DaleC
Contributor
The following is a breakdown of my recent three day, 1670 kilometer road trip, to dive three lakes in different parts of the Province. Each lake offered something different to look at.
Patricia Lake, in Jasper Alberta, is the site of a wreck called Project Habbakuk. During WWII, the Allies were considering a unique plan to make floating battleships of an ice/sawdust material called Pykrete. To ensure secrecy while testing this idea, a prototype was built in the remote setting of the Canadian Rocky Mountains during 1943, code named “Project Habbakuk”.
The ice of Habbakuk was contained in a wooden framework, insulated by thick layers of Bitumen tar, and cooled by internal piping and refrigeration units and oddly enough, the concept worked. The boat (which looked like a house) was built, but it also proved to be too costly to create and maintain on a larger scale. The refrigeration units were disconnected, the ice was allowed to melt, and Project Habbakuk sank beneath the surface of Patricia Lake.
I decided to walk to the dive site, situated 1.5 km’s along the shoreline from the road and to haul my gear in a wheelbarrow (because that's the way I roll). I followed the #6 horse trail up from the nearby stables, though an alternate route would be easier via the "Patricia Lake Bungalows" (You cannot park on their property but you could drop gear and park down by the lake pullout).
The horse trail was steep, and I was glad to finally get to the dive site. It is not very noticeable but lies along the flat portion of the trail that borders the lake heading west. If you begin to veer away from the lake you’ve gone too far.
Video 1 shows Habbakuk, mostly a jumble of wood, tar and piping, with one wall still standing. Not very pretty but a unique part of our history.
[video=youtube;xHSZ2yp_6uQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHSZ2yp_6uQ[/video]
My next stop was Johnson Lake, billed as the “Caribbean of BC”. Taking the Agate Road, between Barrier and Clearwater, I followed it, and a gravel road up into the mountains. I stopped in to talk to the owners of The “Johnson Lake Resort” and they allowed me to dive from their docks (normally a $5 day use fee). The other option is to drive to the far end of the lake to use the Forestry Site (which I also looked at) but the resort is far easier for diving and the owners were nice.
Video 2 shows the area around the dock where a small landslide has created a tangle of trees that provides shelter for Rainbow trout.
[video=youtube;cxri8Ka5uVU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxri8Ka5uVU[/video]
My last stop was Pavilion Lake, situated between Cache Creek and Lillooet. A personal favorite of mine due to its good vis and unique features, Pavilion is best known for containing Microbiolites, ancient calcified bacterial colonies. This time though, I was looking for something different.
I recently located an area where freshwater springs feed the lake via the karst system above. Video 3 shows me looking at these vents, tracing them to hillocks of actively growing Sphagnum Moss near the surface, and following a cold underwater river that flows down through the warmer lake until it mixes with colder water below the thermocline.
[video=youtube;BqQxZ4-1xcg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqQxZ4-1xcg[/video]
Patricia Lake, in Jasper Alberta, is the site of a wreck called Project Habbakuk. During WWII, the Allies were considering a unique plan to make floating battleships of an ice/sawdust material called Pykrete. To ensure secrecy while testing this idea, a prototype was built in the remote setting of the Canadian Rocky Mountains during 1943, code named “Project Habbakuk”.
The ice of Habbakuk was contained in a wooden framework, insulated by thick layers of Bitumen tar, and cooled by internal piping and refrigeration units and oddly enough, the concept worked. The boat (which looked like a house) was built, but it also proved to be too costly to create and maintain on a larger scale. The refrigeration units were disconnected, the ice was allowed to melt, and Project Habbakuk sank beneath the surface of Patricia Lake.
I decided to walk to the dive site, situated 1.5 km’s along the shoreline from the road and to haul my gear in a wheelbarrow (because that's the way I roll). I followed the #6 horse trail up from the nearby stables, though an alternate route would be easier via the "Patricia Lake Bungalows" (You cannot park on their property but you could drop gear and park down by the lake pullout).
The horse trail was steep, and I was glad to finally get to the dive site. It is not very noticeable but lies along the flat portion of the trail that borders the lake heading west. If you begin to veer away from the lake you’ve gone too far.
Video 1 shows Habbakuk, mostly a jumble of wood, tar and piping, with one wall still standing. Not very pretty but a unique part of our history.
[video=youtube;xHSZ2yp_6uQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHSZ2yp_6uQ[/video]
My next stop was Johnson Lake, billed as the “Caribbean of BC”. Taking the Agate Road, between Barrier and Clearwater, I followed it, and a gravel road up into the mountains. I stopped in to talk to the owners of The “Johnson Lake Resort” and they allowed me to dive from their docks (normally a $5 day use fee). The other option is to drive to the far end of the lake to use the Forestry Site (which I also looked at) but the resort is far easier for diving and the owners were nice.
Video 2 shows the area around the dock where a small landslide has created a tangle of trees that provides shelter for Rainbow trout.
[video=youtube;cxri8Ka5uVU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxri8Ka5uVU[/video]
My last stop was Pavilion Lake, situated between Cache Creek and Lillooet. A personal favorite of mine due to its good vis and unique features, Pavilion is best known for containing Microbiolites, ancient calcified bacterial colonies. This time though, I was looking for something different.
I recently located an area where freshwater springs feed the lake via the karst system above. Video 3 shows me looking at these vents, tracing them to hillocks of actively growing Sphagnum Moss near the surface, and following a cold underwater river that flows down through the warmer lake until it mixes with colder water below the thermocline.
[video=youtube;BqQxZ4-1xcg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqQxZ4-1xcg[/video]
