CAMPING ADVENTURES
B.C.'S forest recreation sites offer adventure and beauty in impressive wilderness areas
We stopped dead in our tracks. Up ahead, about 15 metres away, a bobcat sauntered across the logging road.
It stopped, looked at us and we stared at it, then it slid into the woods and disappeared. We bent down, picked up a couple of big rocks, just in case, and paused for a few minutes peering intently into the forest before carefully continuing on our hike.
It was early summer at a forest recreation site at Paska Lake, north of Merritt. Forest recreation sites are generally accessed by active or inactive logging roads. They're a step above wilderness camping. There are spots for a tent or trailer, a log picnic table and a firepit, plus one or two outhouses, and that's it. The road conditions vary from pretty good (Paska Lake), to wicked (the east side of Harrison Lake). Make sure your tires are in good condition and your spare is ready to go. Seriously!
Sometimes I camp alone and sometimes with my partner, Colleen. There are always trails or old roads to hike. Usually I carry bear bangers, bear spray, a large hunting knife and a first-aid kit on my belt. At Paska we were just going for a walk and I didn't bring any of this with me.
Midsummer, Colleen and I stayed at a forest rec site on Ashnola
River south of Keremeos. Gorgeous sites, well separated and few people. We spent hours by the river reading.
I came back by myself a few weeks later. Every day I did something different. One day I hiked along the riverside rocks, the next day I drove 37 kilometres slowly down the logging road to see where it went. It went rough and single-lane in places and finally into a beautiful valley, but no lake like I'd been hoping. With absolutely no one around, I would be in doo-doo if I blew a tire or bottomed out in a pothole. So I turned back, never reaching the end.
The next day, the fairly steep mountain across the logging road from the campsite beckoned. I took all my gear plus a sturdy wooden hiking pole.
There was a big rock the size of an SUV just up the hill, so I decided to hike there to start. While climbing up, I suddenly heard a low, vibrating hiss.
Five metres ahead, I saw the source: a large rattlesnake curling into its den under a big rock. I froze. My heart rate went through the roof. I might even have said a few favourite words. Carefully, I backed away.
It still makes the hair on the back of my neck tingle just to think about it. I thought that rattlesnake meant something loud like a baby rattle, but it didn't.
I continued up the mountain, hiking through patchy grass. Anytime I came around rocks or holes I'd thump my pole on the ground since snakes pick up on the vibrations. In fact, I banged the ground and rocks so hard and so often my watch strap broke.
It was worth it for the views from the top. I could look down to the Keremeos Valley on one side and up the river canyon in the other direction. I even found a sun-bleached carnivore skull near the top (with) sharp teeth. Glad I didn't meet the owner.
Later in the summer it was the Bear Creek Forest recreation site on the east side of Harrison Lake. Beware, it's an active logging road, and the first two kilometres were really rough. I almost turned around, but once there it's a gorgeous location: a pebbly, sandy beach. On the far side of the creek the secluded shoreline is great.
One day, while camping on my own, I decided to follow the creek upstream. I geared up and started over the large rocks and boulders on the creekside. After 15 minutes climbing, and scrapping my arm pretty good on a sharp rock, I got to the roadway bridge over the creek.
Five young people (I'm 73, everyone looks young to me) on the bridge waved to me. Then they came down a steep path to the creek. That's gotta be cheating! We all clambered over rocks for another 10 minutes to get to the base of a waterfall that I didn't even know existed.
A long, splashing cascade of white water tumbled down a 30-metre cliff face into a quiet pool. I waited until all the selfies were done and the group had left. The solitude and beauty was exquisite.
Looking up, I thought, I wonder what it's like from the top? Not the wisest thought I'd ever had. I backtracked a little way and started up the very steep ravine side. Grasping roots and embedded stones, I slowly hauled my way up the slope. I was careful to keep a few trees between me and the creek in case I slipped, otherwise there would be no stopping.
Finally, I made it to the top. There were no paths up there; it was straight bushwhacking. I got to a slight clearing and could see the creek about 200 to 300 metres straight down. Hmm, take a cellphone picture for posterity and time to leave. Not wanting to risk going back down the ravine to the creek, I bushwhacked along the top. Unfortunately, with the creek ravine on my left, another ravine started developing on my right. I slowly manoeuvered down the ridgeline between the ravines until I could do a rocky slide to the road.
Later, I asked the campsite operator if there were cougars in the area. He said yes, a big male was sighted in the campsite last year, but they're mostly nocturnal. Thank goodness, because it was certainly on my mind out there alone in the forest.
All an adventure when it turns out well!