On the morning of July 7, 2017, Marianne and Don Rumball—then managers of the Boston Flats Trailer Park—had been planning on going into Kamloops. Their plans changed, so the two were at the park when the Elephant Hill wildfire burst into life and threatened the residences of the 72 people living there. At 2:22 p.m. that day they were the last people out of the park, and along with almost everyone else who lived there, they lost everything.
Now, a year later, the couple are embarking on an adventure: biking the Trans-Canada and Kettle Valley Trails from Castlegar to Hope. They started their journey on June 22, and if all goes to plan they hope to be back within a month, to move into their new home at the Deadman Mobile Home Park.
Marianne and Don lived in their fifth wheel until November last year, then moved to Cache Creek over the winter. The idea for their bike journey came after Don’s daughter and her husband walked the length of the Pacific Coast Trail over two years.
“They were an inspiration to us,” says Marianne. “We had wanted to do something, but didn’t know what. We heard about the Kettle Valley Trail and thought ‘We could walk that,’ but we found we didn’t like walking. But we could bike it.”
She admits that they’re carrying a bit more weight on the bikes than some people would. “We have a three-man tent and sleeping bags, but we both like a good night’s sleep, so we’re carrying good air mattresses.” They’ve packed a lot of freeze-dried food, but will be going through towns every couple of days where they can stock up if necessary, and won’t hesitate to stay at motels if the weather doesn’t cooperate.
“We’ve budgeted a month, but will go longer if we need to. And we don’t have a pride thing going; we don’t need to finish.”
Looking back on the events of July 7, Marianne says “It was very definitely liberating. I would never have got rid of a lot of the stuff we had, but now we won’t replace it. You’d do anything not to lose things, but once they’ve gone you realize that life doesn’t change much.
“You have to let time do its job. There’s so much sadness with old family picture albums, sometimes, looking at the people who are gone. This allows you to remember just the good times.”
Marianne says there is another reason for her and Don making their trip. “Health was also a consideration. We’ve had a year of no structure, and we’ve gained some weight. Wherever you go, people provide food for comfort.”
She acknowledges that everyone at Boston Flats has had different experiences in the year since the fire, but says that for her and Don it has been a good year.
“We would never have thought it. I wouldn’t wish [the experience] on anyone, but for us it’s not as hard as some might think. Now we have the time to make new memories.”
editorial@accjournal.ca
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