Border Patrol heading into Canada. What a welcoming set of uniformed ambassadors they are! No fierce accusatory stares, no overly stupid questions and no prolonged experience. We got a “Welcome to Canada”, then some good advice on how to best find our target for the next night.
We were heading to Gladstone Provincial Park, which is essentially a lovely warm lake just over the border. As we rocked up to the campsite, I had my eyes peeled for my spot. Generally we hadn’t booked many places to stay on this trip, most of the nights were marked on our itinerary as ‘find campsite near x’. This one was different. We weren’t quite in the wilderness yet.
Southern Canada is a very popular location for all kinds of tourists, from families with small kids and RV’s to hardened backcountry hikers. Good locations are booked early, just like the big parks in the mainland states. I’d booked a plot here months ahead of time and felt a nudge from my ego when the ranger said “well you guys have the best position in the camp ground, with your own private path down to the beach.”
The camp grounds that were coming up in the next few weeks would get smaller and eventually vanish, at times we’d be on both the sides of mountains and the sides of dirt roads, but for now, this was posh.
We had been using the new REI two man ground tent for the first week of the trip, but now we were in the forest and we had trees to allow me to set up my Stingray. Back in the early months of planning the trip i’d been aimlessness perusing through Instagram and came across some phenomenal images of people in tents that hung up in the trees. The experiences people were having using them were crazy, and as an added bonus, it meant they could camp anywhere with trees, regardless of the ground type. If it was rocky, uneven, wet, no matter! I went on the website and found a couple of guys in England had designed it, and the company was really taking off. I clicked the order button.
We spent a full day on the lake sunbathing and relaxing. Steph has what she would call an aversion to fish. It’s more like an dislike of not knowing whats under you. I went out for a swim to explore the fauna and made a valiant attempt to persuade her there was nothing in the water to worry about. In truth, I genuinely saw nothing whilst snorkeling around and felt pretty confident in my analysis.
“Honestly you’ll be fine, there’s nothing in there, and its so warm.”
“Mmmmmhmmm,” came the uncertain response.
“Just come in and paddle?”
“Yeah maybe later” she said, settling down to catch more rays.
“I promise its fine. I’m gonna head up to the car and get some water and chips.”
I got about twenty feet up the path before a young child screamed out from around ten feet off the shoreline “Dad!! There’s a massive fish in here!! It’s massive!!”
I sheepishly continued walking.
“Anything you wanna tell me?” Steph shouted.
“Nope!” I replied, speeding up my walk.
The next morning we arose from a nights sleep in the Stingray. It had lived up to all expectations. We were up in the trees, laying looking at the stars. Absolutely amazing and unexpectedly comfortable too.
We needed a shower. As we had a lovely warm lake right by our tent we decided to use it. We bathed in the fresh water and tested out our biodegradable eco friendly camping shampoo. It pleased me. The lake was exactly what we needed, we felt revitalized and ready for the road.
Today was a long day. We had to reach and set up camp in Glacier National Park. Not the far more known American version, but the far quieter and rugged Canadian version. The Rocky Mountains seem to provide an almost endless stream of parks for thousands of miles.
It took a good eight hours to get that far north, and as we travelled we could sense the traffic thinning and the people changing. There was a tangible feeling of being north, even this early in the trip. The American tourists who like to nip across the border for a quick weekend had vanished, and everyone we saw looked pretty equipped for hiking and mountain fun.
Glacier National Park is a small park as far as North American national parks go, but what it lacks in square miles it makes up for in height. The rugged, unusually steep mountains here are truly breathtaking, and the hikes here are as beautiful as they are varied.
When we arrived at a camp ground we managed to find a plot, and realized that or the first time we were in proper bear country. The camp ground had more signs than I deemed normal regarding the dangers of bear attacks, and the ranger warned us upon entry as to the recent bears within the camp ground itself. Now I’d prepped for this, with my bear bells and powerful bear spray, but still, it got me thinking.
We had a couple of nights here and a couple of days to explore, but that first night, we just got our wood supply and settled down in the tent for the night. As we were sat drinking hot chocolate by the fire, I realized there was a lot of smoke from everyone’s fires gathering in the valley and had an idea. I threw my tripod on my back and heading up the river until I found a crossing. Aware that I wasn't prepared in any way for bears, had no spray and didn't even bring a light, I worked fast.
The valley was absolutely beautiful. The campsite itself remained hidden from view in the thick trees, but the smoke was sat just above them, an unmistakable giveaway of human presence. The air smelled like pine and smoke, and the sun was just dipping below the horizon behind me.
The shot I got that night set the tone for the next few weeks of our Canadian stint. Which we’ll come back to in Part 2. Stay tuned…
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