Happy Birthday Nana!!!

Nana is 70! Happy Birthday Nana!

Special guest Tony Stark was in the house, cavorting with Thor and Spiderman who were on a day off.

Meanwhile, the Starbucks stock took a huge dive as Nana walked away with a new posh espresso maker...

 

Kelowna with the Gals. And Ty. And Joe.

 Great riding with the Shark and PBC.

Spoiled by Shark and Ty with days on the trails, swimming in the lake, and lovely nights out. 

Shark and Joey are reading a message from Glen about what the Roberts kids are up to in the meantime...

Wrapping up summer pics. A few cuties.

Night night Summer. Night night.

Our sweet, sweet Buster

Mac, every night:

"Well, I would like Daddy to take me to bed, but I think it should be Mommy tonight. It's just that Daddy is too special."

Powell River Forest Lake Loop-- Pretty Pictures Galore

 

Powell River Forest Mega-Dob-is-Forty Lake Loop

Drop off near the deadheads of Lois Lake. Creepy and some interesting navigating.

A tough first day paddle/portage after a 550am wake up, two ferries and a canoe pick up. But a lovely day and what a forest for our camp.

The 7 days through the 8 lakes followed with beautiful weather, tons of swimming (23 degree fresh, clean water), and a fair amount of physical grunting from the four of us. The travelling from A to B both on Sunshine Bumblebee Roberts (our hired canoe) and on foot, the packing and unpacking, and the wild cooking/cleaning.... let's just say there was no time for yoga, reading, crazy eights... it was full on!


Mac sometimes benefited from an extra paddle, light enough to be pulled up the passage while the rest of us walked in mid-calf deep mud.

Exceptionally low water levels meant some of the passages that lead up to the portage spots were too dry to paddle. More carrying for Team Roberts. Dob was a 40 year old HERO with the canoe, finding it more balanced to carry solo and making 2-3 trips for extra gear. 

Our water-girl fast at work with our filtration system. Some drink straight from the lake or do a quick boil, but this getup from MEC seemed to work well (no upset tummies yet)

Cooking was led by chef Dobson and included beans, eggs, pancakes, bread on a stick, chili, some more chili, and some chili.  

Chef encouraged eating at all hours in order to drop the weight of our food barrel. (Butter in a pan on day five. Camon, that is gourmet!)

 Dob was knacked after a double portage day, so Sav took to the bow to help get us to the next camp.

 Mac needed a moment to adjust to the frogs on the dock, so Dob hopped out and let us circle back in. Frogs everywhere, big and small.

Some other wildlife too...
(Let's not forget the bear and cub tracks on all of the beaches)

 Some river clay for the kids to play with as Dob and I each did an extra trip on foot on a particularly tough 2.4km steep portage to collect more "stuff" (there are a few things we wouldn't pack if we were to go again, but this is a bit of a sore point!).

 I'm delirious after round two, trying to pump up Glen to fetch the food, but knowing that it was going to be brutal for him.

 We ran into only a handful of other folk the full 7 days on the loop. Because of the difficult portages, it's a very quiet route, with trails and basic sites maintained by the forest company that logs in the area. So peaceful.

 
I mentioned peaceful, right?

 Soaping down in good old Campsuds and then jumping in for a swim-- a lovely way to shower.

 No trip is complete without cliff jumping with crazy Sav and MegaDob.

We paddled doubly hard one day, stopping midday to gather more energy at this wee sandy/rocky spot.

 And that meant we could have an extra night on this lovely beach.

 Sore feet....we'd go trainers next time. The water shoes were good for the boat, but not enough support for heavy lifting on land.

We knew something wasn't right when we woke for day seven, our last day of paddling, at the crack of dawn, expecting calm waters on Lake Powell, but seeing some serious chop. We set off anyway, unaware of the extreme windstorm warning hitting the Coast. 

After an hour or two of fighting the wind in some dodgy waters, resting in wee coves, we decided we needed to pull in. Luckily, we just picked up a signal on our phones for the first time in a full week, and we saw the campfire ban was lifted so we could at least stay warm while we waited for a small break in the gusts. It wasn't too reassuring to see another canoe being rescued by a speedboat as we hid from the wind!

But, a break in the gusts we got, with a final push to get to our pick up spot, we cracked on. It was tricky but the kids were brave and we had a very happy finish.


We were to take our first ferry and camp in Roberts Creek but...alas, the wind storm closed the roads and much of the power on the Coast (and in the lower mainland). So we had to make a new plan.



We hunkered down at a site in Edgmont and watched as the wee General Store fed the ferry load of folk stuck at Earls Cove.

An amazing trip planned and executed by our wonderful 40 year old Dad/Husband. Best party ever, Mega, thank you!!!