Afternoon Edition: After a miserable bivy, we stumbled into Permberton around 11 AM. Little can be said about the night, except it was perhaps the least comfortable of my life, with the exception of the night I came down with food poisoning several years ago. We were all starving by the time we reached town and headed straight for a restaurant called One Mile which a rancher/heli guide had recommended as we walked past her place just before hitting the highway. As it turned out, she had heard there was a party on the Wedge-Currie Traverse, probably from one of the heli guides, and she wasn't surprised to see us on the way out. We were already starting to feel famous!
I had enjoyed the walk into town, though ski boots and very unwieldy skis made it a little more arduous than it otherwise would have been (ULA packs are NOT designed to carry skis!). I would estimate that we did between 4 and 5 miles of road walking once the snow became too sparse for skiing, initially on logging roads and then for about a mile on the highway. For some reason, it made me think of the walk into Sead Valley on the PCT. Perhaps it was the road walk along the river we would eventually cross and the view across the river, or perhaps it was the anticipation of a gigantic pancake breakfast!
Town is awesome. By the time we arrived, it was a little too late for breakfast, but we enjoyed a delicious lunch of burgers, wraps, salads, and poutine. Breakfast had consisted of half a bagel, a cliff bar, and the last few nibbles of a Symphony chocolate bar, split five ways, so we were more than ready for a hot meal. We were all soaked and took over the deck at the restaurant. Skis, packs, wet clothes, and even a tent covered the picnic tables and railing. I had major PCT flashbacks.... How I still long for that lifestyle sometimes!
Will, Kevin, Dave, and I are now spread out in a park across the street from the restaurant with all our gear. The sun is shining, I'm finally warm, and the backdrop is spectacular. A woman on a bicycle just stopped by to ask if we were selling things and then informed us that overnight camping is not allowed. She was adamant that we were on sacred First Nation land, but we assured her that we were not planning to stay the night.
Wearing only long underwear and booties, the very debonair Jerry just got a hitch back to Whistler to pick up his car. With his good looks, we knew it would only be a matter of minutes. Once he's back, we'll figure out a plan for the night.... Not sure any of us are ready to ready to dive right back into the back-country, so we might be on the hunt for a hotel. A bed sure sounds good!
Evening Edition: After Jerry returned with the car, he, Will, and I headed over to McDonald's to use the WiFi. Kevin also joined us after wandering back across to the street to the restaurant we had eaten at to see if they had any rooms available in the adjoining lodge for tonight. No go for that option, but we were also considering B&B's (highly recommended by locals), the Pemberton Valley Lodge (pricey, but nice), and the Pem Ho (the name says it all). Jerry began by calling the Pemberton Valley Lodge in hopes of striking a deal. Funny thing - the woman he talked with wasn't surprised to hear from him as she "knew we were in town." I guess we were gaining quite the reputation and had not gone unnoticed sprawled in the park. Anyways, she was willing to cut us a deal, but we decided to return to Dave and drive by the Pem Ho before making a decision.
Reunited with Dave, we learned of a very intriguing third option. Apparently, a random guy had seen Dave and stopped by the park. This mysterious fellow told Dave he knew of a house we could stay at for $20 each. The house supposedly belonged to some semi-famous hang-gliding filmmaker named Peter who liked to help out back-country skiers. It sounded like Peter perhaps operated a B&B of sorts, as we were told we'd be able to sleep on the beds, but not in them, as guests were expected next week.
We were interested in meeting Peter, if only for curiosity's sake and decided to follow Dave's very vague directions to his house. The mysterious stranger Dave had spoken with told Dave we could reconnect with him in a trailer off Reid Road and that Peter's house was fairly close to the trailer and near a lake. Off we went! Needless to say, locating the Dave's new friend, Peter, or his house proved impossible. Dave and I knocked on the door of a trailer and got no answer, tried calling the guy to no avail, and ultimately wound up knocking on the door of a house we thought might belong to Peter only to find that the occupants had never heard of him!
After exhausting all options, we retreated to town and decided to get a room at the Pemberton Valley Lodge. Accommodations secured, we took care of the "usual" town chores minus the PO: grocery shopping, laundry, etc.. The hotel is great. It has a bedroom as well as a pull-out couch. The hot tub was fantastic, and we just bbq'd sausages and asparagus for dinner. Life is good. Still figuring out plans for tomorrow, but leaning toward checking out an off-the-radar hut in the Duffy Lake area that our server told us about at lunch. Excited for a warm, dry night in the meantime!
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