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Days in Idaho were trending hot and smoky as we approached the end of July, August was looking hotter and smokier yet. It was time for an extended trip, and we set our sights north to British Columbia. British Columbia is huge. At twice the size of California, well, yes, it is that huge. Thinking of going to tour it for three to four weeks, it is hard to come up with a plan that will really give you a perspective on the province. We weren’t going to “see it all” but we had a few thoughts: try to see some bears in Stewart (BC) and Hyder (Alaska); drive the Cassiar and Alaska Highways (the BC portion of the ALCAN, at least), and generally try to stay out of crowds and away from wildfires. Then I ran across the British Columbia Recreation Sites. Numbering about a thousand, BC Rec Sites are minimally developed sites scattered across the province, with a lot of them being small campgrounds at lakes, and most of those being free to stay at. Our trip planning was done. I downloaded a copy of the waypoints, saved them to GAIA GPS and we had all the info we needed to head north on an extended road trip.

Check out our video of this segment of the trip here:

After crossing the border and filling up the fridge and pantry, our first overnight stop was Buck Lake. When we pulled in we had the entire lake to ourselves, although another camper arrived before dark. We inflated the canoe and headed out for a paddle. No fish came to hand, but there were a few interested bites that managed to escape. The deer on the shoreline gave us a quizzical look, wondering who was interrupting their evening dinner along the shoreline.

We were still in the very southern portion of BC and it was plenty warm, so the next morning we continued moving north, hoping the cool uncrowded north woods were around the next corner. BC Highway 24 is also known as the “fishing highway,” an area punctuated by dozens of lakes apparently full of fish. You had me at fishing highway, it became our next destination. It just sounded too good to pass up. The catch was, we found out that the coming weekend was a holiday weekend in Canada. Time to find a spot and stay put for a few days! After stopping at a few lakes along the highway, we finally found the right one, somewhat off the beaten path. There was nobody else there when we arrived at Hammer Lake. It didn’t stay that way, but for a three day weekend it was pretty quiet overall. We inflated the canoe again and enjoyed paddling the lake, and relaxing along the shore for the next three days.

We didn’t have to be here long to see the large trout jumping one to two feet out of the water as the sun started to set. Now note that this is a lake off the fishing highway, not the catching highway. Try as we might, no fish were harmed as we plied the waters of Hammer Lake. The paddling was superb though.

We had loons as our constant companions on nearly every lake we stayed at across BC. Morning, mid-day and even overnight, their haunting calls let us know we did make it to those dark north woods. The mosquitoes that came out as the sun went down each evening were another reminder, but I like to remember the loons.

As the long weekend drew to a close we started to set our sights north again. We wondered if there were bears in our future. You’ll have to hang around for part two to find out.