goodbye nelson

july 20/09 (DAY 20)

i find it sad to contemplate that this is my last day in nelson - my last night - my last few moments. i have decided that this could be a place i could definitely stay at more indefinitely - i love everything about it. the mountains. the beach. the history and architecture. most of all i love the people and culture. nelson has everything to offer and still maintains a small town feels that makes it "home" - even if i am living in a glorified parking lot for the moment.

sure - i COULD just book in here for an extra couple of nights, but i fear those extra few nights would turn into indefinitely. i have had to reassure myself that nelson will ALWAYS be here - my opportunity to fulfill my dreams may not. i have to keep pressing forward, moving on - there is so much more for me to see, do and experience - not just of bc, but of this world and i cant wait!

the last few days here in nelson has been filled with bright blue skies and hot summer afternoons. i wandered the streets of downtown, checked out local art, spent time on the beach and met some really cool locals. i tried a backpacker's version of strawberry cheescake that made me feel as though i was eating sweetened pink puke. i read, took pictures and just spent time being. i dont want it to be over. it seems too soon, yet it is not due to me not getting to do all that i wanted to do - its cuz the atmosphere is so addicting and im hooked.


july 23/09 (DAY 23)

well ive reluctantly left nelson to make my way towards castlegar. i managed to find this treed area that is by the river that just so happens to be lined with a beach (my kind of territory). i was amazed (yet again) that i managed to set up my tent only minutes before the rain came. i have been very fortunate with the weather in that respect. i also managed to find a camping spot so well hidden from the main pathway that i almost couldnt find it again after i did a walk to explore the area.

my body is almost in shock from the walk today, although it also feels so good to be out there pushing myself again. i think ever since i got to kaslo my average walking distance has been about 10 km a day - and sometimes less when i didnt go anywhere. thats a big change from my 25-30 km/day. today was one of those days. lucky for me mother nature decided to put a few clouds in the sky which helped minimize the heat.

even still, by 9 am i was dripping head to toe with my own sweat. id wipe my forehead and nothing would happen as it was like trying to mop up a river using one sheet of "bounty - the quicker picker upper." it doesnt work very well. so i thought maybe i could be like one of those hardcore athletes and take off my shirt, going with the sports bra and short combo. i was on a side road - not much traffic so i didnt think much of it until 5 seconds later a car pulled over and asked if i wanted a ride. i politely declined and then put my shirt back on. granted, it was a middle-aged couple that had offered me a ride and they probably didnt pull over due to my lack of upper body coverage, but i figured i shouldnt take any chances.

once i set up my tent and got settled in - i assessed my injuries. this is something that has become a daily ritual for me - whether or not i walk anywhere. as it happened, i was able to gleefully take off another dried up blister off one of my toes - only to find a fresh one underneath. it reminded me of those little painted wooded dolls that are in the shape of an egg and each time you open it up, theres a smaller doll inside. same thing - only mine arent as pretty and sure as heck are a lot more painful.

other than blisters, today i got a nice heat rash, but the worst was the chaffing. its back in full force and in the worst imaginable place a person could have a skin irritation. lets just say its forced me to go commando for the remainder of the day. haha.

****

ive decided to take all my supplies to the river and have my supper on the beach. the breeze is really cool here - its the first time ive put on my jacket in weeks.

i always find it humorous when people ask me where my "home" is as i automatically answer "calgary." but the truth of the matter is - i dont really have a home. the closest ive got is my tent - 3*6ft of space i can call mine. its my sanctuary and retreat. its my only place of familiarity amongst the unfamiliar... and i love it! :)


july 24/09 (DAY 24)


its 1:06 pm and i am sitting here crossing my fingers that the rain will stop. i think the big black cloud from last night (it poured most of the night) decided to flip a u-turn and head my direction today.

fortunately - at one of my gas station pit stops a few km from the highway 6/3A junction i ran into a guy from the bc forestry (adam) who gave me directions to get off the hwy and get on a path that would lead me to castlegar. it was the same path i had originally wanted to take but the lady at the nelson info centre told me that it just "cut off." what she SHOULD have said was that at the little place of glade it stops and then starts again right after.

i took adams directions (i was stoked that the esso station was right by the turnoff to glade) and followed the road down to take the ferry to get to glade. eventually i made it to the path and it struck me that not only have i not been doing long days of walking since jumbo pass, but i havent even been walking ON a path since then. i felt somewhat hypocritical of my journey and then i remembered that its MY journey. there is no one that can tell me how i should go. i quickly refocused to enjoying my surroundings. the tall trees, the bright green bushes, the sweet juicy raspberries. i was glad i had chosen the path instead of the highway.

****

its now 1:45 pm. im still waiting for the rain to stop - there is hope as the sun is trying to come out.

as it were - shortly along the path i saw a sign indicating that there was a "primitive" campsite (no facilities or services whatsoever save for a log tied way up in the trees as a crossbar to hang food) ahead. i went for it and good thing i did because, as usual, the thundering cloud rolled in shortly after i set up my tent.

thats all great, but due to the excessive rain from last night i had packed up my tent while it was still wet. my sleeping bag got wet as a result (i figured i had separated the 2 good enough - i thought wrong). so now, in my tent i got a sleeping bag as well as the clothes i wore on my hike that i am trying to dry. given the confined quarters, the fact i cant hang anything outside because of rain and the humidity in the air - well the results arent looking too good.

on a brighter note, the campsite im at is quite pretty. its tucked off the path and is lined by a creek that feeds the kootenay river i overlook. if the rain would quit maybe ill actually get to enjoy it and even be able to wash my hair! :)

****

2:02 pm. the rain has stopped! (for now)

****

4:18 pm. another bout of rain clouds have rolled in, threatening to dump their waters as they rumble with thunder. i fear this could be another wet night and what makes it worse is the fact that i took advantage of the sun the past few hours and washed the clothes ive been drenching in sweat the last couple of days. instead of hanging them on my makeshift "clothesline" ive had to lay them on top of my tent, but under the fly (inbetween the 2 tent layers) - ill cross my fingers that within the next 12 hours theyll be dry. im not going to lie - i have my doubts. on another note - at least i got time to wash my hair while the sun was out! that and my sleeping bag appears to have dried nicely. yay for synthetics! :)

now that thats all said and done, it appears that the rain clouds may have moved on. i wont hold my breath - im just glad im as "rain prepared" as can be considering the unpredictability of the weather today. im all set and even ready for supper! (i know 4 pm is super early, but as ive been up since 5 am - hunger comes quicker)

****

5:17 pm. its started to rain again. im already in my sleeping bag listening to the pitter patter of drops....


july 25/09 (DAY 25)

my clothes didnt dry at all last night. i might as well have washed them this morning as they were still that wet. i packed up my tent as it were and headed out by 6:15. at 6:20 i was soaking wet as the humidity in the air was so high and i was pretty much walking straight up the hill. that would be the downside to walking on a path. at least with a highway you can pretty well garantee there are no straight ups and downs... it is all very gradual and more often than not the roads are fairly straight. no roots and logs to climb over there!

within about an hour or so i caught up with the fork in the road that indicated a shorter route to getting back onto the highway. i figured id take that as it was easier to hook up with castlegar - the other way id have to backtrack a couple km and that is never something im interested it. so i took it - and ended up going pretty well straight down, following countless signs indicating that this was a "dangerous" trail and to walk at my "own risk." eventually i made it to the bottom to connect with the bridge that would cross the kootenay river to the highway. one problem - the bridge was all closed off due to an excessive amount of rotting happening to the structure. this would be a prime example of how bc appears to fail to update their signs. there was NO indication along the way that i was heading blindly into a dead end. a little hint like, "bridge is out," or "dont go this way," or "dead end" may have helped a little - but NOPE. nadda.

so i was left with 3 choices. 1) attempt to cross the bridge and risk falling into the river (not to mention i would have to scale 2 fences, one on either end of the bridge that closed it off). 2) backtrack my way back UP the hill to the fork and take the longer path to the other exit. 3) take out my imaginary inflatable raft and attempt to cross the river... though - as it were i figured my pack would probably end up sinking the raft given how heavy it were. good thing all i had was an "imaginary" raft.

i ended up choosing a secret option 4 -- explore the overgrown road nearby and see where it went. so i did just that and came face to face with a chain-linked fence that separated me from the highway. there was no way i could walk way from that without at least attempting to climb it. the highway was so close i could taste the fear that would come to me should a logging truck zip on past. so i took off my bag and squeezed it underneath the fence and then found an opportune place for me to climb. again - this is something of which i have not done since i was a kid and all i could think was that i was going to end up with my pants split and all the cars on the highway coming to a screeching halt to see what the hell i was doing.

i managed to gingerly get over the fence with only a few scrapes to show on my arms. all sweaty and dirty i picked up my pack and made it into castlegar. a quick pit stop to subway (breakfast #2) and the visitor centre and i was off to the library for internet access. along the way a guy with a camera stopped me and asked if id be in his movie as i apparently had the right "look" to promote castlegar. i shrugged my shoulders and agreed. 5 min later i was signing a waiver so that he could show me walking down the streets of castlegar in his promotional movie that will be airing in the vancouver airport during the olympics of 2010. haha. i wonder what kind of "look" that will be...

anyway - as it is - i have again updated my pictures and have started a new photo album that can be found at: BACKPACKING BC (2) as stated previously, this link and all other photo album links can be found to the right of my blog should you need to check it out there...