Charles Helm
For the first time in BC, the value of our caves was recognized through the proclamation of an official “Caves and Karst Day” on June 6. This year is also the International Year of Caves and Karst.
In order to celebrate the occasion appropriately, members of the Wolverine Nordic and Mountain Society arranged a work-bee to clear the Stone Corral Karst Interpretive Trail for hikers. This 4 km trail, in Monkman Provincial Park, leads through a variety of karst landscapes through spectacular scenery to two caves which can be explored. An interpretive brochure guides visitors through more than twenty sites of interest.
Over the winter, as a result of the pine beetle infestation, fifty trees had come down over the trail. The wetter weather in the mountains also means that the brush grows in more quickly, and some parts of the trail were becoming overgrown. The work party therefore comprised Fred and Shawna Booker on brush-saw duty, and Charles and Linda Helm, Lisa Mackenzie and Carissa Phalen as the chain-saw/trail-clearing group.
The second trail-clearing group consisted of Larry White on chain-saw, followed by Charissa Tonnesen and her pharmacy student Justin Cruz. After half a day’s work, thirty down trees on the Greg Duke Lakes trail and twenty on the Lake Joan / Canary Falls trail had been removed.
The number of hikers that we had to allow to pass us was remarkable, and the Stone Corral parking lot was overflowing when we got back to it. It was a good feeling, knowing that the trail was cleared and brushed for future hikers. Without exception, hikers expressed their gratitude to the volunteers in keeping the trails in good shape.
For Lisa and Carissa, it was their first time to explore Corral Cave and Porcupine Cave, and they used their flashlights to enjoy the formations and fossils, and managed to negotiate a tight squeeze. Enjoying the inside of these caves seemed a fitting way in which to appreciate the first Caves and Karst Day in British Columbia.
