Monthly Archives: April 2014

Interesting Nature

Over the years, while hiking the trails around Buntzen Lake, I have seen some interesting things out there. For example, in the photo below, this tree is seriously leaking ! The sap is leaking from high up and it is about an inch thick on the ground and spreads downhill for about 2 m. This tree is on the west side of the Buntzen Lake Trail.



Leaking tree
The next photo is on the east side of Buntzen Lake; it is a burned out tree with a spiral shape. Pretty cool huh ?

Burned out spiral tree



As I wrote in another post, there are numerous old tree stumps around Buntzen Lake – remnants of logging in the early 1900s. The large stumps below are on the south beach of Buntzen Lake. Obviously new trees grew on the old stumps. The new trees were later cut down and the roots can be seen around the original stump ! I wonder how many people have climbed up these stumps on stumps !

Cool stumps on southbeach



One time during a walk on the Lakeview Trail, I noticed damage about 10 feet up on a tree – it looked like someone took a hacksaw to it ! On my next visit, I was surprised to see a woodpecker doing a number on the tree. Since the first time, the woodpecker had started on second section.

More damage

One day, I hiked the Buntzen Lake Trail after a heavy rainfall, and I found this neat little ‘droplet waterfall on a mossy rock’. Check out the video and turn up the volume…



Here’s a branch on a tree that decided to do a loopy loop…

Twisty branch

The next photo below shows a tree with an interesting formation – possibly the result of some kind of trauma as a young tree ?? This tree is on the Diez Vistas Trail…

Interesting pattern on this tree

Below is a stubborn tree that decided it will grow in this place regardless of the big rock !!

Tree grew around this rock !



On the shortcut from the Diez Vistas Trail to the Lakeview Trail, I noticed this interesting pattern on tree roots…

Interesting pattern on this root

Filming at Buntzen Lake

Due to its remote location (but not far from civilization), along with the lake, beaches, forests, mountains and wharf, the Buntzen Lake Recreation Area provides the perfect backdrop for a wide genre of movies and TV shows.



Below is a list of the movies/TV shows I know have filmed at Buntzen Lake:

  • Supernatural (TV series, 2005-Present)
  • Unknown Pilot (TV series, April 2014)
  • The Killing (Netflix, 2011-2014)
  • Psych (TV series, 2006-2014)
  • Eureka (TV series, 2006-2012)
  • Smallville (TV series, 2001-2011)
  • Stargate SG-1 (TV series, 1997-2007)
  • The 4400 (TV series, 2004-2007)
  • Hot Rod (Movie, 2007)
  • Pathfinder (Movie, 2007)
  • Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (Movie, 2007)
  • Devour (Movie, 2005)
  • Three O‘Clock (Movie, 2005)
  • Freddie vs. Jason (Movie, 2003)
  • The X-Files (TV series, 1993-2002)
  • Dark Angel (TV series, 2000-2002)
  • Lake Placid (Movie, 1999)
  • It (Movie, 1999)
  • Highlander (TV series, 1992-1998)
  • The People Across The Lake (Movie, 1988)
  • 21 Jump Street (TV Series, 1980s)

 



Below is a photo of the filming of ‘The Killing’ in April 2014…

North beach filming

They needed artificial fog, so they used this…

Artificial Mist

Artificial Mist on the suspension bridge

Here’s the cabin used in the show…

Cabin for the show "The Killing"



Here’s construction of the cabin…

Set construction

Here’s all the trucks…

Trucks used a lot of parking spaces



Shortly after filming for “The Killing” ended, a new production company set up and were filming a pilot for TV. I didnt get the name of the show, but below are a couple of photos I took in early April 2014…

Boats at North Beach

Spotlights

Tree Stumps

The area around Buntzen Lake is second growth forest.  The area was forested in the early 1900s and evidence remains today in the form of giant tree stumps. The massive stump below is seen near the start of the Buntzen Lake Trail…

Large Stump near start of trail

Here are three more large tree stumps on the Buntzen Lake Trail…

Tree stump

Tree stump

Large Stump

Back when logging was done by hand, axes were used to cut large notches in the base of the tree. The loggers would then insert a springboard (wooden plank) into the notch, stand on the springboard, and use crosscut saws to saw down the massive old growth trees that blanketed the area. Check out the photos below. You can see the springboard notches…

Springboard Notches

Springboard notches

Below is an up close photo of a springboard notch…

Springboard notch

Below is an archival photo of a tree being cut down using a springboard…

Cutting tree ca. 1910

Check out this massive tree being cut down by a team of men…

Men around a tree

This is an old video showing how large trees were cut down…

Here’s a cool old tree stump on the south beach, with a new tree growing in it…

Tree on a stump

One tip, if you haven’t already, go for a nice stroll around the Energy Trail. There are some huge stumps there, including this hollow stump…

Buntzen Lake Hollow Tree

Buntzen Lake Tunnel

 

Apart from the nature, this is one of the most interesting things to see at Buntzen Lake.  Can you imagine, boring a 3.6 km tunnel through a mountain! The tunnel starts at Coquitlam Lake, goes to under Eagle Mountain to a maximum depth of 1.2 km and terminates into the north end of Buntzen Lake. Construction started in January 1903 and was completed in April 1905.  The error in alignment was only 7/8 inch and 1.75 inches in grade. The tunnel project also involved raising the level of the dam on Coquitlam Lake.

UPDATE: 8 JULY 2015:

As the region’s reservoir’s are depleting fast, Metro Vancouver has asked BC Hydro to set aside 68.2 billion litres of water and has budgeted $862,000. This means no or very low flow through the tunnel into Buntzen Lake in the summer of 2015.

The photo below shows a heavy flow through the tunnel…

Tunnel 1

The contractor, Rannie & Campbell, employed over 175 men and sometimes up to 300 ! They worked 8-hour shifts, days nights and holidays. Interesting note: the tunnel was subsequently doubled in size. The photo below shows the tunnel at the base of Eagle Mountain to show perspective…

Eagle Mountain

Many workers were killed during the construction of the tunnel and BC Hydro has set up a memorial by the tunnel…

Memorial

The maximum flow rate through the tunnel is 40 m3/s. Sometimes the flow is very slow in the tunnel, such as in the photo below…

Low flow through tunnel

The current can be strong and unpredictable – this is why there are many warning signs as seen below…

Danger

Water from Buntzen Lake (via the tunnel) flows through penstocks down the steep mountain slope to two power plants located on Indian Arm. During construction of the tunnel, there was a tunnel camp set up on the site of the present north beach. The tunnel camp had dwellings and a blacksmith shop. See the tunnel camp below…

Tunnel Camp

See a short video below of a torrent of water flowing out of the tunnel…

Here’s a photo taken from the trail just above the tunnel…

Above tunnel

Here’s a view inside the tunnel from an explorer.
WARNING: Do not try this. It is illegal and very dangerous as a torrent of water can be released at any time!

Inside the tunnel