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PLACE: LOCATION: As was eluded to with , I just concluded a five day camping/fishing trip in the interior of Awesome British Columbia. The destination was a decent sized lake at about 1200 meter elevation surrounded by a series of smaller lakes and only accessible by four wheel drive vehicle. This is what I call getting UNPLUGGED!

Looking back to the West after an hour plus of four wheeling on dirt two track. The Kokahala is somewhere back there in the distance. The first thing I noticed upon entering the wilderness was that we had most definitely crossed out of the swath of rain forest that so nicely hugs our lovely city and into the more arid high country of the . The landscape in this area brings back memories of my youth growing up in Colorado. Some beautiful purple wildflowers that were holding on for dear life to a rock on the face of a cliff. The lake was nestled deep inside a Pine and Aspen filled forest. As a result, were it not for the odd airplane overhead, the sounds of the wild played a comforting symphony that had me almost completely forgetting about civilization. This illusion was reinforced by the fact that over the duration of the trip we were treated to a parade of Awesome wildlife. There were White-tail and Mule Deer, Loons galore, a Bald Eagle who was quickly attacked by the similar-sized Ravens of the area, what seemed like hundreds of golden finches, Rainbow Trout (not nearly enough by the way) and an elusive Brown Bear who left a calling card on the two-track just outside the lake but never actually showed her face. Sunset over Thalia Lake. More of the sunset casting a golden glow on some Lilly Pads. Now I have mentioned her before but it is worth pointing out that my six-month old Border Collie, Kira, joined me on this trip. It was her first camping trip ever and so there was some question as to how well she would do in tent. In addition, at around four months of age she developed a wicked case of car sickness so there was that to worry about as well. But, I am happy to report that Kira performed swimmingly on both fronts. Kira chillin' inside the rain-fly of my MEC Wanderer II. Most of my time on this trip was spent hanging out around the campfire, busting up firewood, drinking beer and mainly relaxing. This might not sound like fun to some but for me it was pure heaven. As a matter of fact, the way I feel upon returning leads me to believe that that every trip like this must extend my life expectancy by at least a year.

Sadly every trip must come to an end and this one was no exception. Fortunately for me I got to return to the Awesomeness of Vancouver! It could be worse. If you have any suggestions for an upcoming UNPLUGGED please feel free to drop me a comment below or email me at [email protected]. Also, feel free to share your thoughts on this feature or anything else (within reason and sticking to the VIA commenting policy of course).

Until next time…Happy Trails!

-mt

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