A Night in the North Island Mountains

(September, 2024)

I had the recent opportunity to check out a spot that I have seen surface a few places online over this past weekend. As much as I love sharing, I encourage my readers to do some of their own research as well. We had this place all to ourselves the entire night and this is what made it so magical. To pay my respect to help keep it like this, I will not be sharing the exact location. Thank you for understanding and for reading about the experience. My blogs are to inspire you to get outdoors and find things for yourself as well - as that is part of the fun.

It's been awhile since my last overnight hike so I was happy to see that these dates were nearing on my calendar and the weather was good. I spent quite some time figuring out the routes. Downloading different map layers and any information I could about this area. There wasn't a-lot to go by and I immediately messaged my two friends Allyssa and Troy about going here together. Troy has his Toyota FJ, my friend Allyssa can't hike to far without getting back pain. So this was perfect I thought for us as we needed a high clearance 4X4 and it was pretty short if we could drive most of the way. I love when I have an idea and my friends help bring it to life.

We knew we had quite the drive - we stopped to get the FJ a new battery, grabbed some breakfast and away we went. We had arrived just after noon just like I thought, we had been driving for around 4 hours and drove most of the way up. The logging road is very narrow and overgrown, I can see why many people would park way below. Troy is a great driver and I'm thankful he knows what he is doing because I would have probably barfed tbh lol. This made the hike just over 2KM to get to the lake with around 170M of elevation. Nothing too crazy but just enough for my friend Allyssa.

The route we took on the way up was not the correct one - in one section which made it a bit longer and steeper. We sent it anyways and found our camp spot. The meadow we had to walk through was very beautiful so I didn't mind, just more of a workout with our backpacks on lol. Thank god for Troy carrying the bag of firewood up! (the real MVP) My task was carrying 6 OLE Spicy Margaritas to drink once I got there. (I didn't drink all of them myself, I do know how to share.) Allyssa was killing it too, we had to cross the start of the waterfall from where the lake is and she made it without getting wet. I was really happy to get my backpack off as that felt like an obstacle course getting there. The way back was much easier as we had found the proper trail, oh well we really got to see the whole area LOL!

We admired the beautiful peak, set up camp and started the fire which lasted hours. That fire was bitchin, and can I say how nice it is to have a fire in the mountains. I can never have fires usually on overnight hikes because I'm usually in an area where they are restricted. That fire kept us warm, I knew it was going to be cold up here. When I am sitting on my patio it's getting cold out at night now. So I was bracing myself to be cold, thank god we had that fire as we could sit up and enjoy the night longer.

This whole area smelled so fresh, there were so many blueberries, I love the north island because it still has that sort of untouched feeling. It was a saturday night on a long weekend and we were the only ones there. Talk about lucky, you won't get that many places now. So pristine and beautiful, I kept admiring - just really appreciating that I get to see these places for my own eyes. That's why I'm always saying get out there! This is truly living in my world. I love sitting by the fire and really being in the moment and connecting with my friends. No distractions, no phones - just good times. These are the best memories and ones I will always cherish. These will really be what are the most priceless to me, my hiking days - the days where we packed our bags and set out for an adventure. Had no real idea what we were getting ourselves into, nothing but a map, a sense of adventure and two legs to get us there & oh and the FJ! I fucking love that thing.

I always feel the most alive when I'm outside, I feel accomplished and self-aware of everything going on in my life. The mountains will always make me feel at ease and at home. I can't believe places like this exist here on the island. I had a moment where I danced, got into my birthday suit and sat in the cold water. To feel and embrace myself in that very moment. It was soul-cleansing and I never want that feeling to end. I will forever be chasing it. I want to feel my legs push through the fatigue, I want my back to ache after it - why? because I feel so fucking alive doing it. It's better than any drug or amount of alcohol. The adrenaline I get by hiking is something unmatched, seeing the raw beauty, seeing how small we really are and the problems we face day to day.

Even if the hike is short or long it still feels good to be out here. Knowing I packed everything there. I'm responsible for everything I do out there. It's a very freeing and liberating feeling. My friends and I talked for awhile looming over the hot ambers, we finally called it a night and got into our tents. The stars peaked through the clouds, we saw the milky way and holy shit was the sky dark. We were really fucking out there! No light pollution out here.

I had an OK sleep, I always envision a bear or cougar eating me LOL! It never really goes away thinking that out here. I sleep with earplugs and this helps not hearing every crunch making you think this. We got up around 7:30AM, it was an overcast morning. Troy and I had made our oats and coffee and awaited Allyssa for her later awakening. It was a nice chill morning - really just taking our time with this place. We packed up and set off giving the lake one last glance and made our way back. The way down was much easier now that we knew what way to go. It only took us about an hour to get back to where we parked. Then off we went and headed back to Nanaimo.

I am so high on life from this adventure and it makes me feel amazing. I feel so good and I'm so glad I got to experience this with some of my favourite people. You guys are a vibe and if either of you are reading this. I want you to know how lucky I am to know you both. It's always a great time and some of my best memories belong with you. Thank you for this trip, I really needed it. I feel so inspired after that and it is why I decided to write this right after we got back.

To my readers, thank you for reading and I hope this inspires you to pull out a map book and start researching with your friends to get out there. So many beautiful places are just waiting for your arrival. To welcome you and enjoy the natural wonders. I hope that your life inspires you to be the best version of yourselves, I hope you never stop adventuring and that your life consumes you in all the right ways.

For me - I love my crazy beautiful messy life. It is mine and I wouldn't trade it for anything. As this is my backyard. These are my dinner views, these places are where I enjoy my morning coffee and when I'm not outside - I long for the next time I am.