March - July 1960
Lillooet 10.3.1960
15.3.60 A hawk—beaver tracks.
20.4.60 5:15 – 5:45 a.m.
For the first time in my life I saw a beaver in the wild. It was the last hour of the work day and I decided to spend it gathering firewood. With these intentions in mind I walked down from the bridge along the river bank, saw the dark shape of a waterfowl on the current downstream, and decided to take a close
r look at it. Warily it took off way before I reached it so I turned to go back. At that same moment my eye caught sight of a block of wood bobbing in the water close to the opposite bank of the river and moving against the current. It seemed very unnatural—and so it was. It wasn’t long before the block of wood climbed up onto a river rock—it was a beaver! It moved along close to the shoreline, sometimes swimming, sometimes clambering along the river bottom. The old guy’s progress up river was pretty slow so I walked right past it and climbed up onto the bridge to watch it. It was amusing to follow its arrival from that vantage point. There was a deeper spot right underneath the bridge and upon reaching it he lifted his head up, took one look at me, and then dove under. Of course it was quite visible the whole time since I was looking right down on it! Above the bridge it moved to the other side of the river. I followed its progress all the way to the next stretch of smooth water—and my adventure came to an end. Now I’ve seen it!
r look at it. Warily it took off way before I reached it so I turned to go back. At that same moment my eye caught sight of a block of wood bobbing in the water close to the opposite bank of the river and moving against the current. It seemed very unnatural—and so it was. It wasn’t long before the block of wood climbed up onto a river rock—it was a beaver! It moved along close to the shoreline, sometimes swimming, sometimes clambering along the river bottom. The old guy’s progress up river was pretty slow so I walked right past it and climbed up onto the bridge to watch it. It was amusing to follow its arrival from that vantage point. There was a deeper spot right underneath the bridge and upon reaching it he lifted his head up, took one look at me, and then dove under. Of course it was quite visible the whole time since I was looking right down on it! Above the bridge it moved to the other side of the river. I followed its progress all the way to the next stretch of smooth water—and my adventure came to an end. Now I’ve seen it!
10.3.60 – 25.5.1960 Lillooet
9.5.60 Tiger Moth – butterfly. Hummingbird.
11.5.60 9+ hummingbirds and a Siberian Pea Tree
The Ridge of Seven Faces – 17 miles
Plants: Chokecherry, Lilac, Syringa, Alfalfa, Dandelion
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Lillooet 5.6 – 1.7. 60
Artificial Spawning Ground
Jamieson construction; Per Saxvik – engineer; Al Cooper – chief engineer
Colin Carmichael – Coquitlam; Bob Johnson – Hope; Martin Granger – Noralee
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15.7.60 Rainbow – from a depression below the Island – 18” – about 3-4 lbs.
Pitt River – Alvin, B. C.
16.7.60 Spring Salmon – about 10 lbs. My line broke: from a depression above the stream by our place
17.7.60 – Otter Pool – Otter caught on my lure for about 5 seconds. Pretty mad!
18.7.60 – Monday – Point Pool – Spring, about 15 lbs. A bright fish. About 20 minutes. The following day a fish lunch for the whole crew. Didn’t have much taste because the people over here don’t know how to prepare fish when it’s fresh – at least not salmon. I should have saved it for home.
19.7.60 – Point Pool – a huge fish – about 5 minutes – the split ring on my lure broke. A half hour later another, smaller one, but fierce! Had only three layers of line left on my reel so I had to put the brake on – the hook straightened out. The fish sank into the weeds when it caught the down current and there was nothing I could do about it.
20.7.60 – It may have been the same fish because it reacted in the same way. It immediately dashed downstream so fiercely that the line burned a blister on my brake thumb. I must have slacked the line a bit – my lures came off.
21.7.60 – Nothing, so I went home without a fish.
26.7.60 – Back in the evening – and after that I have fished every day without any results!
Translated from the original Finnish: Marja-Leena Tolvanen-Rogers
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