Long lasting memories - June 10
Harvey McNalley of Cadogan, Alberta, was one of those customers. He, along with his immediate and extended family, came to enjoy Ministikwan for many years as the children grew up. Harvey and I became fast friends; we hunted together for many years until Harvey struck out on his own purchasing a fly-in camp on an unnamed lake just south of Lake Athabasca in northern Alberta. That lake soon became known as McNalley Lake. Harvey set up a camp just as we had previously done when we hunted south west of Edmonton – running water, a propane hot water tank elevated for the shower allowing gravity flow – really a first class camp. With his camp set up it was time to explore the surroundings. There were many miles cut lines left over from uranium exploration, trapping trails and just new country to explore. He invited me along with our girls to join him on this quest. We did just that also taking along Gerard, a friend’s boy from Calgary. We flew in a float plane off the Snye River in downtown Fort McMurray, heading northeast for about an hour. After a visual of the camp from the air we put down on the calm water and taxied to the dock, where the last of the hunters were waiting to head south. We had only been in camp for a few hours when a black bear wandered in and showed no sign of passing through. It was a medium sized bear, less than 200 pounds, he became known as Barney. Somewhere along the way we started feeding this “Ursus Americanus”. Within a short while we had all felt his soft tongue as he lapped up sardines from our hands. Fools we were, but as I look down I still have all my digits and a scalp on my head. I had taken a good number of photos to record the event. The next few days were taken up with many miles of quadding, exploring trails, fording rivers and documenting our travels. We traveled as far north to Indian Point on Lake Athabasca, as far west as to the Richardson River and east to the Saskatchewan border. When we thought the children were worn out from the dust on the quads they were landing trout on the lake or watching the Loons as they spectacularly protected their nesting area, dancing on the water attempting to lure you away. There was never a dull moment. When this trip is reminisced by the children it ranks much higher than their trip to Disneyland in California. Who would have thought from the bush of Ministikwan Lake to the really isolated far north would have offered such long lasting memories. Harvey unfortunately was taken before his time and, unknown to me, the photos of that day were to become some his favourites and were lovingly displayed at his service. |
