#50 No (clear) view

On Tuesday, the final trip to the forest fire started. I always find it exciting to see the helicopters flying at high speed over the city to the lake and quickly back to the fire. So far, 7,000 hectares have burned (as of 08.08.2023), but it was already much smaller when I drove past. Now I had a clear blue sky again. For some reason, I was very tired, so I had to take a short nap and another break. Probably the continuous work has taken its toll. Eventually, I arrived at my next destination:

Castlegar

Finding a parking space was a bit more difficult again, as the found campsite would have cost $33/night and I didn't think it was worth it. After a short search, I found a spot where I hid behind bushes and branches so that I wouldn't be seen from the road or the houses opposite. Apart from that, there is not much to say about Castlegar, as this city is simply boring. I thought it would be similar to the neighboring city of Nelson, but I was mistaken. The park was boring and the hike also did not offer the best views, although the waterfall was nice. Unfortunately, the squeaking of my tire got louder and louder, so I had to visit a workshop in the city. The mechanic told me that my tires were still fine, but something on the left front tire needed to be repaired soon. I hope it will last at least three more weeks 😅 Since I didn't like the city or my parking spot, I thought I could also drive to Nelson, as I already knew this city a bit. With the app, I found a campsite called "Secret Spot" which was supposed to be secret, but unfortunately, this place did not exist, so I had to drive back to Castlegar to my old spot.

Nelson

The next day, I went directly to Nelson. In the city, I primarily strolled along the streets and occasionally turned into a shop here and there. One shop, which I found particularly funny, was a completely overcrowded bookstore that was also a hair salon with just one chair. I have never seen such a combination before. Oh, and then I found a really cozy pawn shop.

In Nelson, there is also a small city park designed in Japanese style, as it symbolizes the partnership between Nelson and a Japanese city. In this very small park, there is a waterfall in the middle of Nelson. Unfortunately, it was being visited by people who were listening to very loud music, so I had to go back to the car. I had to leave no later than 3 p.m. because I didn't know if my next spontaneous plan would work. Instead of driving to the next city, I went to

Little Piece of Paradise Farm

Fortunately, my second farmers from last year had time, so I spent the evening and even the night with them. It was really nice to see them again after a year. Even nicer was the feedback they gave me, as they had witnessed my almost one-year transformation.

Originally, I just wanted to stop by for a coffee, but I was immediately offered a beer and since it was quite hot, I thought maybe I shouldn't continue driving or at least stay there a little longer. 😂 After the first beer, I went down to the sheep, goats, and pigs and then into the river for a quick cooling off. Then the parents of the girl who had played with the kids showed up, and as it goes, we got into chatting with a few beers and I knew that today I would just crawl into my bed and not move the car anymore. 😅

With the short visit to my second farm, I have achieved a small goal, as I wanted to visit both my first and second farm and thank them again for the past year. I skipped the third farm. For two reasons:

1. It was a very interesting experience to live with an absolute minimum of resources for a month. This unique experience is enough though. 😅

2. This would have meant a detour and higher costs for the ferry, so I decided against it.

The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, I continued. I made a short stop at the 40-kilometer (!) long Slocan Lake. Isabell and Robert told me that there is a place where you can jump off "cliffs". After I found the parking lot, I walked along a hiking trail that split in two directions shortly after the start. Of course, I chose the wrong one, as this path ended up in nowhere at a cliff. So I had to go back and try the other trail. I wondered the whole time why it was uphill until after about two kilometers, I knew the answer. This trail was also the wrong one and ended at a very high cliff, where I preferred to take a step back. When I arrived at the parking lot, I discovered another trail and since it only led downhill, I decided to give this trail a last chance, and indeed, I finally arrived at the lake. 😌 The highest cliff I saw I would compare to a three-meter tower. The unusual thing was that there was a small "pool" where you could stand up to your knees, and then you walked into the water towards the "abyss" where it goes hundreds of meters deep (the lake is about 300 meters deep) because this lake is one of the deepest in Canada. (I probably wrote that before.) That's why I didn't like jumping down there. 😁 The short refreshing swim felt good anyway, and now I continued. On my way to the next place, I had to take a ferry, and as I waited for the ferry, I already noticed that the view was anything but clear. Since it didn't improve either, I knew that the next forest fire would be waiting for me at my next destination.

Revelstoke

This small tourist town, which was last visited by the English royal family in 1958, namely Queen Elizabeth II, is beautiful! It has such an old North American style and I simply find it beautiful. Unfortunately, I walked through the city a bit too long, as all the museums had already closed at 5 p.m. and I was prepared for 7 or 8 p.m. 😅 The park in the city was not manageable, as it was not exciting and was also full of mosquitoes, so I had to retreat relatively quickly. However, you could see the forest fire very well from the parking lot; it looked quite small. The next day, I went to the "Mount Revelstoke National Park". Upon arrival, I was told that I might have to wait for up to one and a half hours to get to the top parking lot. By the way, I bought an annual pass for about $73 because it is already worth it after a few visits (at least $10/park) to the national parks. Finally, I arrived at the top parking lot after waiting for real; it was only when a car came down from the top that another car was allowed to drive up. Due to the dryness, parking was not allowed on the side of the road, and there were only 50 spaces available at the top. Fortunately, some travelers gave up and five cars in front of me in the queue retreated. It was now necessary to wait for ten more cars, and then after 1 hour and 40 minutes, it was finally my turn: I was allowed to drive up. I would never have been able to do the additional hike if I had parked my car at the bottom because it was still a good distance to drive. The utmost respect goes to an older park employee who cycled all the way up the mountain to work there.

Upon arrival at the top, it was time to start hiking. My goal was two lakes: Miller Lake and Eva Lake. After about 1 hour and 45 minutes, I arrived at Miller Lake. Although it was very smoky, it was a breathtaking sight. These mountains. It is impressive what beauty nature has in store. Upon arriving at the lake, I contaminated it first. I cooled my feet and since it was over 30 °C, I was also sweating a lot. 🥵 There, I also saw the good old nutcrackers and grey jays for the first time since Tatla Lake. After taking a short break at the lake, I continued to the next lake. Eva Lake is named after a teacher who hiked in the mountains for three (!) weeks (I have no idea how they traveled with all the travel equipment 😅) and she discovered the lake, which was subsequently named after her.

Then it was time to go back. Along the way, I could observe four marmots sunbathing and playing, it was cute. Especially since there were hardly any wild animals, except for a few birds. I really thought I would see more.

On Sunday, it was time to continue driving. My next destination was to take me further east.

Golden

Fun fact: Although this city is still in British Columbia, I have already crossed one of the six (!) time zones in Canada. So the time difference is now only eight hours. 😎

Here I found a campsite that was full of weekend campers, so I was lucky to find a spot. However, the drive was marked by potholes, so I took about ten minutes to cover the last two kilometers. I didn't want to subject my car to another drive that day, so I stayed there for the time being. Since there is a perfectly clear river running along here, I grabbed the English Lord of the Rings book and sat by the water. It was just awesome. Right in front of me was the forest, which is bordered by the river. The sunset behind the trees, and all of this in a red light. This point has such a huge bitter aftertaste. Due to the smoke, there is a reddish daylight all day long, which is almost comparable to sunrise or sunset. That's why everything looks so beautiful, but it's just incredibly sad because you know that the entire forests are burning brightly.

On Monday, I went to visit a waterfall. The hike was not predominantly difficult, so I reached the top faster than expected. I love waterfalls, they simply show this natural force of the water so incredibly impressively. Plus, the sound is so loud there. You definitely can't take a power nap there. 😂 After I was back down there without having seen a bear, I actually wanted to go to a suspension bridge, but it would have cost $33, which I didn't think was justified for a bridge, so I went back instead. In the evening, there was a thunderstorm passing by in the distance and a few drops came down. Tuesday, my last day in this area, was characterized by rain. It also cooled down a lot, from 30 °C in the evening to 13 °C in the morning. 🥶 In combination with the rain, this resulted in a nice wet and cold mixture. In Golden, I looked at a bridge that is supposed to be special in some way, but due to the disgusting weather, I just quickly walked across it. Then I went to the very boring city park, where the only "highlight" was the helicopter landing at the opposite airport.

In the Glacier National Park, which is about a 45-minute drive away, there was a short hike to a waterfall and then I wanted to do another slightly longer hike. The "hike" to the waterfall was about a 15-minute stroll, although the waterfall was still impressive. However, it made you even wetter, so I only took a few quick photos. Then it warmed up to 20 °C and it started to get muggy, so I was already slightly sweaty on the way back. Due to the weather, I know how slowly clothes dry, so I decided against the other hike. In this respect, the car ride was somewhat "in vain" because it was only for a stroll. I usually don't mind these car rides because the landscape is incredibly beautiful. Now it is the case that for days I can only vaguely see the mountains because they are either hidden behind smoke or rain clouds. This is a bit annoying. I just hope that my next destination will have less smoke so that I can enjoy the local scenery more.

Smoky greetings

Samuel 🤟

P.S. No idea why, but my last post has already been liked 450 times?! Huh? I don't even know that many people :D