Camping in August and September - it's all about Gold Mountain!

We didn't exactly have any plans to camp in August. We actually never really "plan" August camping trips. It's hot, there is always a fire ban and usually we are too busy with other things happening in and around our community.

This year however, we had to attend a wedding in Hedley so we booked Gold Mountain RV Park for a weekend without the kids or dogs. What a treat for us! We booked Site #6, which is arguably the best site they have, especially when you are having adult time alone.  Site #6 is on the edge of the grassy area and this is your typical view:

We didn't spend much time at the campsite as we were busy with wedding festivities but let me tell you again, what sets camp hosts of Gold Mountain, Tracy and Dave, 5 notches above the other campgrounds in our area. We pulled in. I jumped out and went up to see Tracy in the office, pay and catch up with her. When I returned, Dave had backed Nick into position and together they leveled the trailer and were done setting up. I walked up, poured a glass of wine and sat down in my chair. Voila!

 The weather was great. The river was low. The fellow campers were fantastic! It was a quick weekend August 21-23rd but it was wonderful none the less!

It was so wonderful that I booked a cabin for one night the following weekend!
This was my first staying in a cabin at Gold Mountain. It was definitely a different experience than the trailer. This trip was just my 8 year old and myself. We booked cabin #4. It comes with a bunk bed set and a double bed. My son slept on the bottom futon bunk. I slept on the double. I packed minimally for the 1 night stay. Coffee, filters, cream, sugar, snacks, and cereal and milk for the morning. I brought my own bedding and chair. That was about all I needed!

The cabins come quite equipped. Each cabin has a hot plate, a coffee maker, a toaster oven, a fridge, dishes for 4, dish clothes, and a dish pan with soap.

Cabins!

The BEST part of the cabins is the view from the beautiful decks. I could have sat all day and watched the river. While having coffee we watched a giant bald eagle make her way up the river with her full wing span out. It was incredible to see. Nothing beats this view.

$61 a night gets you a cabin with everything you need aside from food and bedding. Some are equipped for kids with bunks. Some have upgraded beds. This one did not and it was a very stiff mattress. If that isn't you thing I suggest bringing a foamy! :) You are a small hop, skip and jump from the bathrooms and showers. There are fire pits to use and of course the endless fun adventures to take advantage of. Sitting at the river, gold panning, horseshoes, chess, trails, Mascot Mines, Hedley museum and Doug's Homestead - just to name a few.

Gold Mountain RV Park does it again with their top notch customer service! Why go anywhere else? We don't anymore. Gold Mountain has everything we need for exactly the right price.

Labor Day Long Weekend....

 We decided last minute to see if Tracy and Dave had any campsites free for the long weekend. They had 1 site left. Site #15. In our humble opinion, there are no "bad" spots at Gold Mountain. We didn't mind #15 and were happy to get a site last minute! Tracy emailed me back a couple days later to let me know that a river site also came up as a cancellation if we wanted it instead. We decided to stay where we were but my Brother and Sister in law booked it up quickly for a weekend of fun!

 

The weather was great. We were able to have a campfire. The vibe at the campground was fantastic. As always Dave and Tracy went beyond their calls of duty. What I would like to make special mention of for THIS camp trip is the regulars. Never have I camped somewhere that held such a sense of "community". There is nothing better than taking a walk around the campsite and having smiling faces and waves from other campers who you recognize from previous weekends. Personally, I am all about the dogs. I absolutely love animals and recognize someone's dog before I recognize their owner. I love meeting up in the park with other campers and their dogs. Regular campers come to Gold Mountain from the lower mainland, Penticton, Kelowna and even further. When I set up at Gold Mountain I usually recognize about 4-5 campers now. THAT is an amazing accomplishment for Tracy and Dave. They have honestly created a community at Gold Mountain and to me, it is magically. I will be the first person to admit that I "keep to myself" most of the time when I am camping. However, I don't do this at Gold Mountain. I engage in conversations, pet dogs (and cats!), help out fellow campers with whatever they may need. My kids become friends with their kids.



Our long weekend was peaceful and enjoyable.

















Also big shout out to Doug's Homestead. I bought a package of bacon for roughly $6. The bacon was thick and when I cooked it, it didn't change size and there was no grease. It tasted phenomenal! We also purchased ground beef, beef&bacon sausages and steaks along with the token jerkey and pepperoni. Nothing was greasy. I will now buy my meat when I get out there instead of packing it from home.

Every time I am at Gold Mountain, I forget to take photos of the "front stoop" at the office. What a welcoming site when rolling in! Rocking chairs under a covered porch, a selection of books to take and leave. Always morning coffee for all guests on the porch! In addition this campground has a laundry facility on site. Handy!!

We have booked the last weekend in September as the kids have a couple Pro-D Days. We also booked the Mexican theme weekend for the 1st weekend in October. So our Gold Mountain days for 2015 are not quite over yet! That will make it a total of 7 camping trips to Gold Mountain this year.

On that note, Tracy and Dave opened their reservation lines up on Sept 1st for next years bookings! They have 4 theme weekends next year and most are at least 1/2 full already. DO NOT delay in booking or sadly you will miss out on the fun of theme weekends!!

The purpose of this blog when I first started it was to blog about all of the different campgrounds that we stay at. Sadly, the cost of the provincials have surpassed some private campgrounds with zero amenities. So with this being said, we are sticking to Gold Mountain next year with a mix of some rec sites only. Provincial campgrounds in our area are now at $30-$35 plus a $6 reservation fee per night with no hookups, extra fees for vehicles, sani, wood, etc.... It isn't worthy of the money anymore. So we will be sticking with what we know, what we love and the best bang for our buck! Gold Mountain. :)

For the 2016 year I am going to concentrate the blogging on tips, tricks,  recipes, checklists, ideas for camping with kids, how to maximize space in RVs, etc.

Stay tuned for many more articles!!

My Review of Kettle River Provincial Park - Camp Trip #7 of 2015

Camp Trip #7 of 2015

When: June 25 - July 2
Where: Kettle River Provincial Park, Rock Creek, BC
Who: 18 adults, 16 kids, 6 dogs.

Kettle River… the 3^rd Annual trip. The last 2 years we have had rain for most of our trip. Our time in the river was limited and when it was time to pack up and go, we were so sad – it was never long enough. This year we weren’t going to make that mistake again. So we booked 8 nights. We ended up staying for 7…. And that was too long. 

We arrived on Thursday, June 25^th around 3:30 in the afternoon. EVERY year, as soon as school is out for the summer, we hop into the truck with the trailer hooked up and head out of town. The last 3 years have been Kettle River. So we headed off to Rock Creek. This is an hour and 45 minutes from Penticton.  The anticipation was more than we could all bear…. But somehow, we made it! We always drive bone dry. Kettle River has a water fill up station AND sani dump located right within the park. So we stop and fill up our water to the brim when we get there and dump all when we leave. We pulled into our campsite – # 39. We carefully picked this campsite because of its close proximity to the river trail, bathrooms and the openness to the sites around us. Our group booked 9 sites together. There was 1 double site in the middle that we couldn’t scoop up in time. They ended up being fine neighbors. We had sites 31-41 (with the exception of a double). In my opinion the best area to secure a spot in is 29-44. You are close to the river – which is where you should spend most of your time. 

  These are some of the examples of the 9 sites we booked.

 

Check in went okay. There was a few camp facilitators working that day that really didn’t understand the rules in regards to motorcycles, extra vehicles and pre-paying for sites. Either that or they were just trying to get extra money out of us. I quickly corrected them. They were polite about it and wished us a good time on our camping adventure.   That didn’t last long though as the older couple then had a few days off and a few new camp facilitators came on shift. There is one camp facilitator that is AMAZING – his name is Greg. He was happy, friendly and he waved at us every time he drove by. He went out of his way to help us get a FCFS site for our friend. He really outdid himself. This guy deserves recognition. His wife on the other hand, she needs a lesson on how to speak to people effectively. This happens to be the same lady that we had problems with last year. When will people learn?

  I need to get this out now as I have been fuming since we left.  Camp facilitators can honestly make or break a camping trip. I am a firm believer in recognition when due. Like Greg. What a great guy. Same with Dave and Tracy at Gold Mountain. Fantastic people who know how to be excellent hosts, after all, they are HOSTS.  But Greg’s wife at Kettle River? NOT.SO.MUCH. When we have 9 sites together, I would like to assume that walking across the path from one site to another (your family’s site) with a beer in a covered coozie, would be okay. Nope. She yelled at someone in our group – not politely reminded either, she yelled at him. Then there was the situation with the generator…. At 8:04pm on Sunday night, a woman from the campsite behind us stormed over to our campsite and demanded that we shut off our neighbor’s generator. I stared blankly at her and said “I am sorry – who are you?” She pointed to her campsite and then demanded that generator hours are over at 8pm. I turned my back to her. This woman had a lot of nerve coming into my campsite and telling me to shut my neighbor’s generator off!  Allow me to set the situation for you. It’s Sunday afternoon – 38 degrees and hot as hell. The site in which the generator was running is temporarily home to 3 children including twins under 1 years old. That family had turned the generator on to cool their trailer in order to put their kids to bed. We then found out the lady behind us had stopped off at my sister in law’s site just prior to that, knocked on the door of their trailer while they ate dinner and demanded they shut theirs off because she had to put her kid to sleep. This had to have been at 8pm sharp. Since the generator owners of the site across from us were in the washrooms bathing their kids, we ignored her demand and went back to cooking dinner. Along came Mrs. Camp Host with the Attitude Problem. She jumped off her golf cart on a mission. She marched over gripping her walkie talkie and spewing threats at us – again, the people not staying in the site with the generator running. My brother guided her away from our site and attempted to diffuse the situation. She threatened him that this was “warning # 1” and that next time it would be an eviction – for all of us. What? All of this at 8:17pm in 38 degree weather. I understand. Generator hours are 6-8pm but there is a way to speak to people effectively. If this had been Greg he would have smiled at us, walked into our site and said “Hey guys, not sure if you noticed the time but generator hours are finished. Would you mind shutting your friend’s generator off for them?” Well Mrs. Camp Host continued to bark all week. As we were leaving on Thursday at exactly 11:04am (check out is 11am) she hopped out of her truck and yelled at my sister in law that “check out is 11am and people want their site!!” This as they were clearly backing their truck onto their trailer to pull away. Might I add that check in is at 3pm. Come on Kaloya Contracting!! Don't you put your camp hosts through customer service training? The guy working shoulder season at Bear Creek? FANTASTIC. Greg working at Kettle River? FANTASTIC. Greg's wife? Come on.... she is giving your park a bad rep!

So as if it wasn’t enough that this controlling camp facilitator left a bad taste in our mouth, the final straw was when my friends and family left and new neighbors moved in behind us, beside us and across from us. Neighbors without generators might I add. I had now been in my campsite for almost a week. Every morning at 9am, I turned on our generator to cool our trailer down from 35-39 degree weather and to charge our battery. I shut it off before 11am every morning. Then when I got home from the river, I would again turn it on from 6-8pm. All of this is during generator hours. These are posted park rules. On Wednesday night after a ridiculously hot day, I turned the generator on at 6pm. When I thought the battery was charged and the trailer was cool enough for my son to go to sleep, I went around to the back of the trailer to shut it off – this was at 7:30pm (half an hour before posted generator shut off time) When I did this, the neighbors behind me, beside me and across from me cheered and hooted and hollered. The campground was silent and I realized I was the only one with a generator in our area. Surrounded by a-holes I was done. Here I had obeyed the hours and considered my neighbors with noise and music levels for a week. I had put up with out of control barking dogs, screaming kids, speeding vehicles and bikes with water bottles shoved into the spokes to make them loud and annoying. I had put up with all of this. Now, I was done. When Nick came back after his bike ride, I told him about my experience. He agreed, it was time to go home. A day early. We packed up the next morning. 


I want to add a few tips for those of you still planning a trip to Kettle River. You can read up on my previous blogs about Kettle River Provincial Park if you are interested in learning more tips. In the meantime, here are my tips/reminders for this time!

1) Bring bikes. The park is HUGE.  You will regret it if you don’t bring bikes to explore the area or even to head over to the showers.

2) Bring OFF… about 1 can per day for a family of 5. We went through 5 cans. Every time you shower or go into the river, you need to re-apply. The mosquitos are ridiculous. Bring a gazebo too if you have one with net sides.

3) Be careful of wasps. After 3 days we seemed to have a wasp infestation. We took garbage away every day, cans and washed down tables. They still appeared – tons of them. If you are allergic, I suggest you bring a can of RAID and a fly swatter. Again the gazebo would be helpful.

4) Bring floaties and chairs you can stick in the river. You won’t regret it!

  5) Bring cash - $5 loonies for the sani dump, ice and wood (assuming no fire ban) and of course if you are bringing an extra vehicle, $12 a day for that.

You cannot possibly beat this for river days....

 

Don’t get me wrong….. Kettle River Provincial Park is a fantastic park… It might suit your family just fine.  It has a ridiculous amount of things to do. Floating the river, bike riding, neat shops to visit in Rock Creek and eve cliff jumping!! Not to mention just sitting in this crystal clear river for hours and hours a day. The park is beautiful. Shaded and huge. They have flush toilets, pit toilets and showers. They have a playground, over 100 sites and trails to walk, bike and dog-walk. We floated the river into Rock Creek one day. We got in right behind sites 37/38 and we  floated to the Hotel in Rock Creek. We parked a vehicle there in advance. It took us 3 ½ hours and there were some areas that of the river that barely moved and some areas where we had to walk. The float is beautiful though. I highly recommend it. I know that if we had been able to secure the group site without neighbors and rules, our own river front and private washrooms, it would have been a MUCH better trip. The park facilitators just have no tolerance - or allowance for “groups” camping in a large area together. Note: You can book the group camping 1 year in advance. I guarantee you it’s one of the best group sites in all of the BC Provincial Parks. Covered kitchen area, flush toilets, 13 picnic tables, private riverfront, even electrical in the kitchen area.

 

From my letter to the park contractor last year, they took my suggestion and opened up the handicap washroom this year 100% of the time – to accommodate families with young children and to avoid limiting showers during cleaning hours. The one suggestion that they didn’t change yet and they REALLY need to address is more speedbumps! There are WAY too many speeders going through the campsites. We had numerous little kids in our group riding their bikes. Vehicles were going over 30 kms an hour around the blind corners and almost taking out kids, bikers, dogs etc. They need to put more speedbumps in the 30-44 sites.I guess sadly it may take a child getting hit for them to take this suggestion seriously.

After trying to secure the group site for 3 years and failing, making our “own” group loop and still getting our hands slapped for ridiculous things, we have hung up our hat on Kettle River. For $30 a night plus reservation fees, plus extra vehicle charges, plus sani dump plus, plus, plus…. and no hook ups…. I would rather go somewhere closer with less rules or more for my dollar. Bush camping is looking better and better every day – no rules and no generator hours.  Gold Mountain in Hedley is also a better option for $31a night and the ability to enjoy air conditioning in my trailer with full hookups. 

Thank you to the wonderful shop owners in Rock Creek. You are all so accommodating and tourist friendly. You are truly blessed with such beautiful surroundings.

This year my rating dropped from 5/6 to 3.5/6 stars. They lose a point for location. They lose a point for the cost. It went up to $30 per night from $28 with no electrical and you still pay for sewer. They lose another point for certain staff's customer service but then earn 1/2 a point back for Greg and his exceptional people skills.

The lack of customer service by a few hosts are ruining it for the ones that excel. The dictatorship of rules is getting out of hand. When people have paid GOOD MONEY to camp for 8 nights they expect to have a nice holiday with happy smiling people. Step up your game Kettle River! You have the potential to be the next Bear Creek!

Now it’s time to plan next year’s trip - in a new location.

My Review of Banbury Green - Camp Trip #6 of 2015

Camp Trip #6 of 2015

When: June 19-21st - Father’s Day Weekend
Where: Banbury Green, Kaleden, BC 
Who: 5 adults, 5 kids, 2 dogs

Annually we book Father’s Day weekend at Banbury Green in Kaleden. This is our 3^rd time for Father's Day but it is about the 8th time I have camped at this location. We book this campsite because of its close proximity to Penticton and full hookups. We also love the beach front. However, like all Okanagan campgrounds, fees keep creeping up due to increased popularity.

Allow me to give you a description of Banbury. This campground is on private property. The property is lakefront (Skaha Lake). This campground has a shower house (free showers) and flush toilets scattered throughout the property. It has a boat launch and in the summer you can rent paddleboats and canoes right from shore. It has a dock and a small playground. The KVR trail is accessible through this campground. Some of the sites are small, others large – especially lakefront spots. I find that most spots are shaded. Campers may argue which sites are the best. My favorite spots are North 22-24. Here is an updated site map for you to take a look at. http://www.banburygreen.com/PDFs/site_map.pdf

 

Now, if you are willing to pay the fees to stay at Banbury, by all means, this is an awesome campground. We paid $57.50 per night for Father’s Day weekend in June. “High Season” started on June 19^th, the day we arrived. We were in an RV so we paid the most. They even asked us at check-in how many adults and kids we had in our party as there are now extra charges over and above your family of 2 adults and 2 kids.

Here is the pricing direct from their website:
Tents:
Low Season: $30.00 per night + Tax
High Season: $45.00 per night + Tax
RVs/Trailers etc:
Low Season: $40.00 per night + Tax
High Season: $55.00 per night + Tax

The daily rate per site is based on a family of 4 i.e. 2 adults and 2 children. An adult is any person 17 years or older. Children 16 and under stay free. The maximum number of adults per site is 4. The maximum number of persons permitted on a site is 6 - no exceptions. Additional adults are $5.00 per person per night.

If you have read my previous blogs about Banbury you will know that 3 Father’s Days ago, we received a noise complaint for our 90’s on 9 sirius satellite being too loud for the tenters camping next to us. Again the camp host brought it up to my brother when he checked in. Ugh. Get over it! It almost makes me want to register as “Mickey Mouse” next time just so we aren’t attached to one infraction 3 years ago. 

 

Some of the good things about Banbury – they are dog friendly, safe roads for kids to bike, beach front sites, flush toilets and free showers. You can bring an extra vehicle and park it for free by the office (assuming there is space). There is a pie lady that frequents the campground on weekends. Her Mom makes pies, jams, treats, bread etc. The food is awesome! I recommend trying her food.

Some of the not so good things about Banbury – the price and the management. This is my opinion as this is my blog. I have said it so many times – campsite hosts can make or break a camping trip. When you are trying to get people to return and book again, friendliness goes a long way. When you want locals to recommend your campsite to tourists, you should leave a lasting impression on them. Nobody at Banbury comes around to say hi. Nobody asks how your experience was. Nobody even smiles. The office isn’t even open most times you drive or walk past it.


This year we had a ridiculous wind storm. We couldn't enjoy our fire or each other's company. Bad luck for us! We spent most of our weekend hunkered down protecting our awning and tent from blowing away. The kids did have 1 day of swimming in the lake which was nice. Lots of bike riding to be had and we always have a potluck dinner on Saturday night to honor the Fathers.

3 Father’s Day trips is enough at Banbury for us. We are booking elsewhere next year. As much as we love the spot, we don’t love the price. So we will be looking for a better suited spot next year! Possibly we will duke it out to get a spot at Chain Lake next year for a 1/4 of the price – on the lake.

I rate Banbury a 4/6. They lose points for customer service and price. They should also add a sani station. No sewer hook ups on the lake.

My Review of Gold Mountain - Camp Trip #5 of 2015

Camp Trip #5 of 2015 - 2nd to Gold Mountain

When: June 5-7th
Where: Gold Mountain RV Park, Hedley BC Theme – Mardis Gras
Who: 9 adults, 8 kids, 2 dogs

We had SO MUCH FUN at the last theme weekend that Gold Mountain hosted, we decided to book the second one. We reserved site # 14 so that we were close to the playground, communal fire pit and action happening at the summer kitchen! We picked a great spot for that. 

Just like every single time we have ever arrived at Gold Mountain, Tracy and Dave greeted us with smiles and “welcome back” We unhooked the trailer, set up our camp for the weekend and settled down in our favorite place to be. It wasn’t long before I was greeted again by Dave. He had a martini shaker in one hand and 2 salt rimmed margarita glasses in the other. He sat them down on my picnic table and proceeded to pour us his “world famous” Lime Margaritas. I wasn’t about to say no. I had heard so much about these “sneak up on ya” welcome drinks. So I drank Nick’s and my own. Haha. WOW…. They were great!

Our friends all arrived and we reminisced on all of the reasons why we love this campground. In case you haven’t read my previous blogs about Gold Mountain, let me bring you up to speed. Gold Mountain is located approx. 5 kms outside of Hedley – towards Princeton. It takes about an hour and a half to drive there from Penticton. It is a quaint campground located on the beautiful Similkameen River. They have 24 various sized sites. Some sites are along the river bank. Some pull through sites are located in the thick of the action. Some of the sites are small and more private. There are huge trees shading the campsite but sun spots for those moments when you need to bask. They have flush toilets and a shower house. Ice, water, snacks and wood is available for purchase. They have a FREE sani dump too!


This campground also features 4 river view cabins for those who want the camping experience without hauling all of the equipment and gear required. There is a small playground that the kids love, fire pits in each campsite including the communal fire pit and the latest addition – an on-site restaurant that serves up homemade food!

The only complaint I had about the entire weekend was that it went too fast! We should have booked Thursday night too so I could have brushed up for a day on my horse-shoe skills and bocce ball shot. Nick’s only complaint was that Dave and Tracy need to add karaoke to their theme weekends! Lol. All in all, Dave and Tracy were AGAIN the perfect hosts. They had a bocce and horseshoe tournament, an ice cream bar for their guests, a kid’s bike parade and we all shared in a dessert smorgasbord.  These theme weekends are a great way to get campers together and bonding. How often is it that you speak to your camping neighbors? Probably not often enough. Gold Mountain boasts this camper socialization with their theme weekends and amazing hospitality.

                                                                                                                                                                     

Gold Mountain again, did not disapoint! 6 stars again for outstanding hospitality, endless amenities, the best value for your dollar and the easy access, close proximity to home and of course (as long as your dog is on a leash and you clean up after it) pet friendly!

 

We booked the final theme weekend of the year – October 3^rd weekend. Mexican theme night! I cannot wait to see what Tracy and Dave will drum up this time. Of course if Nick had his way, it would be karaoke.

My Review of Ashnola River - Camp Trip # 4 of 2015

Camp Trip #4 of 2015
When: May 14th - 18th
Where: Ashnola River - Keremeos, BC
Who: 7 adults, 5 kids, 4 dogs.

 May Long weekend - the gateway to camping season for some. Just another camping weekend to most avid campers. Interestingly enough, I had a conversation with another avid camper. Knowing he is a hard-core camper, I asked him where he and his family were camping for May Long this year. He chuckled and said "This is the weekend that rookies camp. We avoid camping on this weekend" What an interesting concept. He is right. I have camped every May Long since I was 16 years old - with the exception of my dear Brother's wedding (how dare he pick May Long to get married! haha.) Regardless, every year May long is a gong show. It's hard to find a place to camp that isn't booked solid or free sites packed with campers arriving on Tuesday to secure their spots. I have camped all over the Okanagan valley for May Long weekend. I have seen my fair share of nightmares occur. Everything from accidents, to fines from conservation officers, out of control fires and parties that go until the next morning. My friend was right, although tradition plays a large role in why I camp on May Long, it is definitely the weekend that the rookies come out to play - sometimes those who have the least amount of respect for our beautiful back-country.

To avoid the riffraff and enjoy our own solitude, we like to camp along the Ashnola river. May long weekend is a dangerous time to camp along a river with run off allowing the river to rise 2-3 feet during the weekend.  However, our children have been taught river safety since they were old enough to understand hand signals. My father watched a young boy drown in the Similkameen river when he was young. He instilled it into my brain very young and I have done the same with my kids.

*** A WORD OF CAUTION*** This is a fast moving river with powerful undercurrent. Even the most experienced swimmer can get caught in the undertow and be swept away. Keep children and pets away from the river!

 I have reviewed on this campground before and all of the reasons why I love it and the Ashnola area in general.


DIRECTIONS: Drive to Keremeos. If travelling from the Penticton area, take the bypass and drive as if you are headed to Princeton. When you see the Red Bridge in sight (just a couple kms from the bypass turn off onto the highway), turn left onto the road and go over the red bridge. From there you will have a nice scenic drive through country side pastures and farms. You will drive through a reserve, past the pow-wow grounds (also a great campground!!). As the paved road turns to gravel, set your odometer. This is "ground zero" from this marking drive up and take in the surroundings. There is something heart warming to me as I drive along the Ashnola River. Large river boulders, steep cliffs, fauna and a dirt road. There are MANY campgrounds along the way. Some are rec sites - run by the LSIB. They have user fees so be aware if you camp in one of these marked campgrounds. There are man-made pull offs along the way as well. As soon as you get to km 16, you will notice the road is not grated and maintained. From here on up, there is no fee to camp.

Since the Ashnola is becoming increasingly popular, I won't say which KM marking our favorite campsite is - go explore for yourself! But I will warn you that past 19km, the road gets narrow in parts and there are some major rock slides that you will not get a car through. So be prepared if you are headed past 16 kms.

On to our May Long trip this year! 

Every year we contemplate whether our favorite spot will be taken when we get up the mountain. This year a couple of us headed up on Wednesday afternoon and dropped the trailers off and set up a tent. Thankfully our space was vacant so we set up camp and locked up. We headed out of town on Thursday after work. Kids, dogs, a tank full of water and enough groceries and booze to last us 4 nights. Since it's such a long haul back to town, we try to make sure we are over-prepared. Just in case! The trip takes us approximately an hour and 30 minutes - with no trailer in tow. One thing to know about the Ashnola area is there are mosquitoes and they are BIG.  We carry "OFF" in the truck and immediately spray ourselves when we get there. We go to work setting up our gazebo tent with screens and shelter for the kids to play bug and rain free.

In the mountains, the weather comes and goes so fast. we had 1 overnight and early morning of torrential downpour but most days consisted of tank tops and shorts. The weather really was on our side this May Long!

Dead fall is everywhere. So bring a chainsaw. You will never have a shortfall of wood. We left 1/2 a cord behind for the next campers!

 This is what we love about the change up of camping in the bush with no neighbours. We can have our music up loud (which we did - a dance party happened!!) The kids can shoot their BB guns and bow and arrows safely and our dogs can roam free. No-pay camping doesn't hurt either!

The only downfalls to camping 45 minutes from a town and cell service is emergencies and the pain when you forget something or run out and need to drive to town to get it. In the end, camping in solitude is worth it!




One last thing I would like to add about this camp trip is that I FINALLY used my Coleman "Pudgy Pie" maker. WOW.... it made the most perfect grilled ham and cheese that I have every had! I have tons of recipes on different pudgy pie recipes. You can add everything from leftover spaghetti to nutella and banana to bacon and eggs! I am going to go buy a couple more. I suggest you go grab one too. They are sold at Canadian Tire and Walmart.
What a pudgy pie griller looks like - click here
Recipes found here on Pinterest!

All in all, we had an excellent May Long weekend with friends, kids and dogs galore.

*Same score as always*
SOLD 4 1/2 stars from me. It gets points for - free, pet friendly, no facilitators (private), play your music as LOUD as you want, tons of space, shady and sunny, on a river. Downfalls - no cell service, 45 minutes from town, no hookups (obviously)
If you are a back country camper, THIS is your spot! You will not be disappointed!

Next on our 2015 camping adventure -

GOLD MOUNTAIN RV PARK!

We had previously booked Beaver Lake but we just couldn't pass up another theme weekend at Gold Mountain so we cancelled our reservation and booked with Tracy and Dave at Gold Mountain. The theme is "Mardi Gras". Event details for the weekend include: Bocci Ball Tournament, Dessert Potluck, Kid's Bike Parade and an Ice Cream bar. Who can say no to that?

June is a busy camping month for us! Stay tuned and thanks for reading! Be share to click "share this post" with your friends and family!