On the Road Again

July 5th I set the hotel alarm clock apprehensively, worried that if I set it wrong, which I've done in the past, that I would oversleep and be late getting to AAI. I would have set my cellphone alarm clock, but the battery was nearly dead, so I figured that was an even bigger risk. As I closed my eyes that night, I spent it thinking to myself, let's hope I did this right!

I woke up the next morning, looked over at the clock. It read 6:15. I thought to myself, awesome another 45 minutes to lay in this comfy bed. Around 6:24 I look over again, thinking to myself, "The alarm was supposed to go off at 6. I'm supposed to get picked up at 6:45. OH SHOOT!" I shot out of bed, quickly got dressed, brushed my hair for the last time for 12 days and bolted out the door, lucky that I had already packed all my stuff. 

I only had to wait a few minutes for AAI to show up, and upon my arrival, learned that we were in fact going to the Bugaboos in Canada! The Bugaboos are known for being an awesome alpine climbing playground, probably one of the best in North America. A picture is featured on the cover of the climbers bible "Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills". 

After cutting my ice axe shorter, because I had recently learned it was too long, and getting some donuts for the ride, we left Bellingham for Spokane, WA where we were to stop at Mountain Gear to pick up a guide book. 

After stopping at Mountain Gear we went to a local park that had some short cliffs to climb on, so our guide Kurt could get a feel for how we climbed. Afterwards, we hopped back on the highway and drove to a grocery store in Idaho where we bought dinner and drove through Northern Idaho (somewhere I never in my wildest dreams expected to ever be) to the Canadian Border, where we crossed efficiently and drove to the town of Canal Flats, where we drove up a logging road and camped on the side at a "Kurt Hicks Bivy Site". Free camping out under 

the stars. 

The next morning we woke, reset our watches and drove to Radium Hot Springs where we sorted our gear and headed to Bugaboo Provincial Park which is down a long (35 km) dirt road. When we got to the parking lot, we were immediately attacked by mosquitos the size of small birds, which ate us alive through our clothing. We quickly wrapped our van 

in chicken wire so the critters who live in the area wouldn't eat our brake lines. 

We started up the trail, which started easy but got very steep and rocky. It actually became so rough that the Alpine Club of Canada and BC Parks have cemented rocks in to form steps and installed chain railings and a ladder, something you would rarely find in the US. 

I moved quite slowly up the steep terrain, carrying 65-80 pounds on my back. We arrived at the Kain Hut, which is run but the Alpine Club of Canada. You can stay there, and it's fairly luxurious for its location, but is also very expensive. We paid for our campsite and hiked the extra kilometer and 250 vertical meters and set up our camp at Applebee Dome. 

When we arrived it was very windy and setting a tent up in the 20-30 MPH wind was an interesting experience. Once my tent was set up, I cooked dinner chilled a little, read and went to sleep, around 9:30 because we were going to get up at 5:30 AM the next morning.