Living Forest Camping Adventures

We loved it so much that we decided to do it again!

Yes, even though it was rather late in the season to go tent camping, we were eager to get out in nature again. One more adventure before the winter rains arrived. On Oct. 14 we set out for a 4-day excursion, but didn’t quite avoid the rains.

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Setting up the tent, screen shelter and tarp on the first day went very well. The rain held off so we could keep everything dry. However, the rain started that night and continued on and off the next day. Since we had the table and our cooking equipment under cover, we didn’t mind the occasional shower. And the temperature was quite mild for mid-October in British Columbia – 10 degrees at night and up to 12 in the daytime. We were well-prepared with layers of warm clothing and cozy sleeping bags.

We thoroughly enjoyed our second day, settling into our usual camping routine. The rain held off that evening so we could have a campfire, something that we had missed on our trip in August because of the campfire ban.

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On our third day the “atmospheric river” that the weather forecasters had been predicting arrived. You can hear the rain in the video below. While the rain poured down, we boiled lots of hot water in our super little kettle, enjoyed mugs of coffee and hot chocolate, and stayed under the tarp a good portion of the day.

On this day we also discovered that we need to seal some seams on our tent. A few puddles appeared inside the tent in the morning, mostly around the edges which was good since it didn’t get our bedding wet. David created some inventive ways to divert the water streams, and we were comfortable and dry for the rest of the trip.

Did I mention that some friends with a trailer were camping there at the same time? How convenient!

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So we did escape some of the rain and shared meals with these wonderful people with the warm – and dry – trailer. And I must mention that David seemed to be able to continue working on his computer no matter where we were.

David expressed a desire at one point to drive by Harmac, the local pulp mill. It was far enough away from the campground that its presence didn’t disturb us, but it was close enough that a short drive would take us there. David wanted to see the place for old times’ sake. When he was 18, his cousin had got him a job at the plant working as a “caustic utility”. He described the experience of going to work as “walking through the beautiful forest, turning the corner and seeing absolute hell – fire, heat and noxious fumes everywhere”. You should ask him for more details about it sometime.

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The wooden porch at the entrance to the administrative building was impressive, but the rest of the plant was, as expected, quite ugly.

On our final morning, the sun came out providing a beautiful display of mist on the water and golden light through the trees. Unfortunately, the change in the weather also meant that the temperature had dropped significantly in the night. We woke up to a rather chilly 3 degrees.

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Nevertheless, we warmed up quickly with a fire from our remaining pieces of firewood, augmented with all the activity required to pack up the campsite. (I must admit I did use the little heated washroom to change my clothes that morning!) David did an excellent job of figuring out how to get everything back into the car and we were ready to check out right on time at 11 am.

It was a wonderful end to the camping season and left us eager for more trips next year. We have a few months now to choose where we will go next. Any suggestions?