Off to Blue River (British Columbia) Mike Wiegele Heliskiing

Posts coming soon. I had already written one and wanted to publish it and poof it was gone. See you soon! 😊 Many 😙

But I found out how I can mark my locations on the map. Yay. This way you can easily see where I am. I have to get up early tomorrow and it's already 22:30, so I'll postpone writing. See you very soon, I promise!!!

Next attempt!

November 13, 2019, it's time to say goodbye, packed my last things quickly and hurried to the car, where I will be driven to Jasper to catch my train to Blue River. With the uncertainty of whether my train is 'on time' or if I have to wait for hours. Since it works differently in Canada and I still haven't figured out if and how you can access the information. Anyway, the train was already there and on time. Everything was so new and exciting for me, as if I were taking a train for the first time😂 Different countries, different rules, luckily I had the two of them by my side and they explained to me that I had to register again with my train ticket before I could get on board.

Oh yeah, in Canada people are really much more relaxed, especially when you're outside the big cities. Just by the way 😊

After saying goodbye, I had to wait a bit until we were all allowed to board. It was a bit confusing that no one could board and even those who had been traveling for two days from Toronto also had to wait. Finally, we set off. I quickly went to my compartment to make sure I got a window seat, which I occupied for a whole 10 minutes. There is a panoramic view on the upper deck that everyone could use. Unfortunately, I didn't take a photo, but I enjoyed the ride 😊

Arriving in Blue River, as you can see in the photo, it's deserted, no counter, no store, just me and the person working for Railway Canada. Welcome to Blue River. I called Toni the chef so he could pick me up. If I had known that Blue River was so small, I could have walked. Then I was directed to the manager so that we could record everything in writing. This time everything is more professional, with a proper employment contract and my contract for the accommodation where I will be living for the next few months. After everything was settled, I finally arrived at my one-room apartment and needed a few days to really settle in. The weather didn't make it easy for me. It rained for a whole week, everything was so gray around me, and I longed for the beautiful, blue, sunny Alberta.

Anyway, the weather changed and it became sunny and cold, only the snow was still missing.

Oh yeah, Blue River has about 260 inhabitants, so you can get an idea of where I am currently. There are two gas stations, a small library, a post office, a pub, and a very small grocery store, as well as Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing. The place comes alive with the employees of Mike Wiegele, we all live scattered around Blue River and when you see someone on the street, it's mostly one of us.

The first two weeks started very quietly, as the first guests are only arriving at the beginning of December and we were slowly introduced to our work. That left a lot of free time and I got into the habit of walking the manager's dog so I wouldn't have to explore the area completely alone. On the third or fourth time, I wanted to see something different and decided to deviate from the path. It went a bit uphill, I just thought I would take a nice photo of the area to show you the beauty of Canada.

It's really beautiful.

Anyway, after taking the photo, I decided to continue going up and see what other beauty I would encounter. That's when I found the beautiful hiking trail, which is also marked with blue stripes. I was curious because I was told that there is a rainforest here. I think I found it, everything was so green and full of moss. The trees around me and the fresh air with the sun in the background.

I just wanted to explore the area further and came to a junction where I decided to go down to the river to capture more beautiful pictures. Since I was still curious and didn't want to go all the way back to get new impressions, I decided to walk along the river, which was partially frozen.

I thought it was the Blue River that would lead me home, but it was the North Thompson River that I followed, but I didn't know it. After a while, it became more difficult to walk along the river and I decided to go back into the forest to see if there was a way somewhere, but unfortunately everything was completely overgrown with bushes, trees, and logs. So I tried to continue along the river again, of course with Rosie the dog by my side. Unfortunately, the same thing happened again and I decided to try it in the forest again. Slowly, I realized my nervousness and knew that I had no idea where I was anymore, everything looked so damn alike. It got later and I knew that the sun would set soon, so I called Clare, who I work with, and told her that I had lost my orientation and didn't know if I would make it back. So she called Jimmy, our second chef, and he arranged for a few others to gather to search for me. Unfortunately, I didn't have internet and tried to use GPS to find out my location, but it didn't work at that time. Since they didn't know that I was really far away, they tried at the beginning of the cross-country skiing area where I started, using the car horn and a special whistle to help, and they searched for me at the beginning of the area. It got dark and I started to panic. Every noise in the forest was frightening and I kept calling Rosie to me because it made me feel less alone. The next phone call with Jimmy was the last for now, and I can still remember his words to stay in one place, but it's not that easy when you suddenly hear animals and noises. You just want to run. You panic, you run for your life, and you keep falling to the ground. The last text message from Clare said to check your map again and see where you are. I just hoped it would work, otherwise, I felt lost in the Canadian wilderness. Google Maps showed me a location this time and a different one the second time. "Oh shit," I thought and tried to send the last location. Clare's phone was now off and I only spoke to Jimmy through Clare's phone. My battery started to drain due to the cold, and I started screaming and crying. I didn't want to die or freeze. The temperature was going to be -18 degrees Celsius. Someone called me, it was Stefan, our pastry chef in the kitchen. I still had 10% battery left, I just said, I'll send you my location screenshot via MMS and hung up. After sending it, my phone also went off, leaving me in the dark and without a connection in the forest, not knowing what would happen and if it was even the right location. I screamed and screamed, cried and cried, calling Rosie to me over and over again as she licked away my tears. 4 hours passed since the first call with Clare and I was just panicking and afraid. As beautiful as nature is, it now scares me and makes me feel helpless. All I could do was scream every second I could, hoping someone would hear me. Finally, I heard a whistle and saw a light, I will never forget that moment. I cried and just hugged him. He was my hero, they were all my heroes. All the heliski guides and a few other employees started a search. After about 30 minutes of walking back, there was a car waiting and drove me to the in-house doctor to make sure I didn't suffer from frostbite or anything else. Luckily, I got away with scratches, bruises, and a big shock. (November 27, 2019)

Canada is so gigantic and so different, I have definitely learned not to go into the wilderness so naively and to be prepared. Oh yeah, and it's best to never go alone.