Fishing: an incurable trollable hysteria. I could see . “Hello.”? It was me answer- ing the phone. . “Let's go fishing.'? It was Bill calling me. : ° There was - ‘unmistakable urgency in his voice, an urgency shaped by the need to recreate a fine fishing | experience — to share the terhporary sporting wealth of a newly discovered angling treasure, - “I?ve got to scrape the mass off the roof. I've been promis- ing Karen for months,” a vision of me peeling back a layer of. spongy green carpet and discovering shingles still attach- ed to it flashed’ across the part of my brain that handles such things: » “Pye found a run, one we've driven. past hundreds of. times —- and it’s loaded,”’ Bill spoke in. an uncharacteristically low Voice; it was all he could do to keep from breaking into uncon- silver, torpedo-shaped tubes of muscle hovering over the boulders of glacially tinted. _pools, waiting to unleash their “explosive energy upon tiny glit- ° tering, undulant objects dangl- ~ ed over their heads on gossamer threads of mono. “To hell with the moss, *T said involuntarily. “*Auh?”* “The moss can wait." .. “Pick me up,”' said Bill. There had been no new loge- ing. The road hadn't been grad- ed‘in a long time, The rods in the car and those underneath it rattled together as -I attempted to steer the endangered Honda . -the torturous course and shot through a minefield of potholes and jagged rocks. A moment on. the road’ is a moment stolen - from streamside. My lead-soled | driving foot was near the floor, We shot past Baxter's and. cya ts ro The. Skeena - Angier — . by Rob Brown Blackie’s, rallied’ dangerously alongside the precipitous slopes of the canyon, sped past Little ’ America, rattled over the bridge at Simpson Creek and groaned up the grade to Matson's Ca- nyon. Shrapnel shot from under the wheels, We pried our eyes away from sidelong glances at the river to ‘make sure it hadn't coloured up ‘in the interim. It hadn't and it ‘ wouldn’t, for the temperature -had dropped and the first of the - fall frosts had bitten the land- scape. It was fali down here in the lower reaches if the river, it had to be winter 40 miles in- land, where the glaciers had . stopped melting. The water courses along the rock faces had frozen causing shards of rock to break free and roll onto the road in many places. 1 wheeled around a dangerous corner. “There!” yelled Bill, “Where?” I screamed, hit- Terrace Standard, Wednesday, August 4, 1990 — Page 63 ting a piece of rock that could easily have been mistaken for - the incisor. of a prehistoric shark. There: was a cruel grating sound, I gave Bill a what-do- you-think look. Bill shrugged. A red light on the dash board went on. “Oil,” it said. We gat out. The Honda bled black blood. ‘‘We've got to get back to town,’’ [ said. Bill nod- ’ ded agreement. Down a hill — no light. Up a hill — ‘OIL’, And so it went. “Dan welds," suggested Bill as the oil light went out ona downslope. We pulled into Dan's place. ‘He lived in Thornhill, on River Road near the Church of God. 3 pounded on the door for a long time before Dan opened it. He “had just gotten out of bed. His eyes were half-shut and he was in his underwear. Except for a fierce-looking great horned owl, stuffed with its wings: outstret- . ched, Dan’s house was bare.. > - “Can you weld my oilpan?”’ 1 asked Dan. “I tore it on. the Copper: River Road. “We were on our way toa new hotspot,” | I added for clarity. ‘Dan understood. Within half an hour, he'd brazed thé pan. We topped up with oil at the service station and were on our way. “What happened to. Dan’: 5 stuff?”’ I asked. “His old lady left,’ said Bill. “He must’ve fished too much.’’ Knowing where the rocks and holes were now, I drove faster. In thirty minutes we were there. We fished hard. We fished with waning anticipation, We hook- - ed nothing -— not a fish. “Can't understand it,’’ said Bill shaking his head. ‘It was . great yesterday.”' SPORTS NE JEFF NAGEL 638-7283 WS. TERRACE STANDARD Race hike Kings TERRACE Smithers’ _ Richard Harrison retained his _rown in Terrace’s 13th annual King of the Mountain race up Terrace- Mountain. :, The six-time winner was in a dead heat with Terrace’s Colin ‘Parr for much of the eight- ‘kilometre hiking trail course on July, 29.. But Harrison’s. mid- course surge gave him a slight ‘lead over Parr which he manag- ed ‘to hold until the end, winn- ing by 25 seconds. “> The. steep hills and rocky sur- face ‘made -the course a real ‘challenge for ail participants, and all finishers were given T-shirts. . The final standings were: Open Men ‘ist — — Richard Harrison, 37:43 minutes, . ‘Harrison holds the course record of 95129, And — Colin Parr, 38:08 Parr has won the race twice and is a former record holder. ; 3rd -— Perry Grunenberg {Telkwa), : a it. Fourth overall, : ‘Open Women “Ist — Rose-Marie Cheer (Pr. Rupert), . 1:46 | ‘ . od Kelli Maskiewich (Smithers}, ac Pe ee ‘Kim Barsiere (Terrace), 1:02:47: 2 Masters Men im —-Ed Ansems (Terrace), 41:12. Ansems was third ovevall, ‘Qad — Geoff Phillips (Terrace), 46:10 3rd -— Nell Fleischmann (Terr,) 50:44 : an Masters Women dat — ~ Marilya Earl (Terrace), 1:03:16 : 2nd. ~ = Routh Keefe (Kitimat), 1:10:26 2S ~ Junior Male (14-18) 1st — ‘Dave Edmonds (Terrace), 43:26 : Ind — David Shepherd (Terrace), 43:34 ard — Chad Edmonds (Terrace), 45:19 ee Jualor Male (under-14) sult — Justin Cheer (Pr. Rupert), 53:14 “3nd — Rob McLeod (Kitimat), $7:53 5 ard. _ - Jeremy Hutter (Terrace), 58:06 aa Junlor Female (under-14) > Ast — Cynthia Kenyon (Terr,} 1:07:19 nd — Sarah Weston (Terrace), 1:29:20 Fencing championships last month. ' even. higher. Thomas’ ships th this month i in Spain: hae A. former. Terrace athlete has capped an im- pressive year of international-level fencing with medal-winning performances at the Western Canada summer games in Winnipeg. Crystal Thomas earned a silver medal in in-. dividual fencing and a team gold at the western Dacre Stoker, Canada’s national coach, says Thomas — who has competed internationally with the Canadian national women's, team throughout Europe — has the potential to soar consistent improverient in both athletic ‘abllities and competition results could . §oon’ put: her. in the top three, Stoker, adds, Thomas: hopes: to attend the. world: