Lögberg-Heimskringla - 25.04.2003, Síða 9

Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur, 25 Apríl 2003 • page 9
Gleðilegt
sumar!
Back to the Basics
Lara Lindal
White Rock,
BC
Growing up in the city, I had
experienced the outdoors
to a certain degree on summer
camping trips, but I had not
been exposed to “extreme BC
wildemess.” This opportunity
to work with Spatsizi
Wilderness Adventures in the
Spatsizi Provincial Park could
not be passed up.
I was lucky enough to be
ílown into the base camp by
float plane with the clients.
The rest of the crew had the
gruelling task of riding ten
hours into camp with the string
of thirty horses.
I quickly realized that
those horses were the backbone
of our wilderness adventure.
They were our co-workers. We
took care of them and relied on
them for survival. Long days
were spent in the saddle, bond-
ing with the horses.
Once everyone had arrived
at base camp, one full day was
spent packing the food, camp-
ing gear, and any other supplies
we would need for the duration
of the wilderness adventure.
Once the horses were fed,
wrangled, brushed, saddled and
packed, we were ready to go.
By travelling on horse-
back, we had numerous oppor-
tunities to see Northern BC
wildlife in its natural, undis-
turbed sunoundings. In the
summer months (July/August),
we saw moose and caribou
grazing solo throughout the
valleys, as well as stone sheep
and mountain goat high on
mountain cliffs and ridges.
There were loons singing
every day on the alpine lakes,
which were filled with an abun-
dance of fish. This was ideal
sport fly fishing country, as
countless rainbow trout and
arctic grayling swam through-
out these lakes. On day trips,
we would gather firewood,
build a fire on the shoreline,
and cook up fish for lunch!
I had a few scary experi-
ences that reminded me to con-
stantly be aware of my sur-
roundings to survive in this
unforgiving country.
Mastering my sense of direc-
tion was my first lesson.
Making mental notes of land-
marks and continuously orient-
ing myself was exhausting in
the beginning of the season, as
nothing was familiar to me.
Familiarization with the
horses and horse etiquette was
another huge lesson in itself.
One day in particular, I was not
able to predict my horses’ reac-
tion to a rock that looked out of
place. My horse spooked, sud-
denly bolting to the side, send-
ing me ofif the back, into the
willows. The whole string of
horses took off after her, in a
full gallop, for a few hundred
yards. Luckily nothing was
bruised but my pride.
The seasons changed dra-
matically up north. Fall
approached with spectacular
colors, which changed daily. It
was during the fall months
(September/October), that we
saw the majority of wildlife
movement. We saw many griz-
zly bears bellying up for win-
ter, restless wolves howling
throughout the night, bull
moose grunting, and mountain
caribou herding up for the rut.
It was in the fall that we would
wake up in the middle of the
night to watch the unbeliev-
able northern lights dancing in
the sky.
In October, the lakes start-
ed to freeze over, which told us
the end of the season was
drawing near, as the float
planes cannot land their floats
on the lakes once the lakes start
freezing. Everything needed to
be winterized and closed up,
and one more long day in the
saddle was needed in order to
get the horses home safely.
The whole season was an
awesome experience that I will
never forget. Living in the
wilderness reminded me of the
basic necessities for survival,
which we tend to take for
granted. Hopefully I will have
the opportunity to visit the
Spatsizi wildemess again next
year!!
PHOTO COURTESY OF LARA LINDAL
Riding in Spatsizi Provincial Park
PHOTO COURTESY OF LARA LINDAL
Lara looks out over the wilderness
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