warm springs ranch canada
"The Ranch" – An Atherton/Tolhurst Family project.
NEW YEAR’S at the RANCH!
HAPPY NEW YEAR’s from the Atherton/Tolhurst/Hystad clan! What a great week we had bringing in the 2014 New Year! Ice fishing, snowmobiling, cross country, snow shoeing, camp fires and bon fires! It all happens at the Ranch!
Even Rum made it up to the Ranch! Here she is all decked up and ready to take on the winter. Though she loved being outside in the fresh air, she enjoyed the comfort and warmth of the cabin!
Diego was also ready for the snow and cold weather. He loved running through the fresh and had a blast out on the ice. It was awesome that Ruth Lake received 14 inches of fresh the night before we arrived and temperatures were balmy, just below freezing!
The fishing started out slow the first couple of days but the team perservered and on day three we were rewarded with 6 nice rainbows!
Special thanks to Silver Tip who supplied the snowmobiles to take us to our favorite spot on the lake for ice fishing. The warm conditions on day one and two proved to be ideal for building an ice rink. The ice on the lake was about 12 inches thick and the warm weather and snowfall had produced a three inch layer of slush on top of the ice. The boys worked diligently, pushing off the snow and slush and on day three the -8 weather made it perfect for skating.
From ice fishing to snowmobiling to ice skating, it was on to nordic skiing! What a blast we had breaking trail through the 3 feet plus of snow depth. Special thanks to the official supplier of Warm Springs Ranch, Rossignol, who have provided all the gear for Ranch guests!
What a way to welcome the New Year with a campfire right outside the cabin!
And the finale bonfire on New Year’s Day to wrap up our trip! This was a gigantic pile of tree stumps near our building site.
ALL the very BEST in 2014! CHEERS!!!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS from TEAA & RGT
To all our family and friends, MERRY CHRISTMAS and ALL the VERY BEST in 2014!
We hope to see you at the Ranch sometime soon.
2013 Holiday Newsletter from TEAA & RGT is Ready for viewing!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS to our family and friends!
Each year, Tracy and I publish a Holiday Newsletter.
R U Coming!
Want to catch up to what has been happening in our world, check out our holiday newsletters by “clicking” the link below:
*PLEASE NOTE – for best viewing we recommend that once you have opened the newsletter you use the magnifier button found in the bottom right side of the document and magnify the file to fill your viewing screen! ENJOY!
October 15 Work Party Completed!
We say that mid October is the time to come to the Ranch and prepare it for winter. The truth is that I find the fishing hottest at this time of the year. Seems that the big trout come into the shallow waters out front of Warm Springs Ranch to feed on the eggs of the spawning Kokanee.
Truly a lovely sight seeing a school of bright red Kokanee salmon swim under the boat, but an even lovelier sight to see a big ass rainbow trout stocking in the lily pads.
It was TEAA’s first time flyfishing in the lily pads at this time of the year and she was not disappointed. Rumor has it that her efforts that weekend probably made her a shoe in for Warm Springs Ranch 2013 Angler of the Year.
Sandy’s Beach Dock Completed
Sandy’s dock was completed at the last work party. Special thanks to my nephews, Matt and Scott Groce, who worked off their tails to help me “Get her Done”
The dock was the last piece of the boardwalk, a two year project to connect the waterfront to our building site. A resting cradle for “Spitfire” an Acorn 15 row/sailboat was also added to the beachfront. The boardwalk is over 150 meters long and used over 1200 feet of two by ten’s, lots of blood, sweat and tears, so we are super stoked to complete it.
Approach to Warm Springs Ranch
Warm Springs Ranch is located on the northwest side of Ruth Lake, B.C. approximately 25 kilometers northeast of 100 Mile House, in the Cariboo District of B.C. The property is 6.7 ha with approximately 800 feet of waterfront on Ruth Lake.
The OUTBACK
The “OUTBACK” is the main storage area for Warm Springs Ranch. It was started in late September of 2010 with the pouring of the concrete foundation and floor. It was while pouring the foundation that I became known as “The Pilgrim“.
The concrete driver, pulled up, looked at the foundation forms, spit and said it would never hold. Then he asked where my crew was – when I told him it was just me, he said “Good Luck” and handed me the spout of the concrete pump.
The result was that the forms did hold, (special thanks to my friend Chris D.) and although it may be slightly slanted and an uneven floor, it was finished. From there it was onto the installation of the ribs, something which was apparently suppose to be quite easy.
Rib #1 Thank you Stef and Tor!
Does anyone realize how many half inch bolts hold this thing together. 16 ribs total with 48 bolts per rib didn’t seem like alot, till you had to start aligning 4 sheets of metal. Wow! Needless to say, the two day job did spread to 4 major work parties over September and October. Special thanks to our chief Engineer, Jack Tsai, who mostly shook his head and smiled and the rest of the crew that put in time getting her done.
Rib #3 – Thank you Palmer!
Rib #10 w/Tor, Chief Engineer Jack, Alan, Caitlyn and Stef!
According to our Chief Engineer, due to the uneven floor, alignment of the bolt holes was made more difficult – thank you for your patience team, and yes! I will not be pouring the house foundation when it is time.
RT using some recycled plywood to cover the front.
TEAA and the Dingo happy to see “the OUTBACK” up and standing!
warm springs ranch canada 