Footprints at camp

JULY 27, 2006
After an amazing rest day in Longview, we shared beers and an incredible sunset with Ann (from the Highwood House store) and her husband Phil on the back deck of their house. The next day Ann drove us to the Baril Creek trailhead and we headed back up into the mountains... up and over the Great Divide at Fording River Pass, where we crossed back into BC.

SPECIAL THANKS to Ann & Phil!

Christy, Paolo, Brad and Bev on Fording River Pass (DAY 19)


Our camp that night was at a little lake on the BC side of the pass. While we didn't see any animal visitors during the night, the footprints near our camp indicated that we weren't the only ones who used the lake as a water source!


The trail (if you can call it that) that led down to the Elk River valley from Fording River Pass was an ATV track so overgrown that we couldn't see our own feet as we tripped over rocks and branches sending us tumbling down the mountainside. At the Elk River we joined a gravel road that led to Elk Lakes Provincial Park. As we sat in the shade near a small stream on the side of the deserted road, contemplating the 20 kilometres of hot and dusty road-walking that lay ahead, suddenly a truck came driving up the road like a mirage. The truck skidded to a stop and Dave from Elkford asked if we needed a lift. We jumped at the chance and hopped in the back of his pick-up truck as Dave sped off down the road, racing the rapidly-deflating air in his punctured rear tire! We reached Dave's campsite in a few minutes and his wife Laura kindly drove us the remaining distance down the road in her car (with all tires intact) to Elk Lakes. We passed the southern boundary of Elk Lakes Provincial Park which signified that once again we were in protected land and would be following the well-established trails of the parks for most of the next month of hiking.

BIG THANKS to Dave & Laura from Elkford!