Journal entry by Maeve Winchester:
On the weekend of February 19-21, the second half of the Outdoor Recreation Leadership 11 students set off on a snowshoeing adventure up island in Strathcona Park. Led by our two audacious guides, Liddy and Sarah, the nine of us started our journey by arriving at Raven Lodge in Mt. Washington. All eleven of us were bursting with anticipation upon seeing fresh and unmarked snow, which had barely fallen in Victoria during the previous "winter" months. After a brief bagel lunch at the lodge, we strapped on our snowshoes and 60L bags and headed off into the wilderness.
After a couple of hours of awkward snow-trudging (not to mention a tumble or two), we arrived at Lake Helen Mackenzie and quickly set up camp on an overlooking hill. We had to flatten our camping areas then pitch our tents, building a small hole of sorts as an area of refuge for our packs and boots outside one of the tent entrances. When our sleeping areas were prepared, the kitchen work began. All of the group's efforts were focused on building a wind-proof cooking area, complete with an island-like table and loveseat! Towards the end of the night, Liddy even built a storage space for our 'snack packs' (which was really more like a refrigerator). That night we made pasta and pesto, deliciously aided by pine nuts from Maddy. Soon after our stomachs were filled and satisfaction sunk in from digging out the kitchen, we went back to our -20ºC sleeping bags to sleep in warmth.
The next day we woke up in no rush, ate our Peaches & Cream oatmeal supreme, and prepared ourselves for our epic day hike. As we walked onto Lake Helen Mackenzie, Emma (our Morale Leader) stopped us and asked the group to pick a person who fit the description on bandanas she had prepared beforehand. One read, "I am confident" while another, "I will observe this place"; for example, Luqi was given one which represented his bravery, as he accepted the slanted side of his tent even though his tent mates sometimes rolled onto him in the night. Eventually after every one of us had received a bandana and a compliment from a team member, we were ready to go. Our trusted navigator, Anna, lead us up to the col between Mt. Brooks and Mt. Elma (two mountains just beyond Lake Helen Mackenzie) where we were to circumnavigate Mt. Elma. It seemed daunting from the flat and expansive lake, yet somehow we knew we would conquer it. Encouraged by the gorgeous weather (not a cloud in sight), we contoured around the mountain until stopping for lunch and enjoying the view. What a view. They say a picture is worth a thousand words so I'll save you an essay and you can look at the photo section.
After we came off of the mountain and finally reached the chain of lakes we had so dedicatedly searched for, we snowshoed along (well, Liddy was on skis) for a couple more hours. We walked across Lake Crouteau, Lady Lake, and Kuso Lake practically all in a row, until eventually we crossed over the familiar cross-country ski trails and found our way back to Helen Mackenzie. A couple steps in, when all of a sudden we had a teammate down! Jordan had fallen and it appeared that he could not get up - his 'ankle was sprained'. Really it was an exercise in using the safety sled. It was misty and getting colder by the minute it seemed, so we wrapped him into the sled and off we went, taking turns to haul him across the lake. We made it back to camp, had some orange soup with noodles, enjoyed a long group pow wow, gazed at the clearest sky we'd seen in weeks, then went off to bed.
That morning we had our oatmeal once again, and began packing up. It was sad seeing our bare kitchen, and the Whiskey Jacks (pesky birds who begged for food) were searching for any crumbs or scraps that had fallen. We left the campground nice and clean and headed the same route back to Raven Lodge. The sun was bright and there was no need for fleece or down jackets as we trudged back to Mt. Washington. Along the way Hillary and Andrew had a very amusing snowball fight, and although there was technically no winner, the MVP award definitely went to Hillary. We approached the lodge with a bittersweet feeling - as Deanna noted: on the one hand, there's indoor plumbing, but on the other, there's no more adventure like there is in the wilderness.
We have Liddy and Sarah to thank, and Spring sea kayaking to look forward to.
Until next time, ORL 11!
For more pictures:http://blogs.mygns.ca/users/rlidstone/weblog/f2ccd/ORL_11_Snow_Camp__2.html
