After leaving the Emond's we grabbed a few groceries and topped off the gas tank before heading north past a gigantic beaver. After a photo with the beaver we turned west at Dawson Creek towards Powder King. Emotions were running high as there hadn't been any new snow and after being so spoilt for pow in southern BC we weren't really sure how keen we were to ski icy conditions like we had done at Revelstoke. We arrived at dusk and it was mighty cold outside, we hummed and harred in the Dodge for a while about what to do before deciding to go inside and see what the deal was with the hostel and bar. It turned out that the bar was about to close and that the hostel was pricy even just to sleep in the car but use the hostel facilities. We decided to sleep in the car and use our own facilities by heating up some curry in the car park. This meant our accommodation was now free!
In the morning there was almost no one else in the car park and the glistening freshly groomed empty trails lured us in. We attempted to make a cool little film of me getting out of bed all ready to go with my ski boots and helmet already on. The idea was I'd ‘wake up’ then get out and clip my skis on and ski off. It worked in theory but I'd forgotten to do my pants up and you can see that they are undone and hear Will crack up when we both realise.
After our movie making and breakfast we forked out $58 each for the day passes and headed up the chairlift. At the top we took in the view then raced down the main run. With no line we were back at the top again in no time. After several runs we had even managed to find a few pockets of powder and filmed a few runs. We then hit the T-bar for a few shorter runs before stopping off for lunch.
Over lunch I had this great idea to film me taking off then throwing my tatty old pink bra into a pine tree that was filled with bras thrown by others as they passed it on the chairlift. Will agreed to film me but it was almost a disaster as it looked like I'd timed it wrong and the bra would fall to the ground. But at the last moment it landed on a branch and stuck in place! I was stoked that's one way to get rid of an old bra! Bra throwing over, we did a few more runs and they called last lift just as the groomed trails and slight slopes were starting to get boring. But overall we had had an awesome day and were very glad we had decided to ski.
That evening I drove us back to Dawson Creek. As the sun was setting I saw a large animal run across the road about 200m in front of us it freaked me out a bit as our headlights weren’t exactly the best so I opted to drive slower. We could not afford to hit anything like a moose. This combined with the rutted road and our terrible suspension meant the Dodge was lurching all over the place. So when a SUV caught up to me I slowed down even more to let it pass but to my surprise it didn’t pass so I thought I had better speed up again and drive closer to the speed limit. As soon as I didn’t this the SUV lit up with blue and red flashing lights and of course pulled me over sighting erratic driving! I was worried because we didn’t have any insurance but the cops were lovely and said they couldn’t understand our Chilean registration but that it seemed all in order and after checking our licences they just wanted to hear all about our trip. It was a big relief but quite strange, all they did was ask me if I had been drinking to which I said no and explained about the animal I saw. In New Zealand I would have for sure been breath tested to confirm that.
Finally back in Dawson Creek we went for a swim and shower at the Rec Centre and then found some dinner. I had a pulled pork Subway sandwich for while Will had his all-time favourite from Pizza Hutt being Hawaiian pizza. We camped at the local Walmart that evening and other than me finding out that Will had ordered $700 worth of gun accessories and a the arguing that ensued we had a quiet night.
The next day we would be starting out on the Alaska Highway!!! Whoop Whoop!!
Rochelle & Will
The next day we would be starting out on the Alaska Highway!!! Whoop Whoop!!
Rochelle & Will