We've been talking about "wild" camping in Alberta for a while now, but we've never really known where we could legally camp, nor which areas of the province fall under public lands aka Crown Land. Official campgrounds are always fully booked months in advance, and being spur of the moment people, we don't always like to plan out our lives months in advance, preferring instead to live from day to day and have fun along the way.
A couple of months ago, I was chatting with my boss at work, and he mentioned that he'd been out to Abraham Lake on a long weekend, and whilst he'd not camped out there, he did say that it was public land and you could camp there for free.
I'd heard of Abraham Lake but hadn't really done much reading about it. I knew it was out near Nordegg on the road to Saskatchewan Crossing which sits on the Icefields Parkway, but other than that, I didn't really know much else about the area. I also wasn't sure how comfortable I would feel spending a night under canvas on a non=monitored site - I had heard and read horror stories about raves on some of this land, I'd heard that they could be dominated by large groups that seemed to think they owned the land and nobody else was welcome, and I admit to being somewhat apprehensive every time Andy said we should go camping on a weekend on Crown Land - I didn't want to put us at risk, and I am terribly protective about the dogs and really didn't want to encounter any trouble that could bring harm to any of us.
I jpined a Facebook group that was specifically for Crown Land camping in Alberta, and having read through several posts, I started to feel far more at ease - I wanted to try things out, but the timing just never seemed right. Abraham Lake featured quite a lot in the group discussions and photos kept appearing that made it look very appealing, and when we did a search of YouTube videos for the area, it was sold - we would at some point be heading out to Abraham Lake for a camping trip.
This weekend was a long weekend, and whilst having a walk around the Terwillegar dog park in Edmonton with the pups, I asked Andy if he fancied going out to Abraham Lake later this afternoon. The weather looked to be good for the next few days, we could make it a minimalist camping trip and just do a quick overnighter to check out the area. He thought it was a great idea, and a few hours later, we were all packed up with the three pups and we hit the road for a 3 hour or so drive out to the mountains.
We had no idea what to expect. It was a long weekend and could well be very busy, we would be arriving when it was going dark, and we had no idea how to access the random camping sites, nor even how to find them. If all else failed, we decided we would just sleep in the car, and make the most of whatever we could find once we arrived.
The drive wasn't too bad at all, and having stopped off in Rocky Mountain House for a coffee and a donut to tie us over until our arrival at camp, we made our way along backroad that would take us through Nordegg and to the lake. We had been this way when visiting Chungo Creek Outfitters Cabins back in February but it had been snowy back then - now it was late summer, and there were so many deer alongside the road, some of which decided to cross at the last minute and had us slowing down to avoid hitting them.
After Nordegg, the mountains start to become higher and much more rugged and the scenery really was stunning, and as the sun was starting to set, we arrived at the edge of the lake. For the next while, we saw lots of trails heading off into the trees, and it was pretty obvious that folks were down there camping and it looked so awesome!
WE decided to continue driving until the satnav told us we had arrived, and it all seemed so easy when it announced our arrival and it was right beside the parking lot and a dirt road, clearly marked as public access land and the location where we would camp for the night.
The area certainly had a fair few people camping there despite there being no facilities, and we were lucky enough to find a spot right on the lake shore with a mound of grass where we were able to pitch the tent. Within 30 minutes, the tent was up and we were relaxing around the campfire with teh pups, whilst looking up at the skies above and admiring the Milky Way and all the other constellations. With no light pollution, the sky looked amazing, and we could have sat there all night looking up and being mesmerized by the sheer beauty and expanse of it all.
One thing that struck me was how quiet everything way. There were people nearby, and those that we encountered all smiled and said hello, but nobody was playing loud music, nobody was shouting or talking very loudly, and everybody there seemed to have a respect for the wilderness and just being outdoors. It was so, so different from the organised campgrounds, where groups of friends or large families frequent and they are extremely noisy - we were pleasantly surprised and thoroughly approved of how things were panning out.
We eventually crawled into our sleeping bags, three little pups snuggled up beside us, and we drifted off into a blissful sleep whilst listening to the waves of the lake lapping against the shore.
At some point in the night, the wind really picked up and it felt like the tent was going to take flight. Sleep became a little more fitful at that point, and when daylight came around 7am, I got up to assess the damage, The tent pole had certainly taken a beating but everything was good otherwise, and we were looking forward to a nice relaxing morning surrounded by the mountains and knowing that on this campground, there was no need to be packed up and gone by 11an,
I sneaked in a little 5km run with Wilson, and then after breakfast, the pups had a good play and a swim in the lake. I was still taken aback at how quiet and calm everything was - nobody was up stupidly early, and there really was a sense of calm and relaxation amongst everybody. We were loving it, and for sure, we knew that we would be back for more of the same in the not too distance future, including during the winter months when I was hoping to do a video for my YouTube channel.
We finally packed up around 2pm, not really wanting to leave but we had only intended to do an overnighter to check things out for future visits. I also wanted to record a quick short for my channel - see it here - so we had a drive alongside the lake to check for other camping areas and were really happy with what we discovered.
It was a great weekend mini-break and I am so glad that we made the decision to just do it. I can't wait to go back in the winter months to check it out again and to do a wild camp out there in the snow!
We didn't get home until late on Sunday evening, so of course I ended up not doing the 25km trail run I had planned, so today - Monday - I headed out to Devon again to get it done. The Grizzly 50km is only 5 weeks away and I'm at the key stage in my training which will hopefully mean a good run on race day.
Today's run was awesome, I felt fantastic, and whilst I am still huffing and puffing up those hills, I am starting to feel much stronger and faster which will hopefully mean I won't struggle too much next month when I finally race!
It's been a great long weekend what with finally getting to do Crown Land camping, and then a good long run and I shall be going back into the office tomorrow with a smile on my face, knowing it has been a good, productive couple of days.
Until next time - happy camping and happy trails to you all!
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