Lillian Lake.

This summer was fleeting, in a vastly different way to that of last year’s. This year felt a lot like treading water, taking things one day, one step at a time. Before I knew it, it was mid-July, and my backcountry trip to Berg Lake was fast approaching. All the glamorous ideas I had about training for the trip went out the window while I focused on working and applying for permanent residency.

Getting out and breaking routine in this way often seems harder than it should be. It shouldn’t be so hard to drop the everyday and head to the mountains; but as a person living in the modern world, I’ll admit this can often be challenging. As someone who loves to be prepared, planned and ready for anything, a last-minute decision to go backcountry for two days had me researching trail reports & campsites, weather conditions, what to pack for meals, and so on. It was a good practice run ahead of Berg Lake.

Once again, J joined me on this trip. Maybe one day, I will write more about how this incredible person came into my life, but that will take a little more time, and a lot more courage. The one thing about writing about your life is that you must also write about the people in it. I struggle with honouring the part of me that wants to be honest & transparent, as well as wanting to respect others involved. My openness is not usually matched, and my loyalty to those around me is of more value to me than writing about it online.

We set out towards Kananaskis Country, taking the Canadian Rockies’ highest paved road to get to the trailhead. We had just travelled this same road on J’s motorbike four weeks prior, before it broke down and began what seemed to be a series of unfortunate events. Our hike in wasn’t long, so we took our time; we got to our campsite just as the previous parties were leaving, and had enough time to put up our tent, pack our food away in the bear-proof lockers and set out for a bonus hike to a beautiful alpine lake 1.5 hours away. We spent some time by the lake before heading back to camp to make dinner before it got too dark to do so—we carried fresh vegetables, fruit and beans in with us to make a vegetarian chili, to the envy of our fellow campers. The extra weight in your pack to make a proper meal after working so hard to get into the mountains is always worth it.