The mosquito net kept all but one (visible) insect from entering my sleeping space. Going to call that a huge win! I slowly pack everything up, lazily drink my morning coffee, and continue my travels north. I plan on stopping at Williams Lake around noon to get a hike in, then continue up towards Prince George, and ultimately end up at Fraser Lake. The city names are great right?
When I get into Williams Lake, I decide to stop at the information center at the start of town to get my bearings and ask about favorable hikes. Apparently the town was originally named after Chief Will-Yum, but it somehow became William. I personally like Will-Yum, although it sounds like a crappy Chinese buffet bar. The woman who greets me at the visitor center is actually pretty unhelpful, and keeps telling me about hiking areas an hour north here, and hour and half south here… No lady, what’s local, in town, ready to mingle right now? She finally tells me about the river walk trail that parallels the downtown area, and eventually ends up at the Fraser River. I know none of these names mean anything, so basically it runs into the Mississippi River of British Columbia. Cool! I get the trailhead location and head off in some surprisingly warm temps.
So I get to the trailhead, and it’s as expected. I dirt lot with a dirt road leading down to the “trail.” I follow the “trail” which is actually a pretty developed gravel road. Like two lanes wide. Ok, maybe it narrows down at some point? Trucks are passing regularly, some personal vehicles, but mostly white work trucks. Looks to be city vehicles. I pay that no mind at first, and start really looking at my surroundings. Hm. The water is dark brown, all the riparian areas are bare dirt with high erosion levels and man… kinda smells like shit. It took about 1.5 kilometers to figure out this was a sewage treatment area. I had to pass the actual open holding tanks of poop before realizing it. Why on earth would there be so many people walking and biking out on this trail when it smells so bad? I don’t understand. What I do understand is why the lady at the information center was not telling me about this gem. Oh well. On the plus side, I did take one nice picture of the place. No floating poop pieces included.
I quickly walked back to the truck, and tried to figure out where to go next. You know, I haven’t been to a single brewery yet in Canada. Maybe there’s one around here? I take out Yelp and find what seems to be a cute place in the town of Quesnel, an hour north of Will-Yum.
Side note, I have no idea if I’m spelling these towns right, and not enough WiFi time to look it up….
I pull up to Quesnel and find Barekerville Brewery, and I wonder if it’s even open. Yes the door is open but I can’t find anyone inside. After waiting a minute, I spot a small bell next to the register that says “ring for beer.” After one quick ring, a girl emerges from the woodwork to help me. I need a beer bell for all occasions…
After a flight to try 4 different yet decently tasty beers, I head off to a free RV park in Fraser Lake. The idea of a free anything is odd, so I’m hoping for the best but expecting the worst. I start to worry there won’t be room, and I’ll have to scrounge around last minute for a place to stay like normal. But, to my surprise, when I pulled up I was greeted with a beautiful lake front and ample RV parking. And a clean bathroom? And cell service? This place is nicer than most areas I pay to camp! What’s the catch?
Oh, right, the extremely active train tracks 50 feet away… Only one train at 10pm then another at 4am. For free though? I can deal with 2 trains.
I wake up the next morning to rain and sleet. I can only tell the difference due to the sounds on the camper top. I’m pretty sure no one is throwing BBs on the truck, so I’m guessing sleet. Crap, I had so many outdoor things to do today! Well, not more than normal, but rain definitely hampers my style. I decide to try and drive on, seeing if I can get out of the weather.
The quick answer to that was no. It was raining everywhere. I get into Smithers, where I’ve found another free camping spot, and decide to try and hike a bit. But before that, I decide that I need a shower. Like, badly. I remember the public pool trick I talked about in my previous blog, and find the leisure pool in Smithers to ask if I can just buy a shower. The answer is yes, you can buy a shower for $3.75 at the Leisure pool in Smithers. What no one told me was that the $3.75 was buying a communal shower in the girls locker room of that pool. Not even a good communal shower. It was 3 faucets, no place to put soap, and only one curtain covering your naked ass from the pool behind you. Why is there a window here anyway?? What the fuck did I just do. Am I back in Europe? Are you supposed to shower with your swim suit on? This is very confusing and odd. The toilets have stalls, so that throws me off. In areas I’ve been to in Iceland with communal showers, the bathrooms didn’t have stalls either. The changing rooms were individual… So I honestly have no idea what to do and no one else is in here to compare with. So. Not wanting to be the one random naked chick, I do a 5 nanosecond shower with my underwear on. I’m fumbling soap like it’s my first day in prison, and I’m all around not having a good time. At least I got my hair washed…
The best part of the whole experience was that after my shower I quickly slid into a toilet stall, then proceeded to wring out my sports bra and underwear into the toilet. What a shit show.
I later googled that yes, you’re supposed to be naked. They make everyone shower with soap before entering the pools as they don’t use chlorine? What kinda fake news is this shit? You think one shower is gonna keep nasty crap from living in a pool of water you’ve heated up to 75 degrees? That’s not how any of this works!
After my demoralizing and stressful shower experience, I head to where I’m staying the night to scope things out. There’s a waterfall near the campsite, so I hoof it up the steep gravel path to get a glimpse. Yup. That’s a waterfall…. The rain is stupid and cold so I walk back to the car. Today is stupid.
I decide to drive back into the town of Smithers to check it out. Two breweries are here, so I go to one to have a beer and potentially interact with other humans. I don’t know what it is, but I just didn’t feel like I fit in. I haven’t felt like I’ve fit in anywhere here. I can’t explain it at all, just feels odd. Defeated, lonely, and hungry, I decide to just go back to the camp site and read for a bit. Maybe it was the weather, or the stressful shower, but I was just feeling down in general.
I’m hoping the weather is better tomorrow so I can get a hike in. Although I’m a little worried about bears. This seems to be the time grizzlies are waking up, and I hate being alone in the woods.
Tomorrow will be better. It has to be.
