A Speck in the Forest

The title of this post says it all for me!  After seeing how far into the wilderness we were and how vast British Columbia is, I really felt like a speck in the forest - yet Mr. Squash and I had more than all the comforts of home (well, that is if you don't count having all my sewing studio with us)!  So many of you asked me to take lots of photos, which I did, and I'm eager to show them.  However, since there is so much to see and tell, I'm going to split this trip into several posts.

After driving more than 500 miles from home, we finally turned onto a logging road for the last leg of our trip.  The road was thankfully marked with little blue signs at each Km which I had translated to miles prior to the trip and Mr. Squash kept watch to make sure we didn't stray onto any small side roads.  At nearly 15 miles and climbing steadily, we arrived at the tiny pick-up dock on Lake Caverhill.  Our host, Larry Loney, picked us up in the Caverhill Queen along with 3 others and we headed across the lake to the lodge.

Here is the sight that greeted us upon our arrival at Caverhill Lodge.

Larry walked us down to our cabin, The Ice House.  Despite the name, it was far from icy and actually quite grand!  I forgot to take pictures before we messed it up, but we had a king-sized bed with down comforters, a large armoir, two large antique rockers, a large wood stove, and a small bathroom with an composting commode and sink with just cold water.  Larry explained that we would be assigned a "real" bathroom closer to the lodge in the "Shower House", and this one was pretty much for those night callings!  That was fine with us!

This was the view from our cabin looking out onto Lake Caverhill!  We faced West and witnessed some incredible sunsets!

Larry asked that once we got settled in to come on down to the main lodge for the requisite paperwork.  Along the way were some incredible buildings.  All the buildings were hand-built and/or restored by Larry and his wife Marlene!  This was the real Ice House!  Our cabin was the old ice house which was later remodeled, hence the name. 

Check out the sign on the door!  And do you see that curious creature on the lower left...

...that would be John Henry - the resident mule and lawnmower!  John Henry has free rein of the property all day long - he wears that bell around his neck so Larry knows where he is.  Larry and John Henry had quite a bond!  John Henry was waiting at the door of the Ice House for a carrot, which I got to feed to him!

Beverly, the chef, asked if we would like to see inside.  Here is what we saw - those are actual ice blocks from lake when it freezes in the winter!  Larry cuts them and they last way past the last time guests come in!  They keep the ice house at an even 33 degrees, no matter the outside temps!  What impressed Mr. Squash is that they even passed muster with the Canadian Health authority!

Along the way to the lodge we met the other resident pet - Hailey!  She is half Blue Heeler and half Border Collie.  Of all the ranch/lodge dogs we've met and come to know, Hailey is right there on top!  She was so sweet and fun to play with!

We passed by the tool shed here.  Nothing gets thrown away - everything seems to have a purpose and place!  The lodge was originally built in 1948 and some of the buildings, such as this still stand.  When Larry and Marlene came along 25 years ago, most of the building were in disrepair.  They've done an incredible job making it a little piece of luxury in the deep woods today!

Here is the smokehouse.  Larry explained that he would smoke any large trout we caught if we desired and we could take them home with us.  We opted out, but one of the guests did have some smoked.

When the smoker was in full swing, it make some lovely shadows amongst the trees!

This is a composite of the back of the lodge.  Inside held even more treasures which I'll save for another post.  We loved stopping here for fresh coffee every day after a long day out fishing!  This is also where all the meals were served - and oh, were we ever fed like kings and queens!  More about that in another post.

After filling out our paperwork, we wandered around a bit more.  This is just one of several more cabins on the property.  They each had great names and fantastic views of the lake!

Next post we'll walk around the property a bit more and I'll tell you about the meals - certainly one of our favorite highlights!