Back from BC

[donkey]

Got back from BC late last night, didn't manage to get in any white water rafting, the rivers were near flood stage and were far too dangerous. Took some pics with my blackberry of the canyon I spent some time in. The river is the Bull river near the Aberfeldie Dam.

[dedndave]

beautiful !!!

[donkey]

beautiful !!!

Yup, it was an awesome sight, the falls were spectacular and the gorge was so deep it was scary. A couple of Rocky Mountain Sheep with the biggest set of horns I've ever seen wandered by one morning. Should have taken more pics but we were busy rehabbing a bridge over the gorge (the pics above were taken from the bridge deck). They don't call BC "The most beautiful place on Earth" for nothing.

[oex]

That is awesome Edgar.... Those are some really good pictures.... The only waterfall I know of around here is "Water break it's neck".... It is a trickle maybe half a meter wide....

[Bill Cravener]

Looks like an awesome place to visit Edgar. We don't have a waterway anything like that running here in the state of Pennsylvania.


"Water break it's neck" ?? I've heard some funny creek names in my day, that's a funny one.  :bg

PA has some 15,000 creeks due to its hilliness and many if not most have Indian names. They're kind of fun trying to pronounce.

Muckinipattis Creek
Wissahickon Creek
Manatawny Creek
Perkiomen Creek
Unami Creek
Monocacy Creek
Tulpehocken Creek
Cacoosing Creek
Cohoquinoque Creek
Catasauqua Creek
Aquashicola Creek
Pohopoco Creek
Nesquehoning Creek
Shohola Creek
Equinunk Creek
Cohocksink Creek
Poquessing Creek
Tohickon Creek

And on and on. . .

[donkey]

The water level when I was there was near flood stage so there is a quite a lot more flow than during the rest of the year because of melting in the mountains and glaciers. This is an old pic of the waterfall (circa 1922) that shows the falls before the dam was built.



The Bull river doesn't really make the list of spectacular rivers in BC, I have some pics of Hell's Gate on the Fraser somewhere and also the Kicking Horse river. The Kicking Horse is aptly named, did a bit of rafting there and that's pretty much what it feels like. Also Alfred Creek Falls is one I'd like to see one day, a single drop of nearly half a mile (2296 feet/700 Meters).

[dedndave]

in my younger days, i went white-water rafting down the Colorado River
i failed to see all the hoopla
it seemed rather mild to me - i was looking forward to getting tossed about a little bit
there were a couple fast spots
all you had to do was keep the raft straight and they passed easily
i was on a boat with 2 female friends of mine
at the end of the day, we were all pretty dry   :P

[hutch--]

 :bg

Edgar,

> Alfred Creek Falls is one I'd like to see one day, a single drop of nearly half a mile (2296 feet/700 Meters)

I would give up on the idea of white water at that height, you would lose your breath on the way down.

[anunitu]

Great pics Edgar, I have always wanted to tour Canada, My Father was born in Calgary. He lived on a goat ranch, my grandfather made goat cheese. searching online I found goat cheese online with my family name on it,concidered gormat it sold for a LOT. I had no idea!!

[donkey]

I would give up on the idea of white water at that height, you would lose your breath on the way down.

:bg

Well, it would be quite a ride but I think I'll pass that one up, it's the highest waterfall in North America though and I would like to see it, another one to add to the bucket list.

[hutch--]

Edgar,

There is a variation, I recently saw this YouTube video of a couple of guys in Europe ski off the side of a mountain then parachute their way back to the bottom. This could be an interesting variation on that scheme, use one of those nice lightweight carbon fibre kayaks and make sure you pulled the parachute cord as you went over the edge.

[baltoro]

British Columbia,...I wish I lived there.
We have some great ski towns in the US,...but, I think BC surpasses them all (except, maybe, Telluride).
My current thinking is that Alberta and British Columbia are the promised land (unless you live in the Southern Hemisphere).

Oh yeah,...if you decide to try what Hutch has suggested above,...I think you should hire a film crew to film the entire episode,...because your next-of-kin just aren't gonna believe you could be that stupid, unless they see your smiling face just before you go over the edge.

[donkey]

Hey baltoro,

Being from Southern California you might have a bit of a problem with the winters up here, it can get damn cold. You'd probably do well enough in Victoria if you don't mind the rain, they can grow palm trees there and have peacocks wandering about. I had a friend move to Fernie, BC from Australia (I think there are more ex-patriot Aussies in that part of the Kootenays than natural born Canadians) and he says he had trouble dealing with the winter cold for the first 5 or 6 years. Thing is the winters in Fernie are mild when compared to Alberta and other parts of Canada where -40 is common in January. Where I grew up the mercury dips to -40 or below for 3 to 4 weeks a year, not many auslanders can handle it. Of course if you like to ski Revelstoke (where I should be heading in a couple of weeks) gets an annual snowfall of around 50 feet (15 meters), plenty of powder in the mountains there.

[baltoro]

EDGAR,
This explains why there are no ugly nudists in Western Canada. :eek
When I was a young ski bum, I spent a winter in Northern Wyoming/Southern Montana,...and, yes, the winters are brutal. In fact, where I was, everything just closed down, and a large contingent of the local population moved to Arizona for the winter. I didn't have the required four-wheel drive, or even a job,...and, so, I was bored out of my skull. Whenever I went outside, say, a trip to the grocery store, I had to put on all the clothes I owned.
Scenery was great, though,...

[anunitu]

I can personally attest to what growing up in a warmer Climate(California), and my first year in Albany New York. Albany is in no way as cold as parts of Canada in Winter,but my first winter there I hardly went out except out of need to get food. I moved there at the end of 1999 in August..When it began getting colder it caught me off guard. I had to do some emergancy shopping for warmer cloths. It felt like I would never be warm again..It took a while but each year I got used to the cold. I lived in Albany for 5 years,before moving to New Jersey..Winters here are not as cold and the snow seldom gets anything like Albany. These days I can go outside in 20 degree weather in a short sleeve shirt,my body has adjusted that much. I would not wear a short sleeve shirt only if I was going somewhere, then I know to carry a heavy coat. Northern California is a bit colder than Southern California, and someone from down south might have a bit harder time adjusting to eastern winters. The cold you discribe might be a challange for me,even with my being used to the cold now. Someone coming from a much warmer clime, might actully find it unbarable.