A coworker of mine had found an ad in one of the local papers for a puzzling competition in Atlin, BC. While she had attended the world speed puzzling competition previously and humbly understated her skill, Kayla and I were new to the game. It is exactly as it sounds: finish a puzzle as fast as you can.
The competition was put on by the Atlin Historical Society. They made a 504-piece puzzle for us to complete. Only a couple of people had even seen it prior to the event. That’s all part of the fun for us, though!
Our morning drive down to Atlin was fantastic. The weather was great and sunny, with a hint of forest fire smoke. We got out of the car and were in awe of Atlin Lake and Atlin Mountain, as always.
We boarded the M.V. Tarahne, a historic boat which used to ply Atlin Lake. We made out way to a seat by one of the windows, letting a little light and fresh air in.
I didn’t actually end up getting a picture of us puzzling! When we opened the wrapping on the box, we saw a beautiful colourized photo from the portage railway. We were focused hard, and came in second out of all teams. Our time was just over one hour.
After finishing the puzzle, we enjoyed our tea and cookies. The cookies were made by one of the organizers!
After tea and snacks, we took a drive out to the warm springs. They’re a short drive south of Atlin. They certainly do live up to their name: warm, but not hot.
We stopped by Palmer Lake on the way back for a quick swim. The day was warm and the water was calling us in!
