Kenyon Lake Campsite built Aug 21-23 09

 

 

 

On Friday, August 21 st , Steve Dillen, Persident of the Four Wheel Drive Association of British Columbia (4WDABC.ca) and Kim Reeves',(Secretary of 4WDABC and Coastal Cruiser member) family, in an HJ60, met with representatives of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts to take delivery of the materials required for the construction of a campsite at Kenyon Lake. The materials were trailered up to the lake and dropped at the staging area. The heavier objects, like the fire ring and the supports for the table were taken to the lake in Steve's trailer on the somewhat difficult trail made much more difficult by the trailer.

After quick survey of the site and a tour into the forest, the location of the outhouse was selected. Steve fired up his hedge trimmer and roughed out a path from the site to the outhouse. Some conversation ensued and it was decided that the path would continue from the outhouse to the upper camping area, where we were staging material. Steve continued on that job and chain sawing larger logs while Kim and Brenda followed along with hand trimmers to finish the path and remove those pesky ‘ankle biters' as well as dealing with the cut brush and logs. After about 4 hours of work, it was called a day and Steve was wished a farewell and thanks for his hard work.

Ahh, some chow and Miller time. Drew, with an FJ Cruiser arrived at dusk and spent the next minute and a half setting up his ‘site'. Aaron and Walter, in Aarons BJ74, arrived just after dark and also set up camp.

Saturday morning, Drew, Walter, Kim and Brenda began by digging a hole for the firepit. Aaron fired up his chainsaw and cleared out the trail a little wider. It wasn't long before the rest of the work party began arriving. The number of volunteers for this effort was inspiring. Brent and his brother Brad arrived in Brent's HZJ73, as did Gary and Jordy in Gary's BJ74, Lance and Steve in Lance's HDJ81, Jeff in his HDJ81, Bill, Sukai and Longxi in Bill's BJ74, Martin in his FJ40 and Jeremy in his Tacoma. This is when the work really started to happen. The fire pit install was finished and that crew, joined by Lance, moved on to begin excavating and filling for the picnic table. The rest of the crew, consisting of Bill, Brent, Brad, Gary, Steve, Jeff, Jeremy and Martin began by digging the hole for the outhouse. This was no easy task, digging a 4 foot deep hole in the forest, on a mountain. It wasn't very long before that crew encountered a large rock at two feet down. After some discussion, the size of the rock was determined, much too big to be removed without dynamite. Okay, we bite the bullet and, after some discussion, select a new, nearby location. Immediately, that spot was attacked by a 6 man shovel crew while Brenda cleared the path to this location. After much shovel and pick work, the hole was almost four feet deep and four feet in diameter.

By this time it was after 6 pm and the crew was a little parched, time for a break, some food and refreshments. It wasn't long and the crew was back back fill around the culvert in the hole and to assemble the outhouse structure. This is a template type structure that is used in many forestry sites but unfortunately, we seemed to get an odd duck as the measurements were within spec, if spec meant to the nearest 2 inches. After some fudging here and there and a disassembly and reassembly of the roof, we were in business. The outhouse was together. As it was getting close to dark, some supper seemed like a great idea.

We said goodbye to those who weren't camping for the night and the rest settled down to drink their favorite beverages. The evening was cold, dropping to about 8C.

Sunday morning was spent sharing food, eating and chatting. The only work left to do was to put the sign together, dig a couple of holes and mix some concrete. We tackled this in the late morning and it wasn't long before it was finished. With folks free now, some boated, some swam, some fished and some just enjoyed sitting down after a weekend of hard work.

In the afternoon, Steve Dillen arrived with his family for a day of recreation and to inspect the progress of the build. It was a ‘thumbs up' all around as everyone was pleased with the quality and quantity that had been accomplished.

At about 4 pm with camp packed, we all said our goodbyes, and were on our way home.

Thanks to everyone who volunteered their time and worked so hard to make this idea a reality!

 

Kim.