February and March

February

As some readers have pointed out, we are overdue for a blog entry. February was a long time ago and we don’t really remember what we did.

We went downhill skiing in Salmo in February but it was at night and we didn’t take the camera. Scott re-taught Josie how to downhill ski and we had lots of fun despite the icy conditions. Best of all, the hill pass was compliments of Josie’s employer. The only thing better than fun is free fun.

March

The big highlights in March were downhill skiing at Whitewater Ski Resort and a weekend trip to Vancouver Island. The scenery at Whitewater was lovely and there were enough trails to keep us occupied for the day. We also took a lesson and had lunch at the locally famous Fresh Tracks Café. That was some good eating. Skiing in deep powder was a new experience for both of us, demonstrating why Whitewater, which gets some of the best snowfall around, is so popular even though it’s not one of the larger hills in the area.

Trees designed to shed powder

Skiing at Whitewater

Mid-month we made a road trip to the coast. The first day we drove across the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys, caught the ferry in Tsawwassen south of Vancouver and spent the night in Victoria. We saw a Yeti on our way into Osoyoos and couldn’t get over how dry the valleys were (sagebrush!). That said, the massive orchards and vineyards that were everywhere impressed us. The Vancouver traffic began to pick up near Hope, 150 km from the coast. Still, we made our ferry and were pleased to finally see the Pacific Ocean after all these months. When we landed in Victoria we checked into our hostel (room just large enough to hang your feet off the end of the bed) and went for a walk downtown. Though there was still plenty of snow when we left Nelson, in Victoria flowers and cherry trees were in bloom and it was downright balmy...and drizzly. Hello west coast weather.

The Okanagan at Osoyoos

The Tsawwassen Ferry and Straight of Georgia

The next day we went for another quick walk around Victoria to get photos of their tiny Chinatown and the flowers and palm trees. Then we drove out to the Victoria Butterfly gardens and spent a couple of hours marveling at the insects, birds, and flowers. By chance we ran into Scott’s Uncle Ryan while we were there, who lives in North Van and was visiting Victoria on business. The sun actually came out and before long we were headed across the island toward our ultimate destination - Ucluelet, Tofino, and Pacific Rim National Park. We stopped for an afternoon hike in Cathedral Grove (MacMillan Provincial Park) to admire the old growth forest and try not to think about the irony of the park being named after a corporation that was cutting down the rest of the island’s forests. But I digress. The road west was small and winding and beautiful to drive. By evening we were pulling into Ucluelet ready for a rest and a meal. Unfortunately our hostel was not yet open for the season, despite our calling ahead to make reservations. Undeterred we found a little harbour-view hotel and just off the deck got to see a group of sea lions diving and playing or feeding.

A school near Chinatown

Cherry blossoms

Butterfly #1

Scott hates this bird

Butterfly #2

Flamingo

The next day we went hiking on the coast near Ucluelet (in a blizzard) and got down on the rocks to explore our first Pacific tidal pool. We only saw one sea star but there were lots of anemones, a hermit crab, chitons, giant limpets, and pointy barnacles. Very rewarding and it only cost us one soaker. When we were done our hike we went to the Ucluelet aquarium to see even more zany sea creatures (brought in temporarily by researchers then returned to the ocean). After that we were pretty chilled, so we cranked the heat in the car and drove north to do a woods hike and a beach hike in the park, where Josie finally stuck her toe in the Pacific, nine months after sticking her toe in Torbay, NFLD. Later we landed at the Tofino Botanical Gardens/Field station, where we would be staying for the night. We went into Tofino and had an overpriced meal then went back to the field station for some R&R.

This is what they mean by Temperate Rainforest

A Chiton - we had to look it up. It's the trilobite-looking thing in the centre

Pointy west-coast barnacles

Tropical beach vacation!

One big sea star

Anenome garden

Sea lemon

Driftwood

De Beach

Scott at play

In the morning we strolled through the Botanical Gardens (very little was up yet), then went back into Tofino to poke around. We drove back south through the park and hiked another two beaches and a bog before driving back west to our evening’s destination of Nanaimo. Our hostel in Nanaimo (the Painted Turtle Guesthouse) was by far the best place we stayed during our trip, and one of the most affordable. We went for a walk after checking in and found that Nanaimo had a lovely waterfront, despite reports that it was a boring port city. Josie’s best efforts did not result in our savoring a Nanaimo bar in the city for which it was named, but we got the official recipe off the city website and plan to make them someday. There were lots of arbutus trees in the areas around Nanaimo, and it was neat to see Canada’s only native broadleaved evergreen tree.

Mudflats behind the Botanical Gardens

Sculpture as structure

More beach

Josie is jealous of the kelp

In the morning we caught an early ferry from Nanaimo to North Vancouver. The drive out of town was not too bad but when we got to the mountain pass just east of Hope the roads were slick and people were ill equipped. We were waiting in line while two transports were double parked on a sharp corner (putting on chains) and another transport tried to squeeze by them, only to slide into the ditch and block traffic through the pass for three hours. We got to do some quality reading during the wait but it was midnight when we got back to Nelson. The only highlight was that on our way back into Osoyoos we caught a glimpse of the spotted lake, a lake so saline that the waters crystallize to make white-ringed spots.

We were wiped when we got home, but it was a great trip.

We also went hiking at Syringia Creek in March, but this entry is already too long.