On the Road Again 2013 #19

I am now back in my apartment. I am obviously somewhat behind in my blog postings..... I will continue to discuss my trip in sequential order.

I suspected that it was going to be a long and sometimes frustrating day. The corner I was stuck at really feels like the middle of nowhere in spite of the fact that there is a church and house on the corner, lots of people walking by and a little bus shelter . I suspect that the narrowness of the road (especially as compared to the highways leading up to and around Whistler) adds to the sense of isolation. It is also one of the few spots in Canada where I feel like a true outsider. I am never really part of the communities I pass thorough, but usually I am not aware that I might not fit in. As mentioned previously there are a number of First Nations Communities in the area. All of the folks who were hitchhiking at the corner were from the local area and they just ignored me. No eye contact, no smiles, no friendly waves. But then there is no reason why they should reach out to me. I am a visitor to their land. Perhaps that is what makes me uncomfortable.

I stood there for hours and hours.The day that had started off being bright and sunny - stayed that way. When there were no vehicles coming I ducked inside the bus shelter to get out of the sun so that I could avoid getting a sunburn and more importantly becoming dehydrated. Cars passed at irregular intervals with at least two thirds of them being driven by local folks just going up the road. Every time a vehicle did pass I had to remember to smile which sometimes seems like a useless exercise as I am not sure if people can see my smile underneath my shaggy mustache.  The local bus drove by every hour and more than once I was tempted to flag it down for a ride just to get away from the corner. The driver however never gave any indication that he would stop even if I did flag it down. Maybe there is a rule that I don't know about - hitchhikers can't ride rural buses. Or maybe he just did not want me.

In spite of the sense of isolation there were a couple of events that re-confirmed to me my sense that the world is full of good people. I needed to get more water so I went to the nearest house and asked if I could fill up my jug. The dad who was looking after his four children was gracious- not communicative but gracious and kind. A car which had just picked up a local hitchhiker stopped so that my fellow hitchhiker could pass me a few apples to munch on and a kind lady going the other way stopped to ask me if I was okay. She said that she had seen me a few hours earlier and was worried about me. It is impossible for me to express how such small gestures can make me feel.

By the time it was 9:00, it was clear that I would not get a ride that day. All day I had been looking at various spots along the side of the road as potential sleeping spots. None were very attractive either in terms of some privacy, being level or being reasonable without rocks.  I also had some concern over that bear I had seen the year before. The best sleeping spot was right where the bear had left the forest to cross the road.While I might not be the brightest traveller or the most careful, camping near a bear trail sounds particularly stupid. I was not happy about any my choices so I picked up my pack and walked 100 meters down the road and turned at dirt road that I thought might lead to somewhere safer and quieter. Much to my surprise, just after I turned on to the dirt road there was a lovely clearing with lots of flat land and thick grass. At one end there was a pile of long skinny bits of cedar that appeared to be the off-cuts from a small milling operation. It was perfect. I quickly assembled my bivy sack in the near dark, ate one of the apples and got into bed. It had been a long day. I had not gone very far but at least I was on my way and that was good enough.