Chapter 1: Introducing Smudge, Myself and the West Chilcotin

It's amazing yet unsettling how quickly you can get sucked back into"normal life." Now that I'd been back in Vancouver for a couple months, it's starting to feel like I never left at all. The same shit that drove me nuts about the city before was starting to get to me again. Slowly breaking down the serenity I discovered this summer while exploring the remote wilderness of British Columbia's West Chilcotin by paddling 100 different lakes.

Ts'il-?os Provincial Park on the Chilcotin Plateau

I had been in Vancouver for way too long.

Don't get me wrong, I totally appreciated what I had around me geographically and how accessible it all was but my patience for the people and commotion of the city were wearing thin. So when the opportunity to run away from it all for a few months and live away from pretty much everything presented itself, I had to make it happen.

Nimpo Lake is a small British Columbia "town" about a 900 kilometer drive from Vancouver most of the way down Highway 20. A narrow winding road that drives you back in time. Before cell phones and traffic, Hell even traffic lights! It's a simple place where someone can actually still be employed as a Cowboy and if you told someone to "google" something, they'd look at you like you were nuts.

According to the internet, Nimpo boasts a population of just a few hundred during the summer. This year, I was going to be one of them.

Attracted to the region a couple years prior during a bicycle tour that was part of a 2000 kilometer human powered loop from Vancouver to Bella Coola and back. I was intrigued by the mountains I could see off in the distance and as I rode down the quiet highway,I knew I had to come back.

However, like most ambitions, it found it's place behind everything else that was more pressing in life.

Reaching the summit of the Chilcotin Plateau on a cycle tour through the region as part of my 2000 kilometer loop.

But this was meant to happen apparently, as things developed on their own very organically over the next couple years. A chance meeting with some resort owners from the region combined with some work with the Bella Coola Valley Tourism Association eventually grew into an opportunity to spend the summer in the Chilcotin.

I had met Ron and Kerry at the Outdoor Adventure Show a few months after completing the cycling portion of my Bella Coola loop. Ron being a marathon runner and a cyclist, appreciated the effort required for a trip like that and we got talking and clicked. They showed me their private alpine cabin and told me I had to get up and see it someday, I truly had every intention to and even tried to find friends to split the bill with.

So when they offered me a place to stay and my meals in exchange for some work around the resort for the summer, I couldn't say no. There were a couple things I needed to deal with in order for it to happen. My dog needed surgery and I needed an actual paying job.

I guess "dog"is a bit of a stretch...

Smudge partaking in her favourite hobby, napping.

At nearly 15 years old, Smudge needed to get most of her teeth removed. Putting a dog under anesthetic at her age can be tricky and the outcome is not always certain. Thankfully the procedure went well and the little monster recovered quickly. It was time to find a job.

Ron and Kerry had mentioned before a resort down the road in the next town over that may be looking for staff. By the time I called they had done all there hiring for the season but after a talking for a few minutes and discovering a few mutual associates, it turned out they could use someone with my experience to help manage the grounds. Within a few days I was hired. So with no more excuses, I quit my job in Vancouver and prepared for what would end up being a summer to remember.

Almost a month to the day after the initial offer came in to head to the Chilcotin, I was supposed to be there. Usually when people plan on being away for a few months they start preparing months in advance doing things like subletting their place, planning, packing etc. Needless to say it was a busy few weeks but in the end it all came together better than I could have foreseen. A very supportive friend even gave me a car to make getting around up there a little easier. I'm not sure I would have been able to complete my goal without it.

And what a goal it was! I have a habit of mathematically breaking things down which tends to make for some pretty interesting trips. Sure, paddling 100 different lakes in a few months is certainly possible, I mean it ends up not even being a lake a day ( see, math!) but I certainly didn't take into consideration everything that would actually go into making it all come together. I mean really, how could I?

I wouldn't say I wasn't prepared as I had all the gear. Over the last couple years I had developed a system and acquired the ideal set up to allow me to hike with my boat, camping gear, Smudge and whatever else. The most important piece of course being my boat, I needed something that compacted well but was extremely reliable and durable. For the past couple years I had been paddling an Innova Solar. Although it's an older model, I had put this boat through every test possible. If there was a boat that was going to last and work , this was the boat. While it does pack up, it's not exactly small and I needed the right bag for it. I eventually found one that would do the trick, MEC makes a drybag backpack that is 115L! If you get the "Slog Deluxe" the straps are reinforced and the back is padded. It easily fit the boat, my little Eureka Solitaire tent, sleeping bag, cookwear and pretty much anything else. I used a two piece Aluminum paddle from Bending Branches for anything I hiked to as I have had issues with carbon fiber being reliable and here I needed reliability. Anything I could drive to I used my one piece wooden Nimbus paddle that I loved almost as much as my boat. I had an extra everything that could break and even a bunch of butane stove fuel as they only sell propane around there.

Logistically I was set, it was just everything else I never saw coming, but I'll get into all that as we go.

Anyway, now I had all that gear as well as anything else I figured I could possibly need to live for the next few months rammed into my newly acquired 1991 crayon red Ford Escort Wagon in a fashion that would make the Beverly Hillbillies proud. Smudge and I were finally on our way. Leaving a few hours later than planned and stopping to see a friend on the way out meant only making it as far as Pemberton, just a couple hundred kilometers away. I pulled into the parking lot for Joffre Lakes Provincial Park and pulled out my sleeping bag, with no room to recline, I pulled Smudge over into the sleeping bag and we huddled together to stay warm. It wasn't going to be a comfortable sleep but that was ok. I needed to be up early and like this, I wasn't going to be able to sleep for long.

Sunrise over the Duffy Lake Road between Pemberton and Lillooet

I was up early and after a quick breakfast at the lake in the dark I was on my way. As the sun came up over the Duffy Lake Highway I stopped to appreciate it for a minute. I was going to miss this area. Hopefully it will be worth it.

It was about noon when I hit Williams Lake, the last real town I would see for a while, it was from here I headed down Highway 20. I stopped for lunch and fuel as this was pretty much the last place to get anything few things before heading west. Just a handful of gas stations and general stores dotted the next few hundred kilometers and supplies at any of them are minimal. This was also the end of cell reception, I sent the last few messages I would for months to let people know where I was and say goodbye to others and then I turned off my phone and headed off. Next stop Nimpo Lake.

The "Camper Cabin" at Nimpo Lake Resort, my home for 4 months

Now I had never had never been to Nimpo Lake Resort and in the true spirit of adventure I had decided not to look it up. I wasn't even sure what my accommodations were going to be so it was a nice surprise to be led to my own cabin after a warm greeting and a few minutes of catching up. The cabin was small and simple. No hot water and no bathroom but I had an outhouse and access to a shower, a wood burning stove, a comfortable bed, a kitchen and a weak internet connection. Just exactly what I needed.

I unpacked as much as I could before joining Ron and Kerry and their friend Ray for dinner and after a couple drinks and laughs I returned to unpack the rest. Once I was settled and had fire in the stove, I prepared for the next day. Tomorrow was to be my first day of work at Eagles Nest Resort and I wanted to get in my first paddle before it. I turned out the lights and crawled into bed, with Smudge nestled in beside me, we spent a very warm and comfortable night in our new home.