I left Calgary for the last time this year, heading south to visit friends, then onto an area in south east British Columbia I had been to before, Edwards Lake. I hoped to stay there for a couple of weeks delaying my entry into the United States long enough so I would not have to come back into Canada next year until closer to mid-April. I knew the weather was deteriorating rapidly – cold and snow were in the forecast everywhere. But would my spot be enough of a haven to stay in Canada a couple more weeks?
Really big tree with friends for scale
I had a one night stop in Lethbridge to visit old friends. I’d have stayed longer, but they were in the middle of a massive house reno, plus the weather was going to get nasty even down here in a few days. My overnight was something I have not done very much of – stealth camping. I was not too worried, even parked in a residential area. This is Lethbridge, in the middle of a an older established neighborhood far from any touristy stuff. As long as you don’t steal someone else’s parking spot, you generally are not going to get a two am cop call if you are legally parked. I picked a street beside a school field – no one parked all the way up and down this side of the street. Really this technique should work anywhere that isn’t too busy, but too many cities now are passing laws not allowing overnight sleeping in a vehicle on the street. Not very friendly to either tourists or the down and out IMO.
Near Crowsnest Pass, snow is getting low
The next day dawned windy, not surprisingly – this is Lethbridge a place known for chinook winds. I get out of town early, hoping to check out another spot for some potential boondocking along the way. While the spot turned out to be fine (no snow yet) the forecast had deteriorated even further. I was not going to be staying anywhere near the mountains – off to Edwards Lake I went to try and survive a little blast of winter before heading to the States.
I had been retracing my path from Calgary to here, now with one year experience under my belt at this nomad life thing. How had my perspective changed in that year? Well, for one, Edwards Lake does not seem nearly as remote as when I was here last year. The occasional vehicle goes by on the access road beside the recreation area I am in. There are houses in sight on the other side of the lake. I could walk to the general store in forty minutes. It is close to civilization compared to some of the places I visited later on. I also am much more comfortable with the environment around me. Strange animal noises in the night barely woke me up. The bird calls are weird sometimes here; there were birds I do not know staying on the lake. But it no longer fazes me.
A potential boondocking spot
I am better equipped for my adventures now. The motorcycle was used when I arrived here to quickly scout around some other places I might stay. It was not the most fruitful trip, but I did get some good leads I can follow up on when I come back this way again. It turns out there is a lot of boondocking and primitive campground camping in the back woods east of Koocanusa lake. But the googles has some difficulty navigating these backroads. I only found two of the three places I had time to look for, and even those I took longer gravel roads than I had to. I was rushed for time though, doing this the day I arrived as I knew the weather was going to turn wet the following day. Next time here, I will have lots of exploring with the motorcycle to do. This is ideal country for it as there is lots around that is too far to walk and you would rather not explore every back road with an RV.
My RV is a bit better setup, but still some work to do. Now I have two Ampere Time 100 amp hour Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries. But now my engine battery is having issues, having gone flat while in Ya Ha Tinda. I suspect the battery separator is permanently on, drawing some power. Also, I got the engine battery load tested by Tony, the handy man across the back alley from my step-moms. It came up as ‘weak’, which I can buy. Who knows what kind of battery the dealer put in when they sold me the RV? They could have just thrown in some left over from another rig that was on it’s last legs. At any rate, it is to be replaced at the first good opportunity. In the meanwhile, I have several ways of charging it and I can boost it if need be. I wish I had the solar panels I wanted, but instead of 400W installed, I still only have my original 100W – not near enough on anything less than a perfect sunny day at this time of year. That will get taken care of down in the States I hope. I also have a Renogy 2000W inverter I hooked up when I put in the batteries. Too bad I can hardly use it as 1 minute of microwaving would be about 15 minutes of full sun required replace the charge. I’m being cautious about running my house batteries down right now, as if my separator is permanently linking my house and engine batteries, that could be why I was flat starting. Beyond that, I’ve done a few little fixes on the hardware in here to keep it together better. We’ll see how that stuff holds up over my next year of travels. So a year in, I’m not near done with adventuring. In fact, you can consider this version 2, with all the upgrades.
However, the updated forecast had me facing the possibility of a half a foot of snow between now and when I wish to leave. That did concern me, but I had Plan A and Plan B to deal with that. I’m implementing Plan A – move away from the lake, because the hill I have to climb will likely be impassable with my RV with any amount of snow on it. I found a spot twenty minutes walk away that isn’t the greatest camping spot, but it is all level or downhill to the paved road. I’m annoyed I have to move and annoyed the weather isn’t holding a little warmer for at least another week. I really wanted to try the folding kayak at Edwards Lake, but my one day at the lake was just a little too chilly and wet, combined with the fact I want to be ready to move tomorrow morning in case the snow comes earlier than expected.
I will be really annoyed if I have to implement Plan B – hightail it to the States to get away from the snow and cold. The forecast showed a reprieve after this first snow, but not very warm. About a week out the temperatures are supposed to drop below minus 10 at night, with more snow possible. Any snow is not melting under that. That would get me out to about the 9th, where I’d like to be here until the 15th, which would allow me to stay in the States until April 10th. Closer to mid April has much better chance of me coming back to no snow in the late spring. If I have to leave now, it will be late March back in Canada, definitely more likely to see snow then even at Kootenay Lake.
I’m going to sleep on it, and see what the forecast looks like first thing tomorrow morning. We will decide then whether to implement Plan A or Plan B. See you then!
