Samhain

Otis and I spent the end of the harvest season at an old favorite, Heyburn State Park.  I did not realize it but Walter and I were there a few years ago for the same holiday.  It rained like crazy, but after the dry summer we had we did not care.

We stayed warm and dry (sometimes I feel like such a sissy sleeping in a van but I do love it).

This is the first fire we had since June

Heyburn has a lot of trails and we went for several hikes.

The estuary on Plummer Creek is wonderful but we were awakened by the sound of duck hunters.

The clouds were hanging low.

After we got back from our first hike there were two guys at my campsite and one of them was looking in the van.  I was like "Hey, what the hell you doin'?" and puffing myself up.  They were old guys delivering a bag of candy.  They were nice and also invited me over for fajitas.  Unfortunately I had to decline both as they are detrimental to my health.  It was a great weekend.  We decided that we are going to go over next spring when the campground opens up again and hike in the fabulous flowers that cover Indian Cliff.

Otis: International Man of Mystery

The one year anniversary of Seth's death was this past Saturday, July 4th.  After our last trip to Canada two weeks ago I decided that was where I wanted to be on "The Day."  I blindly made weekend reservations at a place called Champion Lakes Provincial Park in BC.  I learned after Morgan's death that there is no way to anticipate how things are going to feel, but I was a bit astounded by how big it all was last week.  Overwhelmed and desperate are the only words I can use to describe it.  So to save my sanity I took a few extra days off work and headed out of town a day early.

Not really having a plan for Thursday night Otis and I just headed north and figured we could always stealth camp somewhere.  Driving along the Pend Oreille River I saw the sign for the Edgewater Campground and got the last open spot.  It was perfect.  The river was lovely.

The camping spot was very secluded.  Luckily I had made some screens for the van windows otherwise I would have been eaten alive.

The next morning I thought I could get to Metaline Falls on some back roads.  Maybe once upon a time but not anymore.  But I found a spot with a great view up the river valley.

The next morning we got up early and crossed the border.  Right after I took this picture the Canadian border guard started watching me with binoculars.  He boarded my vessel and took my free-range-happy-chicken eggs.  Otis growled at him but he was nice.

Champion Lakes is really three different lakes: First Lake, Second Lake and Third Lake.  Our spot was huge and really hot in the afternoon with full sun.

But we had a nice cool treed area to rest in during the afternoon.

I spent a lot of time in the trees...

...just doin' this.

 

On Saturday we took a nice paddle on Second Lake.  It would have taken about 20 minutes if we would not have pulled over for a swim.

For a long time we were the only people around and then just a few more showed up.

We also swam on Friday at First Lake.  There were people there but it was far from crowded.

Then as the sun was going down we took a long hike on a trail that goes around all three lakes.

And we saw berry eating bear poo.

And took another swim

Check out time was 11:00am which I thought was a little early so we headed home Sunday morning.  We stopped for lunch at Sweet Creek Falls near Metaline.  If I would not have been so tired I would have gone for another swim.  The weekend was perfect for what it was.  The park was clean and quiet (because Canadians know how to behave unless they are playing hockey), and I got to swim, paddle, rest, and read with my buddy Otis.  I feel like it saved me.