THE END - OF BACKPACKING

We docked in Prince Rupert late afternoon on Monday, May 28. While it seemed that we were back on the mainland, we actually weren’t, since Prince Rupert is on Kaien Island.

The VIA Rail ticket desk was in the same building as the BC Ferries terminal so immediately after getting off the ferry, we were able to ask an agent whether our train was still good to go for Wednesday. We heaved a sigh of relief when we found out the railroad wasn’t affected by the mudslide. (However, within a few weeks after our arrival in Chilliwack, both the highway and railway between Prince George and Prince Rupert were closed due to flooding.)


Getting clean again

We loaded our gear into the shuttle van of the hostel we’d reserved a room at and headed into town to finally wash ourselves. It had been ten days of hiking and sweating and being dirty and we were ready for some hot showers. The hostel was a cutely renovated three-story house and we got a small bedroom with a double bed in an upstairs corner. We had debated getting beds in a dorm to save money, but in the end it was a good thing we didn’t – after showering, Eric had zero clean clothes to put on and had to hide away in the room, alone and naked

But showering then was probably one of the most amazing experiences we had in the past three months. We’ve come to the conclusion that showers are rather useless and unappreciated if the person showering is mostly clean. If all you need to do is wash your hair or your armpits, a complete shower is unnecessary and wasteful of energy and water. But when your whole body needs cleaning it feels good to step into the shower’s spray and both the water used and the time spent are worth it and appreciated.

The next day we wandered around Prince Rupert, browsing around the Cow Bay tourist district. With a limited amount of money and time, we finally decided that, because it was cheap night, we would go to the theatre to watch the early showing of Pirates of the Caribbean 3. (It was too long, tried too hard to have mysterious twists and ended up just being convoluted, and it’s portrayal of a male-female romantic relationship was quite ridiculous, but it provided enough entertainment to make us forget we were at the end of our trip.)


Finally back on the mainland

The next morning we woke up bright and early to pack up and get ready for our hostel host to shuttle us back to the ferry/train terminal.

We checked our baggage and excitedly waited for all three rail cars plus a baggage car to pull into the “station.” Yes, we’d been on the train twice on Vancouver Island, but that was only one car long. This was the real thing! We quickly settled in for our 12-hour ride.

The train passed the now-closed pulp mill (which a friend of ours was once a project manager at), and then closely followed the Skeena River and later the Bulkley River. We could see how high the rivers were, as the muddy swirling water covered the roots and trunks of trees. The scenery was amazing and we watched the landscape slowly change from grandiose blue and grey mountains to rolling meadows and pastures bright with spring greens and purples and yellows while the mountains receded into the background.

The ride was smooth and mostly steady, but we can’t say the same for all the passengers. A young couple and their toddler son occupied the pair of seats kitty-corner to us. Although we couldn’t blame the poor child for being bored and wanting to run around the train car, his screaming did tend get rather wearing. But at least we were parting ways in Prince George. They, however, had another nine to 12 hour bus ride to Calgary and then another bus ride to Medicine Hat. Yikes!!


We find love in PG

Our train, The Skeena, pulled into the Prince George station only 30 minutes behind schedule. We walked into the depot, expecting to phone some good friends of ours that we hoped would also be in the city.

But to our great surprise, Matt and Alison were waiting for us at the station! We couldn’t believe it. What an awesome surprise. The amazing Kind-Kidds then proceeded to treat us to an amazing experience at Moxies. Yup, it wasn’t just supper, it was an event! After our meal, they drove us all around Prince George as we searched for a campground. We eventually found one over eight kilometres from town. It was strange. So Matt and Alison then drove us back into the city and helped us find a cheap motel downtown and then offered to drive us around the next morning, if we so needed. It was an awesome welcome back from the “bush.”


Face to face with the bitter end

The next day we discussed our options for getting down to Chilliwack. We weren’t excited about a super-long ride on the Greyhound, but flying was too expensive and we weren’t sure about hitchhiking that far of a distance. By checkout time at the motel, we still weren’t sure what we would be doing that evening, but the receptionist graciously allowed us to leave our big packs with her so we could walk around the city.

We had another eerie coincidence that made us feel like we were still on Haida Gwaii. Over coffees, muffins and cinnamon buns in a downtown bookstore/coffee shop we noticed two people involved in some artistic activity and thought that one guy, with black curly hair and beard, looked vaguely familiar. We were so convinced, Eric approached him and asked: Are you Raghu Lokanathan? And he was. We met Raghu back in Lethbridge in 2004/05 when we saw his gig at the local folk music club. We even happened to win one of his CDs, so his music has been with us for the past three years. To meet him again (although we did know that he lived in Prince George) was bizarre and cool. He even said we could crash at his apartment for the night, if we so needed.

After wandering around Prince George for a few more hours, we finally went to the nearby Greyhound depot to pick up tickets for home. The shortest trip was a nine-hour overnight drive that left Prince George at 11:15 p.m. and arrived around 8 a.m. in Chilliwack. Rachel wasn’t ready for the end of our adventures, but we didn’t really have money to stay in town for another night. And Eric was really looking forward to building something, go figure. So, we finally resigned ourselves to the fact that this was the end, bought our tickets and killed time until our bus left.


One final bit of travelling

We had reserved seats at the front of the bus to see out the windshield and avoid any motion sickness issues. But the legroom was absolutely horrid, just as it is in every Greyhound bus seat. Eric managed to sleep for a few hours but Rachel didn’t get beyond half-sleep, being woken up at every bump and stop and gear shift and jolting speed change. We switched drivers at Cache Creek around 5:30 a.m. and then Eric had a great time chatting with the driver all the way to Chilliwack. For Rachel, however, the entire experience was absolutely miserable. In the end, neither of us wants to travel by Greyhound for a long, long, long time yet.

We had grand schemes of surprising Eric’s mom by arriving unexpectedly on her doorstep with coffee and flowers, but, due to a series of unfortunate coincidences, word of our arrival had leaked out. So instead, she surprised us by being at the Chilliwack greyhound depot to greet us – along with her sister, her friend and Eric’s dad.


A home of sorts

It was surreal to be surrounded by the rat race of the Lower Mainland with people all around us focused on the pursuit of money, with polluting vehicles whizzing by in every direction, and a general lack of consciousness about natural and healthy living. No more whole wheat, local, organic, natural anything. But here we were.

And just like that, it was over.

The months of talking and planning and anticipation, the months of actually sticking out our thumbs and setting up our tent and the hours of endless amounts of walking, had finally come to a close.

Would we ever do something like this again? For all the difficulties and challenges we had during our (almost) 10 weeks of backpacking, we had incredible joyous and educating and entertaining experiences and met all sorts of fascinating people. And what would we do with our lives now? We had a temporary place to stay, but no money, no jobs. Could we settle back into a routine? And, most importantly, had we learned anything that had changed us for good?

With mixed emotions, we put away our backpacking gear and tried to figure out how to survive in the mainstream world.