Airplane Camping - Oliver, BC

Camping Under-the-Wing in the BC Interior
August 2, 2019
David Black

One can't go Airplane Camping without first becoming a bit of an expert at packing. We managed to get all you see here, plus 2 people and a dog, into our little Cessna for the 90 minute flight into the southern interior of BC. And we even did it within the weight and balance limits of the plane!

It's amazing how much can fit into a Cessan 172 if one packs carefully.

Flying from the Vancouver lower mainland to Oliver involves crossing the Coast Mountains (and the northern portion of the Cascades). Making that crossing in a small plane means getting up-close and personal with the spectacular scenery, alpine lakes, and glaciers along the way.

A small lake at 6000 feet elevation and 30 miles from the nearest civilization

If you look closely at the picture below, there is a walking trail leading up to that lake. This is truly amazing, because that little lake is at an elevation of over 6000 feet and is at least 30 miles from the nearest road or civilization. Take another look at the picture above. That's the same lake. It would be one heck of a hike!

A BC Coast Mountain Lake at 6000 feet
This pretty little spot, nestled in a narrow valley 20 kilometers North of Princeton, is Alison Lake.

Below is Sunrise at our camp site in Oliver. One of the many advantage of airplane camping is the peaceful quiet of having no other campers anywhere around. I woke up hungry for pancakes.

First morning at our camp-site, under the wing at Oliver BC

When traveling by plane, weight matters, so we use a back-packer camp stove and back-packer cookware. My contribution to our breakfast was the lighting of the stove. Janine's contribution was the making of the pancakes. I get the better part of that deal.

Janine does wonders with our little back-packer's camp stove
I don't know how she does it, but Janine's camp-stove pancakes always turn out fantastic!