The long way around

It was clear to me that it wasn't going to be very clear anymore. The clouds were rolling in on what they have started calling an "Atmospheric River". I, myself, have spent many needless hours pondering what exactly that meant. But such is the life of an overthinker like me. I could stare at the clouds for hours trying to predict the future both weatherwise and in general. Great advice is very hard to find these days. Without such, a person can get stuck following the wrong path in the wrong direction.

Last summer my dog and I lived in my car and at various campgrounds around Vancouver and on Vancouver Island. Never for more than a night or two at first, but slowly we were able to afford more and more as we dug ourselves out of a very uncomfortable hole. Now, I say we, but really I mean me, myself, and I. I let my imagination take over in the worst way possible. Let my emotions fall short and my feelings got lost somewhere in the mix. No one ever thinks truly bad stuff will happen to them. The weird part is I did. It's all I did. All the time. Always trying to foresee the next calamity. The next major catastrophe. The next opportunity to save me, and anyone willing to come along for the free ride. Wishing it to happen and in a way, meet my own expectations of failure with inevitable failure. On purpose or so it would seem. Because I do try. Pretty hard in fact at most of my endeavours. Not all, I will admit. But most, and that's more than most, I am told.

Porteau Cove is about 20 minutes before Squamish, BC on your way to Whistler. The entire "Sea to Sky Corridor" is scenic beyond belief. Porteau Cove is "the most Southern Fjord on the West Coast of British Columbia" I read in a google search when I was trying to find a place to camp. I had filled a 5x5x10 foot storage locker as best I could and filled my car with everything else I thought I needed on my "forced sabbatical", which I named this adventure in a fit I was having on the phone with my mother who had decided to go on vacation to Tofino even though, due to her health, I was set against it. I was leaving behind more than I will actually ever know. Some boxes had made many moves without even being opened over the years and I completely forget what was in them.

I had narrowed the choices down to Golden Ears Provincial Campground just outside of Maple Ridge, and just a bit farther outside of Port Coquitlam where I had still been lurking in hopes of finding a shred of my once high self-esteem. (I did not.) The second choice was Porteau Cove. I stayed at both and to be fair I honestly can't remember which one first but just that Golden ears was cheaper and farther away and did not have hot water. For an extra $7 you could stay in the walk-in campsites at Porteau Cover which included a nice, clean, hot shower. At Golden Ear's you could arrive very late, leave very early and maybe escape without paying the $13 fee but the added distance you needed gas-wise was sometimes not worth the gamble.

The walk-in sites at Porteau Cove are most definitely top of the list when it comes to listing beautiful ocean-front camping sites in BC. They provide carts to tote your stuff in and a choice of around 30 small sites both on the water and in the trees. Having stayed there during an 'atmospheric river event' I can now appreciate why someone would choose to not be on the ocean side. At high tide, the water was within feet of the tent spots but at low tide, Bella could run on the beach unleashed without fear of bothering anyone. When the rains came you could huddle by one of the 4 large fire pits. Driftwood is abundant and as long as you aren't greedy no one ever gets fussy about burning it. Just past the campsites is the steep fjord point which sports a sturdy set of stairs with hand railings to the top with proper fencing in case one should lose their balance and wasn't keen about the 100 or so foot fall off sheer rockfaces into blue fridged water below. Around the other side of the campsite, and the fjord-point, the ocean flows in and out of a small bay, under a bridge, and through the trees between the parking lot and the railway. There is a picturesque grass landing that I imagined would be the backdrop to many family gatherings come spring.

Another bonus about Porteau Cove is the Marina. It has 24/7 washrooms and you ARE allowed to sleep in your car overnight. You can also park and leave your trailer while out on your boat exploring one of British Columbia's many water-accessible-only marine parks. You could make your way up the sound or out to sea and rest assured your vehicle would still be there when you got back. This leads me to my main reason for staying at and suggesting both of these beautiful, affordable, and hard but not too hard to access provincial campgrounds. You can reach both within about an hour of downtown Vancouver. The people who go there are there for the right reasons not by accident such is the case of many of the "camps" downtown. They want to be there. They planned to be there. And even though I was technically "homeless" I had planned to be there too.

Being homeless is a state of mind I learned that summer living in my car with my dog. You are only homeless if you say you are homeless. Just like you are only lost if you say you are lost. If you tell yourself or anyone who asks that you are just finding a different way around, then you are, in fact finding a different way around. You should not be shocked if no one comes to find you. No one offers assistance to those winning the race unless of course, they are betting on it.