Mexico: FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES

Mt. Orizaba, the highest mountain in Mexico.

It is always good to have a couple of good friends in high - if not the highest - places. I am happy to report that we have just that!

They live on a top of an emerald hill tucked in the mountains of beautiful Sierra Madre Oriental and this is the view from their living room.



But let me start from the beginning.

West Kootenay country between Nelson and Salmo, BC

The very first time we met Karel (or Carlos as they call him in Mexico) and Tisha, his long-time companion, was a cold winter day in the West Kootenays - beautiful mountainous area tucked into the South-East corner of Super Natural British Columbia, Canada. This is a geologically older prelude to the North American Rocky Mountains that rise parallel to the area just a stone-throw away to the East. (Well, more like a 4 hour car-ride on a good road.)

Still ....I am writing all this just to let people know that because of our mutual love of mountains we were already pretty high up when we met! 

Our paths towards this first meeting were quite convoluted.

The young Carlos came to Canada from the former Czechoslovakia in late 60's, right after the country's unsuccessful bid for a democratic reform of 1968; the one that became known world-wide as Prague Spring.






The young engineer ended up in Vancouver, Canada, finding work with well known TV Knowledge Network and eventually made his way to a post that allowed him to travel wide and far.

Tisha's trail started on the other side of the globe -  in Mexico, but eventually their paths met a she moved to Vancouver as well.

We, on the other hand, waited and waited in Czechoslovakia for the Soviet occupation to end. The years went by and by the 1979 we too, picked up our two young children and found our own complicated way to the land that, at the time, seemed so very far away.

Our path took us at first to the Canadian Prairies but after another decade the pull of the mountains became too great and we ended up in the foothills of the Rockies.
That's what some call this western region of British Columbia. Others call it the Columbia Mountains.

Selkirk Mountains in West Kootenay Region

As the decades passed, and we all neared retirement, the four paths came to an intersection and all of us met in the neighborhood of the majestic Valhallas. There we forged a valued friendship.

West Kootenay region: Valhallas in Slocan Valley

Then came another convolution: this time it was Tisha's aging Mom and Tisha's sense of duty which meant bidding our friends good bye as they moved to Mexico.

Our Czech Karel and Canadian Carl became Mexican Carlos.
But since his Great Grandfather made his own twisted way from Spain to Czech Bohemia "Carlos" became a very suitable name for this Great Grandson of his.
Talk about circles and spirals.

And that's where the real story begins.

And why am I telling all this? Because Canada Post just delivered a beautiful present: after 7 years of building a new life in the mountains of Sierra Madre Occidental Karel, turned Carlos, published an amazing account of their new start in another far-away country.

Photo by Tisha Perez

Also because Carlos published this book through Amazon, and because the photographs would make this well written book too expensive, AND because we had a chance to visit our friends in their new home in Mexico, I asked for his permission to post my photos from this charming Hummingrbird Hill Ranch on my blog.

This is not marketing (no, really - although the book is well worth buying) - I have tons of photos that I would like to share - and if someone reads the book as well, so much for the better. I only wish that it could be translated to other languages!)

It was here that we met with our friends again - in another high place near a historic town of Xico ("shico"), not that far from Veracruz. - at Hummingbird Hill Ranch up there in the clouds on the hummingbird hill. It is guarded by two famous volcanoes: the grumpy old Cofre de Perote and beautiful Mt. Orizaba. And that will be where we shall venture next.

Town of Xico and Hummingbird Ranch Hill

P.S.
To those just starting out on their independent journey through life, this could be a reminder that one's life does not "end" at the age of 40. Not even at 50 (OMG - so old!). Not even at 60 or 70, 80 and so on ....
On the contrary - the life story continues; with perhaps less physical ability but more courage and wisdom than ever.  It is too bad that the 3rd millennium opened up with a growing gap between the young and the old.


Just imagine what we could achieve if .... but I am afraid that such is the nature of human beings.... and an entirely different topic for this or any blog as well.

British Columbia: VALHALLA PROVINCIAL PARK

Rising to Valhalla

 
It was the silly Sasquatch New Year's blog that made me think of one of the most beautiful areas of the West Kootenay region - the rugged Valhalla provincial park

In old Viking times Valhalla meant just one thing: an after-life place for the heroes and warriors who died in a battle. Where did the non-fighters go? I have no idea.

Location of Valhalla Provincial Park is the red dot on Google earth map.

 Here, In the secret corner of Magnificent British Columbia, Valhalla means something else. It is still regarded as a heavenly place - not for the weapon wielding folk but for the warriors of a different disposition. Hikers. mountain climbers, skiers, naturalists come here for their out-of-the-ordinary experiences....



This Valhalla is a wilderness park that hems the western shores of beautiful Slocan Lake. Its hard, glacier polished granite peaks are rising steeply towards the sky - like giants emerging from the depths of the pristine mountain lake. Many of them reach to over 2600m high. The name for this park is a brain child of Philip Brooksbank, a British immigrant to the area - it was upon his suggestion in 1911 that the area received its "new" name.
Not only that - the entire area adopted the names of the old Norse myths - as well explained on Ron Perrier's blog "only where you have walked have you been".

It must have been called "something else" by the indigenous people and it would be nice to know how they described it. Perhaps someone out there in the mighty cyberspace else will let us know.

 Autumn is magnificent in Valhallas as the stands of Western Hemlock turn bright yellow to paint the steep slopes in pure gold.

Valhallas are still the true wilderness and as such support a wide spectrum of wildlife. There are many impressively large animal species still roaming these mountains but the favourite of mine are the tiny farmers of the tree line - the Pika.

Sit quietly among the rocks and maybe you will be lucky to spot a small furry egg equipped with four large footed legs.
It will be running from rock to rock - collecting grasses and other vegetation and hauling them first to the drying locations and later into a storage space under the rocks.

Perhaps you will even hear a whistling sound coming from a hard-to-pinpoint direction!
It is a Pika (Ochotna princes), a small rounded cousin to rabbits and hares.

Just try to gather some greens, place them near your location and wait. The little one might not be able to pass an opportunity - and before long will come to collect your offering.

Quite like this:


























It will gather and carry them away - to a drying place before they are stored for the winter. 

Valhalla Provincial Park (left), Slocan lake and the town of New Denver, West Kootenay, British Columbia

SASQUATCH, a member of the BIGFOOT family

Valhalla Provincial Park - West Kootenay region, British Columbia, Canada

Check Google Earth for closer inspection

Sasquatch is a mysterious creature believed to roam the coastal regions of Pacific Northwest: an area of North-American continent encompassing the coastal and inland regions of Oregon, Washington State and British Columbia.
The eastern range of its habitat might extend all the way to Rocky Mountains and even beyond.
Hard to say; Sasquatch, like (Ogopogo or Loch Ness Monster) is a secretive creature truly seen and encountered by only a few ..... if any....

The landmass of Pacific Northwest is a magical region of high mountains and deep valleys, dotted with thousands of lakes of various sizes, covered with emerald forests (or whatever is left of them) and capped by pristine white glaciers (melting at an alarming speed).
It is an absolutely perfect habitat for a creature that managed to survive the onslaught of ice ages and the violence of tectonic forces that are slowly lifting the landmass and shooting magma up through the chain of volcanoes of Cascade Mountains.








Mt. Reinier - a sleeping volcano in Cascade Mts.

Many do not believe in the Sasquatches' existence but
 make no mistake - I am definitely the only one liking the idea of not being alone in the forest. Check out the Stories of Outdoor Adventures by voyageur Jan Soukup - there are more of us.
Despite the senseless logging this region is still boasts many areas hardly ever visited by modern humans. Once again we are talking about a perfect habitat for large humanoids to go about their nocturnal life; undetected by most of us. Only a small number of people believe in their existence and of those only a handful dedicate their lives to a true search for them.

Some of the believers come up with sightings and clues, some even record large humanoid shapes in the forest on the camera.


True, there are many who just make fun of the entire concept - faking the photos and creating false evidence. So easy to do these days.

 Sumallo Grove - Manning Park, B.C.

Yet, it is still very fascinating to explore the legends that surround Sasquatch and the rest of the global Bigfoot family:

Yeti - the large hairy creature of Himalayas,
Yeren - the Chinese Man-Bear of high mountains of Eastern China
Yowie - an Australian hominid similar to Yeti
Hibagon  - the creature of Japanese mountains according to sightings it is similar to North American Sasquatch.

If I missed some please let me know.

The first accounts and sightings came from the indigenous people of every continent. Except for Antarctica these claims have been made on every continent of the planet.


According to some tribes of Cascade Mountains a group of these Bigfoot creatures, named Scoocooms, lived right on the top of Mt. St. Helen's - the infamous volcano that blew up in 1980. The legend says that Scoocooms were nocturnal and cannibalistic - if they hunted and feasted only on their own kind or preyed on their little human neighbors, I am not sure.

Mt. St. Helen's - its blown off top is in the top right.

In any case, one has to wonder what happened to them during and after the violent explosion that blew off the mountain top and incinerated a very large area in the vicinity of Mt St Helen's.

This also explains the term....that is a "scoocoom" something ... a truck or a building .... something sturdy and big

The closest encounter I ever had with a Sasquatch?
Well ... let ME tell YOU!
There have been several! 

Once we hiked in the Old Growth woods of Kokanee Glacier Park in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia.
Here too, the trees had been mowed down but for some reason a stand of large cedars had been left out.

It was the end of October then; that's when on the freshly snow-dusted  trail we discovered a very large footprint! Our first thought was of a grizzly bear so, as the adrenaline kicked in, our heart beats went up. Everything was quiet, only the raven made its clucking sounds way up in the canopy of the old cedars.

We examined the print. 
Size-wise it could have been grizzly's but it was larger and somewhat odd in shape. The claw marks were absent!

 


 











The tracks followed the trail for some distance and then turned down the slope towards a creek. 
To be on the safe side we chose to continue in the opposite direction.



It was not until another year had passed that we met a young man there, deep in the same woods of Kokanee Park Old Growth. He was collecting mushrooms that grew in abundance on the rotting old tree trunks.
"Chicken Of The Woods (Laetiporus sulphureus)", he said, "amazingly tasty to eat!"

We set our heavy tripods and cameras and started to take photos of the orange heap of large plate-like fungi. The young man gave us a quick glance, reached into his backpack whisked out an iPad, took several flawless photos and shook our hands ready to leave.

Just then I noticed his footwear!

"Were you here a year ago?", I asked feeling very old.

"Oh yes, I collect them every Autumn".

"And ...  are these", I pointed at his feet, " are these whatever-you-call-them.... comfortable?"

"Very", said he with a beautiful smile. Gave us a nod and disappeared in the underbrush.

The Sasquatch mystery of the Kokanee Park had been solved.

False alarm!

One place where Sasquatch (or Bigfoot) reigns for sure is a small town of Creston, British Columbia.
Just walk down the street and ask anyone - even a child of five:
"Where can we find Bigfoot?"
"You mean Sasquatch? Just go to the brewery."

So we did.

Surely enough - the smart creature of the woods made its home right inside Columbia Brewery!
It struck a deal with the beer makers: for an "all-you-can-drink" deal. For that it will advertise their organic beer, glacial-water based beer. It might be called "Kokanee" but it is definitely promoted by Sasquatch.

Proper team-work, if you ask me.

And our last encounter with Sasquatch? It happened just before the New Year's near Osoyoos.

 Lake Osoyoos, B.C.

Yes, the large one is Sasquatch, and he is in festive mood! Who knows - he might apply for a job with Santa if the old man ever decides to retire. For the time being he might just wait a bit - on the ridge that crowns the beautiful Okanagan valley.

Am I a Bigfoot believer? 

I hate to say this - probably not. 

Probably - because I reserve the right to leave that door open - if only a sliver-like. 

Just imagine, would the world not be a better place, if instead of painting everything around us with our fear, we simply co-exited with all the creatures - BIG and SMALL, shooting with only our cameras and treating the our world with respect?

So for the year ahead I dare to wish you peace, satisfaction with who you are and wisdom to accept life in all its forms and shapes. 

And if you like music maybe you can celebrate this year with Stompin' Tom Connors and his Sasquatch Song.