I have been driving practically non-stop since about 3pm Pacific (not including the 30 minute wait for the Kootenay Lake Ferry and the 35 minute ferry ride itself). Oh yeah, and not including my junk food binge at Creston's Dairy Queen, or the gas fill-up across the drive-thru liquor store in Cranbrook. Or the hour I lost crossing the Pacific time-Mountain time zone boundary. I forgot about that one.
It's now 11:15pm Mountain time.
Just when I thought my drive was over, I had a 10km climb up a gravel road through the dark in the forest in low-lying clouds. Very eery (in a Kubrick film kind of way... just kidding), but I am here. And I seem to be alone in this gigantic wilderness lodge outside of Fernie. It's surreal to be here because it feels so remote, and then you've got this lovely lodge all set up, key and instructions waiting for me at the front desk because the staff have all gone home for the night. I am slightly delirious from exhaustion, but the suite here is absolutely beautiful and it seems a shame to have it all to myself.
And get this, I just parked the car in the lot which is away from the lodge, and there's no light because the trees block the lodge... and I actually felt nervous having to walk 50 paces in the dark, where the only lights are the stars and the Milky Way, and the only noises are coming from the forest. I absolutely love it though. The amount of stars is staggering; I only wish I had been here for the Perseids.
This is where I am:
View Larger Map
Can't wait to see it in the morning!
No comments:
Post a Comment