Mapping the Way to the Shuswap

One of the cutest maps I ever saw was one that came with Doral and his kids one summer. When they reached the Shuswap, out of the car they peeled, the small ones with a map that Doral had drawn, showing “how far to the Shuswap”. He said it made the ride easier for the adults. They br/could just tell the kids which city they were at and so the question about how far was always answered. I thought about this yesterday morning when Michael asked how far it was to the Shuswap. I could remember enough of Doral’s original map to just plunge in with a serpentine line and mark the important stops along the way. I thought I would begin easy and beautify later.

Start: top left
Finish: bottom right

Pad of paper thanks to suppliers at Richard''s work

So tonight after supper we pulled out a pad of paper and began with a Start and a Finish line and then began to add important milestones along the way.

The word Canmore brought with it additional information: Canmore is the place where they stop on their way to Calgary to go to the bathroom at MacDonalds and have a hamburger.

Field doesn’t really count as a stop – the marker for this family is Finn Creek where there is a toilet and a place to run across a bridge or down to the water to get the blood flowing through their veins again.

Skunk Cabbage is the place they never stop. On going to the Shuswap, they are too tired to add another 40 minutes to the road by stopping; on the way back from the Shuswap Skunk Cabbage seems like too soon to stop and anyway, they are headed home as fast as possible.

Still we continued to make our map – marking tunnels, the top of the pass, places where there are deep gorges, and where the foothills turn into mountains. I was making the map for Michael. I didn’t notice until the evening was over, that Alice was on my other side, making a map for herself that mirrored ours.

Michael asked me to file his copy of his map at my house and bring it out when it is time to go to the Shuswap. Richard suggested that we at least put it in a page cover for the trip. I think we will be adding colour and more information – maybe even making a little catalogue to go along with our new beautiful map to the Shuswap.

Arta