A Wombats Adventures: Horne Lake Regional Camp ground

We have been here twice.. this was the first place we went camping when we got back into the outdoorsy lifestyle once again.. and it was the best place to start out!

Our first trip we were in a tent.. how weird that was to sleep in. The tent was huge so that was great, I was able to stand up right in it and I am 6'2". The air mattress was a floppy, leaky sieve of an air mattress so we spent that weekend pumping and deflating... pumping and deflating.. It was promptly returned to Walmart and we bought the massive pillow top queensized air bed!! OMG!! this is an amazing thing.

So one of the reasons people love this area is the caves. They have some amazing caves for you to go into and explore. There is the lower caves which is self guided and then there is the upper caves which is part of a tour. Being the cheap guy that I am I opted for the self guided. Up the hill we trudged to the opening.. went in and guess what!!! I was too thick in the chest to squeeze thru! I thought about wiggling in under the main huge rock but I would for sure get my ass wedged in there and they would have to destroy much old growth forest to get a crane up there to drag me out.

Well not to be out done by a mountain, a hole and my HUGE chest we went to the lower..lower caves.. these were knee deep in water.. so I spiderman crawled along the wall.. had a look and shouted "Victory!" as I defeated the mountain and entered into its belly. I really need to stop watching Lord of the Rings.. gah.

We went up with our friends, Tammy and Jacolby. These 2 are younger, more outdoorsy (well Jacolby is for sure!!) and like to camp a bit rougher then us. They are fun to camp with and will try anything we want to do and they are the same.. kind of a dangerous mix at times! HAHA!!

As with all our camping trips they start out with Cheezies on the way up, the first night is fire roasted hotdogs and then relaxing with a beer and sunflower seeds... not a creature of habit at all am I.

Teddi and I are hiker, walkers and explorers.. we like to see everything we can on foot, in a boat, by plane or in a car. This place affords lots and lots of walking so we did ! We headed up the river the first day, very peaceful and wet.. I am not as graceful as I was as a teen when crossing slippery rocks.. but I do give a great show as I pirouette and flay and spin to avoid falling flat on my ass. I guarantee a great show everytime!!

Lots of lake and mountain views, wildlife and people..

Grouse laying in wait for us.. Stupid bird

On one walk to the adjoining campsite we found an avenue carved into the forest. It was the gas line to a pump station for the Alberni valley. We followed this wide opened, flat road that was knee deep in fresh foliage. There we are walking.. enjoying the view when all of a sudden a grouse (large, yummy tasting bird) did not want to be stepped one, flew up from under our feet and into the bush. I thought I was gonna soil my self! almost needed a heart restart! HOLY SMOKES!! what the hell was this bird doing hiding on the trail? Playing with us? haha