Date:         Tue, 20 May 1997 16:35:33 -0600
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Michael Wynn <mwynn@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca>
Subject:      Great Weekend trip...

        Well, all the $ I forked out last week on getting my clutch done may
have been well worth it. I drove a total of 900kms this past weekend up to
the Willmore Wilderness area up near Grande Cache, Alberta. Its actually
called "Hell's Gate", and its absolutely astounding. The roads up were quite
hilly, but I was suprised to find the bus motoring up them with relative
ease. Amazing considering I had 2 other guys, a ton of gear and a full water
tank to boot. 
        The site we camped at was deserted, there was lots of firewood, and
the potties were.......well potties. We hiked up to these two massive rocky
outcroppings which drop about 120ft. down to a raging river which runs
headlong into a massive wall of rock....truly like the gates of hell. I must
have taken about 100 photos from the top. 
We also made it to a beautiful set of falls which were a tough 2 hour hike
down the trail from the campsite. Evidently, I guess that same trail goes
200kms from Willmore all the way down to Rocky Mnt House, which is now on my
list o' hikes to accomplish.
        Now for the funny part. In the middle of the night on Sat. I woke up
to the sound of water trickling somewhere. Now I knew the river was at least
15 minutes away by foot so there was no way it could be that...so what was
it? So I sit up..and bang my head of course on the overhead cupboard for the
1000th time, to find the sink shooting water onto my sleeping bag, and buddy
next to mines. IT WORKED!!!!! I had spent 2 hours trying to get it to work
before leaving, and finally gave up with the attitude of "ahh screw it, I
can always get the water form under the van if I really need it". I'm not
sure how it happened, but its working fine now. Hurrah!
        The trip also made me feel good about the bus again......I was
getting pretty fed up with all the crap that was going wrong with it, but
once I was out and about, and back in my element with it, I knew that I
could stand any adversity that comes in the way of my bus and I.

        My van is an extension of myself, and with it I can further explore
myself and the world in which I must live my life, my way.

  
        
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Michael Wynn - mwynn@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca
Multimedia Producer @ Jang & Willson Communications

Plant 1 acres of Hemp   -   Save 4 acres of Forest
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