First time I really enjoyed camping

Finally snagged Porteau Cove. A nightmare trying to book a night, but it was worth it. It's quite popular but the views I see online are unbeatable.

I spent years convinced I hated the outdoors. Turns out, I just hated the itinerary, the forced marches up mountains, and the mandatory fun. This trip was different. The goal was to have no goals.

I knew I needed a very specific place: close enough to avoid a cross-province drive (40-minute drive from Vancouver), but dark enough to justify the red light headlamp I impulsively bought last month. So I narrowed it down after checking the light pollution map and stargazing index.

It was kinda foggy all day. But the info on Stargazing Hub was right: around 2 AM, the sky just opened up. The beachside campsites felt kinda "intimate" at first due to the clattering from neighbouring sites, but now it's all quiet. Because everyone's looking at the sky. Above the black water, the Milky Way stretched out like a spilled bucket of diamond dust, visible to the naked eye. I turned my head, and the green ribbons of an aurora were dancing over the peaks. I sat there for hours, freezing but completely warm, realizing that I didn't need to conquer the wilderness. I just needed to look up at it.