boulders+blueberries=blueberryboulders

[toivo]

i just thought i would alert you all to a batch of boulders that desires to be climbed, indeed are calling out, the fields of boulders are calling, for you to climb them all.

the town of Ignace has sponsored this bid, that i am letting you know about now, to host you at their boulder field.

if you were to think now- how is this possible, that from far away someone asks me to go climb at their boulders? what kind of people would make such an invitation? i.e. to climb at their town's boulders, in the middle of their blueberry field? (actually, there are raspberries and saskatoons too.) to give you some kind of indication of the sort of people you're dealing with, a camp full of Junior Rangers (they are supremely awesome, just for calling themselves the Junior Rangers, and for all their hard work) spent last summer clearing paths amongst the boulders, tending back the pine forest that is regrowing around them. so really- come check this out. it is halfway across canada, right near the middle of a drive from out east to the rockies. it is like an oasis. worth stopping by and bumming around here for awhile. for the white, quarry-quality granite.

best time is late july, early august:

http://blueberryboulders.wordpress.com/

[toivo]

so i just got back from up north, and these boulders really have changed in their appearance over the last few years. the trees that grew up to knee height before now make a forest, blocking off the boulders from view until they are right there in front of you. the paths cutting up to the rocks make each of them appear like a hidden monument. it's a little bit of a startle to see them there, white and shining in the green of a thick pine forest. even the aspect and angle of approach changes things: whereas before one might head straight to the tallest face, now new faces and features appear more significant, just because a path leads to them.

there is more to do there than i imagined at first. the guide has the west field recorded. the west field is still in drawings. there are many first ascents left to do. the boulders past the pond have yet to be approached, and the geologist mentioned another band of erratics, pushed by the glacier like fossil mastodons, tusks intact, into a line running perpendicular to and north of the access road.

blueberries are finished now. they've gone all sweet.