Bedwell Lake Hike

It was time for our yearly overnight wilderness hike and this year we decided to hike to Bedwell Lake to camp and do a day hike out to Cream Lake. It is only just over 6km to Bedwell but in that 6km there is approximately 550m of elevation gain. I knew it would be steep but was looking forward to it anyway. 

Setting off the trail gives you around 600m of nice level trail, a suspension bridge to enjoy and some nice forested ground. I enjoy these hikes out in the mountains. It is peaceful and quiet. You don't see many folks and it feels like you are in a different world. 

I was glad to see some water in this stream as the first one had been quite dry. The sound of the water rushing down over the rocks was music to my ears. This summer hasn't been as dry as last years and the forest was filled with green lush growth in many shades. 

We then reached the "up" part of the trail. It was a nice switch back that went up and up and up. There were some sense of stairs that had been built and the odd wooden ladder. We must have climbed up for over two hours if not more. I had to stop many times to rest and even unloaded my tent onto another hiker to lighten my load by three pounds. I was very thankful for the help! 

From past experience I know if most people hike the trail in four hours as a day hike - in and out - I know I should allow that much time just to go in because I am not a fast hiker where lots of elevation is required. I also stop to take pictures of all the unusual trees, rocks and sights. There are so many beautiful bits of creation out in the woods. 

We continued to hike upwards and I was beginning to think it would never level off but thankfully it did....for a very short brief moment. 

Mostly I just continued to put one foot in front of the other and take in the views and savour them. As the other hikers moved a bit faster than I did there were ten to twenty minutes at times when I could hear and see no one. I was surrounded by trees and views of snow covered mountains and just breathed it all in while giving thanks for being able to be here. Being out surrounded by tall strong mountains brings such a sense of self to me. I find it humbling in many ways and yet empowering to stand still among such majestic creation. I am always amazed at the strength and determination trees and plants have to continue to grow in the most difficult situations. 

We arrived at Baby Bedwell and had a quick break before heading off for the last 2km which would take up to Bedwell Campsite. I felt that we had probably done most of the stairs and ladders at this point and was feeling much more energized. My body had finally adjusted to the weight of the pack and although I was tired, I was ready. 

As soon as we left Baby Bedwell we ran into another set of green stairs. I thought to myself well this is handy and hopefully the last set of these, although at this point there had only been a couple of other much smaller sets. 

 Not bad but pretty steep and so up some more we went. Looking back at the lake and the campground I have to confess I was wishing we had decided to camp there. 

There were lots of small ponds and streams along the way and it was good to see that there had been rain here in the mountains in the past few days. There was the odd patch of mud along the trail and the odd bit of bear scat as well. 

There are always lots of fun things to duck under and go through. It makes for an interesting hike to see if you are actually going to fit with your pack on your back. Sometimes it can be a tight fit. 

And then we came to the "stairway to heaven". I couldn't believe my eyes. More green stairs. So up and up we went and when I reached the ladder portion at the top with no railing I tried not to think about what it would be like to be coming down this is two days time. 

We reached the viewpoint looking out at the glacier and had another short rest before heading down to the lake. 

Finally, after climbing down another huge stair way, we arrived at Bedwell Lake and now just had to make the trek around the lake to the campground.

 It was so beautiful to see the glacier up in the mountains and the snow covered peaks. The snow on the mountain tops looked so fresh and clean. 

It was a well kept campground and the views were just wonderful. I was tempted to swim but decided to wait until tomorrow when we returned from Cream Lake. That way I wouldn't have wet clothes hanging around for two nights. If only I had known what was to come. 

Throughout the night it sprinkled on and off. When I got up at 6:30 am I found that the fog had moved in and there were no views and lots of low cloud. Thankfully I quickly made my breakfast and was nicely tucked back in my tent before the skies opened up. It poured and poured. My hiking buddies hadn't packed rain pants so one of them got a little wet while he prepared their breakfast. Actually he was soaked!

So on Thursday when my view should have been of a glacier lake high in the mountains my view became this. 

After two hours of laying around in the tents, we decided to pack up and head out because there was no point in spending a cold night in a wet tent. All the other campers had already left and we were out there on our own. Thankfully I had full rain gear so I remained nice and dry while packing up. I must confess I was somewhat relieved as I wasn't sure I could hike up another 500m and do a 10km hike that day, especially if one wasn't going to be guaranteed a nice view. 

It was a good hike back and the rain did disappear but not until after three hours. By the time we were heading down the the sun was peeking through the trees. 

We were so thankful that we had had the views the day before of the mountains because if we had been hiking with the low fog we wouldn't have known what we were missing. 

It was great to hike out with all the vegetation being wet and having more colour. The whole hike was pretty much different shades of green but coming down there was suddenly some lovely orange and reds to brighten our day. 

It was a good but short hiking trip and once again I am thankful to be included on the yearly family Walker hike. I hope I can continue to backpack into the forests for a few more years. As much as I feel I can't continue to hike with the large overnight pack being out there in the middle of nothing allows me to connect so well with creation. It allows me to breathe and rest and forget about every day stress. It's so important for us all to spend time out in nature and also get a good work out in the process. This hike will always be remembered as the rained out one with the never ending green stairs and ladders! 

Friendships

Friendships are one of the most important things in life. They arrive in many different ways and each one is as unique as the person. I am blessed to have a few friends who love to share my love of the outdoors with me. I try and organize one hike each week but lately I must say life has not allowed me to do that. However this past week I was blessed to get out on small hike with my usual hiking buddies. The two that are usually free and look forward to exploring as much as I do. These are the friends that I am blessed to see every week. 

We decided to do a little caching hike and not do anything too strenuous so we headed up to Nanaimo and toured through the trails at Bowan Park. It's a family friendly park with lots of wonderful trails and things to do. We enjoyed strolling along the creek side catching up on each other's week. 

It's great to have friends that you connect with in a regular basis and just hangout and have fun with. 

And when you're blessed to see each other on a regular basis you have that close connection. You are there for each other in the good and bad times and you know if you need someone they are just a call away. 

We always have fun searching through the bushes and parks to see who can find the cache first. We share in many laughs and just plain enjoy being with each other. 

There are also those special friends that you may only see once a year or once every few years yet when you do connect it seems like you were together only yesterday. Thanks to social media a person can keep track of their friends and see what is happening in their lives but it takes a good visit and chat to really catch up and share. 

Thankfully I was also able to connect to one of my good friends who I shared the raising of our children together. We went up to Nanoose and hiked the Notch hill and then headed over to Moorecroft park and used the time to really got caught up with each other's lives and those of our children and grandchildren. We also shared in a few laughs of stories from our years when we saw each other daily in years gone past. 

Friends, I can't imagine my life without them. Whether I talk to them daily, email them off and on or only see them once a year, I treasure them all. They are family outside of family...the people who sometimes know us the best. 

Family hikes and outings

This past two months we seem to have been able to gather as a family quite often. It is so wonderful to have all the littles together and see how well they get along and play together.  As much as I love getting out hiking with my friends and getting a good workout and elevation, hiking with my family also brings me great joy. 

Lives get so busy that it is easy to let time with family slip away. To not make the time to schedule in dates when we can all be together. The more grandkids that arrive the more we seem to be able to connect. 

Our first hike with the six littles was up Little Cobble Hill mountain. It's a great two hour hike for families and lots of fun caches for little ones to find. The older two were right into finding caches and the younger ones walked along or were carried in packs so everyone had a great time. A picnic stop was required and I took the opportunity to get a "Nana" picture. The kids like to tease me about always taking group pictures of us all but someday I know these pictures are going to be my joy as I look back and remember.

It is great to be outdoors with the little ones and point out all the plants and and trees and they are great at finding all the slugs and bugs along the trail. Little things that I might take for granted are new and exciting for them.

We also managed a weekend up in Comox for Canada Day and although we didn't hike, we did get outdoors and they had so much fun playing in the yard 

and down at the beach. There are many things to explore when you are outdoors.  

It was a good reminder for me to always find time in my busy life for them. I know they will grow up so fast and if I am not careful they will all be busy with school and activities before I know it. I want them to experience creation first hand and learn to explore and love the forested trails and wide open beaches as much as I do. 

Happy Canada Day! What an amazing part of the world I live in. So blessed in creation and so blessed with these little creations.