This how we spent the Labour Day Weekend.
Our neighbours had just purchased a trailer and were of course eager to try it out. They also ask us if we would like to come along as the campground was highly recommended. Of course we said yes and I was able to borrow another truck as the Titan was still having issues.
I managed to get a Ford F-350 on the Friday and had use of it for the whole long weekend. As soon as work was finished we dived straight home, hitched up and very soon we were heading East towards Pincher Creek.
We got there just after it had dropped dark so it was not particularly easy to find a spot. We drove round each loop which was pretty tight looking for Cindy and Gerald and also somewhere to park. The first two of the three loops were completely full but we found a nice big site on the third (mountain) loop. Once we had parked up we went off to find the central self-registration point, this campground was $20 per night although there was no water, electric or sewer hookups, this is what is known as dry camping and you rely on what is already in your trailer.
Zingy has 3 water tanks, a 40 gallon white tank, which is the fresh water, this is what comes out of the faucets and this is used for drinking (although WE carry bottled water) cooking, washing and flushing the toilet. She also has a 40 gallon Grey tank which is the waste water from the sinks and the shower. She also has a 40 gallon Black tank which is the sewer tank.
I have also removed the 12 volt battery and fitted 2x 6 Volt deep cycle batteries which gives us 12 Volt power in the trailer, this can run all lighting, furnace, water-pump and a few other things. The water heater, furnace (it needs gas and electric), fridge, freezer and power slide all run on propane of which we carry 2 x 30 lbs tanks. I also carry an 800 watt power pack/inverter which allows us to watch TV/DVD when there is no hook up and I have also got booster cables which plug into it so I could boost my truck or after an extended dry camp I could use to boost the 2 x 6 Volts if there was not enough power to get the slide back in.
So, while we were looking to self-register we found our neighbours and their sons family ( in the trailer opposite) they had gone round the mountain a little further and were in a wooded area as opposed to our fairly open site.
Next morning we took a wander round the lake, i could not believe how many people were fishing down there, at some stage I might have to get into fishing myself, maybe next year. I have a couple of things that I want to try out before next season which are a little more adventurous (off-roading) but I will tell you all about that if and when it happens.
Cindy and Gerald invited us for supper that evening so we dived into Pincher Creek to grab some supplies for our contribution to the feast, we did a little exploring on our travels as there was a place down there that we wanted to check out called Bouvais Lake. When we got down there we found that it was okay but quite commercialised. There were loads of facilities and playgrounds end all sorts of stuff, I'm glad we checked it out but I don't think we will be camping down there. Apparently it fills up very quickly of a weekend too.
So that evening we went round to Cindy and Gerald's trailer and had a fantastic supper, as it started to drop dark the temperature started to drop so it was time to head back to our own trailer and fire up our campfire.
One thing I will remember about that weekend was the night sky, the night was very clear and there were millions of stars out, you could make out all the major constellations and the Milky Way was very bright, it was absolutely beautiful, all three nights we sat round the campfire drinking beer, eating bratties and chatting till the early hours of the morning.
On the Sunday we headed off out in the truck again to explore in the other direction. We headed towards Lynx Creek and spent most of the day just driving around the dirt tracks around the mountain ranges. now this is what we really enjoyed. As we pulled off the road we saw there were dozens of trailers and Toy Haulers just parked all along the side of the tracks, these were mostly groups but all had one thing in common....... Off roading.
There were bikes, quads, side-by-sides and all sorts buzzing around...... all ages from young children to grand fathers..... all scooting round on off road vehicles. Now this type of dry camping is completely free and this is what we would like to get into at some stage, I really like those Side-by-Sides where you just get onto a forest path and disappear into the wilderness. I'm not really sure how we are going to transport the thing around but I'm sure we will find a way.
We must have gone for miles along these dirt tracks , we went so far we even ended up on the Highway 3. We could not have wished for better weather for the weekend and I am glad to say we got loads of photos, the ones within this post are just a selection.
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