Canada

Thunder Bay

August 3, 2014July 22, 2018 Chris TannerLeave a comment

Back on the road! Over the last week we’ve been based in Thunder Bay, staying with Gerry and Julie (and kids) friends of Oli and Kate, who came over from Ottawa with their two young ‘uns. Being in company with lots of people and 4 kids under 5 has been a big change from just the two of us, but it’s been a great time.

We drove up through Duluth in Minnesota, where we spent a night at a campground in town, and then caught up with the rest of the world for a short time at the library the next day. A few hours’ drive north east of Duluth brings us to the border with Canada, where (again!) we get searched, and have to abandon some firewood. I declared the mini pepper spray we got free with the big bear spray we bought a few weeks ago, which was confiscated as it could be a “concealed weapon” – the larger canister supposedly couldn’t be concealed so it’s OK…

In the ten days or so we’ve been in Canada (I’m writing from the road on our way back down to Duluth in the US), Oli and I managed to get an evening of kitesurfing, Kate gave me a long overdue hair cut, we did lots of playing with the kids, the lads went on a canoeing trip, and we all spent a couple of nights camping on the north shore of Lake Superior at Neys Provincial Park.

Our 3-day canoeing trip into Quetico park was a good bit of exercise, and a wilderness trip of a different sort from what I’m used to. Gerry and Oli took a regular canoe, which carried most of our kit, and I took one of the kayaks we bought last year. The 30 mile loop involved plenty of paddling and 9 portages – where we carry all the gear and boats overland between lakes, or around sections that are too shallow to float. The portages ranged from just lifting the boats past a small waterfall, to 1km+ hikes through the mud, forest and hordes of mosquitoes. Three days felt too short to really get into the lake country wilderness – we only just skimmed the north end of the park – someday I’d like to do a much longer trip. Gerry used to be a guide further north in Canada, taking groups into the middle of nowhere by float plane, and then spending a week or more paddling, camping, fishing and ending up on the coast at Hudson Bay.

We put in at Lerome lake, just off the Trans Canada Highway, early afternoon on Monday, having picked up fishing and park licences from Atikokan. Then paddled through Bewag, Lark and Cole, with a few small portages, to reach the longer Sue Falls portage. From the bottom of Sue Falls we paddled a short way across Cirrus Lake (not labelled on the map above), to a sweet camp spot – marked with the green star. The breeze kept the bugs away as we cooked up steaks and corn in the setting sun.

On day two we continued south over Cirrus Lake to the longest portage of the trip, over the hill to Kaskokwog Lake. Carrying boats and kit through the wet foliage sets the swarms of biting bugs in flight, and if you’ve got both hands full you just have to grit your teeth and watch them suck your blood out as you charge on as fast as possible to the other side. Once in Kaskokwog Lake, we drifted slowly downwind for a couple of hours, fishing and watching the world go by. We all caught pike, which went straight back in the water – not nice to eat.

Thunder clouds marched over the sky in the afternoon, and as they approached the wind strengthened and changed to dead ahead, so we pulled into the side of the lake while the storms passed over. Heavy rain fell in front and behind us, but we got away with just a light shower, while Oli read the history of the park to us from the back of a map we’d found on the side of the trail. I hope the previous owners of that map had a spare … this is not a place to get lost! We carried on down McAlpine Lake and squeezed in a couple more portages before the end of the day (marked as “33” on the map). Emerging onto the water at the other end, we could see that all the obvious camp spots were taken, so we paddled around in the dusk, and then decided on a small island with what looked like a clear spot on the summit. Turned out to be a great site, with lots of wild blueberries to enjoy with breakfast.

The third morning involved a paddle, a short portage onto Batchewaung Lake, and then a longer, but very well trodden, portage onto Nym Lake, and then a paddle into the wind across to the take-out (marked on the map above by the short black road at the very north east of the map). Gerry hitched to get the truck, we packed up and drove the 2 1/2 hours back to Thunder Bay to arrive in time to put the kids to bed.

Camping at Neys gave us a further couple of days all together, though it was chilly and overcast, and last night we had some rain which set off the biting bugs in full force. Fun times with kids and friends, but we gotta get moving again. Should be about five or six days to Denver, back across the prairies.

Vancouver and Whistler

July 2, 2014 Chris Tanner1 Comment

Wolves are howling on the hill, across the other side of the lake, making noises I never knew a pack of wolves could make; yodeling, yelping and ululating all at the same time. I think they are getting closer. The birds are having a good sing song, sharing their morning gossip. The clouds rushing past the top of the canyon are seared salmon pink with the first light of dawn. The valley floor is still in shade, but it’s warm enough for just shorts and a tee. A breeze is starting to ruffle the surface of the water, and shooing away the mosquitoes in camp. When the wind dies off, I can hear the sound of the waterfall we scrambled across to as the sun went down last night. It’s 5am and I’m sat with a hot cup of fresh, dark coffee and a couple of Aunt Jemima’s pancakes, enjoying the start of what is going to be another scorcher of a day.

I’m up early having been woken by something crawling over my leg in the van – most likely a massive spider. The day beginning outside was too tempting to ignore, so I’m up and about. It’s been too long since I last got up with the sun. It’s also the first time in nearly a week that I’ve had to sit down and catch up.

We’ve traveled down from the Sunshine Coast, through Vancouver and Whistler, and we’re now on our way up to Jasper. Arriving in Vancouver was strange. We’d been planning to visit for a long time, throwing around ideas of maybe moving here in the future. But as soon as we found ourselves surrounded by the buildings, streets and hundreds of people, we both felt unsettled. Mainly the fact that we’d been out in the country for a couple of weeks, just the two of us, and being suddenly thrust into a heaving mass of humanity was a shock to the system. We parked up and had a wander around Granville Island, stopping in at a few galleries and studios, had a bite to eat and soaked up the buzz. In the evening we met up with Jim – the guy with the broken down motorbike we met back down in Oregon. He runs a Community Laboratory in Vancouver, where people can join and use the tools and workshop space. He was still working on his bike. A few people were building some micro-houses. Sawdust, grime and shaggy beards. A good “making things” vibe. Over the road was a micro-brewery – Parallel 49 – where we grabbed a couple of beers and a box of poutine from the food truck outside; one of Canada’s national foods I’m told. It’s essentially just chips and gravy with a fancy name, but tasty!

One of the ferries on the Sunshine Coast

We camped by the side of the road half an hour out of town as the campsite was shut by the time we got there at nearly midnight. Friday morning brought rain, we spent the day in town. A couple of hours in the library in the afternoon gave me some time to catch up with a bit of work, and then in the evening we smartened up (a little) and headed off to the circus! Driving out of town the night before we’d seen that Cirque du Soleil was in town – something we’d always wanted to see – so we booked tickets. It was impressive. The usual acrobatics, trapeze work and strong-man feats, with amazing costumes and live music. One act involved a huge, upside down, transparent cone – like a big funnel – with a man stood inside throwing glowing balls around the inner walls. It was dark, so all you could see was the man surrounded by smoke and whirling globes. Too late to find a campsite and in need of a freshen up, we hunted down a motel for the night.

On Saturday we met Will – a buddy of mine from Uni I hadn’t seen in perhaps ten years. We had breakfast and then spent the day hanging out and catching up. Knowing someone in a town, rather than being a complete stranger, makes a huge difference. Maybe also because we’d been in town for a couple of days by then, I felt a bit more comfortable with the place. But we both decided that we don’t want to live in a city again for a while.

In the evening sun we drove up the 99 – the “sea to sky highway” – through Squamish and into Whistler. The original plan was to stop for the night in Squamish. I’d heard about it being “the adventure centre of British Columbia”, there was a kite surf beach, climbing and biking all within the same place. But even on a Saturday night, it felt dead as we arrived around 7pm. We had a quick drive around, and decided that heading on up to Whistler was the best plan. After drinks and dinner in town we found a pull-out on a mountain road a few Kms south for the night.

Sunday morning; breakfast in Whistler and then on to Ali’s place. Whistler is one of the world great mountain biking destinations – a purpose-built ski resort in winter, and a mountain bike mecca in summer. The surrounding mountains are covered with hundreds of awesome trails, and the slopes north of the town form the Whistler Bike Park. The chair lifts are converted to take bikes, and the town is packed with downhill warriors in full face helmets and body armour. Rose, Ali and I started the day’s riding with a loop around the Lost Lake trails, then leaving Rose at the house we joined up with a few other guys to ride a couple of trails called “Business Time” and “AM PM”. Steep climbing and steep, fast, technical descents through twisty woods, over rock drops and slatted wooden bridges. So good to be out on these trails with strong riders to follow. A gang came around to Ali’s for the evening where I cooked up a massive carbonara to fuel us up for the next day’s ride.

Back on the hill on Monday. We started with a long, tough climb all the way up the side of the valley, perhaps a couple of hours. Hot and humid. Amazing view from the top. But squadrons of mosquitoes were out and in fighting mode so we gobbled down our snacks, hopped on the bikes and dropped into the trees, onto a trail called “Howler”. In 20 minutes we were back amongst the houses on the valley floor. Spent the afternoon hanging out at Lost Lake, and then another evening relaxing at the house. The Kiwi gang were busy making plans for the next stage of their endless summer; chasing the seasons around the world, riding bikes and working where possible. Most people are here purely to ride bikes; mostly in their early twenties, single, living in shared houses, “doing a season”. All talk is about bikes and travel. One of the guys, Nick, was planning to head to Europe in August to get back into work and career for a while, and was having to make some tricky decisions about whether to follow his mates to New Zealand and ride the southern summer or step back from the party and drop into a 9-to-5 job. Was interesting to have a chat with him, about how it can be possible to work full time in a city whilst also fitting in enough play, and whether just playing out at the weekends could compare to immersing yourself fully into a scene for a whole season.

On Tuesday folks were either back at work in bike shops or workshops, or having a rest, so I headed up to the bike park on my own with a 3-lift sampler pass. Couldn’t go through Whistler without riding the park. As I was by myself I didn’t really push it, but had a blast down some famous lines; Freight Train, No Joke, A-Line. My riding has improved in just three days here; I can easily see how spending a season in this place can take you to another level completely.

We left Whistler at lunch and drove north into the hot, hot, hot valleys around Lilooet. I wasn’t expecting it to be so dry. I was thinking it was just going to be more of the same pine trees and forests that we’ve seen all the way up the coast so far, but it’s dry and arid. A huge river has cut a deep gorge into the limestone cliffs, exposing huge slabs of rock and creating some incredible scenery.

Here at Marble Canyon, the morning sun is chasing the shade down the slope on the other side of the valley, and it’s going to charge into camp any minute now. I hear Rose stirring in the van, best get the kettle on.

Sunshine Coast

June 25, 2014 Chris TannerLeave a comment

By 8am the sun was already hot, so we had a quick dip in the lake, packed up camp and paddled along the south shore back to the van. I’d wanted to leave earlier to be ahead of the wind, but as we put the boats back in the water it picked up where it had left off yesterday – which meant an upwind paddle where we’d had a downwind ride before. No big deal though, we still made it back in about the same time.

A successful little expedition and a real taste of kayak/canoeing around here. One day I’d like to do the whole Powell Canoe circuit. Our island didn’t have a name on any of the maps we could find, so we called it Stump Island.

Headed to the ferry to catch an early-ish ride around to the next spot on the Sunshine Coast … but discovered that the next ferry was 4.30pm; the schedule I’d been planning from was only valid until June 24th! Ah well, we just had to kill a few hours. Had a coffee and chatted with a couple of locals, took a wander around the local provincial park (lots of them up here) and then managed to squeeze a bit of work writing in as we waited for the ferry from Saltery Bay to Earl’s Cove.

What a beautiful ferry journey. It was only 50 minutes, but the views were stunning. Big, steep mountains dropping straight into the water all around us. Other than a few cabins tucked into the trees here and there, it was completely empty, or at least looked empty. A few of the hillsides were scarred by logging trails or fire roads, or had patches of missing trees – but otherwise there was no sign of humanity at all. I can imagine the coastline further up towards Alaska is incredible; like this but genuinely remote. Definitely want to sail up there some time.

Tonight we’re in yet another provincial park campground. We’re in Porpoise Bay at the southern end of the Sechelt inlet. In our bellies is a gourmet dinner of locally smoked salmon, spinach and quinoa. The van is sealed up so none of the hordes of mosquito-beasts outside can get in, and we’ve got the guidebooks out, planning what we want to do in Vancouver over the next few days.

Stump Island

June 24, 2014 Chris TannerLeave a comment

I’m really starting to get into breakfast of scrambled eggs with salami. Quick, easy, and tasty. Eggs last for ages without a fridge, and the pack of salami we bought (I think in California) is still going strong.

Weather looked good for a kayak trip, so today we headed across to the mainland on the ferry to Powell River, picked up some bear spray and a coffee, then found our way up a gravel track to the start of the Powell Canoe Route. It’s normally a 5 to 7 day multi-lake adventure with portages between each lake and awesome mountain views, but as our first time out kayak camping we figured a short paddle down the first lake (Lois Lake), and one night out would do fine.

Saw our first bear of this trip! Driving up the gravel track just off the highway a big black bear was hanging out on the track. He ran right off into the bushes, no hanging around for pictures.

We packed a tent, sleeping bags and some food, put the kayaks in the water and headed off into the wilderness in the baking sun. After an hour we washed up on a deserted beach on a small island in the middle of the lake, and decided to call this camp for the night.

What a stunning place. The lake is surrounded by steep sided, forested mountains, with their tops hidden in the clouds. Down here we’re in the warm sun, with only the sounds of the wilderness and the waves slapping on the sand. The lake is actually a dam, which means that it’s a flooded valley with thousands of dead tree trunks poking up through the water around the shores. The lake level rises and falls depending on how much hydro power they need, which creates these crazy looking tree stumps that are still standing, all the sand and soil having been washed away from underneath them.

We explored the island, I had a swim, Rose did some drawing, we cooked some dinner, had a camp fire – all nice and slow, nobody else around at all. As the sun set, wolves were howling in the distance. Optimistically we’d only put the inner tent up, as the sun was shining late into the evening, it was calm and warm … didn’t smell like rain was coming. It would have been nice to sleep under the stars. Just as I was drifting off to sleep the rain started so I had to rush the fly sheet on – at least we’d brought it!

Ten days

June 23, 2014 Chris TannerLeave a comment

Ten days and 1,900 miles lie behind us, mainly wiggling back and forth over the mountains of the Cascade Range. Vehicle and crew are doing well. The van’s getting about 15 miles per gallon – same as it always has so the kayaks on the roof don’t seem to make a difference to economy. We’re starting to settle into a nice routine, though we’ve been driving a bit more than we’d like. Every night we’ve had a different spot – in a campsite most evenings, one night in a motel and a couple of nights in the wilderness last week. The idea was to spend a fair bit of time in BC, and now that we’re here we should be doing less driving. Though today it’s raining, so we’re back on the road across to the east of Vancouver Island, heading up to a campsite near Little River where we’ll catch a ferry across to Powell River on the mainland tomorrow.

The van has a leak somewhere in the roof which finds its way along inside the gutter and drips down onto the foot of the bed. But not every time it rains. I’d hoped we’d fixed this leak months ago when we first discovered it but no such luck. I’ve been round every joint above the gutter with filler and thick paint. At the moment I’m just hoping we’re not going to get much rain. And it’s not more than a drip, anyway.

We’d originally planned to spend tonight in the wilderness at the north end of Kennedy Lake, kayaking in and finding a remote beach for the tent, but this morning we woke up to a chilly grey mist and the forecast didn’t look too good so we bailed on that and drove up to Tofino instead, just a few kilometres north of last night’s campground. While our laundry was washing we grabbed a coffee, caught up on some emails and checked out the BC ferry times for our route down to Vancouver.

Tofino is very much a surf town, with all the surf dudes and chicks that come with it. Tofino is to BC as Newquay is to England, I suspect, but less tacky. If I was a surfer and had a board with me, I’d stick around for a while and get out in the water, but I’m not, it’s a bit wet for anything else, and we have miles to get under our belt. It was almost windy enough to get out kitesurfing last night. That would have been sweet. Mount Washington Bike Park is around here – with a chairlift to haul my bike and I to the top of some fast, flowing trails – but I don’t fancy riding in the rain and mud so we’re passing on that too.

Late in the afternoon we got to Miracle Bay campground – another cookie-cutter provincial park setup with rows of well-kept sites in the trees, each with a picnic bench and fire pit. In the rain, we rustled up a meal inside the van. As we finished up, the rain stopped so we had a wander down to the beach as a couple of cruise ships, er, cruised by. Made me think of the contrast between us and them. Camping in the back of a pikey van in the trees, or dressing up for a 5-course dinner along with live music on the top deck of a cruise ship. I don’t mind a bit of luxury now and then but I don’t think a cruise is on the agenda. Would hate to have everything so structured and organised. Nothing spontaneous.

Vancouver Island

June 22, 2014 Chris Tanner1 Comment

Across Vancouver Island to the west coast today. We stopped in a small town called Chemainus, the town of “world famous murals”. Not famous enough for me to have heard of it before, but we stopped in anyway, had a coffee, made some plans, had a wander around and then hit the road again.

Crossing the island took about two hours along a twisty two lane road; more mountains, more trees, more lakes. All beautiful, as usual! Driving through towns is hardest – with hundreds of bill boards lining the side of the road there’s so much to read, so much to distract from actually driving.

We ended up at Green Point campground in the Pacific Rim National Park; a quiet spot a few hundred yards back from the beach, set a little higher than the sea in old-growth forest. Lots of old man’s beard hanging from the trees, quite a bit of birdsong and a ray of hot afternoon sun beating down through a gap in the forest. Time to head to the beach.

It’s great to be back by the sea. Both of us feel relaxed and comfortable. Happy wandering along Comber’s beach, exploring rock pools, finding shells and stones and soaking up the warmth and emptiness. Wandering along in the surf made me think about the winter coming up, where the plan is to head down to the warm waters of Mexico. For the past week I’ve been immersed in mountains, thinking about biking and climbing and how much fun it would be to spend the summer in a mountain town, staying long enough to get to know people and tuck a load of adventure under my belt. One day. This is a good exploratory trip.

Back in camp, Rose got down to some drawing and I tucked my nose back into the book I’m reading; Monsoon by Wilbur Smith. Tales of high-seas adventure from the 17th century (thanks for the load of books Shane, I’m going to have to work hard to get through them all)

Tonight was our first camp fire! We toasted a few marshmallows and just sat, enjoying being here.

June 21, 2014 Chris TannerLeave a comment

True to its name, the Sunrise Motel was in the full sun this morning – the longest day of the year. Unlike our hostel in Iceland which had thin see-through curtains in a land that has near-24 hour sunshine, this place had thick light blocking curtains. But we were still up fairly early, with a good 70-odd miles to drive north to Point Angeles where we picked up the ferry for Victoria.

We’re now on the ferry, with a huge mountain off to starboard which I think is Mt Rainier, over on the Washington mainland. Canada is a few miles ahead. I hope they let us in!

Yup, we’re in. No troubles at the border, just a look at our passports and a few questions. I don’t think the guy even had a computer in his kiosk. Not like the US immigration!

We spent the afternoon exploring Victoria, including a wander around “Miniature World” which was an impressive set of model towns, villages and scenes from all over the world at various stages in history. Coming out of Miniature World we made a bee line for Bug Zoo which Rose had spotted earlier. Can’t miss an opportunity to get up close and personal with bugs…

The main town felt pretty empty, but I have a feeling that’s what a lot of Canada is going to be like. It was a hot sunny afternoon so the docks were busy; lots of tourists and locals hanging out in various sunny bars overlooking the attractive waterfront. We paid our first visit to MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-op) – I’m sure there will be more – to grab a headtorch for Rose and some gas for our mini cooker which we’ll take when we camp away from the van.

Late in the day we headed north, stopping at Goldstream park campground which unfortunately was full. Being so close to Victoria on a Saturday night that wasn’t surprising really. So we carried on up the Trans Canada Highway and eventually stopped at an RV park in Duncan. Nothing special, but a place to park for the night which was all we really needed.

Maple boil

April 20, 2013 Chris TannerLeave a comment

With Kate, Oli, Fin and Eliza at their place in Ottawa. They’d been collecting maple sap for a few weeks from the tree at the front of their house. When the temperature is above freezing during the day and below freezing during the night, the trees pump sap. It took about 8 hours to boil 80 litres of sap down into 2 litres of syrup – towards the end of the process you need to be watching the temperature of the mixture like a hawk, and when it gets to 103 degrees you’re done. Tastes so good. Was lovely to spend the weekend with old buddies.