Jul 10 2009
Camping At Alice Lake: Day 3&4
Our day started out with even better weather than the day before. We had breakfast and then headed into Brakendale to go to the area where you can view bald eagles.
It was only when we arrived that we discovered that eagles can be found there during the winter, and usually leave the area in February. We walked along the trail on the dike until we saw a bear about 300 feet ahead of us. Fortunately, there was a fence between it and us, and we started to walk the other way, but it seems that the bear knew the way around the fence, crossed the street (in front of a pedestrian), and went into the wooded area by the Easter Seals Camp. Now, the Squamish area has plenty of signs and information warning you that you are in bear country and to be aware, but we expected to see them in the campground or provincial park that we were staying in— not a busy street!
So, after bearly containing our excitement/nervousness about running into a bear (yes, I couldn’t resist the pun), we decided to go looking for an estuary that we read about. Well, either we took a wrong turn, or didn’t go far enough, we never found it. At this point, it was getting close to lunch time, so it was back to camp.
After lunch, my youngest daughter, Ainsley, and my wife wanted to have a nap, so me and two other daughters went for a walk along the Four Lakes Trail to find the other two geocaches in the park. Three hours, we completed our 7.5 kilometre walk, including going up and down a hill of about 300 feet in height. My 7-year old and 4-year old were real troopers, not complaining at all. I was truly amazed at how well they did!
The rest of the evening went well. A family had arrived at the campsite across from ours who had a couple young kids, so Megan was happy to have “friends” to play with. It was unfortunate that they arrived the night before we left, especially since they seemed nice and the kids all played well together. After we got our kids to bed, my wife and I sat by the campfire talking well into the evening.
That pretty much sums up our trip. Today was spent packing everything up this morning, heading home, and then the fantastic job of unpacking, putting things away, and 78 loads of laundry!