First Taste of Camping

Today, I reached the Rockies in northern British Columbia as the weather was easing up. Once arriving at the mountains, which happens fairly quickly, it's a quick ride up into the sky. I had a minor panic when I reached the campground - in bright sunshine! - and stood at the pay station filling out my form, which asks for my license number. I'm used to this drill by now, and have a photo of it on my camera roll, and that's when I reached for my phone and it wasn't there. 

INSTANT PANIC! Klinger, you hopeless idiot. Why do you even try to leave the house?  I can't be trusted with a roll of LifeSavers and here I am trying to cross the entire continent without supervision.  I was in a total panic and at the same time furious with myself.

I went through all seven stages of grief walking back to the bike, knowing it was not be there, and wondering if it was still at the McDonald's way back there at the bottom of the hill in Fort Nelson, and if so, did someone turn it in or just take it? Or is it not there at all and never to be seen again? What do I do next?  How can I save this trip?  Should I even try?

I got back to the bike, and looked through everything just to say I did it, when I saw the charging cable leading into the tank bag that had not been there at any time during this trip,  

Instant relief! 

I had forgotten that, knowing I would be camping tonight with no power, I stopped an hour before to plug in the phone and give it a full charge. With that panic behind me, and the fresh half pint of whiskey that I had bought earlier in the day, I began to set up camp in the most beautiful place you could imagine. I sent to myself, more than once on this trip, "this is the coolest thing I've ever done." And it was.

The relentless wind made tearing down and packing up a bit of a chore, but the view and bright sunshine and crisp temperatures made it enjoyable. Light the fires, lift the kickstand, and continue on for a reservation on the Klondike Highway.