Living large in Blaeberry, B.C. - May Long Recap

For the May long weekend a lot of people, including myself for a number of years, go camping, cook meat on sticks,  drink lots of beers and shoot off fireworks in the late at night celebrating the start of summer. It usually rains or snows (or both) which can dampen the fun when a lot of energy is expended just in effort to keep dry and warm. This year I had a different experience... at this gem in the woods of Blaeberry (about 20 minutes north of Golden, B.C.) called Pioneer Cabin. 

This trip was not only to get away for the long weekend but as part of a birthday present for my roomie, Ryan. We kind of tricked him and brought him to the Northern Lights Wildlife Wolf Centre for a private photo session with a pair of wolves and their caretakers, Casey and Shelley Black, the operators of the centre. And what an experience it was! These animals are magical and have a wonderful wild presence about them.

Knowing B.C and the oh so common long weekend weather patterns to bring on the rain I made sure to buy some new boots before leaving the city. As it turned out, finding boots that I liked and fit was a more of a task than expected. Apparently, I was too late in the season to have much of a selection - which is ridiculous but so is the fashion industry so I rolled with it... all the way to Gravity Pope and found me some of the best (handmade!) rubber boots I could have ever purchased. These cute Miss Juliette Bottillon boots in Carmen/Red are like wearing form fitting slippers with legit grip on mossy tree stumped trails. Inadvertently ended up wearing them for a nearly 10km walk/hike and had no rubbing spots or discomfort throughout the trek. I wouldn't wear them on any technical trails or for any altitude gain (no ankle support) but for pretty much everything else where puddles can be played in you'll find me with these cuties on. 

The hike destination was to find Thompson Falls. Since the road was partially washed out just over a kilometre on the forest service road we ended walking much further than websites describe the trail... and happily so! Stumbled upon an unmarked trailhead not far past the two kilometre marker and figured it would be fun to find out where it went. Oh my - the nature was spectacular. The air was fresh, the trees were towering and the sound of the river was vibrating through the forest. The trail eventually led us to the falls after many stops to soak up the sights, smells and sounds of everything around us. And what a great falls it was!  

Finally, a long weekend tucked away in the mountains with a fully equipped kitchen wouldn't be complete unless I cooked up some seriously good grub for my favourite peeps... so that's just what I did!! To top off the kitchen supplies the house owner/builder also has a Weber BBQ on the riverside deck and let's just say I like to dabble in the realm of outdoor cooking especially with a beast like this. I didn't keep track of all that I made (lesson learned for future adventures in cooking) but have some pics below of the goods.

The moral of this story (if there needs to be one?) for me boils down to a few things after these few days to contemplate what is important to me. So here it goes: 
1 - get out of the city more often. 
2 - unplug from the everyday. 
3 - reconnect with nature. 
4 - sleep in and eat lots of good food.
5 - read Rumi.

Now for just a few more pictures...