We were woken up by a loud crash at 4am—so, our second day had a lazy start! It had rained all night and a fellow camper’s awning had crashed due to the weight of rain that had collected on it.
We climbed out of bed around 8am. I took our dog Duke for our morning run and got back to enjoy some eggs and plan out our day.
We decided to head to Canim Falls. We chose Canim Falls because it’s always a beautiful hike and it’s doable with a small child—not too terribly long. We also have a special tree on the trail that we call our “family tree”. And, Von and I had our first date at this very waterfall!
We packed easy grab and go snacks—rice cakes, fruit and energy balls because we knew we were planning to do a couple of hikes and they are easy to throw in a backpack.
The forecast was calling for thunder, lightning and 10-15 mm of rain but we managed to stay dry the entire time.
We arrived at the falls and made as much noise as possible because we knew a mama bear and her two cubs were somewhere in the area. I’ve never encountered a bear in the wild and hope to never—especially if it’s a mama and her babies. The girls were slightly nervous about the bears, but Von is an avid outdoorsman, so he just told them to sing, carry sticks, make noise. Not a difficult thing to do for the kiddos as we travelled along the trail!
The falls were beautiful. Canim Falls are in the same forest as Deception Falls. Lush and green, full of moss, mushrooms, different fungi… We have some of the most amazing trails around here.
After our hike, we ventured to the Canim Lake Store for a treat. The girls chose these massive jawbreaker suckers that are the size of a tennis ball. It’ll take them all summer to finish these things! The store always has some yummy baked goods too—Von’s favourite. He chose two giant slices of banana bread.
We headed back to camp, started a pot of coffee, lit the fire and roasted smokies for the girls for lunch. They headed down to the playground and we had mommy and daddy naps by the fire. Von can sleep anywhere—he just pulls down his hat and its lights out!
After some rest, we started getting dinner prepped: chicken wings, potatoes and onions, peppers and a loaf of garlic bread.
We talked to the rangers briefly as they drove by about the hike and how there was no sign of the mama bear and her cubs. Thankfully. Although, I wouldn’t have minded a pic or two—from a safe distance, of course.
We all ate dinner and then took the dogs for a walk around the campground.
We walked back to camp and roasted yummy marshmallows for our last night here. The best way to end the evening is with a tummy full of sugar.
