Olympic National Park

The final leg of the great Canadian adventure actually ends across the border back in the US on the western coast of Washington. Here John and I are spending two days enjoying natural beauty along the Sol Duc and Hoh rivers. The Sol Duc at this time of year is home territory for coho salmon who swim upriver from the ocean to spawn.

Mature salmon gather in the clear river water to rest before heading further upstream.

If you look closely, you can see a salmon jumping in the middle of the waterfall in an attempt to fling itself up the rushing water. An amazing site that we were lucky to see.

I’m always a sucker for a hike to see waterfalls.

Sol Duc didn’t disappoint, even though it was crowded.

Today’s highlight was in the Hoh, one of the only a few temperate rainforests in the continental US. There we hiked among giant old trees, ferns taller than me, and many kinds of moss, mushrooms and lichen. Definitely one of the most beautiful hikes I’ve done.

Felled old growth tree 

Giant root ball of a felled tree that has decayed and provided nutrients for other trees and plants growing from it. Note the new growth on top.

These trees are in a line because they all started their life in a felled tree that we call a nursery log because, like the roots in the above photo, the dead tree nursed the other trees to grow before it disappeared into the forest floor.

So many plants cohabitate in this moist rich environment. If only a diversity of humans could do the same.

Final stop: Ruby Beach, on the Pacific coast.

More beauty.

More trees.

More love from us. See you again from Italy!

Victoria, BC

Greetings from BC’s capital city of Victoria. I am traveling with John now, and we’ve left Vancouver and crossed the Strait of Georgia to Vancouver Island.

Beautiful 90-minute ride

The Queen of Cowichan ferry carried over 150 cars, plus people. Cowichan is the name of some of the First Nation Salish people.

Fairmont Empress in Victoria

Another beautiful old hotel

Provincial capital building

Bastion Square

Munro’s Bookstore founded by writer Alice Munro and her first husband James

A dumpling shop in Chinatown

Fan Tan Alley

Only the Chinatown in San Francisco is older.

Finally some sites from Beacon Hill Park

Moss Lady

Wandering peacock

Canada goose

Oh, and this wildlife sighting…

Au revoir for now.  See you back in the states.

Vancouver, Part II

Vancouver isn’t a huge city, but I have put in more than six miles a day checking out all the sites.  Not only is walking a new city great exercise, it’s one of my favorite things to do.

Before we get too far afield from trains, I wanted to share this photo of the locomotive CPR engine 374 that on May 23, 1887 pulled the first transcontinental passenger train into Vancouver station, thus linking the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of Canada for the first time. The Rocky Mountaineer traveled the same route thru the west as this first train did 138 years ago.

Today, Vancouver is defined as much by water transport as it is by rail or car. We saw seaplanes, cargo ships, cruise ships, sailboats and this pirate boat.

We loved this tiny water taxi that ferried us around False Creek.

One of our favorite stops was Granville Island where we perused the fresh food market.

Granville Island Broom Co. makes all its brooms by hand. They carry every kind of broom except the Nimbus 2000.

Fresh pasta… good prep for our Italy trip. 😉

Speaking of food, Hannah and I ended our weeklong tour with an amazing dinner at Michelin-recognized Pidgin in Gastown. Above is the famous steam-powered Gastown clock. 

Rice noodle salad with an onsen egg.

Skewered eggplant with tamarind glaze.

Sunday took me to Stanley Park, where I found myself walking alongside a bunch of people walking to raise money for Parkinson’s research. 

Here is the link

If you  would like to join me and the other walkers to support the cause. 

The land that is Stanley Park is the former home of First Nations people. The totem poles honor their stories.

Western red cedar.

This bronze statue honors the link between a local indigenous family and their Portuguese grandfather who immigrated to Vancouver in 1860.

That about wraps up the first leg of my Canada journey. Time for Hannah to return to work, and for me to meet John and head over to Victoria. 

Vancouver, Part I

Settled into Vancouver, we are back to putting in the miles au pied. 

I began the day with the usual oat milk latte and a pastry, and then Hannah and I walked to the port, where we saw the structure that held the Olympic flame lit by the torch carried all the way from Greece for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games (below).

Also at the port by the conference center is a giant Shamu.

Seaplanes land and take off in the harbor.

After the harbor visit, we met up with two tour guides from Vancouver Foodie Tours who guided us around downtown to sample a variety of Asian cuisines. We had shumai, pork buns and palm-wrapped rice treats at Kirin Chinese restaurant.

We visited a Japanese convenience store for a yuzu cone, ate Korean barbecue with all the trimmings and finished up with a fresh mango dessert. We also watched a robot make an iced latte at Muji.

The robot is named Jasper.

In this super multicultural city, I definitely wanted to see some indigenous art so I went to Bill Reid gallery of northwestern coastal art.

Hoping to see more art and eat more fun foods in the coming days in western Canada. 🇨🇦👍😀

Rocky Mountaineer, Day 2

We continued our westward journey today, amassing a longer list of wildlife spotted, as well as more interesting insights into BC. This morning began with the sighting of two different clusters of big horn sheep, as well as a single large black bear high on a hillside to far afield for photos, but nonetheless impressive. Later, we saw two bald eagles perched in a tree, some ospreys and geese flying over water, and lots more water fowl.

The most interesting natural phenomenon of the day was the confluence of the Thompson and Fraser rivers. Because of their routes thru different terrain, the Thompson appears aqua blue and the Fraser appears grayish white. When they meet, the waters take several minutes to blend together so they look like this:

We also passed by a variety of colorful rock striations. The reddish and green colors come from copper, and the darker color from iron. These minerals, as well as gold, all are mined in BC.

Old bridges and remnants of the railway dotted the route.

And before we knew it, we had arrived in Vancouver… and onto the final leg of our Canada adventure. Stay tuned for more news from the great white north tomorrow!