Answer Man — whither Goose Lake Road?

Dear Answer Man,

Hi, Goose Lake Road seems to have disappeared on KGHM’s latest map. Could you give us some history of the road and maybe the area in general? Thanks.

ROSS NICHOL,

Kamloops

Dear Ross,

I looked at the 3-D scale model KGHM displayed at its open houses, and Goose Lake Road has, indeed, disappeared. The model shows the road dead-ending at the south end of the proposed tailings pond and at the north end of the south waste-rock pile.

On a paper map, the road is shown at its current location, running through the waste rock pile and the tailings pond. The pond, of course, will swallow Goose Lake itself as well as a big portion of the road.

At the open house, I asked KGHM permits manager Nicola Banton what will be done about that, and she said it’s subject to a socio-economic study that will include interviewing residents and various interest groups about any problems that might be caused if the two ends of the road aren’t re-connected somehow.

Anyone who looks at the model or the map will see that reconnecting the road will be a major task, requiring a new road to be built across part of the current Little Ranch and over the crest above Edith Lake, almost touching Edith Lake Road and then skirting the rock pile and mine plant and rejoining the east part of the road somewhere at Peterson Creek.

Maybe a couple of separate legs could be built to connect into Edith Lake Road instead.

Anyway, Banton didn’t know exactly what factors would be considered in the socio-economic study but some scouting around reveals that Goose Lake Road is of recreational significance, popular for cycling, hiking, running, orienteering and by naturalists for birding. The area around it is also used for ATV recreation.

The kamloopstrails.net site describes the area as featuring marshlands, gullies and grasslands and being the habitat of a variety of birds and water fowl. Stop Ajax Mine adds that it is also home to raptors and transplanted burrowing owls. Stop Ajax Mine says it’s currently used by Thompson Rivers University and the school district for students to study beaver and bird populations and habitat.

“Goose Lake is designated an Educational Resource B.C. Lake,” it says, citing the Victoria Information Guide.

QuadCorral.com says the area offers a small network of trails suitable for beginner to intermediate riders.

“The area is remote, however there is numerous camping locations in the area. This is a multi-use area, so expect to see hikers, people on horseback, 4X4ers, dirt bikers and more, so respect other users while in the area.”

Goose Lake is part of the big rolling grasslands south of Kamloops that were settled post-contact by ranchers, then by homesteaders, and then by ranchers again. The Goose Lake community was homesteaded in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and the remnants of dozens of homesteads remain.

The 1984 book, Bunch Grass to Barbed Wire, which I have in my library, says St. Peter’s Church was completed at Goose Lake in 1915 but it gradually fell into disuse in the 1920s as homesteaders gave up and started leaving the area.

The children of Goose Lake settlers attended the Jacko Creek school, built with logs in 1905. In 1914, three Goose lake settlers — B. Haverfield, a man named Gainer and T. Swanton — sat on a committee to form the Kamloops District Stockbreeders’ Association.

One section of the book talks about the difficulties of keeping roads open in winter during the 1930s and 1940s. “Goose Lake also had some miserable stretches. To give you an idea of the depth of snow one year, let me tell you about Jack Little’s horse.

“Jack was riding, keeping to the high ground between the road and the fence when suddenly the horse went down and I mean down. Its head and neck were lying out on the snow and its tail flat out behind. the more it struggled, the deeper it went. We helped Jack unharness the horse and dig until it got its footing.”

There were two Jack Littles — one was known as “Big Jack” and one as “Little Jack.” The latter died in the 1940s, leaving his property to George Little, Big Jack’s son. George still lives just a short distance from Goose Lake — his home will disappear under the Ajax tailings pond.

THE ANSWER MAN

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