Suspicious Camp
Well, this annual backpacking trip took a weird turn this year.
Brian and all the guys were geared up and sooo ready to hit the trails and unplug. They were anxious to be off grid, go fishing, have fires, sit around and decompress from the chaos of life and work. They look forward to this annual trip every single year. They prep a month in advance. our living becomes a small dumping ground for all things backpacking. I am always excited for Brian. I know how much he loves it.
This year there were 5 guys going! Steven, Brian, Tyler, Matt and Matt's buddy Sarkinder who flew in from Ontario to do this weekend trip! They all met at our place on Friday August 1st and were like little boys on Christmas morning packing the trunk full of toys. Carefully shoving hiking packs into the trunk and pilling into Brian's 5 seater jeep ready to get the adventure started.
They left just before 11am.
My heart started racing, what was he doing?! What was he looking for!? And then... DING! Our doorbell rang.
Of course I knew it was him but my mind went into hyperspeed. "Did Brian die on his camptrip night one?! Did Carter die at his camp!? Did I do something bad?!"
Kobe started barking. Thankfully Bentley and Penny stayed asleep. I grabbed our dog and carefully placed him in my arms covering my bra-less chest in my white pajama shirt and answered the door.
He started immediately "Hello Ma'am.. do you know of a person named Brian Reed?" I immediatly felt relief not hearing Carter's name and at the same time immediately felt the most fear Ive ever felt as I told him that Brian is my husband and then braced for whatever was to come next.
Thankfully, the entire thing was comical.. kind of. He told me that the RCMP found Brian's jeep parked suspiciously off the highway near the cat creek trailhead. He told me that the searched his vehicle and found and empty gun case, shotgun shells and rope. They tried to call him multiple times (obtaining his phone number through his registered license plate) but he didn't answer ... because there is no reception out there.
My fear went from "did he die" to "is he going to jail" (yes, dramatic.. I know lol) He basically was referring to Brian being murdered, committing suicide or murdering someone else. Luckily, as soon as I confirmed that he and 4 other men were camping off grid for the weekend and obviously just left all that stuff in the trunk since they were hiking into their spot and clearly didn't need it. He felt satisfied with the information I knew and that I could confirm their off grid camping. He took my statement and said he would let the RCMP know and that the case would then be moved to "non-suspicious". My heart rate was wrecked. No one wants a cop to ring their doorbell in the middle of the night! I asked him if they were in trouble and he told me "no, no, all is well".
I was curious to hear if the RCMP went and found them, or left Brian a voice mail or how they searched his car... like, did they just use a flashlight or did they actually get inside his Jeep and search it. Needless to say, I did not sleep hardly at all the first night Brian was gone!
Anyways, enough about me! Lets get to this amazing camping trip. Because the guys all all off grid, they actually get to relax. No phone calls from wives or emergency fixings that they need to attend to. Just total solitude for 4 days. The first day was awesome. Perfect weather, clear water. Not much fishing but I heard it was a great day.
They woke up the next day to a fully chocolate milk river. There was a mudslide just 10 minutes down the road from them but they never knew and couldn't understand why in 10 years of going camping here the water looked this bad! They kind of equated it to how much rainfall we've had this summer. Way more than normal.
