I had never camped before in my life until last summer. In August I went across Canada and I camped 33/40 days. Here are some of the highlights:

Pemberton, BC: After cycling all day from Vancouver it was late, according to googlemaps there was a hostel nearby but I couldn’t find it. So somebody I talked to suggested I set up near the tennis courts in a housing complex. So I did.
First thing that went wrong was there was a dog in one of the houses that kept barking, I actually went to tell the owner I was there, good thing he was okay with it.
At around 1am I found out that right behind the bush there were train tracks… I hear all the loud sound and get up wondering WHAT WAS GOING ON…
To top it off, at 4am the sprinklers came on… good thing I had my rain fly on.
So I learned 3 lessons: Don’t camp near rail tracks, If the grass is too green: there are probably sprinklers and don’t trust google maps so much!

Near Quesnell, BC: I had been looking for camping spots for the last 30mins, it was getting dark I saw somebody walking by the road and asked him if he would mind if I can just set up between the street and his fence, he invited me to go in his backyard. That was great! They had a dog which made me feel safe from bears (I was very scared of them at that time!).

Rest stop at 26km on Cassiar Highway, BC: There were no camping signs, but I reasoned that if somebody approaches me I can explain that I prefer to camp there because I can stash my food in the bear containers. During the night I saw headlights and barely remember somebody saying “This is crazy” or something like that.


Next day I hit another rest stop, 220km down the road. I got great sleep and woke up to this (see image above). Nobody bothered me at night even though I can be seen from the road.



I arrived at Iskut and saw that there was a music festival (Sacred Headwaters Music Festival), I decided to go see it. I was so tired so that I decided to camp there. After watching the dance competition I went to sleep right away, despite the loud music. It was beautiful area and I saw people still playing songs at 8am! (pic above)



Alaska Highway, KM 1024: I saw this nice ridge and decided to camp there, I learned the importance of camping on Level ground the hard way. I was too tired to move so I just fell asleep like that (good thing I did not roll down the hill, haha). Pic above



Top of the World Highway, Yukon: I was on top of fairly rough gravel, but the view was spectacular (I was right on the edge of a steep drop off). I was about 5m from the road, but luckily the border crossing does not operate after 8pm. I had this wonderful spot to myself!



~KM 120 (Dempster Highway, Yukon): Have you ever walked through the Tundra? Its tough, now imagine pushing/carrying a fully loaded touring bike through it, for 1km. The view was worth it.



Sleeping on a cloud! (or as close to doing that as I'll get). After exhausting day in sun/rain/mud and bad road.


I saw the forecast at Eagle Lodge: 50km/h sidewind (70 gusts), sadly I will be turning to face it head on at some point. But I decided to go anyway. Wearing all the clothing that I own (2 sweathers and a rainjacket - well it was August), I was freezing. I spent about 2-3 hours on the climb up the Richardson Mountains where I cross the continental divide for the 3rd and final time. While hiding in the cover of the "Welcome to Northwest Territories" sign, somebody pulled over and told me there was a bear down the road. There were also flurries, but accelerated to 50+km/h they aren't so nice. I wanted to pass the bear and set up camp down the road, but it was too cold so I just took my chances. There were no trees or any cover (I decided not to go too close to the river to avoid wildlife encounters). Just before I set up I saw a caribou leg, not a pretty sight but I did not have time or energy to go back to the road and move.
After 4 frigid hours, I remembered that somebody gave me an emergency blanket in British Columbia, that, for all I know saved my life. I was able to fall asleep with it.
I did not expect snow in the middle of august and below zero temperatures (but then again, I wasn't planing to go so far north)


The next one is interesting, I saw the police pickup at one of the rest stops before Inuvik. I asked them where I can camp so they said anywhere. That night I set up at a park on the river in town. Nobody saw me aside from a person walking his dog in the morning. The RCMP station at Inuvik had a police RV, never seen that before (sadly I did not take a photo of it )


Not too proud of the next one, on my second day back in BC (I hitchhiked back to where I made a turn 25days ago, so I can cycle back to Ontario) I set up at a rest area in Glacier National Park, the rest area (and trailhead) was closed, there were warnings about a grizzly and her cubs, but there was literally no other spots to camp on the trans-canada highway. I vaguely recall car lights facing my tent (and because the area was closed and locked, it must have been park rangers or police?). Luckily they did not say anything.
Now, I was there without a park permit and camping at a rest area, I would not recommend doing those but I had no money at the time (long story).