By Hank Shelley
News columnist
The moving quiet Thompson river, flows by Riverside Park in downtown Kamloops.
A great place for dog walkers, a resting spot for foot-weary citizens, even a picnic or two.
It also has a tall rock cairn, with copper pipe running though, facing Mt. Paul, showing whereglacier water levels were hundreds of years ago, as the massive wall of ice blanketing the entire region, began to recede. Looking through the tallest tube, water levels exceeded 800 feet.
Today, it’s difficult to imagine, what it must have been like, however, some of the geological past is now becoming more clear, and interesting. Our mountains continue to move, shake, rattle, and roll, ever so slightly.
Last week, I took a trip down memory lane, stopping at different locations, where I used to work in the Fraser Canyon.
Just south east of Spences Bridge, in August 1880 a huge portion of Arthurs Seat Mountain let loose, with thousands of tons of earth/rock precipitated into the Thompson river. A second massive slide occurred New Years Eve 1900. Again, on August 1905, blocking the river sending a huge wave over the Rancherie at Spences Bridge, killing 10 people and injuring 13.
Further on, high up the hills, is Mud Lake. Near a bluff is evidence of volcanic ash, 7,700 years old, related to Mt. Mazama at Craterlake in Oregon. The Mt. Mazama eruption was 40 times more powerful than Mt. St. Helens in 1980.
The Lytton stop was interesting, as I visited the spot, where a tree was planted to commemorate the swim by Finn Donnelly who swam the entire Fraser River not once, but twice. Jackass Mountain, is named for a mule that fell to its death on the Caribou trail there.
Here, the entire mountain continues to move toward the murky swift moving Fraser River far below.
The old Alexandra Bridge, built by the Royal Engineers in 1863, was a highlight of the trip. The second bridge, built in 1926, is unique in structure.
Now back at home, our mountains continue to move as evidenced, by slides off Bastion Mountain periodically, to slides/movement all along the mountains below Queest Mount, to Three Valley Gap.
With very high water and slides in spring 1997, which wiped out the small fish farm and pond, at Taft,(Near Three Valley Gap) DFO’s Bob Harding and myself, placed stakes every 100 metres up the mountain behind. A week later, all the stakes had moved downhill.
Under ground lakes and rivers
Is there an underground lake from Malakwa to Mara and beyond?
Friends had a well drilled a few years back at Malakwa, and at 179 feet had pure glacier water. Is Okanagan Lake/Kalamalka lake connect through a series of underground tunnels? Many mysteries remain, including the reason that the slide area along Mara Lake recently moved, once again.
Large unstable ground movement above Pinaus Lake recently, is also a prime example of how our earth is shifting and moving. Logging above Owlhead creek north of Sicamous last winter could have been a major concern because of heavy silting and high water.
Now there is concern about logging above Swansea Point due to past major flooding. Mother Earth, can handle only so much. Have we pushed her too far?
Hunters be aware
Notice to Hunters for the upcoming season. Come spring, 2017, there won’t be a paper version for a hunting licence, but a new electronic one. All LEH applications will also be done in this manner. Go to www.gov.bc.ca/hunting. Call 1-877-855-3222.
Tight lines and straight shootin ‘til next time round!