Outdoors with Don Q: Many memories of Mitchell Lake, B.C.

This is the second in a series of three weekly articles about an unforgettable, trout fishing trip taken on August 16-23 to Mitchell Lake in Cariboo Provincial Park in British Columbia.
The first article last week described our travel in a single engine aircraft from Dayton, Nevada to Auburn, Washington; then to Abbotsford, British Columbia; from there to Williams Lake, B.C.; and then the last leg of our journey in a helicopter to Mitchell Lake.
This week, you will read about the people in our trout fishing party, the comfortable accommodations and the tasty meals.

The fishing party:
It consisted of seven individuals: My first cousin’s husband Bob Scholes of Dayton, Nevada; Darrell Clair of Auburn, Washington; Sid Hendricks of Petaluma, California; his sons Gary Hendricks of Petaluma and Eric Hendricks of Novato, California; and Ray Gallagher of San Francisco; and yours truly (Don Quilici of Carson City, Nevada).

The accommodations:
The rustic looking compound is located at the far end of Mitchell Lake and here is what it consists of:
A guest cabin (where Darrell Clair and I slept) which also contains the clothes washing machine and clothes dryer.
The main cabin known as the “Executive Lodge” (where all the others slept), which also had an outside shower with hot and cold water.
A sauna cabin (yep, they even have a sauna in the middle of nowhere).
A small shed called the “Hardware Store” that is stocked with just about everything that you can find in a typical, small hardware store.
A small tool shed with all kinds of tools including axes, rakes, shovels, etc.
A generator shed housing the generator for electricity.
A shed containing the boat motors, propane tanks and gasoline cans.
A metal shed for storing the winter wood supply.
An outhouse (with flush toilet) with a view of the surrounding scenery.
A picnic table with attached benches.
A tepee-shaped smoker (the “Gazebo,”) where we burnt garbage and trash.
But don’t be deceived by the phrase rustic-looking compound.

The Executive Lodge:
The main cabin has electric lights, three bedrooms (each with two beds), a bathroom with flush toilet and hot and cold running water in the sink, a front room with sofa and easy chairs and a television set for watching DVD movies, a wood-burning stove for the wintertime, a kitchen with two refrigerators with freezer compartments, a cooking stove with oven, an electric coffee pot, a two-slice toaster, a microwave oven, a dishwasher, a sink with hot and cold running water and a large dining table (which can be converted to a ping pong table) with two large benches.
And, there is also a well stocked bar for all of your favorite drinks, including whiskey, vodka, gin, tequila, wine, beer, mix, soda pop, etc.
Wow! All the comforts of home, right at your fingertips, in the “boonies.”
Plus there are also metal fishing boats, complete with seat cushions, oars, life preservers, trolling motors and gasoline cans for the fishermen.

How all those items got there:
Through the 40-plus years of that compound, everything there has had to come in by way of either a helicopter or a float plane. There are no roads.
That is absolutely mind-boggling to me when I’m looking at large objects such as beds, mattresses, carpets, sofa, easy chairs, tables, dishwasher, sinks, two refrigerators, stove, clothes washer and dryer, wood burning stoves, fishing boats, trolling motors, propane tanks, gasoline tanks, etc.
Heck, there is even a Honda dirt bike for running all over the surface of that huge lake after it freezes over in the late fall.

The tasty dinners:
During my five night stay, the dinners consisted of:
Barbecued steaks, baked potatoes, ear corn and tossed salad.
Baby back pork ribs (smoked in the smoker), beans, corn and tossed salad.
Spaghetti, tossed salad and French bread.
Tacos, beans, rice and salad.
Chicken thighs (also smoked in the smoker), beans and potato salad.
All of the dinners also included your choice of red or white wine or both!
I would be remiss if I did not tell you about the daily afternoon cocktail parties, complete with favorite cocktails and lots of munchies.

Other meals:
For breakfasts, you could choose from fresh-caught trout, thick sliced bacon, fried or scrambled eggs, omelets, toast, cinnamon rolls, different types of hot and cold cereals, hot coffee, orange juice, milk, fresh fruit, etc.
Lunches usually consisted of whatever anyone wanted to munch on while goofing off, working around the compound or back from fishing.
My favorite lunch was a ham and cheese sandwich on thick sliced bread, with potato chips, dill pickles and a can of pop.
For afternoon snacks, there were assorted candy bars, mixed nuts, potato chips, snack crackers, cheese, salami, canned pop, beer, etc.
How about that for roughing it in the wilds of British Columbia!

The “Worker Bees” in action on our visit to Mitchell Lake:
Gary, Eric, Darrell and Bob replacing the shake shingle roof with a metal roof on the shed housing the generator,
Sid busy burning the old shingles at the Gazebo, Eric and Darrell cutting weeds with a gas operated weed-wacker, Darrell serving as Head Chef for most of the dinners, Bob washing or drying dishes, sweeping and mopping floors, vacuuming the carpet in the Executive Lodge, Don Q washing or drying dishes, sweeping and mopping floors and vacuuming the carpets in the guest cabin and Executive Lodge, Eric, Darrell and Don Q cleaning up the guest cabin, Bob and Daryl working on the balky water system, Darrell installing the clothes washer and then using it.

My top personal memories:
The camaraderie of the individuals.
Watching a DVD movie on the television set on two different nights.
The black bear that wandered through the compound one day.
The awesome looking, deep tooth marks in one of the tackle boxes, which were made by a big bear with a very wide-looking bite!
The nasty-looking, deep, claw marks on one of the wooden posts of the sauna cabin apparently made by that same bear. He has to be huge!
The spectacular mountain scenery that surrounded us in every direction.
The colorful contrasts between the snow-capped mountains, thick green forests, dense underbrush, wildflowers and the waters of Mitchell Lake.
The numerous small and large streams that flow into the lake.
The rain storms that came and went and came and went. Having to contend with mosquitoes and fierce biting black flies. I could tolerate the mosquitoes, but the flies were brutal and even the insect repellent did not help to ward them off. They drew blood when they bit you. Darkness at 9:15 p.m., and daylight at 4:30 a.m. at that time of the year. The utter peace, quiet and tranquility of that far-north remote location, which is truly “a little slice of heaven on earth.”

Finally:
Next week, I’ll tell you about the trout fishing at Mitchell Lake. And here is a hint of what’s to come: When was the last time that you caught as many Rainbow Trout as you wanted to catch in a short period of time with only one small lure? We did!
You’ll get all the details next week.

— Writer Don Quilici is the Outdoor editor for Carson Now and www.SouthTahoeNow.com. He can be reached at donquilici@hotmail.com