High On Ice

This weekend is the High on Ice Festival here in Fort St John. This is an annual event which has done quite well in attracting lots of spectators and competitors. The big thing is the ice carving, similar to the sand sculptures in Parksville but (obviously) done in ice! This year they were able to harvest the ice from local lakes (because it was sooooo cold) so there was an added element to the event.

The theme this year was "The Ice Age" so there were carvings of dinosaurs and fossils

There were also quite a few carvings of the characters from the movie "Ice Age" The kids particularly like any that had the squirrel in them!

Apart from the carving competitions there were also an ice fishing derby. They also have lots of kids activities like toboggan races, horse drawn sleigh rides, crafts and this amazingly awesome ice slide that they made for the event.
The ice slide was probably the highlight for my kids, I am hoping we get a chance to go back this evening as the slide had Christmas lights frozen inside it which would look very cool and all the sculptures (which should be completed this afternoon as they are still working on them when we were there)

This sculpture of the characters from the movie is still under construction...

had special lighting. They also built an ice chimney which they will light a fire in to end the event.

This is the chimney that they will be lighting up tonight

Quite a fun way to spend the weekend anyway, something unique to the North!

Even the concession stand was made of ice!

One Last Summer Adventure

Last week we decided to go out in the boat again, this time with the gas motor. We opted to explore the Peace River and put in at the Peace Island Park and went upstream.

It was very different boating in the river, the motor had to work constantly or you would go backwards, but it was fun too. Lots of different branches to take along the river and the need to watch the depth so as to not touch the bottom with the propeller... (we only did that once, but we did it good!)

We got to watch a train cross the bridge just ahead of us, and see people fly-fishing... we saw a lot of beaver evidence, several lodges and a few piles of sticks that I think were attempts at dams but I am not too certain. We went almost all the way up to the big lookout in Fort St John eating lunch along the way and then we floated back down.

Beaver Lodge

Floating down was a lot more fun than going up. For one thing, it was easier. The kids rowed, which means we went in circles like a horrible ride at the fair, and even going in circles, you go in the right direction! So we took our time ging back, drifting and circling... looking to try and catch a glimpse of the beavers that were so busy around there (no luck). We did see some deer and a large eagle with a nest and a lot of game trails but no other wildlife.

We had fun

The Park Warden came by in his boat to make sure we were alright - it was probably hard to tell with all that spinning. We also saw a lovely beach with a river pool that we will have to go back to next summer to swim in. All in all it was a nice time, well Allan wasn't so keen at the end when he fell in the river while climbing out of the boat - but we all had a giggle at his expense, I think it was quite cold by the volume of his howling. Thank goodness I had a change of clothes in the van!

His boots were totally full of water and his whole left side was soaked!