The next day my son and son-in-law showed up to help and we dug out my cables, and cable car, and restrung the cables.


Then we hauled cable car to it's new destination.




And got things put together fairly easily.




The cables run over the the top of my supports and down to a huge poplar tree lying on the beach as an anchor. I ran the cables under the tree and back to the support cable where I clamped them off. This gives me a section of twinned support cable about 20' long. This is where I insert a dry section of tree branch about 3" diameter and 4' long and use it as a twister to tighten the cable. It's amazing how tight you can get the cables. Also allows minute adjustment so you can level each cable.

Ready for first crossing, which i made with no problems.





This is how it looks from the other side

Check out this crazy moth that was on my window. How does nature duplicate eyes to such precision?

And of course I have a bear story.

As I was wandering with some fishery biologist buddies who showed up while I was working we could smell a dead odour. we looked around and discovered a young cow elk all tangled up in the fresh log debris about 500 yards from our lodge. The cow had tried to cross the river and got swept up and drowned. My buddies told me you should put one of your trail cams up. I got busy building and didn't get there until yesterday with a camera.




Too late as the elk had been lifted out and was gone

But I knew who the culprit was





plus he had been on my side of the river while I was gone as well

Well this last trip was pretty uneventful. Although I did get hung up in my Argo twice crossing the river. It's still too high to cross with quads so I was using the Argo to float across. A couple times I hit a bigger rock and got stopped in the middle, but a little rocking got me off. It's an art I'm still learning, to gauge the speed of the water and access where you'll be able to get the argo out. But they do pretty good at crossing a brisk mountain river I'll tell you. Plus I didn't have to pack and unpack gear for a river crossing on the new cable cart.


Spotted two elk on my bush road coming in, still in velvet. one stuck around for a picture




And we also saw two lynx right along the highway, totally ignoring traffic and vehicles and they rubbed faces and vocalized with each other. i'd love to know the back-story on this encounter. Siblings? Dispersing juveniles? Breeding pair discussing old flings? Guess we'll never know.

I had three of my grandkids out with us as well. They sure keep us hopping. But talk about a work ethic. This bunch just loves to help out and pitch in, now some of my other grandkids are not as eager.




We had to rake up and burn all the waist high grass we swathed last week or it'll kill the lawns. Lots of working in maintaining a lodge but its a labor of love. I had families out there with a bunch of kids and it was a blast watching them play like we used to as kids. Sticks are guns and your imagination takes you anywhere. We have no cell service out there and it's going to stay that way.

"We had to rake up and burn all the waist high grass we swathed last week or it'll kill the lawns. Lots of working in maintaining a lodge but its a labor of love. I had families out there with a bunch of kids and it was a blast watching them play like we used to as kids. Sticks are guns and your imagination takes you anywhere. We have no cell service out there and it's going to stay that way."

Amen to that! And those times you spend with your grandkids will be what they remember way down the road. Looks like its been a good summer up your way!

Thanks for the ride a long Brian. That jet boat trip look like the trip of a lifetime. Did you ever figure out what was wrong with your boat? Always fun having a few boats on a big trip and it doesn't hurt to have someone as woodswise as you buddy Floyd leading the way through the unknown. Did your buddy's boats preform as good as or better than your's or is it more operators?
Those canyons were amazing as was most of the scenery pics you posted. I sure like your cable car across the river. Those spring and high water floods sure can reek havoc on a lot of hard work.

AK - What a trip. Floyd has so many more hours in jet boats I'll never catch up, sand his skills show it. that's OK I do all right. Here's the canyon run, last part the best


https://youtu.be/g4uymJ_Pofc

What a ride during the video thanks for showing off the area it's breathtaking.
Allan

Al- The world is full of beautiful places for sure, hope we don't pave them all.


https://youtu.be/Hu3FbVyO-Kg

I have a ton of these Rufus Hummingbirds out there.

I was going through my pics and found a nice lynx shot

I trapped one like that this winter in a 330. My son sold it for me for $250.00 while I was at work. Also sold a small one for $150.00

You have the guaranteed price on furs still muskrat?


They don't call it sheep creek for nothing!

https://youtu.be/U4-z6H_D66I


I'm heading out this week to see if I can find a wolf killed ram some friends told me about. supposedly full curl, hopefully F&W will issue a permit if I find it.

https://youtu.be/NZIU-2AGjp0


Moose in the mist, earlier this spring. The calves are a good size.

Yup guaranteed $80.00 for a lynx pelt plus a $20.00 bonus if it meets the advance. $200.00 for wolverine.

I want to do a hike and look for sheep sheds also but summer getting short here already be busy picking berries for the next while.

We brought home an interesting rock from our trip to the McKenzie Mountains. To me it appears to be a vertebrata but what do I know? Any experts feel free to ID, or just guess. I will take it to the local dino museum and get a definitive answer at some point. Small hatchet for scale.

Heading back to the mountains in the morning. Can't wait as it's been hot here down on the farm!

I broke a handle on a filleting knife. Changed it out with a deer horn handle. Custom sweep for a right handed guy like me.

Beautiful few days in the mountains. We're getting a bit of smoke in the air from BC fires.




I took a closer look at my trashed bridge. There was only one anchor that held, and it held the whole works from being washed downstream

I had drove an iron pin into the ground about 3' and then stacked rocks and deadfall on top of it. It did its job. Too bad the rest of the supports failed.



But really it doesn't matter because ...




that part of the creek is dry

This is the last roof that I need to replace. This is the 6th roof I've done over the last few years. We've got a new ridge beam built and levelled out and will install rafters later this week. Then the tin roof goes on and we've got another project finished.