the kids could swing out in a great arc....

Growing up in Chilliwack...................1972

About this time ourselves and some friends aquired campers , trailers or some type of RVs ....,in our case it was a 14 foot trailer.....Lew ------ had a truck and camper. Lew and I fished the Vedder often and we found a spot on a gravel bar on the south side of the Vedder River, near Liumchen Creek that looked Ideal for camping.....never used by others at that time , it was like having our own place to go to on the river...a beautiful large area alongside the Vedder, a high cutbank where the woods started and then trees surrounded the area, giving it an enclosed private kind of feeling. The way into the bar off the main gravel road was a hundred yards or so with trees growing overhead like a tunnel sometimes...It was really a fairly large area....We had a good crew of people that enjoyed that area for day use and camping for many years.......The problem of a lavatory was solved with a portable plywood one holer that was installed in the woods ...far from the campers.....over a hole ...and had a system of occupancy by indicating "busy" at the start of the outdoor trail.....hey.... that worked well...a very important part of group camping...... There was a large maple tree reaching out for the skys off of the cutbank....like it was pleading not to be taken by the last floodwater that was smashing the cutbank....well, it was plenty dry now ...and those leaning branches were a perfect place to attach a heavy yellow nylon rope.....a limb seat was attached to it and the kids could swing out in a great arc above the gravel bar....so could the adults....The bar was also used in the winter time....One winter some friends spent New Years Eve there in their camper...I can remember the snow falling lightly, it was a picture,,,..but for the most part use was early Spring to late Fall.....we all spent hours liberating small salmon that were caught in flood pools on that big gravel bar.....a plastic sheet was placed in the water and the little guys were herded over it......then caught and released in to the river.....there was a creek running through it at times that was fun to dam and break........once when it was quite high and getting higher by the hour from runoff, Tracey decided to put on my waders and do some water tricks...like going under and being swept down stream....thankfully, Gerry Karr was near by and quickly grabbed her out....blubber, spurt.......won't do that again. I sometimes seen my motorcycle putt-putting by in the woods with 4 or 5 kids on it....grins from ear to ear........Great competitive games of horse shoes were played......the odd beer or wine was consumed......many, many night fires ....how many fires have we stared into , an activity that is done in all types of weather...but really nice on those summer nights. That location was so close to home...10 miles and everyone is back to get ready to start the working week again.....Oh ya , we had the best of it.......It was a wonderful place ..... eventually the "people" demand for outdoor area over ran the place and it became a zoo.....but....we have the good memories ......