Evacuation Order Lifted, Off we go…

Rock Doctor · #1 07-03-2023, 12:39 AM

The evacuation order lifted for the fire out by our lake, so we packed up and headed in. It’s a little different now, the girls are getting older and have jobs. My wife and I headed in alone, the plan is for the girls to make their way in to see us a week into the trip. Wife and I were not completely alone, we had the animals with us, including the new cat.

I caught this thing in my shop around last Christmas, he was totally wild, I set up one of the kids bedrooms for him, it took almost a month to be able to touch him safely without welding gloves on, but now he’s turned out to be a great addition to the family. Not going to lie, I was very concerned about taking him out into the bush.
Anyway, we arrived at the trail head to find that the fire fighters were still on guard:

I parked away from them to give helicopters room:

The trip in to the lake was uneventful, it was interesting how they had dumped a couple loads of fire retardant around our cabins:

The firefighters also had sprinklers set up around and on the cabins. They also moved any flammable they could away from the cabins.

Can’t see it, but there is a sprinkler on the roof. They did not disconnect any propane that might be running something like a freezer.

The lake is super low this year

To be continued,

Rock Doctor · #2 07-03-2023, 12:49 AM

The fishing was pretty epic, but the fires were definitely not out

We put some solar lights up

Continued

Rock Doctor · #3 07-03-2023, 01:01 AM

It was a little Smokey out there, but not bad. The closest fire was about 12km SW from the cabins.
Breakfast of champions

More fishing and stuff

The smoke made the sunset crazy

Continue

Rock Doctor · #4 07-03-2023, 01:18 AM

Our trip plan was for 3 weeks, but on the 4th night, the wind came up and there was some lightning. Another fire had started overnight, it was about 7 I’m from the cabins. Lots of helicopters flying around in the morning. One stopped in and the guys told me that they were probably going to have to enact evacuation order again in the next day or so. That was a bummer, but not a surprise. We prepped to leave, just hoping we would not have to go. Took the boat out for a look around.
My cabin is about centre in this pic

These guys were out

So, anyway, another helicopter landed by the cabin around noon, and a very nice forestry lady let us know where the fire was, the direction it was travelling, and that she would feel much better if we pulled out early.
Not a problem, we made some adjustments around the cabin, moved some stuff around, loaded up the cats and headed out.
A couple hours later we were at our truck, had a chat with the nice lady again, got a bunch of info, and helped them out a bit.
So ended our first trip out this year, kinda short, but always an adventure.

Until the next trip
RD

EZM · #5 07-03-2023, 07:06 AM

Thanks for sharing. This real life stuff is very interesting for many of us and we appreciate hearing your story.

All the best for you and your beautiful place on the lake - what a great place to live out in the glory of mother nature like that.

sns2 · #6 07-03-2023, 07:17 AM

Really great thread. Must be a helluva pile of anxiety wondering if your slice of heaven burnt down. Glad it was all good and you and your gal got to enjoy it for a bit. Thanks for sharing.

1899b · #7 07-03-2023, 07:30 AM

Great post to read this morning! Thank you for sharing!

silvertip · #8 07-03-2023, 07:40 AM

Excellent post

thanks for sharing

stay safe

traderal · #9 07-03-2023, 08:16 AM

Always look forward to your adventures. Thanks.

Sundancefisher · #10 07-03-2023, 08:34 AM

Excellent post. Fish are in excellent condition.

Bigwoodsman · #11 07-03-2023, 08:39 AM

Amazing post. Thank you for sharing! Hoping your little gem of peace and tranquillity stays safe!

BW

Tommy · #12 07-03-2023, 10:14 AM

Great thread, thank you for posting.
Glad your camp is still intact. Some nice fish in your pic's, that one northern is huge. That large rock and shoreline reminds me of the Canadian shield country
I grew up in North Eastern Manitoba.

Tommy

bighorn1 · #13 07-03-2023, 10:45 AM

Great post thanks for sharing, such a beautiful place. Hopefully they get the fire dealt with and how have it for years to come

KGB · #14 07-03-2023, 02:26 PM

Awesome pics! Monster fish!
PS. Please try not to lose your dog this time

Rock Doctor · #15 07-03-2023, 03:04 PM

The cabins are safe as of now, but the fire moved straight across below them from west to east. If the wind shifts towards the north, that would be really bad, but it would be very unusual as well.
The fire made it to the Liard highway, jumped the road and is still moving.
Liard highway closed now, opening periodically to one way traffic.

The dog did fine

. He kept all the cats generally in the camp area, but he didn’t like all the helicopters flying/hovering over the cabin

On my way into the mountains to Tetsa River now to see if there are any Grayling or Bulls around

RD

Big Red 250 · #16 07-03-2023, 07:22 PM

Great post. Beauty pictures. Nice eating size walleye. Big lake considering the size I'm used to fishing. Big thanks for sharing with us.

roper1 · #17 07-03-2023, 07:33 PM

Beautiful lake & the country in summer. Neat to see the battle scars on the face of the one big old girl. Awesome pics & write up, hope the fires let you back in soon. Thanks for sharing!!

alpineguy · #18 07-03-2023, 08:46 PM

Nice to see the fires stayed away and you managed to get some pretty good fishing in!
Thanks for posting the great pics and story.

I just got back from our fly in camp in Northern Saskatchewan and things got a whole bunch more exciting due to the major fires burning around us.

Peace Meal Farm · #19 07-03-2023, 09:05 PM

Fantastic pictures and great thread. I thoroughly enjoyed your photos, captions and descriptions of all that's going on around you.

I can empathize with having a remote property that's been under threat of fire, though I concede that it never got close enough to warrant suppression efforts like sprinklers and pumps at my actual location.

That photo was taken about 7 to 10 km from my cabin about 5 years ago. Far too close for comfort. I hope that you enjoy favourable winds and drenching rains just like I did back in 2018 : )

Rock Doctor · #20 07-03-2023, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Red 250

Great post. Beauty pictures. Nice eating size walleye. Big lake considering the size I'm used to fishing. Big thanks for sharing with us.

Thanks

This lake is fairly small, the pictures make it look much larger. It’s 5x6 miles, the deepest spot is 42 feet.

Howard Hutchinson · #21 07-03-2023, 09:28 PM

I too enjoy your stories and adventures on these trips you take to your little piece of paradise, thank you. Never a boring trek, that's for sure hey? Happy to know your new family member seemed to enjoy it too. Good job giving it a shot and some huge success in fishing too! Big Pike, wow!! Thank you again.

Rock Doctor · #22 07-03-2023, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peace Meal Farm

Fantastic pictures and great thread. I thoroughly enjoyed your photos, captions and descriptions of all that's going on around you.

I can empathize with having a remote property that's been under threat of fire, though I concede that it never got close enough to warrant suppression efforts like sprinklers and pumps at my actual location.

That photo was taken about 7 to 10 km from my cabin about 5 years ago. Far too close for comfort. I hope that you enjoy favourable winds and drenching rains just like I did back in 2018 : )

Wow, that right there would get your attention. Super glad it worked out for you

Rock Doctor · #23 07-04-2023, 04:10 PM

My brother was working in a couple spots close to my cabin. They flew a loop around my cabin on the way home today. Brother sent some video. It shows the fire retardant dump around the cabins. Mine is the cabin on the right side of the creek, looking from the lake. When the heli makes its loop. Blue sailboat, Red kayak, and Lund boat sitting on the beach.
Dozens of spot fires still out there.

https://youtu.be/YEDGzmwIIFY

Rd

does it ALL outdoors · #24 07-04-2023, 11:48 PM

Great thread as always Doc, I always enjoy your threads.

That fire retardant really did a number on those tree's, stripped the bark right off them.

I was random camping with a bunch of friends at North Buck Lake a lifetime ago and there were fires in the area, we got dropped on by the bombers.

That was straight up violent and we just caught the edge of the drop. It collapsed our tarps and a few tents and broke a few tent poles and made a BIG mess of the place. Thankfully they were only dropping water and not chemicals.

I have some GREAT pics of them dropping all around us somewhere..

Looks like the fishing was good, some nice Eye's, nice Slough sharks too if your into those disgusting slimy Gators. Anytime me or my fishing buddy's catch one we try and let it get off the hook by itself without having to touch it, we all hate those disgusting slimy trash fish.

Yes, I realize they are great eating but ONLY if you know how to clean them and 9 out of 10 people that claim they can do it PROPERLY, cant. Cleaning a fish with two complete skeletal systems is no easy feat. Good on ya if your one of the VERY few than can do it PROPERLY. That's a true skillset.

Again, great thread as always Doc, thanks for sharing.

Rock Doctor · #25 07-07-2023, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by does it ALL outdoors

Great thread as always Doc, I always enjoy your threads.

That fire retardant really did a number on those tree's, stripped the bark right off them.

I was random camping with a bunch of friends at North Buck Lake a lifetime ago and there were fires in the area, we got dropped on by the bombers.

That was straight up violent and we just caught the edge of the drop. It collapsed our tarps and a few tents and broke a few tent poles and made a BIG mess of the place. Thankfully they were only dropping water and not chemicals.

I have some GREAT pics of them dropping all around us somewhere..

Looks like the fishing was good, some nice Eye's, nice Slough sharks too if your into those disgusting slimy Gators. Anytime me or my fishing buddy's catch one we try and let it get off the hook by itself without having to touch it, we all hate those disgusting slimy trash fish.

Yes, I realize they are great eating but ONLY if you know how to clean them and 9 out of 10 people that claim they can do it PROPERLY, cant. Cleaning a fish with two complete skeletal systems is no easy feat. Good on ya if your one of the VERY few than can do it PROPERLY. That's a true skillset.

Again, great thread as always Doc, thanks for sharing.

Thanks

The Firefighter people we talked to said this red fire retardant is actually just a very strong fertilizer. I’m not going to pretend i understand how it works, but it LOOKED like it killed all the leaves on the trees. I hope it didn’t kill the trees themselves, as in my mind that would just add fuel to the fire.

As for the gators, I too hate the slime. We don’t keep them often, usually only if they are injured, but that’s often enough over the years to get pretty good at dealing with them. I can whip up a pretty deadly, boneless pike filet if I have to

Maybe I should post a Pike cleaning video some day.

RD