Newsletters
Telegraph Trail Preservation Society
2011
Jan. 10 - Andy Motherwell came over to interview me about the Telegraph trail. The Cariboo Regional District is interested in establishing a heritage designation for it. Nothing will come of it, I=m sure.
Feb. 4 - Minus four degrees centigrade early this morning. Broke trail on the Telegraph wagon road as far as the Diamond road. Cut out the trees brought down by snow.
9 - Broke trail up to Marshall Road then came back by way of Diamond road and Telegraph wagon road. Deep snow. Lots of moose tracks.
20 - Minus twenty six degrees centigrade, early on. Saw fresh wolf tracks on my walk up the hill. Marked the Telegraph route on a map book.
23 - Met Gunter and Sonja from Germany who are traveling from South America to Alaska on horseback during the summers. Gave them a DWIGHT insulator for a souvenir.
March 18 - Received a complimentary copy of an interesting little book about the Telegraph trail in the Iskut river area. It is called AThrough This Maze@ by Margaret Vanderberg. She sent a letter along with it saying, in part, that she hoped to ribbon out more of the trail up in that area.
27 - Went for skidoo ride on Telegraph wagon trail. Saw one moose.
April 14 - The Quesnel museum phoned. They want to recognize the trail as a heritage site. Not sure what that means.
May 9 - Nephew Clayton and I cleared from 11C road to Goose Lake on the Telegraph trail. Four or five miles.
15 - Four of us on a hike along the Telegraph trail from Charleson creek road to Herkyelthtie Lake and a side trip into Punjab Lake. Sunshine after the fog. A good day.
18 - Sent some insulators and telegraph items to the Bulkley valley Museum at Smithers.
20 - The Telegraph wagon trail has washed out at Winger creek. Will have to cross and re-cross Whittier creek for now.
30 - Went with Rob and Bonnie Watt along the Mackenzie trail and then down to the Blackwater River. Came back on the lower trail. We walked for nine hours. Very tired. Saw lots of wild flowers. River in high flood stage. Passed by a mother bear with two cubs which she sent up a tree. Heavy thunder storm on the drive home.
June 4 - Donny and I hiked the Mackenzie trail and came back on the old Kluskus road. Long day. Discovered that you can drive in on existing logging roads. Saw several bears and deer.
8 - Blazing hot day. Did some work on the Telegraph wagon road.
9 - Worked on the T. Wagon road a bit more along the creek. Mosquito’s bad this evening.
12 - Worked on the creek crossing at Winger creek.
15 - Received photo of T. Trail artist, J.C.White from Bancroft Library, Berkeley.
19 - Got Donny to help clear the Pantage lake section of Telegraph trail.
21 - Donny and I cleared four miles of T. Trail starting at Pantage Creek Bridge. Saw a doe with a tiny new-born fawn, also one bear.
23 - Donny and I got caught in the rain. We cleared from Mackenzie trail down to the Reserve on the T. Trail.
27 - I finished up a section of t. trail in the Pantage lake area. Saw one deer.
July 5 - Received word that Forestry plans to have someone gps the t. trail between Atlin and Telegraph Creek this summer.
9 - A big cougar wandered through my yard. Took a picture of it while it was sitting down.
10 - Loaded up the quad on the pickup and drove out to old Kluskus road. Unloaded and went in on the old road to the Telegraph trail. Cleared toward Mackenzie trail. Got about half-way. Saw deer. Blackwater road is very rough from all the rain.
17 - Four of us hiked from Pantage Creek Bridge to the south end of Pantage Lake on the t. trail. A couple of light showers. Took some pictures of Margaret Clemoos= grave and the old log house.
24 - Cleared more on the old t. trail between Kluskus road and Mackenzie trail.
August 2 - Finished clearing t. trail between old Kluskus road and Mackenzie trail. Saw several deer.
4 - Ventured out to old Kluskus road. Unloaded quad and proceeded to explore old Telegraph road northward toward Chilako River. Met with heavy fall-down from beetle kill pine. Used up one tank of gas on power saw. Very hot in the sun. Saw deer on roadside.
12 - Finished mowing all the meadows at the trail-head park.
14 - Five of us on the Naturalist=s hike over the MackenzieBTelegraph trail loop. Saw deer. Thunderstorm on drive home.
25 - Cleared Telegraph trail from cemetery to Nakonate Reserve.
Sept. 6 - Met with Kent Sedgwick and friend at Blackwater. They are doing research into pack trains on the Telegraph trail.
9 - Another scorcher day. Ran the saw over the ridge portion of t. trail.
12 - Cleared t. trail from Diamond rd. eastward to Hidden valley. Met a bear who was not too happy. It woofed and stood up against a big tree and loudly scraped his claws. I started the power saw and it ran off a short ways. I continued on my way and looked back to see it standing on the trail again. As I watched, it took a few steps toward me. I felt discretion was the better part of valor so I turned and walked away. Did not see it anymore after that.
14 - Left the quad at Goose Lake and cleared t. trail with power saw to Diamond road. Lots of blueberries still along the trail.
16 - A mother bear and cub walked through the yard. Got one picture.
18 - Cleaned up some windfall on t. trail near Diamond road. Brought some wood home.
Dec. 1 - Ventured as far as Hidden valley on the Tundra Skidoo. Cut out some windfall. Crossed the creek okay on the ice.
2 - Cut another dead pine off the trail and hauled some of it home for wood with sleigh.
8 - Solved the mystery of J.C. White=s Royal Engineer=s double breasted coatee uniform. It seems he is wearing the old design before it was changed in 1857 to the single breasted row of buttons.
9 - Received word that Bart de Haas, who is gps ing the Telegraph trail from Atlin southward for Forestry, in true Telegraph tradition, has made it all the way to the second crossing of Nakina River. Quite remarkable with all the wet weather and high water of this summer. Way to go Bart.
Old lava flow from extinct volcano in five dollar hill area on Telegraph Trail
Happy trails everyone!
Dwight
250-249-5783