Telegraph Trail Preservation Society NEWSLETTERS Home | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995 | 1994 | 1993

2005

Jan. 7 -- Minus 16C. Cleared open the skidoo route along the Telegraph wagon road as far as Diamond road. Lots of trees and willows down across the trail because of the heavy snow. Sunshine all day.

Jan. 16 -- Minus 20C. Sifting snow. Warming up. Drove the Polaris snowmobile up to Diamond road and cut out the trail over to Marshall road. Very heavy slogging. Got back at dark.

Jan. 30 -- Explored on the hard snow crust. Found a route around the creek crossings on the telegraph wagon road which are flooded from all the rain.

Jan. 31 -- Very mild. Cut brush on the new detour trail. Saw a white rabbit and a deer.

Feb. 3 -- Improved the detour trail around the creek crossings on the wagon road. Mild. Creeks still high.

Feb. 4 -- Tried out the new detour trail. Will need to widen the hills a bit this summer. Hard crust on the snow.

Feb. 14 -- Took the Arctic Cat snowmobile out on the trail past Hidden Valley ranch. Found the hill up out of the valley to be a sheet of ice. Could not climb it. Had to turn back.

Feb. 27 -- Minus 8C., clear. The dog, Springer, and I walked the ridge loop section of the Telegraph trail on the snow crust. Some places were bare. Trimmed up the trail as we went. Several deer. Enjoyed the sun.

March 8 -- +1C.,cloudy. A rain shower. The ground was thawed enough in the open to do some spade work on the detour trail around the creek crossing.

March 9 -- Minus 2C., partly cloudy. Did a bit more work on the by-pass trail. Warm in the sun.

March 12 -- Minus 5C., clear. Drove the atv quad over to do more work on the side hill of the detour trail.

April 1 -- +5C., rain. Very strong gusty winds came up while I was working on the detour along the creek. When trees started falling, I left.

April 18 -- Minus 5C., clear. Finished grubbing out the detour trail. Hot in the sun.

May 1 -- +2C., partly cloudy. Six of us went on a heritage hike along the Telegraph trail. Found blue clematis in bloom along the ridge. (Properly called Columbia Virgin’s Bower).

May 3 -- +1C., cloudy. Cleared windfall with the quad on the Telegraph wagon road. Found a rancher at Hidden Valley has tried to block the road with a fence.

May 5 -- Ventured past Hidden Valley to clear on the old wagon road almost to Diamond road. Heard a great-horned owl hooting around noon. Also heard the night hawk diving this evening. The wind vibrates through the feathers during the dive and makes a loud but not unpleasant sound.

May 13 -- Took the quad up to Punjab lake, clearing windfalls as I went. A carpet of golden yellow arnica in bloom at the lake.

June 5 -- It turned out to be a sunny day after all. Six of us showed up to hike the Diamond road section of the Telegraph trail. Lots of mosquitoes in the bush. We alarmed a northern harrier by walking under her nest. Stumbled onto a mother grouse with her young.

June 19 -- Got up early and cleared from Goose lake to Diamond road except for one stretch of complete blow-down. Will come back later to try cleaning that up. Passed by two deer on the trail. Met a family of grouse. The mother charged me with feathers ruffed out to try scaring me off. Hot weather. Mosquitoes not bad.

June 22 -- Cut through some of the blow-down south of Goose lake on the trail. Rain showers.

June 25 -- Fog this morning. Finished cutting through the extensive blow-down south of Goose

lake. Some 500 year old douglas fir trees have blown over because Tolko cut too close to the trail on both sides. Rain showers.

July 3 -- Ten people on the monthly hike today from Goose lake to Diamond road. Lots of wild flowers. Ann Stackhouse came despite her cancer.

July 17 -- Ventured out to Blackwater on the very rough road full of pot holes. Cleaned up the trail from Pantage creek down to the river. Saw several deer along the way. Lots of berries this year. Stopped at the waterwheel store at the Bailey ranch.

Aug. 7 -- Conducted the hikers out to Blackwater river. Roads dusty. Beautiful weather for hiking. Showed them some of the Indian stone blades that are scattered on the ground at Pantage creek.

Aug. 9 -- Received a copy of the 1908 diary of Frank Swannell. He surveyed in northern B.C. for the government. He described traveling on the Telegraph trail and wagon road during his many trips through this region to and from Victoria.

Sept. 4 -- Took part in the last of our organized hikes on the Telegraph trail for this season. We had a very successful series of hikes throughout the summer. The people who came out on each occasion seemed to enjoy the experience immensely.

Dec. 18 -- Received an e-mail saying that Ann Stackhouse lost her battle with cancer. She had a keen interest in the Telegraph trail and was an avid hiker. We will miss her cheerfulness in the face of adversity.

Thank you to all who have shown an interest in the living history of the Telegraph trail. A special thanks to all who have actually hiked on the trail and been a part of that history. Thank you to all who help from afar. A big thank you to our webmaster, Bill Meier, for his quiet, behind the scene attention to detail that makes our web site so special.

Happy trails everyone!

From Dwight Dodge