woolgathering: Skookum

When we moved to BC, we noticed that everyone's new favorite word is "skookum". It's a Chinook word that basically means 'cool', and get used by all kinds of people. I'd never noticed anyone saying it before I moved away. I haven't used it myself yet. My parents use it. My parents' neighbours use it. People on the street use it. It's everywhere.

And oddly enough, we've been camping two weekends in a row at places with skookum in the name. Two weekends ago we went to St. Agnes' Wells, near Pemberton, BC.

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It's also known as Skookumchuck Hot Springs, and it really was skookum. O, god, I said it. We went up with our beer brewing crew, and had a great time. It was our first time camping in the Great White Van, and it was fabulous. On the Friday before we left, Douglas bought the 4" thick foam for the bed, we piled groceries and gear into Rubbermaid containers, and headed north. A few hours later, we were at the hot springs, drinking homemade beer, soaking in big outdoor tubs, and relaxing.

I think I must have missed living in the van, too, because I slept better than I usually do at home!

The week passed by in a blur and on Thursday we decided that we needed to go camping again. Douglas was already going up to the Sunshine Coast on Friday to count lingcod eggs with the Aquarium, so I caught the bus and the ferry after work, and joined him in Gibson's.

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The Sunshine Coast is a special part of BC. It's on the mainland, but you have to take a ferry to get there. There's no way to drive from Vancouver to Gibson's. It's only a 35 minute ferry-ride from Vancouver, but it's still small and quiet because of the ferry ride separating it from the big city.

We drove all the way up to Powell River (involving another ferry), then back down to Sechelt, because we liked it better. In between, we checked out the Skookumchuck Narrows, where the tide creates rapids and whirlpools. When the tide is going in or out, the difference in water levels between one side and the other can be as much as 2 metres, and the current can be moving as fast at 30 kph. Plus, it's a pretty spot and a nice hike.