Today Katie and I took the bus north into Orick to the Redwood Creek Trailhead, hoping to get to Tall Trees Grove (where the 1st, 3rd, and 6th tallest trees in the world are). Turns out its a 6 mile hike out there and another 6 back, and we only had 5 hours, so we hiked like no one has ever hiked before, trying to get as far as we could. We managed to hike a total of 6.5 miles including numerous photo breaks as well as a nice picnic on the mostly dried up creek bed running through the forest.
The forest was amazing. The sequoias are so gigantic its unreal. Some of the treetops were hidden in a fine fog coming from the ocean, adding to the mystical appearance of the forest. The colors were so vivid, neon and deep greens contrasted against falled red and orange leaves, the yellowish moss covering the huge trunks and the piercing blue sky enveloping it all...
There was a fallen tree trunk across part of the trail whose diameter was taller than I was, with a plaque on it indicating its approximate age of 750 years. At one point we had to take off our shoes and socks and walk across the small river to the other side where the trail continued along with a friendly sign indicating that there have been sightings of mountain lions in the area. The sign proceeded to indicate what to do in case of seeing a mountain lion, which was "If the animal is seen: be as loud as you can, throw objects in its direction, and make yourself seem as large as possible. If the animal attacks: fight back aggressively" Oh, right, thanks. Fighting a mountain lion to the death is easier said than done.
Needless to say, we survived the trail thanks to our singing and talking in loud, deep voices, loudly stating how muscular and powerful we are for all the mountain lions to hear, which apparently worked!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Olympic, Seattle, and a whole lot of Greyhound!
So we took the ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles very tired and weathered from a "graffiti" themed birthday party in Victoria, which was, needless to say very fun. Christine bought Katie and I some shirts for it which are now decorated with doodles, signatures and notes from all the amazing people we hung out with in Victoria, as well as some icing from the penis-shaped birthday cake they had baked.
We got into Port Angeles, found a hostel and undertook a very strenuous hike through the town. The hostel was called Thor Town, it was a a big red house with a lovely front yard over taken by chickens wearing friendship bracelets made by the little girl, Pluma, who lived there, as well as many giant sunflowers. It was located riiight by the water and a mile away from Olympic national park! amazing!! We hiked around the second growth rainforest and got a ride with a very nice couple we met at the hostel to the top of the mountains at hurricane ridge. The view was amazing! It was nuts seeing rainforest vegetation slowly change into a sub-alpine zone at the top of the mountains with clouds hanging low in between peaks.
On our second day, KC came and picked us up from the hostel in a Olympic National Park school bus and brought us to his dad's property which is actually a reforestation project as well as a Christmas tree farm. We stayed in a large log cabin built by his parents before he was born. Such an amazing home.. high ceilings covered in posters of everything from collages to Einstein, Ghandi, feminism, anti-war movements... dogs (one which was 15 years old with barely any fur left) and cats wandering around, no running water within the household, two solar panels to run the stove and a few light fixtures, delicious organic vegetables grown in the garden and mushrooms from the forest surrounding it. Five people live in that house, all from different places and backgrounds, loving each other and working on the farm. We walked through a field to a giant cedar and 6 of us proceeded to climb it until we were all perched at different hieghts in the tree and just sat, breathed the fresh air and talked for a long time. They started up the little hand-built sauna in front of their house, by the pond, which was run by a small wood-fire oven surrounded by sheet metal. They burned cedar and splashed the metal with water and eucalyptus oil and the relaxation and cleansing heat was very much welcomed by our bodies. In the morning they took us on a hike through the woods to a small river. The forest was so beautiful, Ive never seen anything like it. The flora and fauna is so different than in the east that I hardly recognized anything I saw. Ferns, alders, giant cedars, birds whose songs I had never heard before, and mushrooms which they identified as we walked along. We finally got to to the river which was clear and very cold as it ran down from the mountains. I played with the two dogs, Lucky and Medusa, throwing sticks in the water for them to catch for a long time until we headed back toward the house.
We caught a few city transit buses and a ferry to get to Seattle which cost us a whopping 3 dollars! Once in Seattle, Hans and his roommate JD picked us up from downtown and brought us to their apartment, where we met their other roommate Mike. They were very welcoming and fed us wine and tortilla chips as we sat in the living room smoking their hookah and getting to relax from our full day bus journey. Seattle is a really cool city, very trendy and filled with coffee shops (who would have guessed???). We explored it walking from one end to the other, and later Hans and his roommates brought us to Volunteer Park where we climbed to the top of a water reservation tower which is the highest point in Seattle, and got a great view of the city, with the Space Needle in plain sight. The next morning we had to say goodbye and headed off to the Greyhound station, to embark on our journey to Arcata.
Now, for some reason, Greyhound decided to have us go from Seattle to Portland to San Francisco and back up to Arcata. Why? WHo knows. All we knew was that this amounted to a 35 hour bus ride, one of the most frightnening and stressful events of our lives! Turns out, once you leave Canada, taking the bus is ridiculous. It was filled with homeless or otherwise very sketchy characters, so we sat as close to the front of the bus as possible and avoided contact with anyone haha
We left Seattle at 1:15 pm to arrive in Arcata the next day at 10:30 pm. At around 11 pm or so, some very rude lady sat behind Katie and I and wouldn't let us recline our seats. She actually made this happen by hitting the back of our seats really hard and yelling "put your seats up!" while we were asleep. Needless to say, neither of us got very much rest that night, and made us even more edgy than we already were. Finally we got to San Francisco at 9 am with a 5 hour lay over. We had made one friend (the only other sane person o n the bus), so we headed to a sunny park where we shared the food we had in our three backpacks and laid in the sun for a few hours, which was exactly what we needed. It was very very warm and we happily took off most of the numerous layers we had been wearing and let the sun warm us up.
Back on the bus we went, for the last 6 hours of our journey. We made each other hair wraps which took our minds off of our tiredness and once again sketchy environment, and before we knew it, we were in Arcata. We got a ride to the Super 8 motel, warmed up a can of vegetarian chili and went to sleep.
In the morning we endulged in the continental breakfast offered by the motel (packaged danishes, english muffins, watery coffee and old cereal) before getting on the bus that would take us north through Redwood National Park (finally!!!!). Our jaws dropped at the sight of the giant trees, hills, and the beautiful fog which covered everything. We checked into the youth hostel which was located just across the street from a beautiful rocky beach on the ocean, and gladly socialized with a California Conservation Corps who were all staying at this hostel. We went for a walk on teh beach and played in the (very cold) water playing frisbee and running at the waves and away from them. We walked back to the hostel with our pants soaking wet, hair drenched, and spirits rejuvenated! We cooked a delicious meal, and relaxed the rest of the night with all of our new friends on the beach where we could see every star with the milky way in plain view (we saw about 60 shooting stars within an hour!).
The next morning was spent hiking through the beautiful surrounding forest and finding Hidden Beach, where, we played in the water and saw a sea otter!!! We were reluctant to go actually swim because we were informed by the people at the hostel that Klamath has the highest concentration of Great White Sharks on the Pacific coast! yikes!!!
Now we are in Arcata staying with Adam, Annie, KO, and Matt. They took us to a circus show put on by their school last night which was very... interesting. We had an amazing pancake, french toast, fresh blackberries, yogurt and apple breakfast on the grass outside and we are now making ginger ale before going to the beach!!!!
We got into Port Angeles, found a hostel and undertook a very strenuous hike through the town. The hostel was called Thor Town, it was a a big red house with a lovely front yard over taken by chickens wearing friendship bracelets made by the little girl, Pluma, who lived there, as well as many giant sunflowers. It was located riiight by the water and a mile away from Olympic national park! amazing!! We hiked around the second growth rainforest and got a ride with a very nice couple we met at the hostel to the top of the mountains at hurricane ridge. The view was amazing! It was nuts seeing rainforest vegetation slowly change into a sub-alpine zone at the top of the mountains with clouds hanging low in between peaks.
On our second day, KC came and picked us up from the hostel in a Olympic National Park school bus and brought us to his dad's property which is actually a reforestation project as well as a Christmas tree farm. We stayed in a large log cabin built by his parents before he was born. Such an amazing home.. high ceilings covered in posters of everything from collages to Einstein, Ghandi, feminism, anti-war movements... dogs (one which was 15 years old with barely any fur left) and cats wandering around, no running water within the household, two solar panels to run the stove and a few light fixtures, delicious organic vegetables grown in the garden and mushrooms from the forest surrounding it. Five people live in that house, all from different places and backgrounds, loving each other and working on the farm. We walked through a field to a giant cedar and 6 of us proceeded to climb it until we were all perched at different hieghts in the tree and just sat, breathed the fresh air and talked for a long time. They started up the little hand-built sauna in front of their house, by the pond, which was run by a small wood-fire oven surrounded by sheet metal. They burned cedar and splashed the metal with water and eucalyptus oil and the relaxation and cleansing heat was very much welcomed by our bodies. In the morning they took us on a hike through the woods to a small river. The forest was so beautiful, Ive never seen anything like it. The flora and fauna is so different than in the east that I hardly recognized anything I saw. Ferns, alders, giant cedars, birds whose songs I had never heard before, and mushrooms which they identified as we walked along. We finally got to to the river which was clear and very cold as it ran down from the mountains. I played with the two dogs, Lucky and Medusa, throwing sticks in the water for them to catch for a long time until we headed back toward the house.
We caught a few city transit buses and a ferry to get to Seattle which cost us a whopping 3 dollars! Once in Seattle, Hans and his roommate JD picked us up from downtown and brought us to their apartment, where we met their other roommate Mike. They were very welcoming and fed us wine and tortilla chips as we sat in the living room smoking their hookah and getting to relax from our full day bus journey. Seattle is a really cool city, very trendy and filled with coffee shops (who would have guessed???). We explored it walking from one end to the other, and later Hans and his roommates brought us to Volunteer Park where we climbed to the top of a water reservation tower which is the highest point in Seattle, and got a great view of the city, with the Space Needle in plain sight. The next morning we had to say goodbye and headed off to the Greyhound station, to embark on our journey to Arcata.
Now, for some reason, Greyhound decided to have us go from Seattle to Portland to San Francisco and back up to Arcata. Why? WHo knows. All we knew was that this amounted to a 35 hour bus ride, one of the most frightnening and stressful events of our lives! Turns out, once you leave Canada, taking the bus is ridiculous. It was filled with homeless or otherwise very sketchy characters, so we sat as close to the front of the bus as possible and avoided contact with anyone haha
We left Seattle at 1:15 pm to arrive in Arcata the next day at 10:30 pm. At around 11 pm or so, some very rude lady sat behind Katie and I and wouldn't let us recline our seats. She actually made this happen by hitting the back of our seats really hard and yelling "put your seats up!" while we were asleep. Needless to say, neither of us got very much rest that night, and made us even more edgy than we already were. Finally we got to San Francisco at 9 am with a 5 hour lay over. We had made one friend (the only other sane person o n the bus), so we headed to a sunny park where we shared the food we had in our three backpacks and laid in the sun for a few hours, which was exactly what we needed. It was very very warm and we happily took off most of the numerous layers we had been wearing and let the sun warm us up.
Back on the bus we went, for the last 6 hours of our journey. We made each other hair wraps which took our minds off of our tiredness and once again sketchy environment, and before we knew it, we were in Arcata. We got a ride to the Super 8 motel, warmed up a can of vegetarian chili and went to sleep.
In the morning we endulged in the continental breakfast offered by the motel (packaged danishes, english muffins, watery coffee and old cereal) before getting on the bus that would take us north through Redwood National Park (finally!!!!). Our jaws dropped at the sight of the giant trees, hills, and the beautiful fog which covered everything. We checked into the youth hostel which was located just across the street from a beautiful rocky beach on the ocean, and gladly socialized with a California Conservation Corps who were all staying at this hostel. We went for a walk on teh beach and played in the (very cold) water playing frisbee and running at the waves and away from them. We walked back to the hostel with our pants soaking wet, hair drenched, and spirits rejuvenated! We cooked a delicious meal, and relaxed the rest of the night with all of our new friends on the beach where we could see every star with the milky way in plain view (we saw about 60 shooting stars within an hour!).
The next morning was spent hiking through the beautiful surrounding forest and finding Hidden Beach, where, we played in the water and saw a sea otter!!! We were reluctant to go actually swim because we were informed by the people at the hostel that Klamath has the highest concentration of Great White Sharks on the Pacific coast! yikes!!!
Now we are in Arcata staying with Adam, Annie, KO, and Matt. They took us to a circus show put on by their school last night which was very... interesting. We had an amazing pancake, french toast, fresh blackberries, yogurt and apple breakfast on the grass outside and we are now making ginger ale before going to the beach!!!!
Friday, October 17, 2008
Salt SpringIsland and wet camping
Tuesday morning we left Sean's and took the bus downtown. We bought sushi and crossed our fingers for a double decker bus to take us to the ferry. Low and behold, there it was! We got on the ferry to Fullford Harbor with our packs and all of our layers on. We sat at the top deck in the harsh wind and beautiful scenery. We got off the ferry with no idea where the campgrounds where, thinking there wasn't a public transportation system... so we head off to go to a super market and ask, when we walk past a little bus! We ask the driver where he is going and he says "town!" ahha so we get on and some ladies start talking to us and reccomending things to do on the island. We get off downtown Ganges, which is the main (little) town on the island, right in front of the visitor center, where a nice man gives us a map of the island and points us in the direction of several campgrounds! We head off and walk up Rainbow rd to a campground/nursery. Very beautiful! Camping in the temperate rainforest wow! Ferns and ivy growing everywhere, everything so green and beautiful. There were blackberry bushes and apple trees all over the island, so needless to say we feasted!!!
We met many interesting people and hiked up Mount Erskine which was simply incredible. The forest became garnished with moss and lichen as we came closer to the summit, and there were even little fairie doors on some rocks and trees on the way up. The view from the top was stunning, we could see the side of the mountain to the water and surrounding islands. Makes you feel very powerful and humble all at once.
Later that day started raining and kept on until the next afternoon. We are now back in Victoria and we are taking the ferry to Port Angeles tomorrow to go to Olympic National Park!!!!!
We met many interesting people and hiked up Mount Erskine which was simply incredible. The forest became garnished with moss and lichen as we came closer to the summit, and there were even little fairie doors on some rocks and trees on the way up. The view from the top was stunning, we could see the side of the mountain to the water and surrounding islands. Makes you feel very powerful and humble all at once.
Later that day started raining and kept on until the next afternoon. We are now back in Victoria and we are taking the ferry to Port Angeles tomorrow to go to Olympic National Park!!!!!
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Thanksgiving and some camping
Katie and I were invited to a Thanksgiving potluck last night with a crowd of amazing U of Vic students. Everyone was so welcoming and friendly, and the food was a vegetarian feast fit for Gods. Great company, amazing food, and if that wasn't enough, some guitar sing alongs. Needless to say, we are extremely thankful for the amazing experiences we've had in Victoria.
Today is very sunny and warm, our bags are packed full of rice, lentils, noodles, dried fruit, tuna, and CHOCOLATE! We are setting out to the ferry to Salt spring island for some camping and hiking. Bags are heavy but our hearts are lighter than air and love is all around us!
Today is very sunny and warm, our bags are packed full of rice, lentils, noodles, dried fruit, tuna, and CHOCOLATE! We are setting out to the ferry to Salt spring island for some camping and hiking. Bags are heavy but our hearts are lighter than air and love is all around us!
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Victoria!
We arrived in Victoria last night woo!
The ferry ride over from Vancouver was so so so spectacular! I had heard great things about it, but it exceeded my wildest dreams. The mountains in the horizon getting closer and closer, the cold wind, the boats going by, the moon above the water on one side of the horizon as the sun sets on the other... ah! I took about a zillion pictures.
We are staying with a friend of Katie's from high school in a really cute apartment really close to the University of Victoria campus and at about a 2 minute walk from a beach on the ocean!!!! Its beautiful here. They tell me it only gets to minus 5 Celcius at the most in the winter! There are bunnies everywhere on campus its so amazing! I got to pet a few of them today walking around.. lots of baby ones too. Its hard not to take them home with you!
We will be leaving to go hike and camp in a few days... so until then we are enjoying the beautiful city and the great people we are meeting!!
The ferry ride over from Vancouver was so so so spectacular! I had heard great things about it, but it exceeded my wildest dreams. The mountains in the horizon getting closer and closer, the cold wind, the boats going by, the moon above the water on one side of the horizon as the sun sets on the other... ah! I took about a zillion pictures.
We are staying with a friend of Katie's from high school in a really cute apartment really close to the University of Victoria campus and at about a 2 minute walk from a beach on the ocean!!!! Its beautiful here. They tell me it only gets to minus 5 Celcius at the most in the winter! There are bunnies everywhere on campus its so amazing! I got to pet a few of them today walking around.. lots of baby ones too. Its hard not to take them home with you!
We will be leaving to go hike and camp in a few days... so until then we are enjoying the beautiful city and the great people we are meeting!!
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Vancouver!
">We are now in Vancouver! We spent the day yesterday walking around downtown and exploring Stanley Park. It was a beautiful day and what a beautiful city! Everyone we meet is very friendly, there are trees everywhere, and the ocean!
We walked 3 km around the park along the water and spent a few hours wandering in the wooded trails in the woods. The trees are so huge and beautiful... our jaws would fall open every three seconds at the sight of some natural wonder. Moss and tiny trees growing on a decaying trunk, twisted branches, gigantic trees swaying slowly in the wind... ahhhh! It smelled so wonderful and there was so much moisture in the air. Stunning.
After dinner we got to hang out with Orhan and went to a comedy show at a bar which was a good time! Now with breakfast in our bellies, we are taking on a brand new day!
Monday, October 6, 2008
on the road!
We are on the bus to Vancouver! Vernon was a lot of fun. Katies relatives were very lively and generous. The wedding was a lot of fun, lots of wine, shots of vodka, and I think its safe to say that Katie, her sister Julia and I were the life of the dancefloor. After the reception we went to a club with the groomsmen and the bridesmaids where there was somehow a VIP booth reserved for us in a balcony. Nice, but Katie and I spent our time on the dancefloor. Fantastic timEs until Katie lost her nose ring and a rogue shard of glass sliced a major gash in her ankle. I led her to the bathroom, cleaned it up, hunted down a manager for a band aid, and danced more. The next morning we went to the hospital and I held her hand while she got three stiches and received instructions from the doctor to take them out for her in 10 days. Yay Vernon! Haha all is well and we are travelling with her cousin Matt. 4 more hours until Vancouver!
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Banff and the Rockies!
"
"We left Calgary last night, got on the Greyhound at 7pm headed for Banff. Driving through the Rockies at sunset was pretty stunning. The last rays of sun created a yellowish halo, cutting out the dark silhouettes of the mountains against the sky. The dark and seemingly misty mountains stood like giants above us. Not being able to make out any detail, only the outline and general shape of them added to their magic. Small bodies of water could be seen glittering in the dark, with the occasional eeriness of a factory in the middle of nowhere...
Banff was amazing. Everything is gorgeous, from the buildings, to the garbage cans, to the mountains surrounding us. We stayed with Katie's friend, Liam, who picked us up from the station and brought us to a beer bingo game and a few pubs with his friends. In the morning Katie and I set out to walk around and explore a bit, mystified by the morning light on the mountains all around us. We walked along Bow River on small foot paths and took in all the beauty. Its incredible how amazing our planet is. The mountains were so so so glorious and the water was clear and cold. The trees were dark green and a peculiar golden-yellow... it almost makes you feel helpless being surrounded by the grandiose beauty.
Her family met us in Banff and we all packed into the van to drive to Vernon, for the wedding. I spotted a bald eagle perched in a pine right outside of Banff, and was amazed at the series of bridges going over the highway to allow animals to cross safely. Driving west towards British Columbia, we got a fantastic display of the sun-bathed mountains around us, until it started raining and the air got heavy with moisture and clouds were hanging low over the road, hugging the sides of the cliffs. Glaciers, waterfalls, light blue and turquoise streams curling around the tall and aged trees..... spectacular.
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