Derek and I still have lots of laughs when we think of our first camping trip. I say that it is our favorite but more so it's definitely our most memorable.
So here's the thing about living in Alberta, after a long winter when the temperature finally goes above zero degrees Celsius we tend to think that summer is here. Yes, the short pants come out and the sun roofs go up. So there we are, first weekend in May and the weather is supposed to be beautiful and we're just excited to get out and sleep in a tent. We head out to one of the nicest and closest campgrounds to Calgary, Little Elbow Campground, just about 14km west of Bragg Creek in Kananaskis Country.
On the way to Little Elbow Campground - Hwy 22
The car is packed, I mean really packed and we head out. In tow we've got this brand new air bed that my Aunt and Uncle gave us. This made us even more excited "wow, we get to sleep on a bed in our tent".
We get there and set up. We managed to get a really nice walk-in site. If you've never camped on a walk-in it just means that your car is parked about 50 feet from the actual site and you haul your stuff in. What I really liked about this campground is that it is well treed and there were lots of deer running around. Plus you are really close to lots of hiking trails. If you have small kids the Forget Me Not Pond is just a short walk away that is just beautiful for an afternoon or evening picnic.
All set!
Forget Me Not Pond (It actually iced over that night)
That evening we cooked curried crab and dumpling. Yip, we made our neighbors mouth water. Not a traditional camping dish but if you're from the Caribbean like we are curry is a "must" on any lime (fun outdoor activity). I'll share the recipe for this.
Curried crab and dumplings (Trinidadian Style)
I must say, being out for the first time was magical. Everything about it, every little detail. We had deer come right up to our camping chairs and we sat and watch them dig up and steal the squirrels winter hideaway. The fire was going, tequila was out, it was a perfect evening. All until, yes, the temperature dropped and it began to snow.
I don't think that anything else existed besides the two of us and what was around us - the smells, the sounds, the peace and tranquility.
Mule deer (not for hunting Dad....store those trigger fingers)!
We did not mind, we packed up and headed into our tent for the night but were we ever in for a surprise. I can still feel the cold, from deep down in my bones it was just unbearable. I think it went down to about minus 4 or 6 degrees Celsius that night. We soon realized that sleeping on an air bed was not such a good idea. We finished the tequila which helped to get us to sleep.
Unfortunately, at 2 in the morning Derek woke me up to tell me that there was something walking around our tent. We got up to investigate, for as you would imagine the first thing to cross our minds was that "it's a bear." Derek flashed his light around and thankfully it was just some deer walking around.
When we woke up in the morning we were baffled as to why everyone else was waking up looking so rested and happy and we know that some were also sleeping on air mattresses. We soon realized that they all had sleeping bags. Silly us, never thought of it. Well after a hearty breakfast of pancakes and eggs and a nice hike we packed up and headed home and that same evening headed out to Canadian tire to buy a couple sleeping bags.
Hiking along Forget Me Not Pond
Elbow River
If you are shopping for sleeping bags we got these really neat ones made by Broadstone designed for minus 7 degrees Celsius that connect together to form one big bag that two people can comfortably sleep in. I don't think that we were ever cold again but we never did take the air mattress back out with us. We were fine with just the sleeping bags after that.