Missed it by that much

After several days driving in areas without much to see or do, we finally reached the northern Canadian Rockies. Not everything worked out according to plan, though.

Last night, we boondocked on the rocky bank of the Muskwa River, in Fort Nelson BC. Indeed, we’re a week into our trip and we’re still in British Columbia - it’s huge! The river bank was a quiet and free place to camp, but not a good place for a morning run. So first thing this morning, we moved the RV to town where Amy could get a coffee at Tim Horton’s while Greg went for a run. Next, we continued our drive northwest. The first planned stop was the Tetsa River Lodge, famous for their cinnamon buns. Unfortunately they are closed on Monday. This turned out to be fortunate, and not just for our waistlines.

Our next planned stop was to kayak on Summit Lake, in Stone Mountain Provincial Park. (Not at all like the other Stone Mountain Park). When we left Tetsa River Lodge, the air was thick with wildfire smoke. We rounded past one mountain and saw another mountain on fire! We saw multiple plumes of thick smoke, then we saw the flames. We weren’t sure if the air in Summit Lake would be OK for kayaking, but we continued to drive.

About 10 minutes later, we reached Summit Lake. We saw several fire helicopters in the sky. At Summit Lake, the sky was clear and free of smoke; it seems that the winds and mountains kept the smoke to the east of us. It was very windy, but we decided to try kayaking anyway. We finally tried our new dry suits, and they kept us warm and dry - perfect!

We were kayaking directly into the wind, which took a lot of effort. When there was a strong gust, we got pushed backwards. After 30 minutes or so, we turned around and paddled back to the launch. Or, more precisely, once we turned around, the wind pushed us back to the launch, with very little effort from us.

When we returned to shore, about a half-dozen more RVs had parked to camp, probably due to the fire. In the time we were kayaking, the smoke increased.

We cleaned up and had some lunch. Since we passed the fire, it seemed safe to continue. When we resumed the drive, Greg checked the internet and read that section of the Alaska Highway was closed due to the wildfire. Had we stopped for those cinnamon buns, the road may have been closed and we would have been stuck. Worse, there are only 2 roads to Alaska; it would have taken days to backtrack to the other highway. The Alaska Highway was even more quiet than normal, but this helped us see wildlife including deer, moose and stone sheep, which look like large goats. No bears today, though.

Soon, we reached Toad River, where the road was closed and many commercial trucks and RVs were stopped. We finished our drive on schedule to Muncho Lake Provincial Park. “Muncho” means big and “Lake” means lake. It is another gorgeous lake in the northern Canadian Rockies. We found a first-come, first-served campsite at MacDonald Campground. (E-I-E-I-O). Our timing was good as the campsites filled up quickly; one group asked Greg if he knew anything about the road closure, and he gave them the story. First thing tomorrow morning, we’ll launch the kayaks out the back of our campsite onto Muncho Lake.