Eric Rajala and Scott McCafferty

The Red Lobster Journal for 1994

The AGM and the Three Brothers, Skiing with the Boys, Skiing with the Family at Silverstar, Manning Again, Brimful Lake, Biking the Misty Dykes





Randy Wheating
 The AGM - Three Brothers Area (Manning Park - Southern Interior of B.C.)

These pictures are a combination of two different trips, one of which was the Annual General Meeting of the Red Lobster Outdoor Club These were the years when we had the energy to ski almost to the top of Big Buck before we made camp. The twenty-first century saw us making it to the beginning of the first burn when we made camp, if we made it to Manning at all. But that is another story for somewhere else.
This area is one of the favourite places for us to ski. We leave our car at about 1400 meters and go up a wooded valley and out on to a broad alpine shoulder at about 2000 meters which leads to various bowls and ridges. .
I was still getting over the sudden death of my mother so when the guys went on to ski up the Brothers, I skied up to the top of Big Buck, saw the top of Baldy where my mom skied in the 40s when she taught in the Okanagan, and reflected on my relationship with her

The north and south peaks of Mt. Hozameen just to the left of Alan's blue hat.
The snow is usually dry and it isn't unusual to have the place entirely to ourselves. The ridges are often windblown, but there are numerous bowls where soft virgin powder beckons.

 A great place to spend a couple of days. There are a couple of skiers in the left inset photo, and in the right, Chuck cranks some turns in the powder. (see map)
I believe this picture is taken from one of the Brothers to the north looking back on to the first Brother on the left skyline.

A great place to spend time.





Skiing with the Boys

Chuck and I took our boys out a number of times skiing. They haven't taken up skiing like we have yet, but at least they were introduced to it.





Skiing with the Family at Silverstar

My family made a couple of trips to Silverstar above Vernon for cross country skiing. The first time there it was very cold, but the Vernon Lodge made up for it. I believe Eric was introduced to Lobster and baked garlic there. Good family times.





Manning Again
The wind was howling across the top of the knoll just to the west of the end of the road, but it was wonderful to stand there comfortable in good clothes and enjoy this aspect of nature.
Yes, there are some inconveniences to winter camping, but there are equally many benefits. As long as your have good gear, there is no reason why you can't enjoy yourself and have a good warm sleep.

Ken Willis


The highest Brother of the three is above Ken's outstreched blue mitt, and the other Brothers are to the left. The route goes up between Keith and Ken, then goes to the right and up to the skyline, then follows the skyline to Big Buck and the Brothers.





Brimful Lake/Upper Texas Creek (North-East Stein Valley) 50.416667 n , 121.941667 w


Brimful Lake, the site of the 1985 Stein Wilderness Festival (50.396 n , 121.967 w)
Keith Akenhead and I drove to Lillooet and then down the west side of the Fraser River to Texas Creek. We then drove up it after making sure all the logging trucks had left, and hiked about 3 hours into Brimful Lake. The only glitch that we found in our trail following ability was that when we got to a pass about an hour up the trail, rather than going left up a short rocky bit at the pass, we dropped down straight ahead for a bit. Eventually we got into this beautiful meadow area with Brimful Lake sitting in the middle. The picture below of Keith Akenhead was taken on the skyline of the hill directly behind the lake in the picture above.

Looking south west into the Stein Valley
The area has lots of possibilities for hiking and we both wondered what it would be like for skiing. Ironically our concern for grizzly bears in this area was ill founded. When we got home we learned of a person mauled by a sick or injured black bear just north of where we live!

Looking south east from the same ridge top.

Looking north down texas creek from where we came.

Looking a bit for to the north east from the picture above.
The meadows would be at 50.415 n , 121.92 w






Biking the Misty Dykes
Living in Maple Ridge we are blessed with being able to get away from the urban areas in just a few minutes. The various dykes of Pitt Polder offer great walking and biking all year round. Sometimes the best sights are when the weather is a bit challenging. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.