Category: drunkcamp

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Weekend camping at Cultus Lake for drunkcamp02

Camping on Cultus

Three days in Chilliwack, B.C. at Cultus Lake with Rebecca, John, and Duane. Lots and lots of sitting around the campfire, laughing a ton, good drink, good food, and the weather was… good.

Home for three days

Nerd City

The forecast in the days leading up to the trip just got worse and worse. Everyone we knew told us that we were nuts for going camping this weekend. It ended up being awful on Thursday night, Friday was actually really nice, and Saturday was off and on in terms of being cool from winds that would whip up from time to time. Other than that, everything went off great.

I like fire

I even busted open my right shin a tiny bit when a piece of wood I was chopping got away and clocked me. That’s about par for the course, no other major injuries.

Sunset behind the mountain

Drowning tree

I can still smell the smoke, if not taste it. That’s only the real complaint of the trip, even if the coolness kept us all pretty close to the fire. Couldn’t even fathom jumping into the lake, no matter how inviting or calling it might have been. Fleece under a rain jacket was just right. Bone chilling lake water from ice run off from the mountains in the area, not so much.

Lanyards

Ah yes, we indeed called this drunkcamp02, complete with lanyards. It’s more of a statement of enjoying the time away from laptops and technology and becoming one with nature. Even though there are public washrooms within easy walk and Duane’s family brought us amazing food(perogies, cabbage rolls, and KFC), donuts from Tim Horton’s, and fire wood in three separate trips on Saturday, it’s tough country out there “in the Wack”.

You can see more of my pictures from the trip on Flickr.

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Throwing the camp down, Chilliwack style

Rebecca in the Lake In a matter of events that seemed to sneak up on us, we went camping this weekend with Duane in his home-neck-of-the-woods of Chilliwack, Cultus Lake to be exact. I’ve been camping a number of times, but the opportunity to camp in some official campgrounds with park rangers, outhouses, and “quiet hours” is something I’ve never experienced before. Plus, I’ve never been camping in Canada, so I did a few firsts this weekend.

We tried to get more people to come along, but the weekend was pretty awesome with just the three of us. Duane has some really great photos, and Rebecca has a few as well. You can see my collection here.

And yes, we called it “drunkcamp” because of some strange, string of conversation topics that stemmed from hanging out at these various meetups and (un)conferences (Northern Voice, democamp, barcamp, etc.) that our paths have been crossing at. As much as we appreciate those events, there’s something to be said about being outdoors, no computers, and a steady supply of food and beverages. You can talk shop, but you just can’t do any work.

Purple Fire Actually, I did a lot of work out there, and by that I mean chopping wood so much that my hands are tender from calluses that haven’t seen much action for a long while. There is something that happens to me when I have access to a fire pit and a supply of fuel for the fire. It’s like a sense of enchantment by the flames, and then I have to keep the thing going. It’s a delicate dance because you don’t want it too hot, but you don’t want it to die out completely. And because of that, I still have whiffs of smoke on me, and that’s after one day and two showers since being bathed in campfire ash.

I’m committed to this now, and we’re talking about making another venture in the near future. Get out of the city, get away from this keyboard I’m typing on, and just have more time to relax, not to mention being decently affordable. Of course, we spent a little getting a tent and other supplies, but we’re ready for drunkcamp02 now.