August 2020

On my third day at Michelle’s farm, after all the various morning chores were done, Michelle, Kate, Olive, André and I went for a hike up Sinkut Mountain, a local landmark and high point on the surrounding plateau. The name comes from the Dakelh (Carrier) name Tsink’ut which means ochre peak. An expression in this region is, “If you can see Sinkut Mountain, you know you are home.”

I followed Michelle’s truck along various gravel roads in my Highlander and we let our vehicles do the first part of the climb up the mountain.

When the road became too steep and rough, we tucked our vehicles into a small pullout and walked the last few kilometers uphill. Here is the gang at the start of our walk up.

And here they are at the top with the lakes, river, forests and farmland of the Nechako Valley spread out below.

There is a communication tower at the top of Sinkut Mountain and we had fun exploring the site and scrambling around all over the top of the mountain, taking in the views from every direction.

At snack time, I enjoyed taking some portraits of Michelle and the kids.

And here’s one of me taken by Michelle.

Pleased with our outing, we headed happily back down the mountain.

On the return trip home we stopped off for a visit with one of Michelle’s good friends, Lisa. We had tea on her deck overlooking Sinkut Lake, with an excellent view of Sinkut Mountain in the distance.

Back at the house there were jobs to do, dinner to prep and enjoy, dishes to clean, and then an evening of cards, games, and piano and violin practice for the kids. Close to bed time, I walked down towards the garden to listen and watch for the sandhill cranes which regularly feed in the lower or adjacent fields and then rise up each evening near sunset to fly elsewhere, calling to each other as they depart. I found Yodel on the way. “So this is where you get so muddy!” I exclaimed. (He had gotten progressively muddier on each day of my stay!)

Michelle’s beehives at the end of the garden looked pretty in the soft light.

And I felt grateful to experience yet another beautiful sunset after a full and happy day.

The next day, Michelle had a second hike planned, this time to the Greer Creek Falls Recreation Area. Rain was forecast for midday but that didn’t put us off. I followed Michelle’s truck again along gravel roads and we had fun communicating back and forth with a set of walkie-talkies, “ten-four good buddy.”

The rain started to fall just as we arrived at the trailhead, but luckily it was not very heavy and so we set off happily down the trail.

After about 30 minutes of easy walking through a pretty forest and then along Greer Creek we arrived at the impressive and roaring falls.

A little downstream of the pool, we crossed a foot bridge built over Greer Creek to view the falls from the other side.

Here, André explored and leapt around, Kate and I worked at identifying various late-summer berries with the help of a reference book that she had brought, and Michelle gave Penelope an impromptu photography lesson.

Here are a few more photos from our time at Greer Creek Falls.

We enjoyed our walk back up the trail, Michelle and I talking all the way, and here is my final photo of our outing. Definitely a cool-looking family!

Back at the farm, it was time for more garden work in the afternoon as Michelle was having a Saturday Sale the next day for anyone wanting to drive out to the farm to purchase produce or eggs. I picked bowlfuls of shelling peas in the garden and cherry tomatoes from the greenhouse while André dug potatoes, Olive picked carrots, and Michelle washed and organized the produce in her open garden shed. After a while, I took a short break and fetched my camera. The sky had cleared and I walked to the far end of the garden to take this photo towards the west, the direction of each evening’s sunset.

And here are my last photos from my last afternoon at the farm. A big thank you and hugs and kisses to Michelle, Justus, Louis, Kate, Penelope, Olive and André for being such welcoming hosts and for taking the time to show me around Vanderhoof and the beautiful Nechacko Valley. I’ll be back!

Note: I am very sad to not have one picture to share of either Justus, who was working each day, or Louis who was at a day program in Vanderhoof each day. Apologies! To learn more about Bioscape Farm (and to catch a photo or two of Justus and Louis), you can view Michelle’s excellent photos on instagram @bioscapefarm. You can also visit the bioscapefarm.ca website and visit its page on Facebook.

As always, thank you very much to everyone for reading and joining me on my travels.