Flooding in the Chilcotin along Highway 20

Reports are starting to come in from friends and clients of mine:

From Chris Czajkowski, heading home after her season at Nuk Tessli:

Sunday, September 26

I was expecting to drive to Williams Lake at 4.00am Monday morning to arrive at the garage at 8.00 for a brake job on my van . . .   That was when someone said something about the road being closed near the McClinchy Bridge.  My turnoff is maybe 100 metres on the Nimpo side of the McLinchy Bridge.  So I drove along in warm, quite sunny weather - the surface of the road was dry and everything looked  peaceful.  Then, round a bend, just a mile or so from the bridge, was a police wagon parked across the road.  The cop pointed to two orange cones on the highway - "half an hour ago, there were 5", she said.  

 

Dave Neads.

Monday morning September 27 

As of this morning HWY 20 west of the McClinchy bridge has a washout 1km long,  and just east of Wolverine Ranch, another patch several metres long has disappeared. Louie Creek has washed out, Young Creek bridge on the hill is compromised, and "several" bridges in the valley are gone.

 http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_cariboo/williamslaketribune/breaking_news/103861119.html

Talking to Interior Roads, they feel it could be several weeks until the Bella Coola valley  and probably a week until the McClinchy section is temporally repaired.  We are OK. It is raining hard again - expect another 30 to 40 mm overnight.

Rosemary Neads. 

Monday afternoon September 27

Anahim and Nimpo are now completely cut off from the rest of the world.  About 1 km of highway west of the McClinchy bridge (25 min east of Nimpo) and a large chunk east of the bridge are missing.  Estimates are at least 1 week, if it stops raining and the river drops.  That snow on the upper slopes last week has all been washed away - nto our rivers.  Just on our deck, yesterday we had 2.5 inches fall in about 8 hours - and this was after the worst of the storm .  Anahim and Nimpo get their power from a diesel generator, and that is in danger of running out of fuel.  And no way to get any here. The highways trucks also are very low. There's a run on the grocery stores!

Bella Coola is in a far worse situation, so far as regular supplies.  Luckily, their fuel gets there  by barge.  But their highway is washed out in many places and a number of bridge are gone - the Bella Coola River has overflowed its banks in many places.  The community around Hagensborg has been out of water since Friday, but of course there is lots of rain water.  A major bridge on the Hill has lost its approaches, although the Hill itself is holding.  Estimates from Interior Roads suggest it could be as much as two months before everything is restored, and probably several weeks before even limited travel is possible.

Chris again.

Monday afternoon September 27

It was lovely and sunny this morning and the air was filled with planes and helicopters.  But now, at 11.30 am it is pouring rain again.  I don't think it will bring the river up any more because all the snow at higher elevations has melted.  But it will hamper rebuilding efforts as the soil is so saturated it will be unworkable.  It is a couple of days before we can expect the weather to clear.  I will be out of food in 3 days - so will the stores at Nimpo and Anahim so goodness knows what will happen.

Chris' journal on the flood.

 

Nuk Tessli Update

Just received from Chris Czajkowski:

August 3, 8:55 a.m.

"When the helicopter flew over Knot Lake yesterday the fire was still on the far side of Knot Lake which is very good news. There was little wind yesterday and none last night. Tomorrow the temperature is supposed to cool dramatically, which will help, and a chance of showers is forecast. It is supposed to rain in a few days. "

• Read Chris' full report
• Photojournal of evacuation

Chris drew this map at the time of the 2004 fire.

Fire threatens Nuk Tessli. Chris Czajkowski has to fly out.

Five years later and once again, Chris Czajkowski has had to evacuate Nuk Tessli. In an e-mail sent a couple of hours ago, she reports:

"Even if the fire did not reach us, the smoke would probably be very unpleasant. Been there, done that. 11 clients and a wwoofer/guide had flown out that morning and 4 clients had flown in. These were a couple my age, their 80+ mother, and their 9-year-old grand-daughter. The fire would likely stay away for a couple of days but the smoke would be distressing: at least now the visibility was good enough to fly out."

• Read Chris' full report and photojournal of today's events
• The 2004 fire

Nature Diary of a Wilderness Dweller by Chris Czajkowski

My current and recommended reading for those interested in the life and world immediately around them:

A MOUNTAIN YEAR
Nature Diary of a Wilderness Dweller

In 1988, Chris Czajkowski walked into British Columbia's Central Coast Mountains to build a homestead, a business, and a life. A Mountain Year is a beautifully-produced art book full of original paintings, sketches and diary entries, offering an awe-inspiring glimpse into the life of this independent spirit and the landscape that she calls home.

In this illustrated journal, Czajkowski intimately describes the splendour of seasonal transformation with her trademark expressiveness; each day brings new obstacles and surprising revelations. At the start of the year, she writes, "The night was bright with a silvery soup of moonlight refracted off snowflakes fine as stardust." Spring arrives with breathtaking beauty and summer brings company from abroad. In the fall, Chris travels back to her first autumn at Nuk Tessli when she views "an extraordinarily beautiful moment. The clouds hung low enough to almost touch the water . . . and a wonderful, bluish, pearly luminescence covered everything." Prepare to witness the magnificence of a year in British Columbia's high-altitude wilderness, a place of astounding natural beauty like no other.

More about Chris Czajkowski

Chris Czajkowski's summer at Nuk Tessli filled with colour and adventure

Chris Czajkowski's photo-journals chronicle the mountain and floral beauty of summer in her corner of BC's Chilcotin wilderness - and a bit of adventure too. Here's a sample from the 2008 journals:

Bear viewing in the Bella Coola Valley

Autumn is fishing time for bears. Chris Czajkowski (of Nuk Tessli fame) and a friend went to look for bears in the Bella Coola Valley. They didn't have to look for long:

The grizzly came ashore:

Soon after the grizzly left, a black bear came a-fishing:

and came pretty close too:

The grizzly, who hadn't gone that far must have picked up black bear scent (supper?) and stood up:

It wasn't long before they saw a black bear taking refuge high up in a cottonwood tree:

A little later, an uncomfortably close view of a mother and cubs:

A final comment from Chris:

There is some concern about the number of bear watchers and bears in such close proximity, especially the "watchers" who yell or throw stones towards the bears (not at them) in order to make them look up and be more interesting for the photos. I saw a group from a drift boat do just that. The bear was between us and the boat. If the bear had got angry she would have come up the bank to us in a bad mood. Bears don't recognise people in boats as being human, even if they make a noise. But people on land are people!

Chris Czajkowski's Chilcotin Photo-journal

Chris Czajkowski, author of Wildfire in the Wilderness, The Cabin at Singing River and other books, is back home at Nuk Tessli, hiking and paddling "her" piece of Chilcotin wilderness. Join Chris, as the early summer sun begins to melt last winter's heavy snows and she records in words and pictures the spectacular scenery and fascinating plant and animal life of this beautiful corner of British Columbia.