Ashlu Creek Run of the River Hydro Project

Our original intent was to ski up Cloudburst, but I forgot my skins so we reverted to plan B which was to explore the recently completed Ashlu Creek run of the river hydro project. In my mind, "run of the river" sounds like they just take a tiny bit of water out of the creek, send it through their power plant and then return the water to the creek. In reality, the project is much larger scale, and much closer to a traditional big dam hydro project.

Thank you Lynda and Josh. Those certainly are skins and yes, I forgot mine.

From Ashlu Run of the River

Our first stop was the power plant and the tail race.

From Ashlu Run of the River

Here is a pic of how much water is still in the creek.

From Ashlu Run of the River

And here is how much water was coming through the power plant. Probably close to 50:50 at this time of year, but likely the creek has more water flowing through it than the power plant.

From Ashlu Run of the River

I think that this is what's known as the tail race. It's where the pipe comes out of the ground and into the power plant.

From Ashlu Run of the River

This is what the inside of the plant looks like. The building was completely unlocked and all the gates were open. We tried to find people for a tour, but nobody was around.

From Ashlu Run of the River

We drove about 10km up the river valley to the head race. This was my first surprise. We drove really far! A tunnel runs underground for this whole length. My second surprise was that the head race isn't just a small diversion of water. It's a dam and a lake. The creek is completely blocked at this point and the landscape around the head race is very much different than it was before the dam was in place.

Miscellaneous shot of the head race.

From Ashlu Run of the River

This is a weir that can be adjusted up and down as needs require. The big black things are inflatable balloons that are used to control the height of the weir. At this low flow, there was no water flowing over the weir.

From Ashlu Run of the River

A fish ladder.

From Ashlu Run of the River

A close up of the fish ladder.

From Ashlu Run of the River

This was most of what flowed past the head race.

From Ashlu Run of the River

This is the lake created behind the dam. It probably extends for about a kilometer up the valley. A significant change to the river.

From Ashlu Run of the River

Some cool hoar frost that formed on the head race.

From Ashlu Run of the River

From Ashlu Run of the River

New Kitten Pics

It's official. Chris and I are now "Crazy Cat People". I think that I'm the only one in the way of Chris owning a dozen cats and a lot of lace doilies.

In the old Kittens! album, starting with this pic.

From Kittens!

And some from a new album started for 2010 kitten pics.

From Kittens! 2010

D-Wave In The News

Google posted some information about some of the work that D-Wave has been doing with them. Pretty cool stuff and lots to look forward to.

In somewhat related news, you should check out Google Goggles.

A Sad Weekend

This past weekend 3 of the kittens were euthanized because they contracted Parvovirus for which there is no cure. It was pretty rough and our home is a lot emptier now. The two smallest kittens were initially sick as well but seem to be doing well now. The vet said that they may kick it naturally. We're keeping our fingers crossed.

The pic below is of 1, 2 and 4 as they were heading to the vet. I didn't know at the time that I wouldn't see them again. Pretty cute right to the end and pretty sad looking at them again.

From Kittens!

A Few New Kitten Pics

Our babies are growing up. More pics at the end of the album that is linked below the photo.

From Kittens!

Also, one kitten figured out how to get onto the edge of my haul bag from the couch. It also found out that it's easier to get into a haul bag than out of a haul bag.

From Kittens!

Apple Tree Planting

Chris and I bought two apple trees at the UBC Apple Festival this year. We would like to track their progress on this blog.

Both trees are on B9 root stock, so they should be able to grow in planter boxes. We plan to train them to a lattice of some sort and the first pruning should take place sometime this spring.

The planter boxes before the trees. We brought some strawberry plants home from Nelson when we went out there for Thanksgiviner and they live in these boxes too.

From Apple Trees

The trees in their boxes. The tree on the left is an Aroma and the one on the right is a Cranberry Pippin.

From Apple Trees

Proud parents.

From Apple Trees

Kittens!

Sometimes the SPCA needs to get animals out of their kennel so that diseases don't spread. Five kittens and their mama came in with a respiratory infection that the SPCA didn't want spread to the rest of their cats so Chris and I are fostering them for a couple weeks. This is the fourth crop of kittens that we've fostered over the years and it's a blast every time. Last time we had people adopt the kittens right out of our home and we're hoping to do that this time first. Here is my kitten album

From Kittens!