Day 17: Meziadin Lake - Kinaskan Lake: Northern Lights in Summer???

उजवाडाक आयलां: 03.09.2024

29.7.24

The view from the mobile bedroom shows: it is still heavily overcast but friendlier than yesterday.

We leave the campground at 9:30 and head to the gas station, fill the tank and refuel. We also dump here (costs 10 CAD, but we won't have the opportunity to do this for the next 3-4 days).

Off we go towards the north, where the blue sky (hopefully) awaits us between the gaps in the clouds.

On the way, we repeatedly see real fireweed fields by the roadside, alternating with yellow and white flowers.

We have 230 km of pure driving distance ahead of us today. There was no reservable campground along the route. I have selected the Kinaskan Lake CG and we aim to be there by noon to snag a (nice) spot. So far, almost all campgrounds have been completely booked, so I’m unsure how tight the space situation at Kinaskan Lake will be.

We take a short break at Mehan Lake. There are a few boondocking spots available, two are occupied. However, the space does not fit us because the driving distance would be too long tomorrow. We still need to gather a few kilometers today.

Mehan Lake Boondocking Site / Day Use Area

Continuing on a scenically beautiful route. We might see a car coming every 20 minutes, and it seems no one wants to drive in our direction. So far, no cars have overtaken us.

At some point, we encounter several trucks coming towards us at shorter intervals. They are speeding quite a bit...

We meet several bicycle campers. That would be a no-go for me - they ride on the tiny emergency lane (if available) and have no chance to avoid the trucks that rush past them at high speeds. That would be too dangerous for me...

We also come across some construction sites. Work is being done on the Stewart-Cassiar Hwy.

Just before 2 PM, we reach the Kinaskan Lake Provincial Park and find the small parking lot & sign for the Upper Cascade Falls Trail.

I had already looked up the trail on Google Maps and pinned it. This was a good choice, as the parking lot comes after the trail sign. So we were prepared to check if the sloped parking spot, which is more like a gravel nook, is suitable for our campervan. It seems to work.

However, we want to first go to the campground and have lunch; we’ll save the trail for the afternoon.

When we arrive at the Kinaskan Lake CG at 2 PM, the upper sites in the forest are still all free. We drive through the loop completely once. There are a handful of spots by the lake, all other sites by the lake are occupied, but in the forest across the way, everything is vacant. Okay, we would have definitely found a site. Now we have the luxury of choosing a lakesite.

We decide on Site 22, right at the gently sloping shore with its own lake access and animal visitors - several squirrels are scampering up and down the trees, nibbling on cones.

Our campsite neighbors are two Canadian retired couples. Both very nice. The campsite neighbor to our right even offers us a freshly caught trout 🤪

Since my son and I don't eat trout and neither my husband nor I want to gut the little fish (we don’t have a grill either, and due to the fire ban, we can't make a fire), we graciously decline.

When asked how to pay for the site, both camping neighbors said that the ‘female’ camp host would make her rounds in the afternoon/evening and collect the 20 CAD.

We inform our neighbors that we will head out again and ask them to let us know if the lady comes around to collect, that the site is occupied and we’ll be back here after the trail.

We leave the 3 chairs next to the bench and put a note on the site sign that this site is occupied and we will be back soon.

Hopefully that works out and no one takes our site...

We drive a few kilometers back to the small parking lot and trailhead, which is well hidden on the other side of the parking lot marked only by a sign.

On the way back, we get another nice view of the snow-covered mountains.

We want to hike the Upper Cascade Falls Trail to the waterfalls.

There is also a Lower Cascade Falls Trail - about 1 km further - for which you need a canoe, as you must cross the river/lake to reach the viewpoint of the Lower Cascade Falls on the other side.

The trail is a total of 5 km long (2.5 km in and 2.5 km back).

The trail is somewhat adventurous; it goes over wooden walkways, in parts you have to climb over trees and roots, on narrow paths through the woods until you reach the waterfalls.

Overall, a really nice trail that we enjoy. We love adventure 🤪

We see several animals too. Several frogs - small and large - and not so popular critters which thankfully stayed in their nets 😅

Here it seems worms or beetles created a piece of art

With the hike and the extensive photo stop at the waterfalls, we have been on the way for about 3 hours when we return to the campground around 6:30 PM.

By now, all the sites by the lake are full, and the sites up in the forest and down in the forest, across from the lakeside sites, are now well occupied.

If we had arrived now, we would have had only a handful of sites to choose from.

The campsite neighbors report that from 3 PM, campers arrived at the campground in minute intervals, and all the lakeside sites would have been booked in no time.

The camp host lady was also there, had read our note, and had driven away again. Okay, then we'll wait and see when she comes back to collect payment.

What we did not realize was that it stays light for so long up here in the north. At 9:30 PM, the sun is far from setting.

Just before midnight, I go down to the lake and take a picture of the 'sunset'. When I look in the other direction where it is less cloudy, I notice green streaks in the sky.

I recognize them from Lapland, where we were during the Easter holidays this year and were incredibly lucky to see the Northern Lights.

Today they are considerably weaker, and they are more of a coloration, first green, then pink-purple with a green shimmer. But they are indeed Northern Lights!!!

I am totally thrilled! The Canadian today was indeed right: you can even see the Northern Lights up here in summer 😍😍😍

The camp host lady has not come by to collect... let's see if she comes tomorrow morning???