Camping at Jones Lake

One weekend in August we camped at Jones lake (aka Wahleach lake) near Chilliwack. It was an awesome trip if a bit ridiculous at the start and the end and perhaps in the middle too. We left Friday afternoon and somehow we only took one pot, my stove, and Q's BBQ and no other means of making food. I was the only one with any silverware, a plate, bowl and cup. We stopped in Chillwack to buy groceries for the weekend (way too much!) and picked up some plastic stuff and a new frying pan.

Jones lake is run by BC Hydro and we chose a campsite near the spillway, a part of the lake meant to flood when water is released...from some direction. I'm not sure if the lake rises and floods the area or if the water comes from the other direction.

We set up the tents and made some food but it was quickly too dark to do much.

There was a fire ban and without a fire there isn't much to do in the dark.

The next day we may have slept in a bit. I have no idea since we don't keep track of time when camping which is awesome. So once everyone was up we had some breakfast burritos sitting in a circle around our imaginary campfire. Then we decided to follow the road some more along the lake and go on a hike among other things.

At one point there was a big dip so we all got out of the car except for Murray to put less weight on it. Then we stayed out for a while and Rob started to steer the car because he could see the pot holes better.

On our hike we followed a small dirt road away from the lake which got less and less used. On the other side of a washed out part where there was a creek it was barely a road. Then we came to another creek.We walked up it to this waterfall. I decided I wanted to climb to the top of the waterfall.

So I had to climb way up and around it in the bush. I think the others were trying to make a dam below the waterfall while I climbed around. I was wearing shorts so my legs got really scratched up but I eventually made it to the top. Gordon took some good photos of me standing on top of the waterfall that I'll have to get a hold of. So then the guys had to wait for me to climb back down.

We kept walking the trail but it turned into little more than an animal trail. Still it would have been cool to follow this trail until the end and see where it goes. We seemed to be getting closer to a glacier way off in the distance. Rob really wanted to find the end of the trail so we kept going but eventually we left Murray and Q behind and I convinced Rob we should turn around.

When we got back Q was up a tree. On the way back down Gordon rolled his ankle on a rock so he had to hobble down the rest of the way. Even though we'd been running through the forest chasing Rob, he didn't get injured until we were walking back in a section where it was easy to see where you stepped. So eventually we made it back to the car.

Back at camp we decided to skip right to dinner since it was later in the day, but first we played a game of Settlers of Catan and had some spinach dip. I came very close to winning the game but my luck had run out.

The team of Q and Gordon almost stole the game in the last couple rounds. At one point Q rolled one of the dice right into his drink. Nice one! Anyways, Murray came from behind and won the game by jumping up from 5 points on his last turn.

Q also tried to open his beer using the fire pit (they should be good for something) but he kind of failed cause he broke the top right off the bottle.

So later that night some of us wandered over to the dam. We found a pipe that brought water up and over it and down the other side. It went into this box which Rob and Q investigated with their flashlights.

A little ways away water shot out from a pipe at a weird angle. Rob and Q put their hands in it. The water was warm but we never did get to swim in it.

The next morning it was raining so we packed up before it got worse. Back in Surrey we dropped off our stuff at our houses and then went to Delta to play Risk at Rob's mom's place. It was Risk 2210 and it lasted a long time. I was dominating it but I didn't play very smart in the middle of the game so the domination happened very slowly. Eventually we gave up on the game finishing anytime soon.