We slept rather poorly last night since it was so cold. A man we later met on the trail told us that it had been -12 degrees C – brrrr! We made a pot of hot chocolate and oatmeal with brown sugar and nuts to warm up.
We then set off for Mt Murray – rated at 3.5 and 5.5 hours round-trip by two different signs. It didn’t take us long, breaking trail snowshoeing for us to warm up. Soon I was down to a base layer and shell with pit zips open. After 1.5h we arrived at a surprise cabin at the col between Mt Murray and it’s neighbour. Some back-country skiers arrived just as we got there and told us it was owned by the Cariboo Ski Touring Club (?). Since we didn’t have much time, we posed for a photo and set off for Mt Murray. It was too bad, since the cabin seemed very cozy, even kitted out with a guitar!
We arrived at the summit of Mt Murray 2 hours after we had left the car. We were really happy with how fast we did it, especially considering we were trail breaking. We posed for a photo, had a bite to eat, and headed back down since we wanted to make it back to the service station while it was open
Luckily we made it to the service station around 12:30pm and filled up – phew, nothing more to worry about! It was then 28km along the Bowron Lakes access road. It was rather deserted, considering that everything was snow covered and the lake frozen. We learned that the Bowron Lakes Circuit is a world renowned destination for paddling, with tourists able to go from campsite to campsite along the lakes.
I tried to convince Katie that we should try to wash in a small hole that was made close to the shore through the lake-ice. We ended up compromising on a “shower” of lake water warmed up on my camp-stove. It was still very cold, since the air temperature was likely less than 10 degrees C. We warmed up to a lunch of hot tea and hard-boiled eggs
Since the day was getting on, we started thinking about where to sleep. We continued the last kilometer to the trailhead of the first portage of the Bowron Lakes circuit, where visitors would carry their boats the 2 hour trail to the first lake. As we arrived, an old couple came out from the trail and told us that there was a cabin we could go to on the first lake – Kibbie Lake. We were ready to just camp at the trailhead, but decided that a stay at a cabin would be very nice.
Hiking quickly, we arrived at the cabin in about an hour. It was very cozy – stocked with firewood, some candles, and sleeping platforms. We also brought our own candles and a bottle of wine. I made a fire, we supped, enjoyed the bottle of wine, and went to bed in the heated cabin – much nicer than the night before!