Club Events 2008 : 2008-09-04 : COC - The Forks, Three Isle Lake and Beatty Lake
| No entry found! |
Trip Log
| Notes | Actions |
|---|---|
|
Although we didn’t all have the same trip, I think everyone had a great time, which is the main thing. We got a bit of a late start, and since I am such a slow hiker we decided to leave without Marek, Bill and Hal who were even later than the rest of us arriving. To reach The Forks before dark, I set a "blistering pace" (Laura and Lana have the blisters to prove it) and we arrived with enough remaining sunlight to pitch our tents and get organized, then cook dinner in the twilight. Marek, Bill and Hal arrived only about twenty minutes or so behind us. Lana entertained us with her adventures with cars... her Civic was stolen recently, and although she originally wanted to buy something brand new, she had to "shift her focus" and buy used (a manual-transmission Ford Focus). On Friday, we decided that Laura, Lana and I would hike to the next camp site but wouldn’t do the extra hike to Beatty Lake, while the others would do the whole trip. We set out in high spirits but when we got past the little waterfall and Laura’s blisters saw the climb to come, we reverted to "Plan B" which was to send Jorinda and the boys on to Three Isle Lake while we three would turn back and spend another night at The Forks. On our way back to The Forks, we got a bit of rain, which Lana pointed out "put a slight *insert dramatic pause here* damper on things". Laura kept us smirking with her story of driving an ex-boyfriend "nuts" (by picking the cashews out of the trail mix). Over dinner, we shared some food, and Lana tried out Laura’s pasta, just for "kicks" (Sidekicks, that is). On Saturday, rather than wait for the intrepid five to return from the mountain, we set out a hobblin’ once we were ready to go. We had more time to enjoy the beautiful forest on the way out, and enjoy we did. We were caught a couple of kilometers from the end by Hal and Bill who were hiking faster than Ed, Marek and Jorinda. Hal told us about Jorinda’s hiking experiences after having completely lost a boot on the trail... and this is where Jorinda’s story will pick up, so I’ll shut up now. Happy Trails! :) -- Rhonda As Rhonda said, five us (Ed, Hal, Bill, Marek and Jorinda) continued up to the next campsite and, on that climb, forever lost our innocence, our naivety. We didn’t realize the 400 metre elevation gain would greet us all at once, but scrambling with backpacks on was… definitely a new adventure well complemented by rain and snow as we reached our “no campfires” site. After the men convinced Jorinda we could survive a night in sub-zero temperatures without a campfire, we set up and then spent two hours exploring the area around the lake as we were too tired (and cold) to continue on to Beatty Lake. Good humour saved the night and a diabolic plot was hatched as we stood warming ourselves over our camp stoves amidst the rain, hail and even snow under tarps brilliantly set up thanks to Bill and Hal. Our scheme involved telling the rest of the group that Jorinda hiked back down (from almost 2200 metres and over 10 km) in only one boot. The laughter (and Hal’s Rum/Vodka/Baileys/Kahula/Chocolate/Coffee hot drinks) helped us stay warm. We then crawled into our tents to try to sleep through a wet and icy night punctuated by the Bittersweet [digestive] Symphony coming from a couple of the Y-chromosomal tents. The sun accompanied us on our harrowing descent and, after almost reaching the trailhead, Jorinda fell back and her hiking boot was swapped out for one neoprene sock and one Teva sandal. Wandering back to the group, the sympathy was palpable (cloaked only thinly by Rhonda’s disappointment that a shoe of bark and sticks hadn’t been fashioned as the group had claimed). Empathy turned to anger (Jorinda ducked), then laughter erupted as the plot was revealed. Sissies, Shiverers, Big Fat Liars... a great end to 2008 the backpacking season! And Happy Belated April Fools to our Woman of Vision! ~ Jorinda One-boot |