We've been off in the wilds, camping, for the last couple of weeks, and o! the culture shock of return! Much more so than previous outings, dunno why, but there it is. Two scruffy, sun-braised women and a (filthy) dog, trying to remember how to work the stove and the water faucets and (in the case of the dog) avoid the cat's claws.
It was a fine trip. The first few days by the banks of the Nicola River, where the temps regularly sank their teeth into the middle 40's while the sun ranged between eastern ridge and western ridge. I flat refused to light a fire for meal prep before the sun and the western ridge met, so we ate quite late. In between we followed patches of shade around, too hot even to wonder why we hadn't booked a suite in a nice b&b on an island somewhere. One of the real joys of that site was the small herd of horses that regularly moseyed through the campsite, looking for greens, berries, and whatever goodies horse-struck campers would dig out of their pockets for them.
We fooled the sun-demons by packing up one morning before the sun crested the eastern ridge and had a chance to fry our brains again, and headed off for the bustling townships of Tulameen and Coalmont and parts beyond. Said parts being Otter Lake, where we made our stand for the rest of our holiday. There, beguiled by soft breezes and serenaded by loons, we sat on our butts and did bugger all, for the most part. Many books were read, several nice sketches made, and exploratory trips taken through the surrounding countryside. In between we played with the dog, talked, washed our hair, drank beer, built fires and conjured up edible meals from cans, baggies, water, milk and essential spices and herbs.
And now we're home.
2 Comments
Sketches? Are you going to post the sketches? Did Cardhu have fun?
Cardhu had a pretty good time, overall. He got to run free at the Nicola campsite, since it was a forestry site. And his first encounter with horses was good for a laugh: we’d put him in the car for the night already, and the horses ambled into the campsite next to us. His reaction, understandably, was about what mine would have been had aliens landed. The next evening, Nola took him on leash to see the horses on more neutral territory and he behaved very well. The horses weren’t wild, and they knew all about campers. Campers are walking, cooing, treat dispensers.
We saw lots of whitetail and mule deer by the road from Princeton to Otter Lake, and several times pulled over to give Cardhu a chance to get a good sniff. We’d point out deer and slow down, and he’d be up on his feet and stare at them through the window till they were out of sight. So despite having to spend much of his time at Otter Lake on a running lead, he encountered many new and exciting things.
(We did not pull over so he could eyeball the bear. Some things need no introduction.)
I’ll post sketches as soon as Nola has time to scan them. She’s hammering out a proposal this week, and has time only to do that and sleep.