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On the July 1, Canada Day long weekend, we went for a three day backpacking trip in Manning Park in southwest British Columbia. We left our home in a rain storm, hoping that the weather would be better in the park, an hour and a half to the east of our home. The weather forecast was for rain where we lived, but for a mix of cloud and sun, with a couple of showers, in Manning Park. We drove up into the mountains and the rain stayed with us. David and Christy kept asking, "Are we going to go backpacking even if it is raining?"
We had decided to hike through the Lightning Lake Chain, beginning at Lightning Lake and walking past Flash Lake to Strike Lake and then to Thunder Lake. Our campsite for two nights would be at Strike Lake, about six and a half kilometres from where we would begin our hike. As we drove into the parking area the sky was mainly overcast but at least bright. It was not raining and the ground was fairly dry. Unfortunately it was a little cool. The temperature was probably no more than eight or ten degrees centigrade. Everything was ready in the back of the van so all we had to do was walk around to the back and put on our packs. Everyone groaned as they lifted the heavy packs onto their backs. With only a six and a half kilometre hike we had not packed extremely lightly. We had a couple of extras, like the huge ten foot Canadian flag which would proudly fly above our campsite to celebrate Canada Day. We left our van and began walking though a forest of tall cedar, pine and fir at almost exactly 10:00 am. Although it was cool, we were wearing only t-shirts under light shirts. The exertion of carrying the heavy packs kept us warm. With the sky threatening, our rain jackets were strapped to the outside of our packs, ready to don in an instant. Optimistically we had put on a layer of suntan lotion before starting out and within a few minutes decided that perhaps it should have been mosquito repellent. There were not many mosquitos around - it was too cool for that - but the few that we did see zeroed in on us in a hurry. As we walked we passed around a bottle of repellent and each applied a coat of deet to our faces, necks and lower arms. A few minutes after starting out I began to hear the usual question, "How far before we take a rest?" One thing I have learned about hiking is that you don't want to take your first rest stop until well under way. The reason being that the time between stops seems to shrink with each succeeding one. I figured that even with our heavy packs (mine was 25 kg, or 55 pounds) we should be able to cover the six and a half kilometres in about two hours, so I didn't want to take our first rest for at least an hour. My announcement that we would rest after about an hour was met with a mix of grimaces and groans.
About fifty minutes into our hike it began to drizzle very lightly. I didn't want anyone to get wet, because wet clothing leads very quickly to chilled bodies, so we stopped and put on our rain jackets. Our rest came a little early, but close enough to an hour that I didn't mind. We took off our packs and our shirts, then put on plastic rain jackets over our t-shirts. We didn't want to overheat while walking, something that happens very easily if you are dressed too heavily. Each of us had a drink and a handful of trail mix, and then were on our way again. The shower which stopped us was short lived, and less than ten minutes after we started off again the rain stopped and we continued on under a bright sky. Occasionally the sun poked through the clouds and hinted that maybe the day would clear up. We came to a second patch of bear droppings in the middle of the trail but this time it was only minutes old. We were catching up to the bear. After Flash Lake came Strike Lake, and we continued hiking along the trail through the forest of tall fir trees. The trail stayed well above the shoreline. We were often in fairly open cuts in the forest and everywhere that there was a large open area it was full of beautiful, colourful wild flowers. They were purple and red and blue and white and yellow and ... The flowers added a joyful celebration of colour to the forest floor. We knew our camping area was at Strike Lake but didn't really know exactly where. About half way along the lake I saw a clearing up ahead on the lake shore, obviously man made, so announced that I was sure the campsite was only 300 metres away. We arrived at the clearing, but it was not the camping area, so we kept on walking. As we neared the end of the lake there was still no sign of a camping area so we stopped to consult the map. Our map showed that the camping area, although called Strike Lake Camp, was actually passed Strike Lake on the way to Thunder Lake. We put away our map and continued to hike. As we walked the sun made a brief appearance and then was again swallowed by the clouds. We didn't see the bear that we had been near so it must have decided it didn't want to see us and stepped off the trail so we could pass. Contrary to popular opinion, bears almost always avoid confrontation if they know you are around. This bear knew we were around because we had a nice big bell jangling under Christy's packsack to let all the animals in the area know we were approaching! Less than ten minutes past the end of Strike Lake, and about ten minutes before noon, we arrived at Strike Lake Camp. It was a nice area nestled under lofty trees in a flat area of the valley bottom. A beautiful stream meandered right beside the camping area. We quickly took off our heavy packs and just as quickly began putting on more layers of clothing. It was cold outside. We found only one other tent at the camp - a young couple eating lunch who told us they were going to be leaving shortly. I was worried that it might begin to rain so before eating lunch we set up our tent and a couple of nylon tarps over an area where we could eat and cook. That took about half an hour and right afterwards we began to eat. As we were eating the young couple took down their tent and broke camp. When they left, they asked if they should put out their fire or if we would like to use it. We told them to leave it and we would use it. My plan was to take the burning logs and carry them to our campsite, fifty metres (about one hundred and fifty feet) from theirs. As I looked at their site and ours, I decided that I liked theirs better. It was a little off to one side of the main area and if it got busy on the weekend it would be a slightly separated from the other campers. I decided we should move to their site. It really wasn't much work to move. We took the sleeping bags out of our tent, pulled up the stakes which held our dome tent in place and simply carried it intact to the other site. There we pegged it down and put our sleeping bags and other gear inside. That took about five minutes. Another ten minutes and we had the nylon tarps moved to the other site and we were settled in. Even if a lot of other hikers arrived, we would have some seclusion, but it looked like we would have the area all to ourselves for at least the first night.
It took three attempts to place the rope over the branch, but once
done it was in a secure spot. I lowered the end of the rope to the ground
and let the end I was holding swing out and fall beside it. I scrambled
back down the tall tree and with Christy's help took the 10 foot Canadian
flag down from it's position snagged in branches on the first tree Our next task was firewood. We made short trips out into the forest and gathered enough fire wood to last for three days. We found lots of dry, dead branches and David and I carried a couple of larger dead tree trunks to our campsite which I latter cut into pieces with our hatchet. I tried a little fishing in the creek beside us (with no luck) and we played games. The day continued very cool, probably not even getting to 10 degrees Celsius, but the sun did make a few brief appearances. As we sat playing cards Christy suddenly whispered, "Look! A deer!" Sure enough, a large whitetail doe was eating and slowly walking towards us. She approached so close we couldn't believe it, only stopping when she was a few metres away from us. She continued eating and watching us, finally slowly moved away.
A little while after dinner, as we were sitting playing cards, the whitetail doe made a return visit. Again she came right up to our campsite and watched us, finally walking slowly away as she searched for tender plants to eat. We watched her go and continued playing games until it was time to for bed. Next morning I was up about 7:00 am. It was sunny, bright and cool as I tiptoed out of the tent. No one else was awake. I made coffee and lit a fire while waiting for the others to wake. No one stirred until 8:30, by which time the sky was almost completely overcast. It was going to be another cold day.
The afternoon was mainly overcast but there were a few sunny breaks
and a couple of light showers. Each time the sun made an appearance we
were warmed by its rays, but soon it disappeared and we were once again
cold. We lit the fire and kept it burning all afternoon, slowly using the
firewood that we had gathered the day before. We had started with a huge
pile of wood, but at the present rate of use it would all be gone by the
time we were ready to leave the next day. Sitting beside it kept us warm.
Dinner was a favourite for David and Christy - macaroni and Our third morning I was up early again, this time to a cold, completely overcast sky. Before anyone else awoke I made coffee and started a fire. We still had lots of wood - enough to last until we left later in the day. Everyone else finally awoke and after Christy did her therapy we had a leisurely breakfast of pancakes. We didn't begin eating until almost 10:00 am, when most of our neighbours had already broken camp and left. The pancakes came from one of those complete mixes, all you add is water. Unfortunately we couldn't add taste, and no one particularly enjoyed the pancakes. We began breaking camp even while breakfast was being cooked - sleeping
bags were put in stuff sacks, the tent was cleared out and folded, and
we began arranging the packs. After eating and washing dishes we took down
the two tarps which had given us shelter during the couple of brief showers
the day before and got everything ready to go. It was exactly noon as we
said goodbye to our campsite and walked away carrying everything in our
packs. We would eat lunch when we arrived at the van. It was still cold
and we were hiking in t-shirts under shirts.
When we had begun walking I had told everyone that we would not stop for a rest until we had walked for an hour, but after 40 minutes we were getting so hot we had to stop take off one layer of clothing. It was still a cold day, and we rapidly cooled down as we peeled down to our t-shirts. Our rest stop lasted less than ten minutes - only enough time to take off our heavy shirts, stuff them in our packs, grab a drink of juice and put our packs on again. Then we were off again before we were chilled by the cool mountain air. We were walking very fast - faster even than the day hikers who didn't have packs. David set the pace and I was astounded at how fast he was going. Several times we had to ask him to slow down. What was perhaps even more astounding was that Christy was keeping up this pace with only a low murmur of complaint. She was in very good condition, carrying her 9 kilo pack (about 20 pounds) fairly easily. Her ten day hospital stay, that had ended only 8 days earlier, must have significantly helped her lung capacity. It took only an hour and 40 minutes to reach the van. We streaked by Flash Lake and Lightning Lake, arriving so quickly at the parking lot that we were all taken aback. I opened the rear door of the van and one by one we sat down and unclipped our packs. What a relief to be free of them! Instead of eating in the parking lot, we decided to make the five minute drive to Lightning Lake picnic area. There we put back on all our layers of clothing and had a picnic lunch sitting at a picnic table. It was sunny but very cool. After lunch we drove up to the sub-alpine meadows for a look at the
wild flowers which were just coming into bloom. We hiked a couple of kilometres,
but it was easy without packs. Although David and Christy complained as
we began walking, they had a great time and didn't say another word of
complaint as we meandered along the trail among the beautiful flowers.
It was a spectacular afternoon, high above the valley floor, and a beautiful
way to end our weekend of hiking.
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An
hour and a quarter into our trip, and only 15 minute from where we would
begin our hike, it was still raining. David and Christy still questioned
the hike but I replied that the rain would stop in another couple of minutes
and we would have a good hike. I was putting a lot of faith in the weathermen.
Right on cue, five minutes later, we drove out of the rain. The sky was
brighter and there were even a couple of very tiny patches of blue sky
overhead, poking out through the clouds.
We
walked though a beautiful forest with mountains rising up above us. Soon
we were along side the western end of Lightning Lake and had some beautiful
views of the lake and slopes rising above it. We also came to a nice, bright
yellow sign which said only, "DANGER, BEAR IN AREA." Passing Lightning
Lake it was a quick march to the next lake in the chain, Flash Lake, and
we continued our walk on the trail above this pretty lake. We also passed
a second bear warning sign. It was still cloudy and cool although there
were a few bright patches overhead. We came across some very fresh droppings
that a bear had left as he walked along the trail ahead of us. From the
look of them, he was no more than half an hour ahead of us!
After
lunch we had a leisurely day. We raised our ten foot Canadian flag, throwing
a rope over a high branch of one of the trees beside our campsite. Unfortunately
it did not fly well in the breeze, but caught in branches around it. Surveying
the campsite I could see a wonderful high branch on a tree on the other
side of the campsite which would work well, allowing the flag to fly freely
in a breeze. I took another rope, tied a piece of wood to one end, and
tried repeatedly to throw it over the branch, but had no success. Finally
I decided to climb a tall pine tree which was 5 metres (about 15 feet)
to one side and see if I could throw a weighted rope across from my perch
to the other tree. It was one of the few trees that had branches descending
to anywhere near the ground. Up I went, dragging a rope behind me. When
I was high above the ground, even with the chosen branch on the other tree,
I stopped and looked across the narrow gap. Between the branch I wanted
to use as for the flag, and my position, were another tree trunk and a
lot of branches. It was not going to be an easy throw.
and
raised it up the second. There it floated beautifully in the light breeze-
a perfect Canada Day reminder.
By
dinner time we were all hungry and I made a nice meal of rice, carrots
and crab with lots of seasonings. While I cooked Christy used her battery
powered compressor to do her therapy. She finished just as it was time
to eat. Sandra, David and Christy must have liked dinner because not a
scrap was left over. They devoured it all. We finished with hot chocolate
and coffee.
After
a breakfast of eggs, hashbrown potatoes and rye toast we headed out on
a hike to Thunder Lake, three and a half kilometres away. I had a pack
with juice, lunch and fishing gear. It was a beautiful hike to Thunder
Lake as the valley narrowed around us. Towering cliffs and mountains rose
skyward on either side of us as we walked, often on the side of steep scree
slopes. You could see where winter avalanches roared down the mountainside
sweeping trees and all else before them. We passed through fields
of beautiful wild flowers of all colours which grew in the avalanche paths
which had been swept clear of trees. Although it was cool and overcast,
it was lovely.
On
the trip back to our camp we had a brief rain shower, but soon things dried
up again. Arriving back at our tent we found we had several new neighbours
who had just set up their tents. I was glad we had changed campsites. We
were a little way away from the others. With all the people around, our
friendly deer did not make another visit.
cheese.
Its not my favourite food but it kept them happy. We played more games
until it was time for bed.
