Taking the good with the bad.

Star Lake Resort, about 10 km west of Clearwater, BC.
You would think that in the Time of the GPS that it would be easy to find your way from Point A to Point B.  Afterall, it only requires putting the name of the destination into your Guaranteed Precision Site finder and push a button to receive directions.  What's even better is that you can use all this technology in a variety of forms.  There is the cell phone, a proprietary GPS device such as Garmin, and built-in units that are part of your auto's dashboard.

There is what you should be able to do and then there is what you can actually do.  One of my first disappointments was trying to find a Golden Corral down in the US a number of years ago.  We were in Galveston looking for an eatery and thought it would be good to go there.  After entering the name of the establishment into the device we were told the nearest one was several hundred miles away from us.  Disappointed, we looked up only to see one across the street.  So much for Precision.

So, with the fact that any help at all would be unlikely, we punched in the data on hand to receive directions to a place called Star Lake Resort.  Nothing.  We tried Star Lake and found a Chinese restaurant 300 km away in Vancouver.  So much for Guaranteed.  I think the G should stand for Good-luck and the P for Patron, understanding that we are better off using an analog paper map and hoping we can tell the difference between north and south.

We followed the sign we found at the beginning of the road, a gravel route made for logging trucks.  It stated we had 10 km to go to the resort.  Logging roads are not known for their generous widths or for their gentle slopes and smooth surface features.  After rattling around on washboards and dodging basketball-sized potholes we came to the realization that we must have passed our goal.  Turning around was in order.

Normally this maneuver is a simple three-point turn that is executed with efficient expediency.  However, blind corners and narrow roads with precipitous edges adds a certain amount of hesitation into the process.  The concern that a 60 ton logging truck could come barreling into you while perched at a perpendicular angle on the road has been known to generate anxiety.  Even arrhythmia.  However, in less time than it takes to tell this story, we achieved this harrowing part of the trip and started to make our way back.

There were no water bodies on any of the GPS devices we consulted.  How hard would it be to add a spot of blue?  It would be nice to know if we were anywhere near a lake at this point.  Even a puddle would be an improvement.  We continued until we found a side road that seemed to be at about the right location (it was just past the 9 km road marker).  Turning down this new hope introduced a whole new set of concerns.  The road we were just on was an expressway in comparison.

I have never ridden a bucking bronco, but I think I can share what the experience would be like.  After a kilometer of this we saw a lake off to the right.  Finally, some water.  Another kilometer produced no viable openings so we had to turn around - again.  Heading back we saw a slit in the bush which might be construed as a road.  It was marginally wider than our vehicle and composed entirely of rocks.  My buddy thought it would be best if one of us explored it on foot before committing ourselves.  Guess who was selected?

So, walking down the trail I found access to the very lake we were searching for.  Returning to the car we proceeded down the path and parked.  We unloaded the tandem kayak and had a great time paddling.  The photo above was taken at the far end of the lake.  Overall, in spite of the unintended adventure, we had a great time.  It turns out the drive was well worth the effort.

Thanks for reading.   www.ericspix.com   Eric Svendsen





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