Diario de Ruta – The marrow of the
world
Very recommended music for the reading: Jeremiah
Johnson Soundtrack
From my family home, Lleida, October
27th 2012
After such a hard trip from
Vancouver to McBride, I was sleepy and exhausted. Nice Carla lived at the
southwest corner of her parent’s property, the Trask’s, who lived in McBride
breeding life-stock and growing hay since the 60’s, if I’m not wrong. She had a
small garden, a meadow and a very special house, due to those who lived there
and how they did it more than because it was a very old house. Actually big
parties were celebrated there and that’s why it was so famous in McBride. Might
fixing it a little bit would not be a bad idea as some parts of the ground were
weak and mosquitoes had discovered the way to get in with absolute impunity.
Smiley Carla pointed out the tipi she had built
beside the Fraser River with pride, and where she used to spend summer nights. Also
her family’s hay fields and the guardians of the valley: From the east the
famous and the marrow of America, the Rockies. From west the remote and
inhabited Cariboo range. Both ranges hold the Fraser river to the north from
Tete Jaune Cache to Prince George, and curiously at McBride area they both make
a very clear “U” shape canyon that never ever was settled by the first nations.
It’s been controversial the reason why they never lived here. Might be the
mosquitoes, the wolves or bears concurrence, or the difficulty for hunting and
fishing.. that’s a mystery.
I was looking at Carla out of the corner of my eye,
wandering about who was that graceful, bohemian and brave girl while she
introduced me Antoine (another Swiss workawayer, musician and guitar’s handcrafter who was going to leave us the
next day). Joey (downhill neighbor) and West, who I was going to share
adventures with.
As it is said about the Rockies at
the movie “Jeremiah Johnson”, I was at the marrow of the world… and that’s the
way I felt. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Daf2jM2phuk (Min. 5:00)
The second day, Carla invited her
family having dinner together on the meadow. Around 6 pm I was washing dishes
–task which I got specialized while in there I would say rather the necessity
than being asked to do it-, in front of me there was the garden’s window and
the property’s entrance. Suddenly it become a parade: firstly an old load truck
from the 50’s, then a donkey buggy, a guy riding a horse and the rest on a
truck. –Wow!- I said to myself wondering how interesting this family was going
to be. I was introduced to Linda and Doug, her parents, her grandma, his
brother Jess, his wife and her nephews, and to Mike, a young forestry
engineering student and summer Doug’s workawayer. It was a wonderful welcome I
had there.
This sort of experiences are really
appreciated while you are abroad, just travelling or working/studing.. whenever you miss
tenderness, family matters, or the pleasure of discovering the essence of a
place, being in such a real and authentic moment.. warms you up.
To be honest, I was lost during the
first days about the work structure. Almost every day Carla spent the night in
her tipi for coming back in the middle of the morning and then leaving again
for her job in a pub from 4pm to 11pm.. I felt a kind of no-sense, emptiness
with that, spending most of the time by myself and no clear guidelines. It was something new for me.. in Canada.
I used to think about the way to be
more effective for Carla, who was giving me accommodation and board. That’s why
I decided to pay attention at the kitchen in addition to the main projects.
Probably those were transition days for Carla, and for me either.
Human being is amazing. We have a
great capacity for getting adapted to any “environmental disagreement”, if we
pay attention our inner signs. So... some day that nice and grace guy arrived
walking quietly and asked for some
water. He was quite curious about me and then proud of the job he did for
Carla’s roof years ago. That guy is used to hike the small paths around
McBride, he’s well known there, admired for what he is able to do, in spite
getting blind 20 years ago.
Slowly my purpose there got into a
challenge which was worthy having fun, too. I offered lots of sweat and
mosquito bites for cleaning and adapting part of the field to convert it into a
wood patio platform of 100 square meters. Actually I finished it the day before
I left. The steps were: cleaning the ground, building a wood ladder, trimming
the trees using the ladder and a rope safety system, filling the holes with
gravel, leveling with railway poles, and treating, nailing and cutting the
boards. The mistakes I made were good carpentry advices; nevertheless the
result was good enough for the two of us. I enjoyed like a kid, having in mind
Doug’s useful ideas and all things Martin talked about the wooden made
structures, in Saltspring Island.
Weeding the raspberries, trimming
long and big cedars, cleaning and fixing the shop’s roof and helping Doug in
the load of a truck were other kind of tasks I made in the 3 weeks I spent with
Carla.
It’s difficult being conscious of
what you’re able to do until you do it. Oh, man! That’s fun because once you
have done it, overcoming it, and you look behind observing your creation.. just
then, you smile remembering all the uncertainty, sweat, laziness and fear to fail when you still haven’t hammered
a nail on it! But the worst of it is when we pass these pre-self-judgement on
others, either if kids, friends, family, or a colleague. There’s no need for wickedness in that, even could
happen under love umbrella.. but it doesn’t respect an elemental truth. We all,
all, are able to do amazing, wonderful and great things. Much more than
we guess..
Since I finished the Co-active
coaching training in Vancouver it’s something has knocked to my face many
times, like an unexpected ball at the school’s playing court. It’s is beautiful
feeling it, sweet; detecting hidden power in others or in oneself. We use to
assume many thing as a result of fear, but just believe in who is in front of
you, even he doesn’t do so.. that’s wonderful.
Carla shared with me a visible side
of her life: adventurous, bohemian, familiar as lonely, artist, independent
same than social.. . She is partner on Couchsurfing net, offering accommodation
for free in her couch. That’s how I met David, musician and teacher who was
starting his trip to the Canadian East coast riding a bicycle. What I just said
before… David is a witness of what we are able to do.. under his skin!
Mosquitos were really bad most of all
while working, because I didn’t want to use bug spray. What I did was
minimizing them biting opportunities, just leaving free my face, ears and
backside of my neck. But I was not concerned about what was coming..
West was not just a friend of Carla,
they both got a gold claim somewhere in the Cariboo range. It costs
approximately 150$ CAD a year and then, you are allowed to extract gold and
other minerals with no heavy machinery, to set a cabin which must be moved at
least a meter per year, and to open a door of extreme adventure sense. That’s
how next weekend was shown to me, getting 30 km into the Cariboo range driving
ATVs up the valley, crossing washouts, cleaning an old forestry road 3 km
long using a chainsaw and machetes,
loading all the stuff needed to set a camp just in front of the toe of a
glacier. Having in mind the romantic vision of getting some gold from the
ground, using a gold pan.
Their dogs came in our “Gold
expedition”, we got a small ATV trailer full of stuff and the rest of it was
tided in the front and back of the ATVs. Getting into that valley was quite
impressive, although West’s rifle in case of Grizzlies. Nevertheless there was
a natural attraction by the spring’s air, unavoidable, calling us from
everywhere. Cotton trees were in full bloom -which I am quite allergic to- so
it seemed like snowing. During half an hour I
noticed nothing around me as I was KO, affected by the allergy. Every
time we found a washout I thought that was going to be more difficult to be
crossed but with the help of two boards and the brave attitude of Carla and
West finally we arrived to the old forestry road. It was absolutely covered by
small trees and bushes and the worst: big fallen trees.
We were able to clean around 2 km of
the way in 3 hours, when the water I took was finished. West was working really
hard with the chainsaw so I went to get some water “just 5 minutes up the
river” –as I was told-, taking with me one dog, despite it was still a puppy it
was appreciated his presence as it was bear territory. Behind each corner of
the way or bush I was ready to meet a plantigrade, as there were many evidences
of them activity around. I was coming back to them with the bottle full of
water when the puppy started running. I had the same willingness of meeting a
Grizzly than fear of being misunderstood, so I had to decide… I started singing
Bob Marley and Joan Manuel Serrat (one of the best Spanish singers) songs as
loud as I could, with the intention of letting the bears avoid my steps. They
are quite afraid of loud sounds so it’s a useful and fun trick to avoid them.
In the way back Carla and West
decided to stop cleaning the road by leaving the ATVs there and loading as much
stuff as possible with us. So I took everything I could in and on my backpack,
and then, happy and again singing I walked alone following them steps. Once I got
them nearby the river they gave me -laughing- a new nickname, “Pablo, the
packhorse”.
All together we continued our
expedition walking beside the river while West held the rifle as the noise of
the water flowing down was loud enough as to not to be noticed. Carla didn’t
hesitate a second to cross the river fully dressed, such an energetic girl!
Nevertheless I had few clothes to preserve
from getting wet and nothing to show… I learned from my scout experiences that
as dryer you can remain...better, as you never know what the mountain has for
you further up. So dear friends, the 4 times I crossed that river –as we had to
come back again to take the rest of the stuff-
I did it in pants and barefoot. That river flowed down directly from the
glacier and was deep enough as to cover the transition between my belly and my
legs.. oh, man!
At last we chose a spot out of the
wind to set the camp, tidy all the stuff up and make a fire. It was the heaven
of mosquitoes, crowds and crowds of bugs biting our skin and finding their way
in our hair. And the worst part for the dogs, that Carla covered with a
windstopper. When the night arrived the poles West had cut were too fresh and
flexible as to fit in the wall tent, so we prepared the camping tent and they
went to sleep while I opened my eyes facing such a huge, pure and wild place.
I decided to have an intimacy moment
with the valley that had brought me so many emotions during the day, I smoked a
cigarette, burned the fire up and smiled. I thanked God for the things that day
gave to me, for how good I felt, for whatever new to learn. As my dear Felip
Gallifa used to say: -What a God’s good!- (Spanish adapted translation).
In the morning I burned the fire up
again while they prepared “Indian bread”, a sort of flour and salt pancakes we
fried with the pan. Hot coffee and the sun blessing the day, just before they
ran down the river for gold panning! So quietly I went to clean myself at the
river when I could not believed what I saw… lots of shining gold cubes that
contracted my guts. Then I realized they were very weak and became dirt
knocking them with a rock. I discovered the Fool’s Gold, the pyrite.
We found nothing valuable, nothing
but the experience and feelings of that wonderful weekend. There are still people losing their life
because of that. I mean not necessary passing away, not just because of gold. I
am talking about the big amount of objects so difficult to come off. Or those
for which we pay half of an eye just for having them. Then we’re losing pieces
of our life.
This concept is well explicated at
the movie: The Gods Must Be Crazy –funny movie about a Namibian
tribe, I was watching when at Cozy Cabins- as some aboriginal tribes from
Australia comprehend about enjoying things instead of possessing them. What
they really appreciate is the feeling, not the object.
Gold fever. I was
thinking on that in the way back home. I felt that trying and fighting to get
more than I needed, could be mushrooms, fishes or gear goods. I apologized for
that and then I started thinking about another issue, everyone gets the
“punishment” during life. It can be an indigestion if we’re talking about food,
a bad taste feeling once you realize what pushes you to do so, what remains in
your account once you pay the mortgage… Anxiety uses to be what you get of any
kind of abuse. When we miss our track.
Several months later in the north of
BC, at the Lava Bed Memorial National Park, a Nisga’a (First Nation people)
member explained to me the meaning they found about the volcano eruption which
killed nearly 2000 persons… It’s still common for the First Nations People to
get a sense, learning in almost every sign from the nature. Around 250 years
ago some of them –in order to be better fed- decided to get more salmon from
the river than usual, modifying the river course in a narrow spot. Few years
later the lava washed out many Nisga’a members leaving a huge lava bed (around
10 x 2 km extension) as a memorial, to make them understand that what they did
to the salmon, they did it to themselves.
Sustainability comes from many years
ago, like human temptation of not taking it seriously. During the 3 days I
spent in that valley there was more Nisga’a learning time which I will write
about further in this blog.
Many towns of BC have sustainability
in mind. Actually in McBride they have a facebook account for promoting the
exchange of goods. Something not useful for you can be needed for me. I had
calculated the needed amount of boards to build up the deck but it was out of
budget. Then Carla asked for boards on FB so just a couple of hours later
Robert answered offering them in exchange for a small task: digging under his
shop to let the water get out of the flooded property.
Robert and his Australian wife are
the last neighbors of the Eddy Road. In
their property they had an old and ruined cabin where to take as many boards as
wished, all we had to do was helping them in what was a small but difficult
project for Robert, as he had suffered recently a kind of paralysis in the half
of his body. I perfectly remember Robert’s satisfaction face while Carla and I
were digging in the mud. And we were proud of it.
We spent almost a full day chatting
together about potential places to find gold, the history of those valleys,
about travelling and dreaming… and about the wooden tower they built up in
their house not much time ago for avoiding mosquitoes (it’s supposed they can’t
get more than 25 feet from ground up) and for having great views. They just
finished it before Robert got the paralysis. So resigned and with sense of
humor he could never go up the great tower he did. Anyway, he did it.
Robert spoke calmed and with passion
at the same time. Once he knew about my admiration for the wilderness and its
fauna the issue of wolves and bears popped up. I told him that actually one of
my favorite childhood movies was The bear https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8_m1H0YpkQ . Then he opened his eyes up and
start laughing. The real guide whom the movie talked about was his uncle, he
leaded those hunters to meet the humility in the nature, not its abuse. It was
magical for me, a coincidence that made me think and smile before getting
asleep.
Even nowadays the curiosity that
movie caused to me when I was just 8 years old remains on me.. It woke up the
passion of spotting wildlife wherever I go. Robert’s passion is to get into the
wild to smell the mountains , with an adapted vehicle similar to an ATV. Once
back at home he search for the different spots in google earth. Both, he and
his wife told me how interested they are in visiting Spain for its gastronomic
and cultural richness. And for the excellent weather, I guess.
Another highlight was joining
Dunster’s Ice cream social party, at the south of McBride, where Carla invited
me to spend a sweet evening. Oh yeah, hundreds of desserts and ice cream just
for 8 dollars.. and therefore I met other workawayers from the area while sugar
run in our blood.
Nevertheless during my second week
in there I took a decision just guided by my intuition, I had to leave that
place one week before than planned. I didn’t know exactly why but I missed
something I didn’t get there. Even I got Mike as a good mate to go hiking or
chatting, Carla’s family as a perfect learning environment, and Carla as a
mystery to be solved. Anyway I contacted Michelle, Little Fort’s cowgirl, to
arrange spending a week with her before coming back to Vancouver to take the
Process Co active coaching course. So my last week with Carla was nostalgic and
fast.
Doug showed to me his favorite
hobby: flying using a sort of motor-glide and Carla brought us to meet Gregor’s
home. He was a trapper that until now lives just from the fur he gets. The
valley where he lives is full of grizzlies and spite Carla’s persistence we
didn’t see them. It was a fine way to say goodbye, showing me tenderness and
attention. I finished the deck, spread some hugs and I was leaved at the same
junction where 3 weeks ago I was hitchhiking.
Carla and the marrow of the world
(The Rockies) invited me to feel the hugeness of that place and its people. So
now I can say I was working there, what makes me enjoy explaining it to my
nieces, friends and the rest of my family.
I was supposed to meet Michelle at
Valemount’s Rodeo from where we were going to drive to Little Fort. A Canadian
British gentleman gave me the ride kindly. It was July the 14th
morning, and there was a dirt and party smell in the air. And that’s how it
was! I enjoyed the show observing the cowgirls and boys qualities riding them
horses, it was crazy. The reason why rodeos were created were two originally: stock
market and almost the only way to meet a partner coming away from your town. So
during the night there’s a big party where you have to pick up a girl/boy in
less than 3 minutes! It was fun watching Michelle and Marisa (the new Swiss
workawayer living with her) dancing with veteran cowboys wishing so cute and
young girls!! So I spent the night
toasting with the moon for the love I left injured.
And the moon by its side returned
the toasting showing to me what initially I confused with the promotion lights
of a discotheque.. the Nothern lights!! A magic event of lighting waves dancing
while expanding and contracting on the dark sky. Almost mystical. And in
addition in the way back home to Little Fort we saw a black bear crossing the
path, like an aperitif of the great welcome that Koda, Hunk and Max (the
doggies) celebrated. That night I slept in peace… huge, tender and satisfied
peace.
I honestly realized what a good
decision it was visiting Michelle again that week. It really made me feel like
coming back home again as it was the first place where I was returning in
Canada, after moving from one place to another. I spent a couple of days
varnishing the front side of the barn, collecting hen’s eggs, cropping the
garden and helping Marisa handling the horses.
Michelle also brought us to take
riding lessons, so I rode Paris, a young male I really got on with easily. I
found a surprise in Scarlett, a mare that the girls faulted as rebel and I
transmit reliance and safety enough as to handle her comfortably. In the way
back from the riding lessons the girls showed to me something really beautiful,
both of them had a swim with the horses with no settle in Dunn Lake!
Hummingbirds were around during the
evenings I spent at the deck in relaxing meditation. I guess that’s why I reach
one of them to land on my finger.. what a nice and graceful bird. The next day
suddenly Michelle screamed ALARM! The neighbor’s bull was chasing Michelle’s
bull beside a fence so there was serious risk of losing it. The girls with horses
and me with the ATV broke up the discussion and then I leaded the foreign pack
to the high meadows. I was a very fun
journey.
It was a very intense month in the
heart of BC. I was ready for the next step, even wilder and more remote, in the
Precipice Valley. Actually it is the most isolated place I was in Canada..
where even I was able to notice the season change. I would not be able to do so
without the deepness and honesty the training weekend in Vancouver brought me.
Getting into the emotions I used to avoid.
C
arla and Michelle are cute proves of
what any of us can do with courage and dedication.
A kiss and see you soon. Thank you,
Pablo
Lapuente Sagarra.
Lleida (Spain), January 7th 2013
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