Day Three Manning Provincial Park British Columbia

Day three of our adventure began with our ferry ride from Nanaimo to Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver. We arrived in West Vancouver right at the tail-end of the Vancouver rush-hour. We had decided the prior evening to take care of a bunch of small personal details that we didn’t do before we had left. We headed to Tyler’s brother’s house in the city of Coquitlam BC then we went to Tyler’s and his brothers home in Abbotsford BC where we got to take a much needed shower. We then proceeded to take care of business and to actually plan ahead a little bit for the next part of the trip.

Together we decided to head to Manning Provincial Park which is located in the Southwestern part of British Columbia. On the way to the park we traversed through the town of Hope which was made famous by the movie featuring Sylvester Stallone – Rambo. The countryside around Hope is beautiful but still very wild – much like you see in the movie.

Tyler mentioned to Catherine that he had much experience in and around Manning Provincial Park after staying in and having explored it many many times over the years. We headed for the campgrounds at Coldspring. Manning Park has over 70,000 hectares of cedar rainforests and many nice alpine meadows covered in flowers. It is situated in the Cascade Mountain range and is 224 km from Vancouver BC. There is much wildlife to be seen including coyotes, pika, chipmunks, beavers, deer, bears, moose, and various members of the cat family including cougars.

Once at Coldspring we found the campground to be very nearly empty of travelers. This of course is not a bad thing as it gave us a great choice of camping spots to which we choose a very nice spot close to the river. The weather was still very nice and actually very warm for this time of year in BC. We set up our camp spot in very little time. We were greeted shortly after arrival by the park ranger named Benn Double N. Benn was very nice as he took the time to tell us more about the park and what we might enjoy the most as a newlywed couple.

We capped off the day by having a nice delicious meal of hotdogs and tea. The weather became very cold once the sun started to set. We purchased a lot of wood but found it hard to burn as it was a little damp. Our campfire was not exactly spectacular, but it kept us busy and warm for a few hours before bed.

The overnight hours were very cold with the low being about 3 degrees Celsius. Catherine was a little cold in the tent but Tyler tried his best to keep her warm. After camping a Deeks Lake in August Tyler had decided to purchase a more comfortable inflatable bed instead of relying only on portable easy to carry thin mats. This kept us off the cold ground and made for a better sleep which we both needed very badly.

Tyler says of day three – we got lots of little things done, and I got to show Catherine all the great scenery of Manning Park which I was already very familiar with. I knew it would get very cold at night and I was more than right. Catherine was very tough and stuck it out. She always complains of being cold but on this night she was very good. The camp ranger Benn was a great asset and very friendly – a great host for the park he was. I was looking forward to the next day when Catherine and I would take a short nature hike and in the evening take in a viewpoint recommended by Benn. I do enjoy this campground as it is very nice and well-kept. The stars at night were breathtaking. You just don’t get to see stars like that when you live in the city!

Catherine says of day three – Tyler was so protective of me when he tried his best to keep me warm. I don’t have too much experience in the mountains camping, but Tyler was very nice with me, not only because he has a nice personality, but because he taught me tricks and tips to be more comfortable in the mountains. Tyler also spent time teaching me about the animals and plants that we saw. Tyler cooks a mean camp meal. I got to see chipmunks, squirrels, many species of birds, and some deer. I would recommend this camping spot to others to visit as the space is nice with a fire pit, a picnic table, and a big place to put your tent where it is dry! The park has a great variety of plants and animals and many creeks and rivers. I love all the different colours that are displayed here in late summer.

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