If your looking for a quaint place to visit. This is it, Blackies Beach. (Rec Site.) The tranquility of the lake, being surrounded by the trees is just what the doctor ordered for these couple of days.
It never seems to surprise me that Cody is down for whatever I have circulating throughout my head. Although it does shock me that he tags along and adventures with me even when it’s spontaneous. I think that’s why I married him. We made the decision to camp for one night as we only have Tuesday’s off together. We would make our way out to Nahmint Lake and camp just like we talked about all those years ago where we exchanged our first I love yous, (cheese I know.) We would come back Wednesday before Cody had to work for 3pm.
It was a beautiful August day, the sun was out and we knew it was going to be a hot day. We packed our things, the kid and made our way out on the backroads of Sproat Lake to the Nahmint Valley. These backroads always scare me as we got a flat tire out here the last time. New tires were the ticket, it’s quite a ways out there for just one night but what the hell right.
Graeson mainly napped on this drive until it got bumpy, he was chill for the most part. As long as the kiddo has snacks, he’s good. I knew this was going to be a good test run before doing Landslide with him. It’s not a long way to Nahmint Lake from where you park, it’s only about 15 mins downhill. It’s more of a drive from Nanaimo, it took over 2 1/2 hours to drive to the trailhead. We packed our stuff in one pack and Graeson‘s in the carrier. Soon you come into view of the Lake and the platforms where you put your tent. 5 star hotel in my eyes. Can’t get much better than that.
We set up camp, had some lunch. We got there pretty early around 10AM, so we could enjoy most of the day there. We swam lots, there was only one other family but they were far enough away to feel like we were all alone out here. We enjoyed some drinks, laughs and it was the first time I felt really at peace with myself and everything. I honestly didn’t make an effort to take many photos from this little trip as I wanted to be in the moment as much as I could.
Watching the sun go down past the mountains was breathtaking, it was so quiet and beautiful. We cuddled Graeson for awhile before putting him to bed. Poor man was a tad cranky from the journey. Didn’t take long for him to pass out. Cody and I stayed up and talked about the last time we came here, how much things have changed since then. We drank the last bit of hot chocolate and crawled into our tent. This was the first time Cody slept in a tent with Graeson. He was checking on him a lot throughout the night. (Rookie.)
We woke up to a beautiful sunrise, I watched the sun peak through the mountains and come onto the lake. I enjoyed a nice cup of coffee here for awhile and sat with my thoughts. Graeson played in the sand for a bit, we had some food and just like that it was time to pack up around 1030AM. Just an FYI there is a throne as I like to call it (outhouse) to poop in. We didn’t know this until we left. No need to bring a shovel. There is also a little cabin which can be really handy if it starts raining you can hang in here and make your dinner etc.
Climbing that last bit to the truck was slightly brutal, but I wanted to challenge myself to carry Graeson up as I knew Landslide was in the future. It was a beautiful night, Cody and I really connected before our wedding day. Graeson was happy too, always nice to see him smile doing something I love. This will always be a very special place to me. I hope you get out there to see it too. Don’t forget to stop at the beautiful Nahmint River, you can’t miss it. It’s the bridge right before the turn off for Nahmint Lake. Refer to the BRMB for directions. If your insane like me you could jump in for the most chilliest swim of your life. 💧
