Just got back (at 2AM this morning) from a wonderful trip from Snowbank to Knife and back. I'll post a proper report in the coming days but right now I'm very curious to know if anyone can shed some light on why there was a helicopter over Knife Lake on the morning of last Monday, the 31st. We spotted it flying very low over the west end of Knife at mid-morning, maybe 9 or 10AM. Later in the day and early the next we also saw a float plane over Boot. Fire-spotting? Missing campers? If anyone's heard anything I'd be interested to know.

Also, to anyone making use of the Snowbank landing in the next couple of days, I'd like to apologize for leaving five bucks, our permit, and my fishing license on the white granite boulder by the parking lot. I put them there to dry out from a plunge I'd taken into the water at the other end of the lake, and soon became engrossed in getting the boats on the truck and forgot all about them. Dumb, dumb. And this after going on to my BW novice buddies about Leave No Trace. The five bucks, in singles, were individually weighted down with a small rock, and are probably still there if someone hasn't already taken them.

If anyone does find them, feel free to keep the five bucks, but could you mail me the fishing license? Pretty sure my address is on the permit.

I don't know, but we heard and saw many planes while in the BW mid-August. I was going to ask the outfitter about the planes when we got back, but forgot. We saw or heard 6-7 float planes, and heard jets, too, maybe 3-4 times. I don't remember hearing jets before. The float planes and the jets sound quite different. I'm pretty sure the float planes were not for fires because it was very rainy while we were there.

We saw what I assume was the same float plane every day in the Frost River area as well as several large, high-flying jets every day.

I don't know what the use of a helicopter would be aside from spotting people at low altitude. There isn't anywhere to land.