed that we should head up away from the river and towards the high stretch of road that leads to Bralorne. We walked up and up and up climbing over deadfall, with me wandering ahead to scout out a safe route that avoided the cliffs.

Here comes Phora.

Almost at the road. You can't tell in the picture, but at this point it has started to snow!

When we finally made it up to a view of Mount Sloan, it started to snow, and in the faint distance as we sat down to eat a few segments of orange we heard a moving vehicle. We walked the few hundred yards higher, and as I climbed up the embankment and onto the road a man in a huge truck stopped.

"You okay?" he asked when his window had slid all the way down.

"Yes," I said breathless, for I had heard him coming and wanted to make sure I caught him. "We just hiked up the canyon from Gold Bridge. Do you think you could give us a ride home?"

He was happy to fit us all in, and just like that we were snaking down the steep hill towards town. It was 4:30 pm when we were picked up, and 11:30 am when we left. How thankful I am to have a friend like Phora who appreciates hikes that the majority of the population would find punishing.

We were home soon eating spaghetti and garlic bread before she left on her drive home and I settled into an evening of reading and writing. Ahhh this is the life :)