From Anarchist Mountain we go down to Osoyoos Lake in the valley to visit Ludwig and his wife Irene. His 20,000 apple trees are just hobby, he sais. He earns his money with self-developed and produced, patented mountings for fruit trees and irrigation lines. To my pleasure he switches on one of the rattling machines that chisel bent wires every second. Ludwig takes me with his electro golf cart to the plantation where we pick apples. He gives us the whole box that stands now in the bathroom due to lacking space under the table. We stroll through his private garden and the test field where we find fruits that are cultivated from plums and apricots, tiny apples that taste like pear, and big apples that taste like pear. A kind of apples grows here that is so tasty that Ludwig cant ever harvest them, because the birds pick them before and leave only the empty skin. He could use pesticides, automatic firing systems or nets, but he doesnt want all that stuff. He wants apples he can eat unwashed directly from the tree. And the birds love apples too. So what. Irene gives us a bottle with homemade cold pressed apple juice that has to be stored frozen since it is made without any additives. It tastes sweet and exquisite like apples and apricots.
We are taking Hwy # 3 west to Princeton. Weve bought a backroad mapbook for BC that shows all side streets, forest paths and trails on a small scale. We disappear into the woods behind Tulameen and find a pretty clearing for sleeping.