Day 2 - Indianpoint Lake & Isaac Lake

It rained all night. It deluged. It poured. It showered and drenched us in torrents and monsoons. We woke up, and it continued. Rain, rain, go away...

First we had to take-down the camp. We had managed to set-up our tent and tarp in a way that was effective, thank goodness, but we didn't really have spare clothes. So, we put the cold & wet stuff from yesterday back on. We huddled underneath a common cooking area trying to eat something for breakfast. Again, I didn't have much appetite. And it's hard to form routines and be efficient (i.e. learn) when you are constantly distracted by your own physical & emotional situation.

Back onto Indianpoint Lake. I was paddling with Quina again, she in the stern and me in the bow. I preferred the bow because although you are the "motor" of the boat, you do less steering and therefore less thinking. My brain was protesting any form of intelligent thought by that point, so I figured it was a safer bet. It didn't help us much though; I was so exhausted that I didn't have much steam and we ended up being the last of our group at the portage site, again.

Another portage. 2 km. In the pouring rain. At one point we switched portage partners, and I went with Doug, who was great. He had energy, he kept me going, he let me rest, and was generally supportive. When we got to the end, we ate our lunch while waiting for the canoes ahead of us to launch. Pulling out your crushed/smashed food (which for me was pita with pb & j) and trying to eat in the rain while fending off mosquitoes was not super-pleasant. I got a few bites of food this time I think, but people were rushing us because everyone wanted to get to camp as soon as possible, to get out of the drowning rain.

The place where we were launching the canoes was so muddy that we struggled with keeping our shoes on. The mud was so deep and wet it would suck your shoe right off your foot. Made it kind of hard to get your balance. Once we launched, we paddled through a zig-zag marsh and headed down Isaac Lake. It's still raining. 7 km paddle to our campsite (#14), again with Quina and again we are last. By this time I'm fairly convinced that I am the weak link, because, well, I sure as heck feel weak.

Oh, what's this? Our campsite is flooded? There's a waterfall running through it? Oh, good, I just didn't think this day could get any better.

We paddle a little ways further and with luck, find a communal shelter that is not in use by anyone else. This is great because there are 14 of us and the shelter is meant to be shared. It's basically a covered area with picnic tables underneath and a wood-burning stove. It's NOT supposed to be a camping area. But, with our campsite flooded we didn't have much choice.

First thing we did is get changed out of our wet clothes and we hung them all around the shelter to drip. They didn't really dry, unless you had them right up next to the stove, and as you can imagine, that space was at a premium. We huddled around that stove like it was our lifeline, and it sure seemed that it was. I had a really hard time warming up; I may have had a touch of hypothermia. Even after they moved me to sit right in front of the stove (the warmest spot), I couldn't stop the teeth chattering and shivering for a while. But eventually it got better, and I dried out and warmed up.

Then there was discussion about the next day's paddle, which sounded tough. The trip leaders decided to switch partners around the group to balance things out. The stronger paddlers were going to be paired with the weaker paddlers, and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I was lucky enough to be paired with Adam, who definitely knows his way around a canoe. Not to mention he was super nice about being stuck with me. ;)

Time to set-up camp. In the rain. Again. We did it with a fair amount of success and everything stayed relatively dry underneath the awesome tarp we were using. Setting up a tarp is like a big problem-solving activity since you might not have many/any trees available and you need to predict where water is going to go. The water issue's not a hard one to solve when it's already raining, because your skill (or ineptitude) becomes clear rather quickly. I have to say, Quina and I were a very good tarp-team. We got consistent compliments from people about how well our tarp was set-up. I even started to look forward to the next campsite to see what variables we'd have to navigate. It was... fun?

Didn't eat much again. But my appetite, the weather, and our morale were about to take a drastic turn for the better!



(No photos. It rained too much to take out the camera.)

Day 1 - Kibbee Lake & Indianpoint Lake

Okay, let's get this out of the way right now: Day 1 and 2 did not go well. In fact, they were downright miserable. If the whole trip had been like Day 1 and 2, I would have had a nervous breakdown. However, in the end I was totally happy and grateful for the opportunity and truthfully, the first two days had a lot to do with that. If I knew then what I know now, yes, I would do it again. This trip was AWESOME. But... the first two days were not.

Let me back up a bit. So, before Day 1 even started, we were to spend the night in the Bowron Lakes Provincial Campground. This was a great idea because if anyone had problems with equipment, or forgot something, or didn't prepare properly, they would know before we really got into it.

We arrived in the campground after visiting the Barkerville Cemetery and people were setting up their tents and getting re-acquainted. As soon as we stepped out of our vehicle, we were encompassed with huge clouds of mosquitoes. Voracious mosquitoes, and they were everywhere. According to the locals, it was the worst they had ever seen in ten years with something like 10 times the amount of bugs they'd seen last year. In any case, it was bad. We did what we could to fight them off: we kept moving, some people broke out the DEET, and we put on our mosquito face nets, which turned out to be rather ineffective.

We got down to business and started setting up our tent. Much to our dismay, the tent that Quina brought for the two of us to share, had faulty cord inside the tent poles. The tent was only a few years old but the cord had become dry & brittle, and had no elasticity. This was a rather large concern for us given that it was our shelter! While we were able to stretch, cut and tie the cord so that the poles would stay together, we didn't know how long that method would last us over 8 days. It turned out to be fine, although each time we set-up camp we worried if our luck had run out.

So off to sleep we went, with an early 6am rise the next day. It was officially Day 1! We were a little frantic around camp since we had to arrive at Registration & Orientation by a certain time or we'd be bumped to a later start time. Lance wanted to get going, and we just wanted to get away from those bugs!

One of our group, Doug, was wearing a "mosquito shirt" which is like a light jacket with material that is impenetrable to bugs, and comes with a hood that fits loosely over your face. He said it was great, and so when Lance had to make a trip down to the store, Quina and I went down and purchased some shirts of our own (and one for Erin too). It was the best $60 I have ever spent! A very, very good investment. I came back with a ton of bites, but none where that shirt had covered me. It worked like a charm. Not to mention, both Quina & I were reluctant to put DEET (you know, the stuff that melts plastic) on our skin. The mosquito shirts were fantastic.

So, we headed to Registration and Orientation where they give you a map, a garbage bag (everything you take in, must come out with you!), and make you watch a video. I just loved the part where they show a bear attacking a tent. Moral of the story? Don't put food in your tent. Still, that freaked me out a bit. I thought perhaps I wouldn't be able to sleep for fear of bears attacking the tent, but turns out that I was too exhausted to care. Several times on the trip I was so tired that if a bear had come along, I would have probably lied down and said "go ahead." I was too tired to worry about bears. Plus, there were fourteen of us, and we weren't exactly quiet.

After Orientation, we weighed our stuff. They only allow you to pack a certain amount of weight into your canoe for the portages; the rest you have to carry on your back. We were lucky enough to have canoe carts, which are wheels that you strap onto the bottom of your canoe so that you can push it through the portage trails rather than carry the canoe and then have to go back for a 2nd trip to get all of your stuff. If we had to carry those canoes, well, let's just say... I probably would have died. I have total respect for all the people that have ever done that, but it is way beyond my capacity. :P

So, the first portage was the longest. 2.4 km to Kibbee Lake. In the rain. Imagine carrying a pack on your back so heavy that if someone pushes your shoulder, you fall over. And then you are going uphill, and it's raining, and you have a huge heavy canoe with a bunch of gear in it. And even though there's two of you, if one of you makes an unanticipated move, the other person goes flying off the trail. Or perhaps the canoe hits a rock, or a hole, or a huge puddle, and goes over, with your stuff all over the ground. Or the cart gets dislodged. Or you drive it into the ditch. Or someone ahead of you stops at the top of a hill and you can't put your canoe down or it will go sliding all the way back down.

I came home with a lot of bruises.

The worst part of the portaging for me was the carrying of my huge, heavy pack and going uphill while pushing a heavy canoe. My poor cardio was pushed to the limit those times. It was really, really hard. Thank goodness for some of the guys in our group who stepped up to help those of us that were having a tough time. :)

When we got to Kibbee Lake, the rain had mostly stopped and I was able to take a few photos. It was already breathtakingly beautiful. I've been camping before, but nothing like this. Unspoiled riches of BC wilderness. It was awesome.

We started our paddle across this small 2.3 km lake and halfway across, we heard it: thunder. Uh oh. Here we go! Paddling in the bow with Quina in the stern, we tried to step it up a notch given that the rainstorm was coming and most of our group was ahead of us. We made it to the other side only to begin another portage, this one 2.1 km and no less difficult. I was already exhausted - in fact I was fatigued long before. However, we made it to Indianpoint Lake, paddled another 3 km and found our campsite (#7).

Setting up camp in the rain is... not so fun. That night, I think Quina & I went to bed at 6:30pm. No joke. I didn't eat much for dinner, and I was too tired to make anything. I was cold, wet and miserable.

And the next day would be even worse.



(Day 1 Photos here.)

Wells & Barkerville

Quina, Erin (Quina's longtime friend and our district colleague) & I left one day early and made the road trip up to Wells, BC on July 5th (many thanks to Erin who drove!). There was much chatting, eager anticipation, excited stories, stops for Subway & DQ and plenty of small towns to see along the highway. We drove through Hope, Yale, Boston Bar, Lytton, Ashcroft, Cache Creek, Clinton, 100 Mile House, Williams Lake and Quesnel before arriving in the very small district of Wells. We had booked a room at The Wells Hotel for the night.

Once arrived, we settled in and had some dinner at the hotel restaurant, which was fairly decent. Then we walked about town. It definitely had a small-town feel. There were a few local art installations, interesting bits here and there, and some lovely flowers around. But mostly, it was devoid of all activity. It was pretty dead. It's not even a town, really, it's a district. I gather that it's not big enough to be a town.

The next morning after breakfast we headed to Barkerville! Seeing that Barkerville is so close to the Bowron Lakes Provincial Campground (the start of our circuit), we wanted to go a day early and spend it there. I had never been before, and I think Erin and/or Quina had only been when they were little. We also agreed that it was better seen before the canoe trip, and not afterwards, when we were likely to want to just get home.

As soon as you step foot into Barkerville, you're transported back in time. There are actors ready to greet & educate you, shops to peruse, and presentations to see. We made our way up the main concourse, stopping in almost all of the restored buildings. We watched a presentation on etiquette, Quina & Erin dressed up for an old-time photo, I panned for gold, we had ice cream, we sat in the Richfield courtroom (of Judge Begbie fame) and listened to the actors thunder away, we took many photos, and we even attended school.

Ah, yes. School. The three of us being teachers, we were very interested in attending the Barkerville school. 30 adults and kids jammed their selves into the one-room schoolhouse and awaited the lessons of the day. The teacher was very strict, and put up with no nonsense of any kind; she even shooed away adults who were looking in through the windows. First, all ladies & girls were made to wear bonnets. Then, there was a health and cleanliness inspection (hair & fingernails). Then we practiced some handwriting and learned the differences between animal, mineral and plant. We finished our lessons with another "fun" etiquette activity (one which I was called to the front to demonstrate).

Ironically, upon leaving the schoolhouse, I ran into a highschool friend, Laura, who I had not seen in years. How small the world is!

Once we were done in Barkerville for the day, we headed out to the parking lot only to run into Doug & Ed, two of our canoe trip colleagues. We made a plan to meet back at the Wells Hotel for dinner, before we all had to make our way to the campground for our first night. Before dinner though, we made one last stop to the Barkerville graveyard, which was somber and lovely.

Civilization was soon to be left behind, however...



Photos here: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjvvJBjQ

Into the BC Wilderness

Our district's resident outdoor education guru, Lance, sent an email earlier this year to all teachers asking if anyone might be interested in doing the Bowron Lakes canoe circuit in July, as a Pro-D activity. I probably deleted it (I get SO many emails during my work day) but Quina (pronounced: Keena), my lovely friend and colleague, forwarded it to our staff and asked if anyone would be interested in doing the trip. Beginners were welcome, and the price was right. From then on, I was pretty much hooked.

Initially it didn't even look like the trip would be a go. Only Quina and I had responded to Lance's email, and it took a few more tries before we had a full group. However, after Lance sent out his last call, there was a waiting list. We had the maximum number of people that could go: 14. That's a lot of teacher talk!

In preparation for the trip, Lance held two mandatory canoeing workshops and 1 optional one. I attended all of them. I had been in a kayak once, and I might have been in a canoe once?, but overall my confidence was low. I really didn't know what I was doing on the water, and I wanted to be as prepared as possible. Also, I know myself pretty well, and I don't have a very steep learning curve when it comes to athletic pursuits. I need to practice, practice, practice. I need to practice more than the average joe, methinks. But I'm okay with that.

We also met Lance at his school and he went over a bazillion things for the trip: how to pack, what to pack, how much to pack, what to avoid, examples of different gear, etc. I was taking notes like crazy. I bought a backpack, I borrowed gear from everyone I could, I went shopping at MEC, and tried to plan all my meals & snacks. All in, like, one weekend. :)

You don't want to be unprepared for a canoe & camping trip that takes you into the BC wilderness for eight days. You need to pack all your food, there's no vehicle access, and once you're out there... there's no turning back. These were my thoughts as I was trying to pack for this trip. I wanted to bring everything and be prepared for every eventuality, but when you carry everything on your back, you need to be pretty exact.

Now I was ready to embark upon what surely would be an amazing experience!

Awesome #7 - Cherry Blossom Trees

Cherry blossom trees are great because they take me by surprise. The cold, dreary, dark weather of winter seems to extend into spring, but little by little, the days get lighter and the temperature rises. So subtly, though, that I almost don't notice. Then one day I'll be driving or walking down the street and pass a tree that has exploded into white and pink blossoms. It's like cotton candy. It's like nature has woken up and is saying, "ta da!". It's like the signal that even better days are ahead.
It's like, awesome.

Awesome #6 - Sushi

Ebi sunomono is the dish that I order each and every time I have sushi. At the right establishment, it is pure heaven and the cornerstone of my enjoyment. Add to that some good sashimi, avocado rolls, tempura, gomae, gyoza and more, and you've got a vertiable feast on your hands. I like it so much that sometimes, when I order, the server thinks I have ordered for the whole table. Awesome!

Awesome #5 - Friends that have your back

I have this friend named Alison who is awesome. She's one of my best friends for sure, and she is awesome in a very specific way: she has my back. She is loyal to me, supports me, and always tells me what I NEED to hear (i.e. not necessarily what I WANT to hear). I never feel like she's on anyone's side but mine, and that is the closest to unconditional love that I have ever had in a friendship. Yup, it's awesome.