For the first long weekend of the year (I took Friday off and so had four days) Remi and I decided to head out to the Pemberton area again for a camping weekend. We were both super-excited to get out of the city.
We stopped Wednesday night in Nairn Falls. Ann and Alain may recognize this as we stopped here on our
Auberge Du Pre visit.
Maggie flirted with the wildlife (if you look closely, there's a squirrel in this tree).
The trail head. This sign becomes very ironic later on.
It was spitting. A steady stream of spittle all day. I'm sure those mountains in the background are gorgeous.
Rickety bridges are our favourite things!
Here's another one!
Up to the lake we were supposed to camp at. Oh, did I say lake? I meant frozen pond. Snow-surrounded frozen pond, actually.
Maggie had issues around the rock slide area. Remi had to go down, take her backpack off and carry it for her. He was not impressed. Our bags were heavy too, Maggie!!
So since the lake was a bust, we had to hike out. It ended up being about halfway out before we found a campsite. EVERYTHING was soaked. We passed several, flat nice meadows that would have been great places to camp if they weren't boggy.
Still rainy...
This is actually the next day at camp. After hiking about 11 km, we finally settled here at the end of a debunked logging road.
I'll insert a funny anecdote here:
We have our first bear-encounter story! So... Remi made it to the campsite before I arrived and was sitting, exhausted and bitchy-looking on his pack as I rolled in. I begin to set my bag down beside him and look across the way. Probably 30 feet from us was a (as I put it at the time) "f*&$ing bear"! I have to admit that I was more annoyed than scared. To be honest, I would say that I wasn't scared at all and was just really pissed off. I mean, are you kidding me?? First it rains all day, then there's snow where we're supposed to be camping, not to mention a mucky trail and a slippery rockslide to navigate with big packs on, but now there's a BEAR!!
Anyway, she scampered off and after much debate Remi and I decided to camp there anyway. We were just too tired!! Unfortunately, she showed up again WITH HER CUB around 9:30 PM as we were going to bed. She saw us and took off, but it was a little alarming! We couldn't believe she'd come back!! We were downwind, so we assume she thought we'd left and she didn't see us until the last minute. Remi banged on a pot to scare her, yelled a bit and we turned in for a restless night. We stayed there for two nights and luckily never saw her again.
The next day we hit the same trail again for something to do. Our goal was the lake, but since we'd pooped ourselves out the day before we didn't make it quite that far.
You might recognize this crossing! There's a picture of me above doing it in the rain and full-pack.
This was our last morning. Mosquito bitten and wanting her soft, warm bed (and to not be carrying her backpack), Maggie is ready to go.
Now for my favourite part:
THE MOSQUITO SERIES
The mosquitos were quite terrible. They were EVERYWHERE!! So we tortured them in ways a five year old might torture houseflies. I'd feel bad, but they were really frigging annoying!!
He's "FINISHED" (bwahahahahaha)
This was Remi's collection of dead ones. "Mosquitos, yee be warn'd"!!
This one wasn't long for this world... (see next photo)
*SMOOOSH*
"Eeee, help me, help meeeeee!"
NO MERCY!!!!
R.I.P.
While we wouldn't go back to Cerise Creek, we still love Pemberton. Hey, you should come out and camp with us!
Sarah & Remi
With the long days of summer, we've been going as far as possible from Vancouver on Friday nights so we're near the trailhead in the morning. This picture was taken in Pemberton in the evening. Pemberton has to be among the most beautiful villages in Canada (contrast to Sudbury).
Devil's club. It's very photogenic, but seriously painful to touch.
Joffre Lakes is in a provincial park, and rightly so, the spot is quite beautiful. This is the third lake, right below the glacier.
The glacier in question.
Usually I think it's stupid to filter this glacier water, it clogs the filter, and it's pretty much pure anyways. Unfortunately, idiot visitors tend to make a mess of things, so here it was probably necessary. A new friend, Jérôme, and his girlfriend Coleen, came up with us... they elected to carry water for the whole trip. Newbies.
I only prepare my President's Choice pre-packaged hot chocolate with glacier water, and ditto my Tuna Helper (take that snobby Torontonians who reserve it for their Scotch)
The place was ridiculously busy on Saturday night, but most of the tourists had left by noon the next day, leaving relatively peaceful for Sarah and I.
We climbed about the lake, just for something to do. A very neat spot. Mountaineers like it because they can climb the terrifying mountains nearby.
That's about it... Pretty ho hum. For those of you who don't really follow the blog (mom & dad), there are a couple of recent posts below.
