In 2020 we went camping, as we normally do, at our usual location by a small creek, and we ended up being in a flood and wrote-off two vehicles to get out. As if COVID wasn’t enough for 2020!
Every year we camp in the bush on crown land close to a little creek near Lodgepole, Alberta. It was July long weekend, 2020, and my family and friends headed out to the camp to set up for an extra-long weekend. Canada Day fell on a Wednesday, so most of us went out on Tuesday night and planned on staying until Sunday afternoon – almost a week out in the bush – where we all planned on spending some socially distanced time together after the world hit us with COVID only 3.5 months prior.
It was raining when we arrived, but we were optimistic that it would dry up soon. Plus we always found a way to have fun, rain or shine.
After the first night, my parents took a look at the creek and noticed that it rose an entire foot overnight, which was pretty alarming. My parents were parked only 3 feet from the creek, and my boyfriend and I were in a tent, maybe only 20 feet further up. But the forecast said that it was going to stop raining; so, we had our breakfast and coffee, spent the day playing games under tarps and umbrellas, and before we knew it, we were around the fire enjoying the evening rain-free.
After we went to bed that evening, it started to rain a little more, and when we woke up the following morning, my dad told me that the creek was continuing to rise, and now is only inches from going over the banks. We were now moving to higher ground. My parents hooked up their trailer and moved within a few minutes, and my boyfriend and I took down our tent and reset it up, also higher up. It wasn’t long before our little camp was surrounded by water.
We went back to the creek and started putting stakes in the ground to mark the rise of the creek, watching for the creek to crest. A “crest” is the level at which a river peaks before it goes down. Our day consisted of looking at weather forecasts further west from us and watching the water rise above the stakes we had staked. New stakes were added, and we carried on with games and another dry night around the fire.
Sploosh!! That was the sound that woke us up the next morning, as we heard my cousin drive in through a few feet of water to get to a spot where he wanted to camp. We all welcomed him to our island and showed him all of the stakes we had placed to watch the water. The rain was letting up again and we had a full day of mostly dry weather, but really, we knew that didn’t matter. What mattered was the weather that was happening upstream in the mountains. This is where the overflow was coming from. We also knew at this point; we were stuck until the creek crested and receded. My cousin set up his trailer, and within hours, he was in water. Being a carpenter with a few pieces of wood in his truck, he built himself a pier to get to his trailer.
Water was still rising, and rising fast. We had planned on being out there for 4 more nights anyways, so we decided we mind as well make the best of it and find entertainment in watching for the water to change against the stakes. Once that started going the other way, we could really celebrate! Some of us (not me) decided to try swimming in what was once our road to get into the camp!
On the second last day, the water was slowly receding, but it was apparent that it wasn’t going to be fast enough to dry out the way out before we leave. Most of the group was hauling trailers, which was scary, and we had a two-wheel-drive vehicle. Also scary. We made plans that the big 4X4 trucks were going to go out first so we had someone to tow us out if another vehicle got stuck. Most of us waited on the road watching each truck come out through so much water.
Check out the video of my uncle driving his truck and trailer out of camp:
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsThe Great Flood of 2020 – a short story I wrote for my #EXSM3989 class – this video is of my uncle, getting his truck and trailer out of our camp, after 6 days of flooding. pic.twitter.com/sYMfVrp5mQ
— Chews and Brews (@chewsandbrewsca) December 5, 2021
When it was our turn to go up the hill through the water, we decided since we were the only one with only 2-wheel drive, we would attach a tow rope to the front chassis before we took our turn through the water. Low and behold, we couldn’t make it up the hill through the water and had to be towed out. My cousin’s Jeep also got stuck on the hill but made it out without a tow. That didn’t matter too much since both the Jeep and our 2-wheeled vehicle had to be towed back to Edmonton – both ended up with water in the engine, and ours was written off completely.
We spent a few hours on the road waiting for the tow, brought out the snacks and played some tunes. In times of what seems like a crisis, my family and friends always find a way to make the best out of a bad situation. We never panicked (even though maybe we should have), and we stuck it through the whole camping trip together (even though we probably should have left after the creek rose a foot in one night). We have a great story to share and more camping skills under our belts. One rule of thumb – never go camping without rubber boots! I couldn’t have imagined walking around camp in anything but!
In the end, we were all okay (except for the vehicles), and we went back camping in August 2020, and everything was completely dry like it never happened.
All of the photos and videos are also posted on Instagram.
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