Sacred Headwaters, Sacred Journey project is the featured picture story in the Sept. PDN.
Tents torn apart. Poles snapped. Foot-and-a-half-long stakes ripped out of the ground. I have no idea how fast the wind was to do all this, but 3,000 ft below me it was knocking trees down across the highway. Todagin is known for its wind, but not like this. Some pilots wouldn’t fly in it, but luckily one helicopter pilot was nearby and able to pick me up. When he landed, he actually held the nose down to keep the wind from tipping the helicopter back on its tail.
All this to say that a storm has cut this leg of the fieldwork short. It was the second time this year that the tents were completely destroyed, and it would be serious trouble should this happen in the middle of a -15C night. So I’ve decided to pull everything off the mountain until I can find a solution for the wind.
Time to dry out…
The highway finally reopened, allowing me to make the six hour drive north from Smithers followed by the six hour hike up the mountain. It’s good to be back and especially good to be greeted by sunny skies.
What was supposed to be a three-day trip to the nearest town of Smithers has now stretched to over a week. It’s official: BC has had the worst summer for weather in 50 years. It has become so bad that flooding and mudslides have closed the highway, delaying a return to Todagin.
The silver lining is that it makes time for much-needed editing and updates.
