Forbidden Plateau

The first night we hiked in a couple of kilometers into Helen Mackenzie Lake, and set up camp here. It rained. We were wet. It sucked.

It sucked more than any of you can imagine... We hiked 2.5 km with this tarp over us like one of those Chinese dragon thingies. I couldn't see a damn thing!! BRUTAL. Then we fought (this is Sarah in purple).


Then we woke up to this and I convinced Sarah it was worth continuing for another day. We'd gamble on the weather, and hope for the best.

He's damn lucky it didn't rain. I woke up (after not really sleeping) to a cold, rainy feeling day with CLOUDS. It was pretty though.


Breakfast.


The campsite was very well built up. It took some of the charm away from wild camping, but I suppose in the rain it's not so bad. At least it kept us out of the mud.

I'm so glad they had these boardwalks and built-up sites! It would have been like Alberta if they hadn't been there (Mom, Dad, REMEMBER??).


We took off through alpine meadows. They were incredible. They looked like giant playgrounds, except that if you touched them, they died. Needless to say, Maggie had something of a large footprint. It was very cool. There are little clear ponds and lakes spread out over the land, the trees are all stunted, and the ground cover looked like tundra.

The sun came out shortly after we left and I'm VERY glad we stayed. It was GORGEOUS. Maggie did destroy her fair share of the wildlife though.


BC is too big for simple pictures, so I started playing with the panoramic setting on the camera. It worked pretty well. This is a hill about halfway on Saturday. We stopped here for a snack before continuing.


This is our humble campground. Nice and clean with a view on the mountains and the lake.

Don't let the t-shirt fool you; it was cold. Not that cold at this point, but when the sun dipped behind the clouds, brrrr!


After setting up camp, we dropped our packs and set off towards a Cruikshank Canyon. This is Mariwood lake, on the way.

Speaking of chilly, we saw SNOW on the way to this lake. SNOW! In JULY!! Maggie ate some. She was actually quite excited to see snow. We weren't.


I forced Sarah to take this picture.

He really did!


Again, BC is too big. This is a panoramic view of the alpine meadows. Those snowy peaks are outside Strathcona and are across the canyon.


Here was our first view of Cruikshank Canyon. Precipitous cliffs all around. We tied Maggie up to make sure she didn't sail off the edge. For my part, just looking at this picture make my knees weak. Heights are scary. Anyways, it was very big and totally worth the side trip out there.

Remi was quivering like a little sissy! It was HUGE though. HUGE. Took our breaths away. I can't say that I've ever seen anything quite so beautiful.


Of course, I also had to play with the panoramic setting on the camera. Luckily, Sarah didn't fall off.

Remi was LOVING the panoramic :) I look like a goof, but I do love this picture.

Remi and Sarah too!