I had part of the day off on Friday and as I drove west towards Chilliwack, I looked up at Mount Cheam against the blue sky. I immediately thought about the lake in the valley behind the peak. A lot of us locals call it Jones Lake, but its official name is Wahleach Lake (meaning crossing a neck of land between two bodies of water in Halq̓eméylem).

I messaged Romany and she was down to head up to the lake with a truck full of firewood, snacks, chairs, and of course, my Bernedoodle Chip. A few hours later we were coasting along Highway 1 towards Laidlaw and turned off to start the drive into the mountains. If I had to describe the condition of the road up… I’d probably say you could make it up in a little car if you have great brakes and a lot of confidence. Also, Google Maps is ambitious and a little over confident – factor in a bit of extra time.

We made it there as the sun was going down and drove onto the beach near the north end of the lake. The view of the peaks to the south are epic. The visible mountains include Knight, Baby Munday, Foley, Conway and Lady. We (it was all Romany, let’s be honest) got a fire going quickly and Chip made friends with 3 other dogs who were hanging out on the beach.