It all began with a photo story on Pinkbike, which created our desire for this fantastic, colourful region. After reading this story we talked to our close friends Patrick and Balthasar, and all changed our travel plans. They rearranged their US trip to join us. From here we really started to plan and think about our new trip, our wilderness experience.
Finally, we came across Chilcotin Holidays, an eco-tourism business. We had warm email contact, which made it easy for us to book with them! Still, there was a decision about using that seaplane hanging like a Damocles sword. Once-in-a-lifetime-experience vs. nature-friendly biking? It took quite a while for us to decide: We flew. Would we do it again? Probably not. However, it was a great experience to see the whole South Chilcotin Mountain Park from above and to fly to Lorna Lake.
During our stay with Chilcotin Holidays, we had great experiences. We formed life long friendships, explored and reconnected with nature with ease causing us to slow down from our fast, urban lives. The nature connection is likely different on a bike. It‘s faster, the immediate things around are more intense: The roots and stones on the trail, the smells, the next turn, the possibility of a bear encounter after that turn. With so much natural environment around us we would pause to absorbed the deeper things, the colours of the soils, the wind, the infinity of this place.
What did we take away from our time in nature? We’ve formed way deeper friendship amongst the four of us, gained a deeper understanding of use conflicts in natural areas, had admiration for the way our guides, Marisa, Shane and Raffaëlle, dealt with their everyday tasks to make our lives comfortable out there. But most importantly we developed a better understanding of how our actions can affect and impact the wilderness. Therefore, we will rethink our future plans about flying over such an area.
Our trip ended with transformation, wonderful experiences, impressions, good feelings and memories we will long draw on. We are grateful for this experience and would recommend a trip into nature to anyone looking to reconnect with oneself or family.
Authors: Norina, Balthasar, Patrick, Kevin
Photocredit: Kevin Suhr, @ensemen.guide
