Words from Juliet Crowe
This past week marked the end of our second term of Experiential. Although we were all sad to switch terms, we made sure to leave on a high note with a winter camping trip to Strathcona Park.
Although our trip prep began mid February, our adventure began in earnest on Monday, as we packed the last of our things (including our 70L backpacks) into the gear van and loaded up in passenger vans for the drive up to Mt. Washington. At this point, we were split into two groups, each with two guides and one teacher volunteer. Once we arrived at Raven Lodge, we set out for an introductory walk in our snowshoes. There was certainly some getting used to, with several of us tripping over our big, spiked feet before finally getting the hang of it. Nighttime in Bear Lodge was filled with cooking in our apartments, and later a group meeting and some homework Mr. Daly had sent us out with. Although we were supposed to be learning about physical geography and geology while in Strathcona, examining rocks proved difficult under the layers of fresh snow that we were lucky enough to get!
Although finding rocks was a challenge, we were supplemented on our second day out with lessons in wildlife biology and avalanche safety. We hiked out to Battleship Lake, this time carrying our backpacks to get used to the weight, and settled down for lunch. While eating, we came across two wildlife biologists researching Gray Jays in the park. They explained how the combination of tags spells out a different name for each individual bird, along with some interesting facts about the little Gray Jays. Did you know that they are able to remember every single little spot they stash their food in? This could include hundreds of individual trees all over their territory. The birds also have a hierarchy similar to other animals, such as wolves, including an alpha male and female. When lunch was over, we learned how to properly use beacons and probes. This included how to search for someone caught in an avalanche, tying into our lesson that morning on awareness when traveling in avalanche terrain. We were then given the opportunity to practice this procedure directly, each of us managing to rescue a buried mitt. Our lesson then progressed to snowpack, and we learned about tests that can be performed on snow to see how stable it may or may not be. We eventually had to pack up and walk home, but we made the most of it by stopping to play a few games in the fresh snow, the highlight of the day for many. Once back at the Lodge, where our full day became a full night as we cooked dinner and packed our backpacks in preparation for the night out.
Wednesday began fairly early, as we had to clear out completely of the Lodge. It was certainly a process, but we were out of the door in good time and were able to head out on our snowshoes with our loaded packs. The hike to Helen Mackenzie Lake was gorgeous, and we were treated with blue skies and fair weather. After stopping quickly for lunch, we reached the lake around one o’clock. We were not alone at the site, as we quickly caught sight of our wildlife biologist friends from the day before. This time, they had captured birds with them, and one of the biologists pulled one out of the bag and showed us the grips and technology she uses to tag each bird. Although we were initially excited to see this process, the bird's loud squawks while being handled proved to be unsettling to many in our group. We left them to continue their work and began ours, starting with scouting out our tent sites. Once we had picked, we made sure to pack down the snow firmly and set up our tents - surprisingly, the hardest part of the day. Making sure not to rip the tent with our snowshoes was a difficult task itself, never mind trying to keep it dry as we fumbled. However, our efforts did not go unrewarded, as after we completed digging out our snow kitchen, we set up a game of beacon capture the flag. The game was highlighted by Irving disappearing into a treewell without warning, and Finlay securing the win for his team in each round. When we had had our fill of playing in the powder, we began cooking our dinners. The wind down to bed was quite quick, each of us quite eager to slide into our sleeping bags after a busy day. Almost everyone made sure to seal their hot water bottles tightly, and when everything was tidy we all went to our tents, having been briefed at dinner on how to have a warm sleep. I was lucky enough to get a lovely nine hour rest, despite the cold temperatures, although not everyone was so cozy.
There were a few cold faces when we woke the next morning, but we quickly rose and divided and conquered in our tent groups, some of us starting on melting snow for water and others packing up the tents. We munched on a quick breakfast while watching the sun rise over the frozen lake. In no time, we were packed up, and enjoyed a leisurely hike back to the bus where we loaded up and headed back to Victoria. My group even got some extra bonding time during the car ride back when we found out that the other group had driven off with our phones! It was a great week out, and definitely an experience that each one of us will value. We all learned and saw new things, pushed ourselves, and tried something that many of our peers will never get to experience. All in all, it was an amazing opportunity.
