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Published: August 7th 2015
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Windy and wet was the theme for most of the day. We planned a hike to either Strait Lake or Wave Crest Peak (900 meter gain). I opted in my mind for the more gentle walk to the lake with only a 200 m elevation gain. (Yes I'm being wimpish again.) A short paddle was required to get to the the trail head so off in the tippy canoe the three us us went, wind whipping the waves from the side, we all thought "we're going in." From shore it must have been quite the scene to see three bodies flopping around as the waves hit the canoe, rolling it one way, then another. Matthew who was in the middle and no paddle decided enough of this and curled up to lower our center of gravity, I am not sure it worked. As we moved out from shore and turned so the waves came from straight behind us, we settled into a more controlled bobbing pattern. Wow, how to get the heart going in prep for a hike.
We did a short beach walk, found the trail head and headed up. Once in the the trees, the wind stopped howling
Matthew Looking Back
Matthew Looking Back and became still. Quite the feeling. The first part of the path was steep with thick undergrowth, large cedars and fir trees. The ground was moist but not the expected wet, mucky path--even here we see the signs of the dry winter and spring. Eventually we come upon our decision point, more up, (about 700 meters more to the peak) or a slight up to the lake. The lake was my choice, along with Matthew, but Mark wanted to see what the trail was like going to the peak so headed that way and said he would meet us in a half hour. He caught up with us just as we got to Strait Lake. The lake was larger than expected but we could not go much further without a lot of effort as there was swamp to one side and heavy tree and undergrowth on the other. Lunch! The rain started with the mist obscuring the peaks, and at times, the end of the lake. Even with the wetness, the awe of this mountain scene is still with me.
If you have ever done back country or long treks and cook your food on the trail, there is
Flora
Flora on the way up a certain richness that gets added to the food. Meals become an event and everybody has a role in its creation and cleanup. Maybe it's the extra spices added, maybe its the air and the flowing blood that aid in the enhanced taste experience while eating outdoors. Yum!
We started getting into our routine, "Whats for supper", "I don't know, what does Judy's list say" and so on. We had one barrel for dry food, and two coolers for our frozen and need to be kept cool food. The first few nights we ate the thawing meats and eventually the dehydrated foods.
The group camp was invaded by a large group of minions and their attendants. Three families arrived with seven children. Wow! What a great experience for them. Wonderful to see families getting out and enjoying the beauty Canada has to offer. Unfortunately, with the dry weather around most of BC and lots of forest fires throughout the province, there was a fire ban on and no fires were allowed.
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Darlene Maguire
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Mountain Lake trip
Wow, looks like quite a distance to me. At out age we would have probably elected to work in the basement, so good on ya for taking on the challenge David. The pictures as always are beautiful, makes one feel like they were along with you...... my favourite "raindrops keep falling".