April, 1996 Issue of Field & Stream Magazine
By Ken Schultz
Nestled away in a remote part of British Columbia, Moose Lake Lodge
is surrounded by history and trout.
John and Mary Lou Blackwell are living it for everyone who loves
remote places but doesn't have the ability, fortitude, knowledge, or good sense to
follow dreams and reside where the air and the woods and the game and the fish are
pure, wild, and plentiful.
The Blackwells left Oregon in 1969 to follow their dream, essentially
homesteading in the mountainous interior of British Columbia on the shore of a lake
that had no name and still isn't shown on many maps. It's a land of glaciers, thick
pine forests, mosquitoes, lakes, rivers, moose, grizzlies, wolves, coyotes, and colorful
trout. The spot they chose was 45 direct-air miles from the nearest settlement .Getting
groceries required a week-long horsepack round-trip.
With their two sons, the Blackwells learned to log the land, build
and run a sawmill, construct wilderness roads and airstrips, become pilots, hunt
moose and grizzly bear, build houses and cabins from the logs they cut and milled,
raise horses and cattle, clear and plant fields for grain, fix their own generators
and outboard motors and airplanes and tractors and machinery, and, of course be plumbers,
electricians, cooks, medics, and hunting and fighting guides.
When you stand on the deck of the Blackwell's Moose Lake Lodge
while the sun sets, casting an alpen-glow on the jackpine mountain and the distant
snow-capped peaks, and watch an eagle on its nest, listen to calling loons, view
a moose feeding along the shore, or see rainbow trout jumping within casting distance
of the dock, you can't help feeling envious. You only get to enjoy this for a few
days. They live it.
The fish really do jump out of the water in this area. At Moose
Lake rainbow trout have actually freeleaped into boats; once a fisherman was hit
in the face with an unhooked leaper! I noticed this airborne tendency first at weedy
Anahim Lake as pilot Joe Archer taxied on the water before taking off for the lodge
. Even as the floatplane lifted up, there were leaping, splashing trout. "Bugs,"
said Archer. "There's a lot of weeds for bugs and bugs for trout." As the
plane pulled away and took us inland , this scene gave way to rugged land bounded
by white-topped mountains.
Moose Lake is near the Coast Mountains, which include the tallest
peaks in the province, and on the eastern bush-country fringe of Tweedsmuir Park,
the largest provincial park in British Columbia. The surrounding area is full of
rugged wilderness terrain, from boggy meadows and glacial rock formations to unending
forests and brimful lakes whose shallows bear the crisscrossing tracks of moose.
The area around Moose Lake is just remote enough to have been spared
extensive logging, and access roads, and probably not too different from when Alexander
Mackenzie first explored it 200 years ago. Having already traveled the great Arctic
river that bears his name, Mackenzie struck westward from the Northwest Territories
in 1793 searching for an overland route to the Pacific for the fur-trading North
West Company. He ultimately found a low pass to the sea near Bella Coola. Today,
parts of the Mackenzie Trail are accessible by horseback and floatplane from Moose
Lake.
Indeed, you can walk on or near the trail en route to fishing the
Blackwater River, one of the finest rainbow trout waters in the province. The Blackwater
is a small, swift, brush-lined gem, and the westward section that my wife Sandy and
I fished with Mary Lou was one that Mary Lou listed among her favorite places. Ours,
too.
While the dry-fly fishing in pools and eddies was great and the
wild fish were brilliantly colored, the highlight of the visit was observing a classic
scenic involving a bald eagle nest on a pondlike section of the river. The plane
taxied within 75 feet of the nest in a dead tree near the shore that contained two
eaglets. The parents were perched above the nest on stairstep limbs, undisturbed
but watchful.
Almost every place we fished we found eagles either perched or
foraging. The birds had easy pickings here, and so did the fishermen.
Not that we caught trout everywhere. We spent one morning at nearby
Trophy Lake, but couldn't make it live up to its name. Nevertheless, the lake was
gorgeous and the loons there practically swam up to our boat. A mile-long trail through
the rich pine forest brought us to a stashed boat on Moose Lake, and once again we
were soon landing rainbows.
As wonderful as the trout fishing was at Moose Lake with both fly
and ultralight spin tackle, there are richer, varied opportunities throughout the
region. The Blackwells are permitted to guide on over 1,500 square miles, and there
are many lakes and rivers to visit for rainbows, cutthroats, or Dolly Varden. We
stopped for a few hours at a couple of places, fishing with barbless flies and having
no trouble connecting with scrappy fish. The trout were so plentiful in one outlet
river that Sandy, a novice fly fisher, could get strikes simply by dragging a fly
while walking from one spot to another.
There were other attractions near-by as well. An abandoned Indian
community at Gotchko Lake along the Mackenzie Trail offered a good excuse to get
out of the boat and stretch, and the snow-covered Coast Mountains and 9,000-foot-high
Thunder Mountain provided a marvelous distant vista. Up close from the window of
a floatplane, you can see glaciers, gorges, ravines, valleys, falls, sheer rock cliffs,
and lush mountain bowls.
Landing on a turquoise lake in one of these bowls was a memorable
experience in itself. John circled the plane several times between the mountains,
riding thermals like an eagle and descending little by little until the bowl became
a pool and the pool became a basin and the basin became a lake. Only midday sun could
shine into this place, so steep were the mountains.
When the plane taxied to a halt on the shore there was no scramble
to get out and fish. A swift-flowing river emptied into the lake. The water was sparkling
clear, like a swimming pool with current. It sluiced through gravel and emptied into
a greenish blue pool at the inlet. Across the lake the mountains rose steeply all
around, furrowed by wide glacial cuts that narrowed up high, where the snow began
and blended into the light clouds.
It was the kind of spot where you'd like to be posted in the afterlife,
and it was our favorite places. Of course, it didn't hurt that the cut-throats were
so abundant and careless that you could stand downstream and watch a companion's
fly float by and observe trout after trout dart from cover to pounce on it. Like
so many other sites in this picturesque area of British Columbia, it could be enjoyed
even if you weren't fishing.
Mornings and evenings were like that too. The weather was excellent
in late June and the sunrises and sunsets, which come early and late, were memorable.
One morning I woke before 5 o'clock and went to the dock. A calling
loon flew overhead and wisps of fog lifted off the water, swirling around the tethered
boats and float-plane. A red sun peeked over the mountains, tinting the high, then
clouds as well as the lake's surface. A hen mallard and her young brood cruised the
shoreline. Before the dock the waters of Moose Lake rippled with the rings of rising
fish.
Behind me another loon called. I found a light spinning rod in
one of the boats and instantly caught and released a frisky, squirming squawfish.
In a few minutes Sandy joined me. She took a boat and rowed just
out of casting distance of the dock. She instantly hooked a rainbow trout that leapt
several feet out of the water. As she released the fish there was screeching from
the opposite shore back in the jackpines. It was an angry, howling noise that carried
across the still water and echoed off the woods behind us. Sandy rowed over to the
dock and with some urgency asked, "What was that?" I didn't know. But it
sounded awfully peeved. And it reminded me of something Mary Lou had said earlier.
"This is the real wilderness."
STEELHEAD AND SALMON, TOO
The Blackwells not only provide trout fishing within 150 miles of Moose Lake,
but they also go to the coast for steelhead and salmon. They are one of only four
outfitters who have accommodations and guided fishing at the Dean River, one of B.C.'s
renowned steelhead waters. Their newly constructed camp overlooks the tidal Dean
Channel and a high-peak waterfall, and they fish on the lower 2 miles of the Dean
above its confluence with the channel, accessing most holes by jetboat. The lower
river affords first opportunity for strong, silvery fresh-run fish, although it is
not an intimate experience since it's accessible to the public and there are numerous
campsites. Unlike the upper river, which is fly-fishing only, the lower section is
currently open to spin fishermen , though there's talk of change.
The Blackwells often bring anglers here for an overnight trip from
Moose Lake, fishing this river for a day (or more if desired) and sampling inland
trout waters on the way over and back. We visited the Dean and caught a pair of big
Chinook salmon and a small steelhead, but our timing in late June was at the end
of the salmon run and just before the steelhead run(steelhead are best in summer
and fall when the water is low). This is a side trip you might want to consider for
the unforgettably scenic ride even if the fishing opportunity isn't at its best.
Be sure to bring your strongest insect repellent here, as this could be the world's
horsefly capital.-K.S.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
To reach Moose Lake by commercial travel it's necessary to connect through Vancouver
to Anahim Lake, where you transfer to a float-plane for a 30-minute trip to the lodge.
The Blackwells have a wheeled-plane landing strip right next to the lodge for private
aircraft, but you have to make sure it's clear of horses before you land.
The lodge is rustic and guests stay in wood-stove-heated log cabins
that overlook the lake. The food is excellent and plentiful and the staff will help
with anything. Moose Lake Lodge is open for fishing from mid-May through mid-October.
For information contact MOOSE LAKE LODGE, BOX 3310, ANAHIM LAKE, B.C. VOL 1CO TELEPHONE
(250) 742-3535 OR FAX (250) 742-3749
The Blackwells cater to fly fishermen and use barbless single hooks
only, releasing virtually all of the fish in the various waters they visit. They
also provide trail rides, hiking, wildlife viewing and photography opportunities,
and have an excellent hunting operation. Their hunting clients have accounted for
the Nos. 1 and 5 Pope and Young grizzly bears and some Pope and Young record moose.-K.S.
