The first sign of military life was evident as you reached a small boarded up white building (about 1 km from the highway) on the left hand side of the road. This, evidently, was the guardhouse. There was no barrier crossing the road, as was evident in the days of an operational military base. Nor were there any signs remaining (such as Welcome to USAF Base Puntzi Mountain or RCAF Station Puntzi Mountain). You could still see what appeared to be a mound of elevated soil in the background, with small cement structures on the top. A walk around the guardhouse building verified that it was totally boarded - thereby denying the curious (like myself) of any chance to see what was inside. The only exception was at the back, where a window with bars allowed viewing of the interior, a small room, the size of a modern day bathroom.
Behind the guardhouse was a second white building - which, when inspected appeared to be a "boiler room". The building was intact, glass windows were broken, doors were missing - thereby allowing access to the interior. A quick walk through the building resulted in a find - what appears to be operating instructions (from a manual) for a FLOTROL Rectifier - which, when reading indicated that this changed standard alternating current- power to direct current. Of interest was the last page which identified a date of August 27, 1965.
There were no other remaining military buildings. At best was a flat asphalt area within a few minutes walk of the boiler room building. I was unable to identify what this might have been used for.
Walking to the other side of the road, I reached an area which was water covered. This was not Puntzi Lake. It may, at one time or other, have been a water reservoir for the military.
There were about 5 to 10 mobile homes in the area, but these were all relatively new and were not part of the radar station history.
Taking the left hand fork in the road, and driving about 5 km's or thereabouts will eventually lead you to the Puntzi airport which has a runway of 6,000 ft by 200 ft. This airport is still active today - now being used by Ministry of Forests Protection Program fire suppression crews. There were a few hangers and some buildings used by the fire attack crews.
If you wanted to get to the area where the old radar station once stood, you must return to the area where the base camp once stood and drive by the trailers. You would soon find yourself on a gravel road and 9.8 km later, you arrive at the summit. It is not a difficult drive, nor is it as steep as the drive in Holberg or Kamloops. It is suggested that you keep an eye on your mileage odometer. At 7.7 km from the start of the gravel road (2.1 km from the top) you will notice a somewhat narrow road leading off to the right. If you stop and investigate, you will see that this road was once asphalt. I drove in about 3 or 4 km's, and there is nothing there. The shrubs and trees are slowly closing in on this area - and it may well be impassable in another 3 or 4 years. I subsequently heard that the initial military base design had a split layout for their transmitter and receiver sites. It is safe to assume that a transmitter site or a receiver site could have been located in this area.
Continuing up the hill - you reach an intersection turning right. This road is a current day logging road, and it is marked. Do not turn right, but continue straight ahead for another km or so - where you will eventually reach the summit.
Very little remains. The were a few buildings which are probably currently used by BC Telephone. An additional small wooden building remains a mystery. If you allow your mind to roam a little, you can envision what the area may have looked like in the 1950's or 60's. While walking through this area, I came upon many small pieces of cement that had rebar sticking through... the apparent remnants of foundations to buildings.
The road map shows a town of Chilanko Forks, but this is quite misleading as there is nothing there. Discussions with locals indicated the original location of Chilanko Forks was further west than the cutoff to Puntzi. Apparently, the town or whatever, was relocated and on returning towards William's Lake on highway 20, you will see a sign (right hand side of the highway) that points in to the Chilanko Forks General Store. If you stop to have a look, all that you will see is the cement base structure of a burnt out building.
As can be expected, it is quite difficult to locate anyone with any degree of recollection as to what the area may have been like in the 1950's when the Americans were there, or even the 1960,s when the radar station was handed over to the Canadian military.
The best source of information during my trip was a man called Les Friend. I had heard that he was in charge of the airport for about 20 years. I called him and eventually visited his home for a chat. He can be reached at 250-481-1136 (home) or 250-481-1104 (office).
-- Ren L'Ecuyer, Victoria, BC
