Sunny with a 95% chance of grizzlies

We got up early this morning and jumped in the lake for a cold bath. The hot springs were a little too stinky. We needed to get an early start this morning in order to make our rafting appointment, so we scarfed down some waffles and granola and drove on. The weather was pretty crazy, sometimes sunny, but there were also some pretty intense thunderings going on. We made it for the vege bbq and after slithering into our wetsuits we headed down to the river, white with silt. Laura was pretty nervous, sure that a river with a name like this one would offer some pretty serious shots of adrenaline. The guides were real outdoorsy types - with noticeable french accents - and they began with a pretty serious safety lecture (turned out to be a bit overkill, but had Laura going!). Turns out she needed a little more excitement, so the guide had her sit at the bow of the raft and then caught a nice trough giving her a face full of cold water! Our guide had lots of fun with us, always warning of the upcoming 25 ft. waterfall or super-dooper class 4 rapids. But the river was at almost its lowest level, so it was more forgiving than earlier in the season. Since it was so low, they let us "economy raft", on our bottoms, in the water for the last 300 feet. We loved that 36 hours before, that water we were swimming in had been a glacier!

Perfect.  We drove a couple more hours, watching the mountains begin to appear and get larger and larger. We finally found the campsite we wanted and reserved it before heading into town. Numerous signs saying "Warning, Bears" greeted us and added to Laura's concern after seeing a billboard on the highway that read "Sunny with a 95% chance of grizzlies!" Now, being Canadian, Laura shouldn't be concerned about meeting some of her furry friends, but as we set up the tent in the dark I think she was more scared than when we were rafting down the river! We spent some time in town browsing down the main street - Tim really wanted to find a touque, but we were disappointed. Although it feels like the right season, touques must not be popular in August! After a long hard hour of shopping, we hit a hot springs to relax. It had been chlorinated and de-stinkified since Laura had last been there. This particular variety wasn't on the edge of a river, but had a very nice COLD shower beside it.