Wayward Newlyweds - Day 4: Lillooet Lake (Twin One Creek)

Beautiful BC

After a few days at home doing last minute errands, tidying, and groceries as well as a few epic nights of D&D where a Storm Giant Lich tried to murder everyone, and another where we were nearly eaten by undead whistling marmots, we were ready to pack up and head out for car camping on Lillooet Lake. Packing consisted of much Tetris and the final conclusion that we could not fit the barbeque in no matter how we rearranged. The next challenge was fitting in all the FOOD we bought. I think we managed to utilize every nook and cranny that exists in a Fit to store something. We managed to get everything in and were finally ready to go. We dropped my car off at my parents for storage over the next month, and had one final hug goodbye from my mom. We made a quick stop down Lonsdale to say goodbye to a friend we hadn’t seen for a while, and then by about 3:30pm we were on the road. A bit latter than originally intended, but we were committed!

We had a quick stop in Squamish for gas and some dinner around 4:30pm, and continued our merry way. We hit some slowdown traffic around Whistler (as you do), but otherwise it was a great drive. The weather was beautiful and the mountains were lit up by late afternoon summer sun. Seeing this part of BC always surprises me a bit. I forget the beauty that is in our province. Even though we have the mountains around us all the time, we are so in the middle of a city sometimes I tend to forget to look around in wonder at the natural splendor. This is not a drive I have done a lot of as an adult, and I kept having to scramble for my phone as glorious vistas of mountain ranges and rivers appeared around a bend. I am so grateful to be able to not only do this kind of trip, but do it in a way that means I will get to see the variety and wonder that my province, and the rest of my country has to offer. As much as Dodd and I were panicking a little as we packed the car, thinking that we are completely insane for trying this venture, the drive up here sparked my excitement in a very tangible way. It is a huge task we have given ourselves, but I believe it will be incredibly worth it every step of the way.

We made it to where the Google said to turn off on to the forest road, however it was blocked off! There was a sign that said detour 1k so we kept going. We saw a road that we thought might be it, but we hadn’t gone 1k yet so we kept going….and going…and there was no other turn off…So around we went and back to the road. A very rocky, bumpy drive for about 6km and we found Twin One Recreational sites around 6:30pm! We drove around a bit scoping out the sites and settled on one that would work for the time being. We asked our across the way neighbours when they were planning on leaving and as it happened they were heading out Saturday morning. Perfect! We could pitch our tent in that site once they left and have the whole area for our group! We set about getting things set up and creating our bed for the first time. We got things to a relatively good spot, then took a break and played a round of Hnefatafl (Viking chess essentially). Once done that we finished making the bed and setting up our privacy/bug screens. It being a lovely evening I requested a little walk around. We wandered a bit, found the creek of Twin One, it was quite high, and then went and found the ‘boat launch’ which could also act as a good swimming start if desired. We were just about to head back to our site from the edge of the lake when we hear a voice say ‘would you like to join us?’ There was a group of people around a lovely driftwood fire in one of the larger sites in the park. There is something about camping that creates a sort of comradery that you don’t find other places. These were not people we knew, they just heard us chatting and invited us to join in the campfire chat. So we met Kelly, Matt, Teneal, Josh, Nenna (?), and Bev and her husband whose name I never got. We chatted all around, learned that Bev had graduated from Handsworth in 1978, Kelly had been coming to the area for 30 years and was a bit of a nomad for the time being, and Josh was from London, Nenna was from Brazil and this was their first time camping together.

Around 10:30pm we said good night and made our way back to camp. We climbed into our car bed for the first time and snuggled in. It took some getting used to, and as usual the first night anywhere takes a while to get to sleep, but we made it eventually, and drifted away.

Cheers

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