Although we only started dating just over a year ago, Holden and I have been friends since the fall of 2016, nearly four years now. For practically the whole time we’ve known each other, we’ve talked about going camping together, or with a group of friends. Last year, in the summer of 2019, we finally got out camping three (and a half) times!
In true Elle + Holden form, we’ve managed to forget quite a number of things on each camping trip unfortunately. This has prompted us to start making lists of everything we’ve forgotten – the exact opposite of your usual ‘Packing List’, if you will.
June.
In June, we went as a group of three to the comfort camping cabins at Beaver Mines Lake (about 2.5 hours from Calgary) in Castle Provincial Park (about a 30 minute drive from the town of Pincher Creek). On this 3-day trip we made a stop at the gorgeous Lundbreck Falls, enjoyed a beverage or two around the campfire, hiked to Haig Lake on Castle Mountain, played Cards Against Humanity, took photos at Castle Falls, and learned the beauty of a good cup of coffee that had been brewed outside.
Things We Forgot:
- Enough ice + liquor (luckily this was easily remedied on our second day there, by a trip to the Beaver Mines General Store – where we had been planning on going anyways.)
August.
For our second trip of the summer, Holden and I went alone to tent camp for two nights at Marble Canyon Campground near Radium, British Columbia. Before going to the campground, but after a soak in the Radium Hot Springs, we drove 15 minutes further, into the town of Invermere (just over 3 hours from Calgary). We first stopped at the Kicking Horse Cafe (always one of my faves), and then Arrowhead Brewing Company (because, of course). We wandered through the small town, having gelato at Gerry’s Gelati (which has since become Stolen Church) and popping into a VERY cute secondhand bookstore (with an even cuter dog inside) called The Book Cellar. Before driving to the campground, we decided we couldn’t NOT stop at the beach at James Chabot Provincial Park and run into Lake Windermere…
By the time we arrived at our campsite, it was late, starting to get dark, and we hadn’t had dinner. It had also begun to rain. Needless to say, the effort to set up the tent, start a fire and make dinner had some of us (me) very hangry, and we almost-but-not-quite got into our first fight. We laid pretty low on our second day, doing an easy hike at the Paint Pots and driving again into Invermere for some more “supplies” and cellphone reception. The next day, on our drive back to Calgary, we attempted a stop at Moraine Lake, but, being mid-day in the summer, we couldn’t get a parking spot, and so we carried on home.
Things We Forgot:
- Parks Canada pass (this was a huge bummer because it meant having to pay to get into the Parks.)
- Lawn chairs (Holden bought two new ones from the Canadian Tire in Invermere.)
- BBQ lighter (I picked one up from the grocery store in Invermere.)
- Elle’s pillow and sleeping bag (good thing I had sweatshirts and blankets to use!)
- An air mattress that didn’t completely deflate within 2 hours (probably the worst thing.)
- Advil
- Books to read
- Hair elastics
- Dish cloth/towel
September, take one.
Eager to get out once more before the season ended, Holden and I headed into the Bragg Creek area (40 minutes from Calgary) for a night. The weather was cold and foggy, with rain on and off, but we decided to brave it anyways and figured we could set up a few tarps. We left mid-day, and had a nice drive out, with a stop at Elbow Falls and a wander through some of the shops in town. We arrived at the campground (McLean Creek, if I’m remembering correctly), used the self-registration booth to pay for our site, and then began to set up our tent and tarps. By this point it was pouring, and our set up efforts lasted about 7 minutes before we decided to call it a day. We struggled with the tarps, we were getting soaked, and for one night it just didn’t seem worth it. I scribbled a quick note on our ‘reservation’ tag about how we headed home due to the rain and weren’t staying for the night (in hopes that they’d take pity on us and wouldn’t charge me, but sadly that didn’t happen). We stopped at the Powderhorn Saloon in Bragg Creek (somewhere I’d always wanted to go) for a beer and a caesar, respectively, and then drove back to Holden’s place in Calgary and proceeded to make ‘Pizza Squeezes’, our favourite camping meal, in a pan on his stove.
Things We Forgot:
- Pie Irons (for cooking the Pizza Squeezes!)
- Blankets (this could’ve been disastrous, with how cold it was outside.)
- Chairs (I’m not kidding. Even after Holden went and bought those new ones on our last camping trip!)
- Lighter (again, how do you forget things like this twice in a row? I bought another new one from a gas station and, this time, left it in the box with the camping supplies, never to be forgotten again. Unless we forgot all of our equipment… Which I wouldn’t put past us.)
September, take two.
The week after our failed Bragg Creek camping trip, with much better weather, we headed out to Lundbreck Falls Provincial Recreation Area (2 hours from Calgary). On our first trip of the summer, to Beaver Mines, we’d made a stop here and discovered a very nice campground right on the river, and had vowed to come back (I even took a picture of a specific site number, too make sure we stayed in the ‘best’ one). We were only able to stay for one night, due to my new part-time job at the time, but we made it there all the same! We stayed in a gorgeous walk-in site (and when I say walk-in, I mean we had to park in a lot that was literally a 45 second walk from our campsite), and spent the time wandering around the waterfall and bridge, swimming in the river and cooking by the campfire. We didn’t have nearly enough time there, and I’d definitely love to go back one day.
Things We Forgot:
- Paper plates (bad for the environment, I know, but we wanted to cut down on dishes.)
- Newspaper to start a fire (we had to get creative with some napkins and papers left in my car.)
- Holden’s pocket knife
- A baseball cap for Holden and a toque for Elle (not the end of the world, I suppose.)
This summer, when packing for camping trips, we’ve used these lists as a reference guide, checking them over before leaving to ensure that, even if we’ve forgotten something, at least it will be something new and not be something we’ve forgotten before! (Now that would be embarrassing…)
