Camping at Pass Lake, BC

I went camping on May 20, 2009 at Pass Lake, BC. Pass Lake is a Forest Service Road and many Forest Service Roads are free to camp in or very inexpensive. At Pass Lake we didn't have to pay any camping fees.

The morning we left, was rainy and dull. We got up at 6:00 am and packed up our pickup truck and camper. We left the house at about 8:00 am and we arrived at Pass Lake around 8:30 am.

It was actually a little difficult for me to leave the house. I don't know if was anxiety or what. I have been cooped up inside the house now for months because of back pain issues. I haven't really been too far away. I am comfy and cozy at home, with my kitten, computer and netbook.

Another reason it was difficult for me to leave home is because of my kitten, Arrow. Arrow has basically not left my side since I got him on April 3. Arrow follows me all over the house. Yes, I know he's just a kitten, but he has also been a big help to me emotionally getting through this ordeal with my back. Arrow has lifted my spirits so much. I do know that Arrow will be okay until I get back but I still miss him.

For me, this camping trip is probably well-deserved and very much needed. I used to have my total freedom to do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. I have changed from being independant to totally dependant on my husband and that is very difficult for me. Maybe this camping trip will bring some of my independance back to me.

Any other time that we have gone camping, we have always camped in a tent, really roughing it. I am very thankful that I don't have to rough it this year because if I did, I wouldn't have been able to go away at all. There is no way I could camp in a tent the way my back is right now.

It didn't take us long to get the truck and camper situated. Then we went for a little walk. Now, when I say a little walk, I'm talking about a hundred feet or so. I could barely make it. I felt the pain right down my whole right side from my back to my knee. I made it back to the camper, but barely.

This is a pretty sad time for me with this back of mine. I mean last year at this time I was camping in a tent and last summer I went for a 3 km hike through a trail in the mountain. For me not to be able to walk not even hundred feet, it is very sad.

I went back to the camper and I had a little nap. I was quite comfortable in the bed except that I was cold. The cold hurts my back so much and I just couldn't keep warm. I got back up and I went outside to the outhouse. Oh boy, trying to go to the bathroom on a freezing cold toilet seat with a sore back is definitely not my idea of fun. I came back to the camper and I played a game of crib with my husband. I actually beat him. It was fun playing crib because I used to play crib at work with my friends everyday and so, since being off work with my back, I haven't had the chance to play.

After playing crib, we made some burgers for lunch. There is always something really nice about eating food outdoors, even though we technically ate our burgers indoors in our camper.

I brought my netbook with me and I also purchased a set of amplified speakers for it so that we could listen to music while camping. A few years ago, we purchased an eliminator power source which allows us to hook up items like my netbook to it to recharge the battery on it. The eliminator recharges itself through the cigarette lighter in the truck. With the netbook, we were able to watch a couple of movies on it. It was pretty neat to be able to sit in a camper, in the middle of nowhere, with nobody around us for miles and watch a movie.

After the movie was over, my husband went outside and he noticed that there were six deer standing on the other side of the lake. I got my video camera out and took pictures of them. They were there for quite awhile, eating and drinking and then they went up the slope up into the mountain.

It rained off and on during the day but we were quite cozy in the trailer. It even hailed a few times too. As long as I stayed warm, my back would be okay.

We brought Ice camping with us. He loves to go camping. A friend of ours gave Ice a stuffed cat to play with a couple of days ago. We brought Ice's stuffy with us. He loved it. He took his stuffy in his mouth, threw it up in the air, caught it and then proceeded to shake it to bits. Ice loves his stuffy. Ice does not like being on his leash but when we are camping we really can't just let him run loose. I would never be able to handle it if Ice ever ran away on us or got hurt. It is Ice's quality time with just mommy and daddy. No cats to be in competition with so he gets us all to himself and he absolutely loves it.

That night we had dinner in the trailer and we fired up the propane heater. It was quite comfortable inside the trailer. Before we went to bed, I took Ice for a little walk down to the lake and we saw a leach swimming in the lake. The leach was swimming close to shore and it seemed like it had its sights right on Ice's hindquarter. Visions of great big snakes and scary monsters coming out of the lake went through my head. Well, I wasn't about to let my dog get eaten by a leach so me and Ice went back to the trailer.

We went to bed. It was quite comfy and cozy. However, in the morning when I woke up I couldn't move. My back hurt so bad. Mornings are always the worst for me but this was terrible. We had to cut our camping trip short and come home. I haven't given up on camping yet though. I blame the weather for my back being so bad and it is supposed to get warm by the end of this week so we are thinking of going back out to Pass Lake again for a couple more days.

There is a part two to this story.