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Posted by Bryan L on February 22, 2008 at 9:08:50 pm EST
In reply to What's in Your Survival Kit? posted by Alicia on July 2, 2007 at 10:55:02 am EDT

The storm adventure was anything but intentional. I would not say I was stranded because I had some options a day later. Here is the "adventure"

I left on a Friday early morning (5am) and drove out to Banff's Lake Minnewanka with my gear and my bike. On this trip I was heading out with my BOB trailer and my XC bike to ride to The Narrows (21km away). the trail was in good shape and I was a very accomplished Rider (At the time I was into XC racing). Weather forecast was good the night before with no mention of the storm coming to hit me later in the day. Along the way I had some minor mechanical problems with both my bike and the trailer but nothing out of the ordinary for what I was doing and I had supplies. around 4 or 5pm I was nearing my destination and on a very exposed part of the trail over 2km from my destination. I looked over across the lake at a beautiful sight of glowing blue water and epic mountain scenery. Not a cloud in the sky. ten minuites later the wind started to pick up and when I looked back across the lake to the west the storm front appeared for the first time, Black as night. I had no choice but to hall a$$ and get off this exposed face but before I could I got hit HARD. golf-ball size hail and rain that instantly soaked you. In the last km of the ride I had another mechanical issue. I finally got to the camp site (more of a little clearing) and had to set up my tent in +80km wind gusting to more than 100km. (thankfully I practice building my tent from the inside out and know how to anchor it down while erection. While I was putting up the tent trees started to snap off mid trunk and pull right out of the ground. once the tent was storm worthy I was inside, cold scared and tired. I remember sitting in the tent shivering and hoping that the next tree to fall was not going to be on me. After over 2 hours of this storm it died down enough to check out the damage. Well some sizeable trees were littered close to the tent. This was the first time that I have been scared for my life in the back country... and I was a long way away from anyone else. (if you look on the map of the area I was at least 10km from a point where someone at the other end of the lake could have seen a flare or signal. (a 9820' mountain was between me and civilization.

I made due with my gear and ate well that night. Spent the evening fixing my bike and trailer with bits and pieces from a candle lantern, wire, tape rope and wood. The following day I took just the bike and left my gear to see what the trail was going to be like on the way out (my trip goals were thrown out the window now) and the picture was NOT good. trees littered the trail and at some points the sheer cliffs up and down from the trail were almost impassable. I spent that day figuring out how to rig some type of system to get my gear and bike /trailer past these LARGE trees. The next day I packed up and headed out. it was a 10 hour day of riding for 5 min and then off the bike and dragging the gear across the obsticles and repeat. I spent that night at Mount Inglismaldie a little more than half way back to my truck. The following day was hard again but this time with little food and very little energy to run on. I made it back to my truck just before dark and passed out in the box for a good 2 hours. I loaded up and drove to Banff for a lovely stay in a over priced closet.

But I must say that of all the events in my life this one is a fond one. I realized for the first time at a young age that when everything goes sideways and it seems like I am screwed. I can look into myself for the answers. I am no longer afraid of the unknown or the things I cannot control. I plan the best I can and trust in my abilities to keep me safe. That trip took a boy and made a MAN!

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