I had a dog when I was 12. His name was Boots, and he was a Pomeranian who thought he was a wolf. Boots and I were connected at the hip, and I went nowhere without him. Boots would think nothing of facing off a much bigger dog to protect me. Sometimes he could get aggressive with people he did not like. He had bitten a few people. I felt most of them deserved it. But I might have been a bit biased, as he was my best friend. If I bent forward with my upper torso, and told him to watch someone, he would jump on my back with front paws on my shoulder and growl. He was pretty cool.
One day, Boots bit a girl, and she had to get stitches. She had taken a swat at him for barking at her, and he caught her finger as it went by. Understandably, her parents were pretty upset. She told them she had only tried to pet him. Perhaps she had, I can’t say for sure. A few days after this, my parents sent me on a trip out to Tahsis to visit my sister Peachy, who had recently moved there from Sayward. I asked Mom to please look after Boots while I was gone, and she assured me that she would.
I enjoyed the flight in; it was on a Grumman G-21 Goose, which had seating for 8 passengers. It was like a flying boat. These planes were first put into production in 1937, and they were Grumman’s first commercial airliner. They are still common on our coast. We took off on a runway at the Campbell River Airport, but we landed on the water before driving up a paved ramp for disembarkation in Tahsis. The water outside the window was halfway up the sides of the plane as we landed. It was a very loud and slow plane, and that allowed me to take in the sights.
The island was much larger than I had thought. I observed many lakes and rivers from the plane, each one more enticing than the last. Where there wasn’t water, there were forests of giant trees growing up the sides of mountains topped by rocky, snow-covered crags. This primeval forest seemed to go on forever, and it was beautiful. Even at 12 years old, I had already developed a love of the island’s backwoods. Now I was seeing this grand forest filled with lakes and meadows, topped by cragy mountain peaks, laid out before me. I knew then that I would spend my life hiking the backwoods and high country of our incredibly diverse and wondrous island just to see these valleys and mountains again.
After leaving the small Campbell River Airport, we flew up along the center of the island until we reached Woss Lake. Once we were over the logging camp at the community of Woss, we turned left to fly above the lake and onward to Tahsis and the west coast.
Woss Lake is about 11 km long and is set in a narrow valley that is no more than 1 km wide. It is a deep lake. From the west end of Woss Lake, it’s just a short run into the town of Tahsis. In 1995, the southern end of the lake was made into the Woss Lake Provincial Park. This is a total wilderness park where the only access is by trail from Tahsis or by boat on Woss Lake. To hike the trail from Tahsis, you drive up Tahsis Road as it follows the Tahsis River until you reach the trailhead. It is only 12 km from there to the lake. Most people go this route and come out the same way.
It was amazingly scenic as we flew between the Rugged and McKelvie Mountains, both located in the Haihte Mt Range. The Haithe Mountain range is referred to as Patagonia North. The pass between these mountains is only 500 meters above sea level. You could see the ocean and Tahsis from the mountain pass. I could see it was a beautiful little village. It is located on the west coast of Vancouver Island, at the head of the very long Tahsis inlet. There is a fairly well-maintained gravel road from Gold River that runs into town now, but when I was a boy, there was no road; the road from Gold River did not open to the public until 1972. To get there, you either flew in or took the Uchuck Freighter that sailed from Gold River. The Uchuck was a cargo boat that served the communities and logging camps from Gold River to Fair Harbour. Many times I sailed on her as I went to one camp or another.
An interesting fact about this boat was that the Uchuck cargo hold had a rather small opening, and when someone wanted to transport a vehicle to Tahsis, it had to fit through this opening. Otherwise, it needed to be barged from Gold River, which was not cheap.
There was only one brand of tiny car that fit in the hold that was available in BC. They were tiny German-made cars. There were many of them in town. None had licence plates as the roads were private and there was no way to leave the area. Hell, you did not even need a driver’s licence to operate them. I must admit, I was taken aback by these little bubbles of transportation. I still laugh about them today. The horn on these cars sounded like a circus clown’s horn.
When you talk to people who live in Tahsis today about these little cars, most have no idea what you are talking about. It’s funny how something so iconic could disappear from the memory of the world. I remember them. I thought they were awesome.
My sister and her husband, Pete, had found their way here via Sayward. Pete was in culinary school in Vancouver when we first moved to Campbell River. Not long after that, he finished up at school and took a job cooking in the M & B camp located on the shores of Kelsey Bay. It was a big camp, and Pete worked his way up to head cook. There were several 3-story bunkhouses where the loggers who came here to work were put up, and they all ate in camp. Back in those days, you paid 2.50 a day for room and board, and this got you accommodation and food, and when I say food, I mean food. Loggers ate like kings. As more and more of the loggers began to buy homes in the village being built just back from the bay, and production began to slow, the camp began to wind down. The old bunkhouses are now gone, leaving an empty lot where they once stood, and the cookhouse is no more.
In 1966, Pete was offered a job as head chef in the new Delta Chalet in Tahsis. The hotel flew them in and put them up for the night so Pete could decide on accepting the job. They saw it was such a pretty little town, and it would be a great place to raise their kids. Pete took the job.
After I arrived in town, I began exploring the area, at least as much as a 12-year-old kid could. Mind you, I was pretty independent even at that age. There was so much to see; the Liener River estuary was a wonder to behold. I did have a good time. Tahsis is such a beautiful area.
I spent as much time as I could with my sister’s girls, Ronny (the oldest) and Theresa; they were pretty awesome. The youngest was a pretty cool kid; she was so much like me. She was pretty young, but as she grew older. I remember how she would hop up on my lap and say, “When I grow up, Uncle Bud, I want to be a hippy just like you”. I lost track of this little one when she was about 10, after my sister and I had a falling out. Have not seen Theresa for close to 50 years, but I do search for her on occasion. One day, I might just find her.
The wildlife in the area was stunning; you could see black bears, cougars, wolves, deer, elk, raccoons, pine martens and mink in spring, summer, and fall. Migratory hummingbirds gather in great numbers in Tahsis, usually from March until late June. According to oral history from the first peoples, the hummingbirds have been doing this for thousands of years. Many other birds live or visit the area, enough to satisfy even the most dedicated birder. I was enthralled with this abundance.
It was awesome to spend some time with my sister and her family. After a week, though, I was missing the rest of my family and was very much looking forward to going home. As I got on the plane, I could hardly contain my excitement at the thought of seeing my pup again. I had missed him a lot.
Mom and Dad met me at the airport, and the first words out of my mouth after not seeing my pup were, “Where is Boots?” Mom’s face went ashen before she told me that the day I flew out, Boots had leaped out of her arms and run after the plane; they watched him disappear down the runway. Apparently, they looked all over for him, but he was gone. She told me I should be proud to have had a dog that loved me that much.
It was not until I was 64 years old that I had an epiphany about the whole damn thing and realized that she had lied to me. Sending me to Tahsis was the way they could put boots down for biting that girl without my knowledge, and my sister was involved. I can’t believe it took me all those years to figure out the truth. I have had many dogs and cats since then, but Boots still holds a special place in my heart.