July 1st long weekend

Mnt. Rainer, over 14,000 ft. high, towering above us.

Just a little snow left, do you think it will all melt by next winter?

Ken takes a bit of a canoe ride in La Comba Lake, I don't think that paddle will take him far.

Rose and Ken overlooking the valley, and Trapanier Creek running out of La Comba Lake.

Ah yes, the July 1st long weekend, Canada Day, four days off for Ken and I and what would any patriotic Canadian do but head south to Spokane to visit friends and find roads that are not as busy as they are in Canada.

We haven't had the warmest weather here in B.C. this year but you would think that by July 1st the temperature would be warm enough to do some camping. We packed up the KTM950 and head out on the open road Friday night. Midway, just on the Canadian side of the border seemed like a good spot to camp for the night so we set up tent and went for a light dinner. Climbing into our bags at 11:00 pm we noticed it was a bit chilly by the river but we had no idea how cold we would get. Waking up shivering we cursed the Argentinian sleeping bags we had brought and longed for some good old Canadian bags rated to O or -5 at least. Needless to say we were up early and at the border ready to head south. Did you know there are actually borders that keep 9-5? well Midway is one of them so we ended up waiting for the gates to be lifted and the guards to interrogate us (we look so terribly shady!!). As the day progressed the temperature climbed. By the time we got to John and Janet's we were more than ready to gear off, kick back and exchange stories of our trips to the Baja this past winter. A great dinner, a soft bed and a hardy breakfast sent us on our way west to Mnt Rainer National Park.

Now I have mentioned that our sleeping bags were not the warmest and even though the temperature reached the high 90's the temperature at night it cooled of quite nicely high in the park. In fact, as the thunderstorm rang out all around us, we cuddled up inside the tent to keep warm and dry. Halfway through the night however, our air mattress deflated and we found ourselves on the hard ground. Another early morning! We were glad of the early start, Mnt Rainer was open to the blue sky and looked tremendous...and the day turned into a 12 hour ride due to the fact we couldn't find another air mattress and we rode all the way home.

The weekend away turned out to be a day short, so... what did we do with one more day on a 4 day weekend? We rounded up Rose (who is doing the West Coast Trail with me at the end of this month) and we hiked up to La Comba Lake and back, about 22km round trip. Training continues, no blisters and the leg felt good the next day. Now to try it carrying a 45 lb pack!