Monday, August 27, 2007

Fiction writers


B and I camped in the rain this past weekend. This is a rare and noteworthy event. Usually we do not venture out to camp unless the weather report estimates the chance of rain as less than the chance we will win the 649 lottery.

So we headed to our favourite spot at Pitt Lake, with assurances of "sun with only a few clouds" from the monkeys on computers, I mean novelists, I'm trying to say meteorologists, at the Environment Canada Weather Centre.

Saturday morning we got light showers. But hey, we are intrepid. I stuck it out reading by the camp fire, teaching the sun umbrella what a west coast umbrella is really for.


B retired to the reading room.


By late afternoon it was intermittent rain. We did manage to cook our dinner in only a spitting drizzle. But after we went to bed the downpour began. Sunday morning we gave up, packed up our soaking gear and soaking dogs, and rode down the lake in defeat. Tails between legs. Ours', not the dogs'. They thought the weather rocked.

Two minutes before we pulled into the driveway the rain stopped and the sun came out for the rest of the day. The weather forcasters were having a good chuckle by then. Probably playing poker to see who would get to make up the next weather report. At least it dried the wet camping gear.


If you ask me officially, I will say I am only a fair weather camper. But I have to admit, it was lovely and cozy curled up with my beloved, listening to the raindrops patter on the tent. And there is a peaceful beauty in the mist soaked mountains.








Today's dream travel destination: I don't have one. Where I was, was perfect. Just a little damp.

13 comments:

Jazz said...

I so admire people who camp. I hate camping - ok, well I hate the discomfort of sleeping on the ground and needing half an hour before I can actually stand up straight.

Ian Lidster said...

What a wonderfully upbeat attitude you have towards inclemency. I like you even more, and I already liked you a lot. You are much more tolerant of this atrocious and unpredictable summer than I have been.
Have you ever thought how meteorologists can be 100 percent wrong 100 percent of the time, yet they are never fired, or even taken to task. If I didn't have so low boredom tolerance, I think I might have become one.
Liked your misty gothic pictures of the lake.

Voyager said...

Jazz, As the years have gone by, the thickness of our camping mattresses has increased exponentially. It is actually quite comfortable.

Ian, I agree, it must be very boring to be a weather forcaster. You make something up in the first twenty minutes at work, (or simply consult the magic 8-ball) then play solitaire the rest of the shift.
V.

Dumdad said...

"listening to the raindrops patter on the tent"

That took me back some years when I last went camping - as a teenager! I remember the misery of cold, rainy days but also the raw, real feel of sleeping outdoors. And how my appetite roared!

Great pix too.

Jim Thomsen said...

I love the area in which you live more than any other place on earth. I tryu to spend at least one week of my vacation time each year exploring some new previously undiscovered nook or cranny in the Sunshine Coast and the Inside Passage, and am never, ever, ever disappointed or left thoroughly unthrilled by the mountainous splendor of the region. Most of my explorations are on Vancouver island the Gulf Islands, but I'll do more of the mainland's tasty little getaways in years to come.

I hope to retire there someday.

I hope you fully appreciate what you have have ... even in the coldest and rainiest of months. When everything, frankly, is at its most poetic and beautiful.

Angela said...

What beautiful photos! And your dream destination for the day was perfect. Such a good feeling!

We loaded up all the camping gear for our last trip but ended up at the Best Western. Apparently, Jon and I are not the big campers I had hoped we would be.

What a lovely post. Thank you!

Big Brother said...

Funny, to the contrary of my sister Jazz, I love camping, even in rainy weather. There is nothing like being all snug, dry and warm in our backpacking tent as the rain patters on the tent cover and the wind blows through the trees. Was B reading about Everest? Seems I recognize the mountains on his book cover.

Voyager said...

Dumdad, One of the beauties of camping and backpacking is that food tastes sooo good. Maybe because you have to work so much harder for it.

Ninja, I love your part of the world, which isn't very far. The Olympic Peninsula is a hiking paradise.
I agree with you that the wet winter months in the mountains have a special allure. But it's August. Most years we get droughts in August! What's up?

Angela, We get to our favourite camping places on Pitt Lake by boat, so the Best Western is not an option. Otherwise, we may have been tempted!

big brother, Good eye on the book. Yes, B is reading another account of the 1996 Everest tragedy.

Jocelyn said...

Heart-stopping photos. And great description of the damp camping...I've been there and felt the same!

Mike Minzes said...

the pictures are great! So is the story!

I hate weather forecasters!!

Rozanne said...

I love misty mountainsides. (Bring on the Led Zeppelin!)

I'll bet you had the campsite to yourselves.

Voyager said...

jocelyn, The shrouded mountains are gorgeous. The light and clouds change by the second. Hard not to get some good photos.

Mike, I'm getting to the age when rheumatism is a better predictor of rain than the weather forcast.

rozanne, I don't know the Led Zeppelin reference. Please explain. Yes, we had the little beach to ourselves, but we always do. These are not official camp sites, just little spots we know around the lake. You can only get there by boat.

V.

jmb said...

I have had many wet camping experiences in my time but I think the tents are better now. We had canvas and it was awful trying to stop the kids from touching the sides or top, because then the tent would leak.
Still you had fun. Lovely photos anyway.
regards
jmb