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Flooding fun enjoyed by Cariboo ranching family

Water levels were higher than Sam Zirnhelt ever experienced growing up in Beaver Valley

A family living on a ranch in the Cariboo has made the best of this year’s flooding by enjoying a ‘spring’ lake where normally they have hay fields in the summer.

Sam Zirnhelt said the water levels in lower Beaver Valley east of Williams Lake usually come up on Opheim Lake Road in mid-April where he grew up, but this year it was higher than normal.

“This is was the highest year that I know of in my life,” he told Black Press Media Friday. “It was amazing. It was seven feet deep on top of the road.”

He said half of the ranch was cut off and his dad and mom, David, a regular columnist with the Observer, and Susan Zirnhelt, were cut off and had to boat in and out for a few weeks.

Read more: Aerial tour of flooding in Williams Lake area

Zirnhelt and his sons, seven and nine years old, along with his brother Robin and his three sons, had a lot of fun with the water, he added.

“The boys were swimming and kayaking through the forests. I think about 100 acres of our ranch was under water.”

They paddled boats over the tops of the fences and rode horses through the water.

They even had a Mother’s Day picnic on the road, which due to flooding looked like a beach.

“The kids liked how the water was above the fences,” Zirnhelt added, noting they went out on the horses Thursday, May 14. “We went through and the water had dropped, but it still up to your stirrups. It’s fun.”

When asked if mosquitoes have arrived yet, Zirnhelt said they have been wondering how bad they will be this year with all the water.

“We’ve had COVID and floods and the next thing we’ll be dealing with is the mosquitoes,” he said, chuckling.

Read more: Cowboy poetry a family affair as young Zirnhelt carries on grandfather’s legacy



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Monica Lamb-Yorski

About the Author: Monica Lamb-Yorski

A B.C. gal, I was born in Alert Bay, raised in Nelson, graduated from the University of Winnipeg, and wrote my first-ever article for the Prince Rupert Daily News.
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