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RE: Which Garmin ti buy?
Salem, also keep in mind that if you're in the bush, the trails aren't loaded into the GPS in the same way the roads are. You can have your home's location recorded in the GPS, or where you left your vehicle if you recorded it before heading into the bush, and the GPS will tell you the most direct route from from point A to point B, and the distance "as the crow flies". However, it doesn't know the trails in the bush so it's up to you to meander hither-dither on trails or bushwhack, and keep yourself moving in the correct direction until you reach your marked point. This is why having topographic maps loaded into the GPS is most useful if you plan to hike into the backwoods. Then you can avoid the dead-end cliff or the mile wide lake.
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sue.t
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09/06/08 05:41pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: Which Garmin ti buy?
I'm using GPSBabel with my Garmin, to move points from Google Earth into the GPS unit.
Our Garmin is used for hiking and for bushwhacking through thick bush. Being able to create waypoints in Google Earth, then transfer those waypoints to the GPS, makes not getting lost in the bush a whole lot easier.
Of course, with Google Earth Plus, it's too simple to upload waypoints from the Garmin. We use this to upload the track the GPS recorded while we are meandering through the bush. I paid the $20 for Google Earth Plus rather than waste more time with third-party software.
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sue.t
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09/06/08 03:03pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: Help us plan our Canada (BC) trip
Mount Robson
September 19, 2007
http://suethomas.ca/images/BC/20070919_MtRobson1.jpg width=640
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sue.t
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09/06/08 12:05pm |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Help us plan our Canada (BC) trip
Nakusp Hot Springs campground on November 13, 2005
Total snow during that long weekend was 4" (100mm).
http://suethomas.ca/images/BC/20051113_NakuspHotSprings.jpg width=640
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sue.t
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09/06/08 12:02pm |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Help us plan our Canada (BC) trip
You'll likely enjoy the provincial parks and recreation sites; most have no services and provide nice firepits for chilly nights and usually some short hikes in the area on which you can stretch your legs at the end of the day. Most of the campgrounds are open to mid-October, but closing dates vary a bit depending on local conditions. Visit the BC Parks website to learn which campgrounds are in the areas you will be travelling. When you select a specific campground, the information provided includes planned closing date and also info about hiking trails or features in the area.
Between Jasper & Prince George, you'd surely enjoy the Mt. Robson area and the campground, which closes Sept 30 (so plan accordingly). There is great hiking in the area, some trails with some elevation changes suitable for only fit folk, with some trails needing 2-3 days.
Stewart & Hyder is a nice side trip from Hwy 16 and good road all way. Meziadin Lake Provincial Park is a nice place to stay, with many lakefront campsites. The webpage indicates the campground is still open and may remain open until first snow fall. This is the case for many parks; they typically close when it the snow comes as they don't have the $$ to bring in the snowplows to keep the area clear.
If you enjoy soaking in hot springs, on your way to Banff from Vancouver I would recommend visiting the Nakusp area, just a short drive south from Revelstoke OR a nice drive from Vernon (in the Okanagan) east through the Monashee Mountains. The campground at the Nakusp Hot Springs is available for drycamping any time of year, even though they say it is closed on their website. They'll also let you plug into electricity, which is nice when it's chilly. If it snows, you're on your own when it comes time to depart the campground. We've camped there in the snow in November and it was delightful ... had the whole campground to ourselves. And the hot springs are wonderful in winter! Nakusp is also a delightful little place and the Kootenay area is well-worth the visit. We keep going back to Nakusp and the hot springs because the people there are so very nice and accommodating. Very laid back and casual. The ferries across the Upper Arrow Lake are free too.
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sue.t
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09/06/08 11:51am |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Does it get any better than this?
The undergrowth is doing well at China Beach. However, winter storms two years ago took down many of the big trees that had been left through the middle of the campground and along the edges.
The poor CG attendant was beside herself with all of the clearing work that was ahead of her. Some of the sites have less privacy then usual for a provincial park, because so many of those trees came down.
A nice thing about China Beach is the majority of sites are "first come, first serve". Whereas at French Beach, the majority are reservable. French Beach is open year-round though, and China Beach is not.
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sue.t
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09/05/08 08:26am |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Help us plan our Canada (BC) trip
Magnus ... if you tell us your planned route and the type of camping your prefer, there are many here that can provide suggestions.
Do you prefer commercial campgrounds with hookups? or are you comfy with drycamping in campgrounds without services? perhaps boondocking in the middle of nowhere?
What kind of sightseeing do you want to do? Do you like hiking? There won't be many tourist attractions still open in the north, but will be some good stuff in the southern part of the province. We just need to know what you like to do.
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sue.t
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09/03/08 08:40pm |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Bark Control Collars
Be sure your corrections don't give your dog the impression that you are joining her. If she's barking and you jump up excited or stressed in an attempt to stop her, she might think you are jumping up to join her doggy dance. Or if you give a loud reprimand or "bark" a command at her, she just might think you are joining her barking like a good pack member.
Most effective with our dogs has been for their humans to remain calm and quiet. With Jake, his barking simply escalated when he thought we were joining in. However, when he realized he would get one quiet voice correction, then a stern physical correction (grab his scruff and tug back while getting the evil stare) he quickly began to respond to the first quiet correction. None of our dogs have appreciated the scruff shake. It took a while to train DH to not join the excitement or to over-react, and now that DH is trained well enough, we have a calmer quieter household. It's a hard instinct to break in a human.
:B
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sue.t
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09/02/08 08:45pm |
RV Pet Stop
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RE: Does it get any better than this?
China Beach is one of our favourite campgrounds. The beach is lovely on sunny days in May ...
http://suethomas.ca/images/BC/20080524_ChinaBeach_150.jpg width=640
And a short hike away is Mystic Beach ...
http://suethomas.ca/images/BC/20070714_MysticBeach0023.jpg width=640
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sue.t
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09/02/08 08:24pm |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Canadian Campground Pics
Kusawa Lake Yukon Gov't campground
24 km (15 mile) gravel access road from the junction with the Alaska Hwy at km 1489, north of Whitehorse
http://suethomas.ca/images/AlaskaHwy_YT/20080625_KusawaLake_1222.jpg width=640
http://suethomas.ca/images/AlaskaHwy_YT/20080625_Kusawa_1214.jpg width=640
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sue.t
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09/01/08 10:16pm |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Canadian Campground Pics
Frenchman Lake Yukon Gov't campground
near the Campbell Highway, Yukon
http://suethomas.ca/images/CampbellHwy/20080701_FrenchmanLake_1.jpg width=640
This picture was taken at 11:21 p.m. on July 1, 2008
http://suethomas.ca/images/CampbellHwy/20080701_FrenchmanLake_1121pm.jpg width=640
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sue.t
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09/01/08 10:10pm |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Canadian Campground Pics
Tatchun Lake Yukon Government campground
8 km from the Klondike Highway, near Carmacks
http://suethomas.ca/images/CampbellHwy/20080630_Tatchun_1782.jpg width=640
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sue.t
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09/01/08 10:07pm |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Canadian Campground Pics
Boondocking at a recreation site at Lapie Lake, Yukon
on the South Canol Road
http://suethomas.ca/images/Canol/20080703_SouthCanol_2201.jpg width=640
http://suethomas.ca/images/Canol/20080703_SouthCanol_2301.jpg width=640
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sue.t
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09/01/08 10:05pm |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: I let the wife drive home - pulling the fiver!
The towing is the easy part, I think.
The set-up and take-down are what require the thinking. You'll be fine.
And if you muss up going backwards, just pull forward a bit and start over. Don't let 10 minutes of backing up ruin a day of good camping!
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sue.t
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08/29/08 05:14pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: How to stop a dog from poo-ing/peeing in the house/camper?
It might be in that poor dog's best interests that you do "get rid of her". It my absolute astoundment at your attitude, I think of that well known quote ... "There are no bad dogs, only bad owners."
Hopefully that pup's next owner can undo your mistakes and train her well.
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sue.t
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08/29/08 05:09pm |
RV Pet Stop
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RE: Chena Marina RV Park Closing, RV traffic way off
Never happen!
No way can you impress friends and neighbors with a twenty footer!
Ah, but a 20 footer that you can take on the road is better than a 35 footer that has to sit in your driveway because you can't afford to drive it anywhere. :B
Many of the rentals in the North are to Europeans. The Yukon spends a good deal of its tourism advertising in Europe, and it is a "dream vacation" for many there. Most of those Europeans don't stay in commercial campgrounds. On the backroads that we travel, when we do meet other campers, the folks are usually from Germany, Switzerland, etc. We have yet to meet Americans on those backroads. And the one time we met a Canadian couple, it turned out they lived just 50 miles from us!
Europeans are willing to spend the money too, so it's not the cost of commercial camping. One Swiss couple was paying more than $12,000 for their rental for 16 weeks on the road. A German fellow was on his ninth trip to Yukon, and he always visited in September and rented a MH. Without exception, they preferred the experience of remote wilderness and open space. Not the cramped quarters of a commercial campground.
So I'm not surprised the commercial campgrounds in the North are hurting.
As well, a lodge along the Alaska Highway told us it was costing them $6,000 a month to run their generator, and they didn't operate an RV park. They said the RV parks were spending $10,000 a month to run their bigger generators longer hours. That's a big chunk of overhead to absorb into a business.
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sue.t
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08/29/08 10:37am |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Hyder Municipal Campground
We didn't see any signage for a free municipal campground in Hyder. Just the one for RVs that we saw, Camp Run-A-Muck. Run-A-Muck's website references a second location they operate for tenters near the Sealaska Inn.
Not many streets to wander around though ... if you stop at the Visitor Centre in Stewart they'll be able to direct you well enough.
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sue.t
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08/28/08 02:21pm |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: What to do when dog loses favorite human?
Our second dog, Chaos, was extremely attached to our first dog, Josey. He loved her dearly from the first day he came to our home as a puppy. And she was fond of him, but not nearly as in love as he was.
When she died, he grieved as much as we did. We brought her body home and let him see & sniff her remains before we buried her. I felt this was important, as it would help him know she was dead. He helped us bury her and pawed the ground after she was buried. And he laid down on the soft soil and stayed there for a couple of hours. He came in that night, but visited her grave again the next day, sitting nearby. On and off for a few weeks he visited her grave. We'd not be able to find him, then would spot him next to her grave out back. It took about six months, but he eventually stopped visiting her grave. His personality also shifted as he became "top dog" rather than existing under her leadership. He's now buried next to her. He never got along with another dog ... just the one love in his life.
I believe dogs grieve, and just as with humans, each in their own way.
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sue.t
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08/25/08 08:04pm |
RV Pet Stop
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RE: I let the wife drive home - pulling the fiver!
If a woman can't take care of all the chores and drive frontwards and backwards, just how can she expect to go camping without her DH?
When I take off on my own, DH struggles a bit knowing he'll be without his truck for a bit, but it gives him an excuse to commute in his classic car.
Now ... if I can just get it so he knows where everything is in the KITCHEN ...
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sue.t
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08/25/08 02:02pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Fresh fruit & veggies into Canada ...
Importing fruit flies into the heart of B.C.'s fruit country just isn't a good idea. Border agents located in agricultural areas have to be more stringent about agricultural restrictions.
I suspect you would have no issues crossing from Alaska into Yukon with the same fruits and veggies. And possibly, if you were crossing near Osoyoos in January there would not be the same tight regulation.
But I'm curious ... where would the garbage from the trash bin go? Into a Canadian landfill, from where the fruit flies can escape into the environment? Seems to me that it would more effective to have you eat the stuff and have the hazard of fruit flies reduced through natural processing. OR, do they make the Americans pick up the garbage and take the fruit/veggies back to the soil from whence they came? Inquirying minds want to know ...
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sue.t
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08/24/08 03:54pm |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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