A Close Encounter

Sam swims at Kinaskin Lake

We arrived at Kinaskin Lake under heavy skies. Our favorite campsite was open, but the neighbors had a generator, television dish, and a motorboat. We opted for a quieter spot. 

Sam is not yet trustworthy to roam freely, so we tied her to a tree with 40 feet of lead so she could reach the beach and swim to her heart’s content. I placed her food bowl out and water. I have long had a little orange cup to measure out kibble. The next time I looked, however, the cup had disappeared. We looked all over for it. Finally, we discovered the thief when David accidentally dropped a pistachio nut. We believe this was the culprit who stole my cup. 

We decided to take a hike around the lake. Thankfully, we had brought our rain gear with us. We heard thunder and quickly donned our jackets. We had barely finished zipping up when the skies opened with huge drops of rain. We made it back to camp as quickly as possible. 

Weather forecasts predicted rain at Kinaskin for the next two days. Squeezing three in our cramped quarters for two days hardly sounded fun, so we broke camp the next morning and headed to Boya Lake. 

Sam swims in beautiful Boya Lake

Boya Lake is noted for its beautiful color.  With its bottom composed of marl, a mixture of silt and shell fragments, it casts a deep, turquoise color.  The sun was shining, and we arrived early enough to find a great campsite. Boya is very popular because its water is so warm, so it often fills before early afternoon. 

We took Sam for a hike and swim. Then settled in for the evening. Mosquitoes have been dreadful on the Cassiar, so David pitched our screened porch. When I came back from a visit to the outhouse, this was my view… my sentinel was waiting for me.  I had to laugh. 

When we awoke the next morning, David made coffee as usual. He normally lets Sam out as soon as he steps out of the camper. This morning, however, he wanted to get another collar for her, so he left her inside with me. Within minutes, I heard him talking with a woman who sounded quite distressed. 

She was our neighbor and came to tell us she had seen a bear in her campsite just minutes before and she was worried about Sam. Bears and dogs do not mix well. David came to tell me, turned around to look in the woods… and there he was… a large black bear less than 20 feet from the back of our camper!  Sam caught his scent and went nuts.  She was all over the camper... back and forth between it and the truck, watching that bear.

Our neighbor had a bear siren, but the bear hardly noticed. We were stuck in the camper until he decided to leave. After about 20 minutes, he ambled off. We waited a bit, then decided to take Sam for her morning stroll in the opposite direction. When we came back, however, so had the bear. Now we couldn’t get INSIDE the camper, but watched and waited from our neighbor’s campsite. 

Our close encounter...

Finally, the bear made his way up the road.  I was able to take this photo of him as he passed the recycle bins just on the other side of our campsite. Wowzer!  Now that’s the way to kick start a morning!  Woohoo!