This 9km hiking trail near Radium Hot Springs was a road used by the Model Ts in 1920s!
In the past, surface fires every 5-30 years burned off young trees and shrubs, leaving behind the thick-barked Douglas firs. However, decades of fire suppression has resulted in the loss of open forests and grasslands that native wildlife prefer.We’re standing on the banks of a drained glacial lake. You can see the Columbia River, the railway track (bottom right), and the wetlands.The hoodoos were created by streams and rivers when the glacial lake drained. A friend of ours offered to trade his higher model drone with Nolan for our year away, so Nolan was busy capturing the landscape with his drone.Neil noted this bird of prey (anyone know what it is?) circling and warned Nolan that it might mistake the drone as food. Nolan was already returning.
But not quickly enough. He went from flying 60 km/hr forwards to flying backwards then death spiralling downwards before wedging itself in a tree.The tree appeared to be an old birch tree, about a 20 minute walk from the parking lot, off the trail and down a 45° incline. The drone was so high up in the tree (about 50 feet up) that Neil had to use the zoom on his camera to locate it.The tree was approximately 18-24” diameter with crusty old sharp bark – Nolan’s arms and pants were shredded from trying to climb it. There were no branches or handholds for the first 20 feet or so, AND it was leaning out over a bog.While the boys were attempting to retrieve the drone, the girls were enjoying the views and chilling with a game of cards!There was a quick trip to Canadian tire for mason’s line twine, rope, a heavy bolt, and a tarp to avoid the drone going into the bog when they manage to knock it out of the tree.Then it was back to the site to face the horseflies, black flies, and mosquitos (note pants tucked into socks). Nolan was also worried about bears, as we had sighted a black bear near by.First, they spent about 30 mins stringing the tarp up over the bog in the hopes of catching the drone.Then they continually tried to throw the bolt with the “mason’s line” twine attached to it. The idea was to get the twine over the branch on which the drone was wedged, then use it to pull the rope over the branch, then pull and shake the branch to knock the drone loose. They cut a straight twig to put through the spool of twine so it would pay out freely when Nolan threw the bolt.It was extremely slow going – throw the bolt, which goes over wrong the branch, wiggle and pull it until it falls down low enough to reach, trek from throwing location to the tree down the side of a steep hill with brambles to untie the bolt, retrieve the twine, try again. Repeat ad nauseam until they lost the bolt up in the tree. So they switched to rocks. Nolan managed one perfect throw, right over the correct branch, but the twine came loose and it was just a rock sailing away.The face of dejection. 😢 They finally gave up after about 2 hours. It was a lost cause, as at times, the wind was blowing hard, yet the drone didn’t budge. Lara and I had it easy waiting in the parking lot, and walking up a hill every 30 minutes for reception to check in on how things were going.
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2 thoughts on “Old Coach Trail”
Oh no! Not the ending I was hoping for. Sorry to hear that. The death spiral footage was pretty cool though 😉
Oh no! Not the ending I was hoping for. Sorry to hear that. The death spiral footage was pretty cool though 😉
A good story without a Hollywood ending. Next drone will have a BB gun installed.