I just got back from Suzie's Lake, a funny little place! The short hike to the lake begins in the Kent parking lot, and there are lots of clear cuts in the area due to prospective developments, which is terrible. But, it's easily accessible by bus and, therefore, perfect for student trips; I've gone there several times with the Outdoors Society. This time, I just went with one other friend. Check out http://www.bmbcltrails.com/ for mor e information on th is wilderness area! After a slightly delayed start (I got caught up at school) we headed out. It was long after dark, though that's a pretty common situation these days, so we made our way by headlamp (or diving light in her case). After one or two wrong turns, depending on who's counting, we made it to the campsite. We set up the tent and our sleeping things and I looked inside and couldn't help but burst out laughing. Half the tent was sleeping bag, and unfortunately, I don't have a photo, but trust me, I'm not exaggerating! Krista only had a 0C bag, so I brought both my new -23C bag and my older -7C one as well. That -23C bag is huge on its own, so throw it in a 2-person tent, along with two other sleeping bags, and that's a lot of sleeping bag! It didn't help that we were using a downmat and an xtherm f or sleeping pads since both are about 7cm thick! It was a hilarious sight. We hung out by the lake for a bit before crawling into bed. It was beautiful! Lots of it has frozen over, though there is some open water still. The city lights, while unfortunately still present, did make for a neat scene.
In the morning, going back to the lake, it was clearer that the part we had thought was open water wasn't really, it was just much thinner ice than nearer the shore. The other times I've been there were both last year in the dead of winter, so the ice was really thick (we even slept out on the lake the one time!) and the trails were covered in a meter of snow. This time, while there was snow, there were also lots of patches of bare ground, and due to recent warm days, there were many sections that were sheer ice. (Many super graceful moments ensued.) I'll have to check it out in the summer sometime!
1 Comment
Sue
9/1/2016 18:40:53
sounds like fun for a quick break from town and uni! I am imagining the gracefulness!
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AuthorCarmen has successfully camped for 100 nights out of 365. This blog is a record of those nights outside! Archives
July 2016
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