Rialto Beach and Random Photos

I was not going to blog tonite but I have wifi so will just post a little. Today we visited Rialto Beach at Mora. It was very foggy and the waves were crashing big time. Mike waded just a little and I took a couple of photos, but we could not see the big rocks so only stayed a few hours. 

Yesterday we hiked a little on Shi Shi Trail so I am posting a couple of photos I took on the trail there, some interesting mushrooms and a face-like tree stump I liked. 

Tonite we are in a camp that has electricity and water but they have not built the showers yet. It is an interesting trip I must say. 

Cape Flattery, Neah Bay and Sol Duc

Yesterday we drove to Neah Bay to fulfill another bucket list item for Mike. He wanted to reach the most northwestern  point in the lower forty-eight states. This morning we took the hike to the end of Cape Flattery. It was a nice hike. A Seattle family was out there and took a photo of us. 

We found a campsite when we arrived last night - dry, as nothing much was available otherwise. Mike says I am a glamper - meaning a glamour camper who needs cable tv, electricity and nice showers. Hey, we did five days in Denali and a couple of days in other places without those amenities. Besides, we have 400 watts of solar on the top of the van so we have electricity. We just can't run the microwave or the air conditioning.  But we don't need them, and haven't needed air conditioning since we left Minnesota. 

On our way here yesterday we took a detour to Sol Duc Falls. The falls were beautiful and we met a nice couple who are full-time rvers. They have been full timing for twelve years. Needless to say, their rv is quite a bit bigger than our van. 

Today, after we took the hike to the point, we were walking back on the trail and it started misting. So we drove into Neah Bay and visited the Makah Cultural and Research Center. This museum houses the remains of the Ozette village. The village was buried by a mud slide around 1750. It was rediscovered in the 1970s. Because it was buried in mud that hardened around the items, they were preserved in a remarkable way. The museum has been organized around the items and set up as if the visitor is seeing the village as it would operate based on the seasons. It starts with the whale and seal hunts of spring, goes into the fishing, basket and clothes making plus building seasons of summer and fall and ends in a replicated winter long house. It was one of the better museums I have visited on the trip, as it kept my interest the whole way through with the story it told. I could not take any photos in the museum so took one of the Native Makah figures outside. 

We also drove out to the fish hatchery and Mike went inside. I was tired so I took a short nap. He came back with a salmon, as the manager of the fishery was celebrating his last day on the job. He had lots of fish and gave Mike one. I guess I know what is for dinner tonight. We also took another hike on part of the Shi Shi Trail. I definitely got my steps in today. 

Port Angeles/Sequim and Hurricane Ridge

Yesterday we took the ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles - back to the lower 48. We drove over to visit Sequim, one of our favorite towns on the peninsula. Sequim has become one of the largest lavender growing areas in the country. We visited a farm and also stopped in town at a shop that specializes in lavender products. We even had lavender flavored ice cream. Not bad! 

We stopped at one of our favorite coffee shops and Mike sat and read discussion groups while I visited shops. When I returned he had a visitor, a butterfly had landed on his shirt. The shirt was bright enough to be mistaken for a flower. Remarkably, the butterfly stayed there until we got ready to leave. Mike had to shoo it away. 

Today we drove up to Hurricane Ridge to see my favorite mountains. It was such a beautiful day that we could even see Mount Baker on the way. This is pretty unusual. I took a photo and if you look closely into the middle of what appear to be clouds you can catch a glimpse. 

We saw the whole Olympic Range at the Ridge, it was so clear! We took a hike and stayed awhile. 

Tomorrow we drive on to Neah Bay. It is supposed to rain later this week, but what great weather to welcome us back! 

Victoria

We drove to Victoria yesterday. Stopped at the Goat on Roof Market in Coombs. It was a unique shop - kind of a combination World Market and a gourmet food market. 

We are staying in an rv park that is right on the harbor - cruise ships dock off to our right, floating homes are to our left and across the bay is the beginnings of downtown. 

We walked downtown this morning. We were going to bike, but the main path to downtown was only for walking - no bikes allowed. 

We visited some quilt shops, stopped at the Vancouver Island Brewing for a taste test of their offerings, and walked around the harbor area. We did not stop in for tea at the Empress or go out to Butchart Gardens. We have done those things before, so decided to skip them. 

As we had already taken over 17,000 steps we decided to take a harbor ferry back to the rv park. 

Bates Beach Campground

We stopped at Bates Beach tonight and will get to Victoria tomorrow. We are camping right next to the water and have met some really nice people! We played cribbage with a young lady of 11 and had a nice conversation with her 15 year old cousin. 

We stopped in Telegraph Cove on our way. It is an old boardwalk town where they do whale watching cruises , kayak trips and more. It was a lovely old town that is now a resort, but they have kept the historic buildings and use them. 

We watched a group of kayakers head out of the cove and visited the Whale Museum. It was a lovely day!

Ferry to Port Hardy

Yesterday we took the BC ferry to Port Hardy on Vancouver Island. We left Prince Rupert very early and arrived in Port Hardy about 11:30 pm. It was a long ride but pleasant, as Mike paid for extras like reserved seating and meals, plus a cabin. It made the ride easier. We also met a lovely Dutch couple with two small children and enjoyed talking to them. The scenery was gorgeous.  

Last night 's sunset was beautiful, too. 

Today we are walking. We took the hiking path into town. We have been warned that there are bear. (Warning - the following photo may be offensive to some). It is bear scat along the trail, right after I said to Mike that it looked like an animal had been munching on the bushes and berries on the trail. 

We head down the east coast of Vancouver Island tomorrow. Posting this in the local public library. I just love libraries! 

Prince Rupert

We arrived in Prince Rupert yesterday. We had no decent wifi so posting was impossible. I am sitting in the local public library. I had a number of questions and the librarians here did a great job of answering them. Yay, librarians! 

Prince Rupert has totem poles scattered throughout the town that are replicas of much earlier First Nation poles. It is difficult to find them even though they are on the maps. 

The town is a deep water port shipping lumber, grain, coal and containers. Many of the containers leaving the port are loaded with milled lumber going to China.

The town has an active salmon cannery. This is one of the few left. There once were hundreds of canneries located along the rivers and into the tidal areas. We visited the Northern Pacific Cannery, which was active from the late 1800's until the early 1970's. It is now a historic landmark. Most of the buildings need continued preserving. 

We took tours of the workers' areas and of the canning area. The workers were comprised of First Nation Natives, Chinese, Japanese and a few Europeans.   

Each ethnic group lived in separate areas of the cannery grounds and interacted only in the cannery itself. The cannery started with everything being done by hand and gradually became mechanized. 

It was definitely an interesting tour! 

Hyder - Glaciers and Great Halibut

Today we drove back to Fish Creek to visit the bears again. While there I got to talking with one of the professional photographers. There is a group of them who spend much of their summer trying to get the best shots of the wildlife there. Not just bears visit the fish, but birds and wolves and more. 

He recommended a place to eat in Hyder. The family who own the restaurant fish for the halibut in the fjord, process it and run the restaurant out of an old bus. It was the freshest fish! 

We also drove the road to the Salmon Glacier. The sign should have given us a hint as to what to expect. 

We made it though, as the road was probably not any worse than the Top of the World Highway. When we told the customs agent at the border where we had been he said, "You drove up there in that ?" in a rather incredulous tone of voice. But the glacier was impressive! It covered an immense area! I am frustrated that photos just do not capture the grandeur of what we are seeing. We need a 3d camera to do justice to this area. 

We found the marker for the international border at the edge of Hyder. I am not sure how many times we have crossed in and out of Canada, but we have a few more to go. 

Stewart/Hyder - Fish Creek Bears

Today we drove the Glacier Highway to Stewart/Hyder. The two towns are located on the Portland Canal fjord. The glaciers are impressive. 

The fireweed here is totally finished blooming and is going to seed. Makes an interesting foreground to the mountains that surround the towns. 

Hyder has an entrance to the Tongass Forest and the Fish Creek wildlife viewing platform. We saw bear! It took patience, but eventually a couple of grizzlies ambled down the creek. The female, a tagged bear named Monica, was more interested in the salmon berries than the salmon in the stream. 

Tomorrow morning we plan on visiting them again. 

Whitehorse to Inland British Columbia

It rained again yesterday in Whitehorse, so we visited the SS Klondike and a museum that has Sam McGee's cabin. The poet Robert Service is big in Whitehorse. 

This morning we headed into British Columbia - we are stopping in Stewart/Hyder tomorrow and then going on to Prince Rupert to catch a ferry to Vancouver Island. Tonight we are staying in a primitive campground that is on a beautiful lake. 

Whitehorse - Yukon Brewing

We are back in Whitehorse for the second time on our trip. We hoped to do some biking, but the day is cold and rainy. So we did what anyone should do in Whitehorse, we took a tour of the Yukon Brewing facility. Our tour guide Marten was terrific! 

I found it interesting that they get their bottles from the local recycling plant. Many of them have other beer names on them. 

The brewery was started in the late 1990s and has a huge share of the beer market in Yukon now. I can tell you from tasting that their Yukon Red is a superior beer! 

The brewery is starting to make whiskey and other spirits, but only the vodka was ready for tasting. 

All in all, a great way to spend a rainy day! I am "borrowing wifi" at the visitors center to post this.