The road to Eneas Lake Provincial Park

The road to Eneas Lake Provincial Park turned out to be a marvellous adventure seeing and hearing God’s handiwork.    Google maps said it should take about 30 minutes from Peachland so we thought why not.

We maybe should have taken the hint when we left McDougald Rd. and the sign said this road is closed between end of September to End of April. But hey, it was already May 18th. And it was only 4:30pm. Plenty of time to head to the park and back by dark right?
Normally maybe. This day not so much. The road grew progressively worse and by 8 kms there were trees cut away across it with about enough room to fit a Ford Edge through.

Eneas Lake Road
Looking towards Peachland from 1.8kms away from Eneas Lake Prov. Rec. On Eneas Lake Road.

Here’s some pictures and flying camera shots from my Google Photo Album: Photo album

The snow along the trees is the road. No lake in sight.

All in all it turned out a grand adventure, up to that point the road was ok for a Ford Edge, but when we realised that the snow was way to deep with 1.8kms still to go, it was time to turn and head for home.  There simply wasn’t enough light left to hike it to the lake and back.  But I figured I put the flying camera up and look down the road to see if I could spot the lake.  Even from 89m straight up I couldn’t see a lake in any direction as you’ll see in the photo album.  I guess it was still over another mountain?  But that thunder cloud looked like it was moving in real quick so I brought the camera down.

Rainbow was already fading …it was a quick shower.

As I was landing suddenly a rainbow appeared and I felt like God was blessing us reminding us of His promise so long ago. (Unfortunately…the rain shower came so we didn’t get too much of the rainbow in this shot that Lynda took.)  Little did I know at that moment that God was reassuring us for the rest of the adventure that evening.   He’s so Good!

We made it about 2 km down the steep road when the power steering belt broke and it lifted the serpentine belt off the pulleys.  Here’s what was left of it:

Left over belt pulled from crank shaft…

We managed to coast to a stop safely in a wide open place.  And wouldn’t you know it…we had full LTE coverage in that spot.  I was able to immediately call BCAA and arrange a tow.  They said they would have someone there in 45 minutes.  I thought HUH!   And then immediately offered to send them my exact GPS coordinates.  They said their system doesn’t handle those.  So we waited.  (Google Maps provides exact routing if the road is on the map.  And this road was. All the person needs at the other end is a computer or cell with data and a browser. No special software.)

As we waited we listen to a chorus of frogs like I’ve never heard before.  Hear is a little clip from later in the evening.

And as we waited I took the flying camera out once again to see where this crossroad went.

Jer.6.16
This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. Jeremiah 6:16

Turns out the road to the right was a far better all-be-it a logging road…it was way better than the “official” road to Eneas Prov. Park.

The sunset was lovely!  God paints the sky like no artist I know! 

As it got dark an Owl flew by us and the chorus of frogs continued minus one for the Owl.  We quite enjoyed the wait for the most part.

When the stars came out the air was so clear that you couldn’t possibly count them all.   More than the sand on the beach! An awesome sky!

Well, after a couple of hours of no tow trucks I called the towing company and again offered to send them a map link for their driver to get to us.  They again declined but assured me that their driver would be there in 15 minutes…

After another hour the dispatcher said he couldn’t get the first truck up to us because of a tight corner in the road but the smaller truck would be there in 25 minutes.  I again offer to send directions.  They again said not in their system.  We again waited.  It was getting cold but we had everything needed to spend the night if necessary.

After another couple of hours the driver of the second truck called.  We tried the “honk the horn” and see if he could hear what direction I was.    And after about another 20 minutes of blinking my lights, his lights and honking horns all to no avail I suggested once again that I send the driver the directions.  At first he too said his system doesn’t allow for that but later he finally agreed and low and behold in 15 minutes or so, he drove on the only road to Eneas Lake Provincial Park on any map and found us. Yeah!

Heb 13.5
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Deuteronomy 31:6 (NIV)

It was about 12:12 am when the car was hooked up.  He decided to charge me for all that time he spent looking for me and had me agree to that before he would even hook us up. So the bill was rather inflated by their system!

But hey we were happy to be on our way home and the driver didn’t give up and leave us there …instead he asked for directions.

As a Pastor I’m in the direction business, know what I mean… He was a nice guy and he stays up all night answering calls that others drive by.  We paid him politely and bid him farewell.

1:58am Home at last!

The next day I replace the belts for about $60 and the car was on the road for another adventure.

Blessings!

Blake