Dungeness Spit

When we realized we would be able to visit Sequim again as we travelled around the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, Kathy insisted, "We HAVE to hike out the Dungeness Spit!"  So we arranged it.  We're camped at the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge, just above the spit.  It was only a 15 minute walk to the trailhead, where we posed for a partial-sign selfie in 44F temperatures:

We had hiked along the bluff from our campsite to the trailhead, and then walked a half mile down an asphalt path to our first view of the Dungeness Spit, which was amply dramatic:

Down on the beach, we got our first view of our destination:  the New Dungeness Lighthouse, 5 miles out the Spit, with Mount Baker in the background, and a random fishing boat plying its trade in Dungeness Bay:

The Spit is long and narrow and the waves roll into it with a sound like rolling thunder, just crashing for a mile or more all at the same time along the rocky margin:

About a mile out, we turned to look back at our trail's beginning on the headland in the foreground, with Hurrican Ridge in the Olympic National Park in the background:

The Spit was decorated with huge driftwood in abstract patterns, with rounded rocks and slippery kelp everywhere:

We saw pieces of crab and clam shells everywhere, but this crab seems to have "survived" his stranding on the beach.  He seems to have expired and is waiting for some hungry gull to find and feast on him:

And gulls there are aplenty:

If you look carefully, you can find other shorebirds, such as plover, plying the margins of the Spit:

We searched for interesting rocks and other souvenirs.  We found plenty of detritus, the two most interesting of which were a bright yellow tennis ball in excellent shape (which we left at the trailhead on our return for some lucky dog), and an empty bottle of Tito Vodka.  We gathered all the flotsam and jetsom into our packs and eventually deposited them in the beach trash cans at the finish of our hike.

The kelp was fascinating.  Most of it is what is known as "bullwhip kelp" because it resembles a bullwhip.  If you want to see it in action, take a look at this video of Kathy snappin' the ole bullwhip kelp.

 Another interesting piece of beach trash was an empty plastic tub for Philadelphia Cream Cheese, which caused a little vibration in our heartstrings, making us think of home:

After a couple miles or hiking, our destination came into view -- the Lighthouse:

What a beautiful setting -- almost Andrew Wyeth in its style, and giving a very "remote" feel to the lighthouse complex:

As we got closer to the Lighthouse, we spotted this signpost which pretty much says it all:

The New Dungeness Light is a functioning aid to navigation on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It has been in continuous operation since 1857, although the current lighthouse tower is 26 feet shorter than when first constructed.  The New Dungeness Light was first lit in 1857 and was the second lighthouse established in the Washington territory, following the Cape Disappointment Light of 1856. Originally, the lighthouse was a 1½-story duplex with a 100-foot tower rising from the roof. Over time, the tower developed structural cracks, most likely from a combination of earthquakes and weather erosion.  In 1927, the cracks in the tower were so severe that the tower was lowered to its current height of 63 feet. The New Dungeness Light Station historic district, an 8 acre area comprising the lighthouse, the keeper's quarters and three other contributing properties was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.

In 1994, the Coast Guard withdrew its last Keeper and the Coast Guard Auxiliary, the Watchstanders, filled in until The New Dungeness Chapter of the United States Lighthouse Society was formed and assumed operation and maintenance of the Light Station. Soon thereafter, the chapter would become the New Dungeness Light Station Association (NDLSA), a 501c (3) non-profit organization. Through a renewable license with the U.S. Coast Guard to care for the Station, the Association runs the Keeper Program in which members become Keepers for a week while their fees help to maintain the Light Station. Partners with the Association include the U.S. Coast Guard which maintains the lantern and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service which manages the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge.

When we arrived, a fellow named Buck came out to greet us.  Buck is with a group from Eugene, Oregon who are members of the Association and are spending this week as keepers of the Light, doing their maintenance chores, greeting visitors and guiding tours of the light.

Buck took us to the top of the lighthouse.  Here, Kathy emerges into the top of the Light where the lens operates:

We got a panoramic, 360-degree view of the area around the Spit.  What most interested us was this view back down the Spit along which we had hiked to get to the Light:

We worked our way back down the lighthouse stairs and, after learning more about the lighthousekeepers, wandered outside to get another view of the Light:

Of course, we had to get our obligatory selfy with the Lighthouse (this being the USA, there were no red chairs to occupy):

We had a relaxing lunch and rested our feet before getting up the gumption to return another 5.5 miles back along the Spit.  We spent most of the return hike walking along the margin of the water, enjoying the lowering tide and tempting the waves to catch us as it flowed up the beach and we ran ahead of it.  The sun was in our eyes and was descending quickly, so we caught this last shot of the beach, the rolling waves and the Olympic Mountains as we worked our way back to our trailhead:

Eleven miles is a demanding hike for us in any event, but this was on soft sand, slanting, with lots of rocks, logs and kelp to clamber over.  So we were very happy to get home, put our feet up, open a beer and think back on all the sights, sounds and aromas of our day on Dungeness Spit.

Never fear -- there are more adventures.  Tomorrow we move to Neah Bay, near the outer point of the Olympic Peninsula.  We're bound to find more seaside adventures there!

Biking the Green River Trail

Hi Blog!

We crossed the border on Thursday, October 3, 2019 at Aldergrove, BC. We couldn't believe it. There was no line! We pulled right up to the window, handed over the passports, answered a couple questions and were sent on our way. Quickest border crossing ever!

Friday was spent restocking the fridge and running errands. On Saturday, we visited Dave's cousin, John Olsen and his wife, Kathy, and their kids. They own a small boutique winery, Alia Wines, in Snohomish, Washington. They treated us to a great lunch, while we sampled their wines. Needless to say, our wine cellar has been completely restocked after the border crossing. We realized once we got back to camp that we forget to take photos. Oh well. There is always next time.

Today, Sunday, October 6, 2019 was our last full day in Kent, Washington. We originally picked this campground to allow us to restock the fridge and visit with family. Turns out, our campground is right next to the Green River Trail System. The Green River Trail is one of the longest contiguous regional trails in the Puget Sound Region with 19 paved miles from the south edge of Seattle to the City of Kent. Here we are ready to ride.

Just a couple miles from our campground is the Three Friends Fishing Hole Park.

The trail winds its way down the Green River through an industrial park. The large warehouse buildings that back up to the trail have decorated retaining walls and stairs that allow their employees to access the trail.

Much of the trail is tree-lined. However, we did pass a few open areas. Just across the river, an old landfill has been reclaimed, and we wonder what it will be repurposed for.

Crunch, crunch, crunch...the sound of our bike tires going through a pile of leaves. No denying it's fall.

Imagine our surprise when we noticed a teepee by the side of the trail. We stopped to investigate, but the fence kept us from getting a closer look. It appeared to be a small private camping area with a teepee and two yurts.

The Green River is a 65-mile long river, arising on the western slopes of the Cascade Range south of Interstate 90. It meanders its way through the Kent Valley towards Seattle and empties into Puget Sound.

The trail switches back and forth between the western side of the river and the eastern side, via bridges that are each unique and interesting in their own right.

Crossing the bridge affords us an opportunity to look up and down the river. We noticed a couple of fisherman floating with the current.

We checked a couple of local fishing websites. The Green River is known for steelhead trout, which are ocean-going trout that return to spawn upriver. There are also several runs of salmon. Coho or silver salmon are currently running, but we did not see any. We did notice one pink salmon that looked like he was done spawning.  He was lazily swimming down the river with the current, and we imagined that he would soon expire and float to one bank or the other, to become food for scavengers or to fertilize the ground.

We continued our journey across this really cool wooden bridge.

We couldn't have asked for better weather. The fall color is really starting to pop.

There are a number of pedestrian bridges across the river. Each one is unique.

For the most part, the banks of the Green River are very steep. It makes fishing from the bank difficult, which could explain why this one sandy stretch was lined with fishermen.

After about an hour of exploring, we stopped for lunch at a local sports complex. We watched a couple of youth soccer teams battle it out. In the far field, groups of kids were learning the finer points of lacrosse.

After lunch, we decided to mosey back to camp. Several times on our return ride, we were treated to views of Mount Rainer.

Tomorrow, we head over to the coast. Looking forward to some beach-combing.

Lookout Vancouver...Here We Come!

On Tuesday, October 1, 2019, we took advantage of our Aldergrove campground's proximity to Vancouver, B.C. and spent the day wandering the city.  The Vancover waterfront is without peer, and, during our visit, we took time to enjoy it fully.  While these are Blue Chairs, we feel they qualify for special mention in our Red Chair Album because the view was so special.  As you will see, the beautiful Vancouver waterfront dominated our visit.

We are experienced enough to know that we shouldn't drive into large cities if we can avoid it.  We found that Vancouver's Sky Train links the city center to ex-urban areas such as Surrey, B.C., which was a short drive from our campground in Aldergrove.  So we drove to Surrey and hopped the light rail line to Waterfront Station.  When we came out to the surface, we were greeted by beautiful parks and open spaces near the tourist information center:

After getting information from the friendly tourist consultant, we started our long (9 mile!) walk around Vancouver's waterfront and down to the City Hall area.  We wandered past Canada Place with its sail-like towers, and then along the Coal Harbor Seawalk, past cormorants sitting and drying their wings on an abandoned dock:

The harbor boasts a floatplane terminal, where we saw planes lined up, waiting to take passengers on tours or trips of all sorts.  North Vancouver was in the background.

Several times as we strolled, seaplanes landed or took off, a diverting sight every time:

The marina boasted a few tiny houseboats that were too cute to avoid photographing:

As we started around past the marina, we looked back to the center of the city and enjoyed the skyline from a walker's point of view:

We stopped at Cardero's Restaurant, where Kathy had a scrumptious meal of raw oysters and sesame tuna salad with avocado, while David had a meal of the absolutely best Szechuan green beans and shrimp jiaozi he has ever tasted (sorry, Weina and Matt, better, even, than in China).  Thus fueled, we walked on our way around Coal Harbour to the Vancouver Rowing Club and Royal Vancouver Yacht Club --

-- with spectacular views back at downtown Vancouver along the way:

The shoreline of the harbor is shared by animals of all kinds, including some cheeky raccoons that did not seem the least bit perturbed the humans walking above the beach where they were foraging at low tide:

We worked our way around the harbor into Stanley Park and out to Hallelujah Point, where we got a chance to see and learn about the Brockton Point Lighthouse, with a view to West Vancouver across Burrard Inlet:

On the way back through Stanley Park, we stopped to admire the First Nations Totem Poles that Vancouver's parks agency has been collecting since the 1920's:

Working our way back around the harbor, we caught a glimpse of our next destination, Vancouver's Lookout Tower, peeking above some of the other high-rise buildings:

Riding the elevator up to the top of Lookout Tower, we caught another glimpse of Canada Place and its sail-like towers with the harbor in the background --

-- and Stanley Park, with the Brockton Point Lighthouse on the right end, where we had just been earlier in the afternoon:

Taken with the views in all directions, we couldn't resist filming this video of our walk around Lookout Tower, showing Vancouver all around us.

We had an appointment to meet friends for dinner (more on that below), so we needed to start working our way south toward the City Hall neighborhood.  On the way, we stopped by B.C. Place and its arena with statues of Terry Fox, a favorite hero of Canada's and ours.

Terry Fox, who was born in 1958 and died at the age of just 22 in 1981, was a Canadian athlete, humanitarian, and cancer research activist. In 1980, with one leg having been amputated due to cancer, he embarked on an east to west cross-Canada run to raise money and awareness for cancer research. Although his cancer eventually forced him to end his run prematurely, and he died after 143 days and 3,339 miles, his efforts resulted in a lasting, worldwide legacy. The annual Terry Fox Run, first held in 1981, has grown to involve millions of participants in over 60 countries and is now the world's largest one-day fundraiser for cancer research.  As of January 2018, over C$750 million has been raised in his name.

This statue depicts Terry and conveys a sense of his progress on his run.  It reminded us of the dramatic memorial to Terry that sits in Canoe Landing Park in Toronto, across the street from where our son Matt and his family lived for a few years, and of the memorial in Thunder Bay, Ontario, which we discussed in our blog titled, "Exploring Thunder Bay's History."

Just south of B.C. Place is the Plaza of Nations Dock for the most water taxi ride -- the False Creek Ferry -- which we caught from there to the Spyglass dock on the south end of Cambie Bridge, where our "Blue Chair" photo was taken.

The water taxi gave us an up-close view of Vancouver's Science World, which is a science centre run by a not-for-profit organization and is located at the end of False Creek.  It features permanent interactive exhibits and displays and rotating temporary exhibits.

While we were enjoying our ferry, we looked off to port, and there was a racing kayaker, who, with his strong paddling, was keeping pace with our little ferry boat.  We kidded the ferry pilot that she needed to pick up her speed or else the kayaker was going to outpace her.  She laughed and said, "They usually do beat us!"

From Spyglass Dock, we climbed Cambie Street toward City Hall.  When we looked back, we got this beautiful view of Lookout Tower and the mountains to the north of Vancouver, over the top of rush hour traffic.

By now, it was time for dinner, and we found our way to Kirin Restaurant, where we met Sherry Gaev, Kathy's good friend from her Stradley days (we calculated that it was over 24 years ago) and her wonderful, friendly husband Greg.  We found that we shared a great deal.  Sherry is still a paralegal, and we had lots of legal war stories for each other.  Greg is a real estate broker, which gave us lots of opportunities to share analyses of real estate markets and tall tales of real estate foibles.  More deeply, they are Jewish and we laughed about Passover experiences over the years; and because Sherry is Chinese by descent and can speak Chinese, we shared the joys and miseries of trying to keep our Chinese language skills fresh without any opportunities for immersion.

Before we finished dinner, the waitress was kind enough to snap our photo.  We promised Sherry and Greg that we would be back long before another 24 years have passed -- and that, next time, we would treat for dinner since they were kind enough to treat us this time. 

It was bittersweet to say goodnight to Greg and Sherry after dinner.  They turned and walked back to their neighborhood near the restaurant.  We found our way to the subway station at City Hall.

After a minor adventure back at King George Station in Surrey, trying to get into the parking garage at the train station, we found our way in the dark back to our campground and fell into bed with dreams of waterfronts and tasty Chinese food dancing in our heads.

Thank you, Greg and Sherry.

Around Harrison Hot Springs

Hi Blog!

Aside from our fishing trip on Thursday, September 25, 2019, the rest of our stay in Harrison Hot Springs was spent dodging rain drops. We managed to sneak in a few coffee walks before the rain showers. On Wednesday, we walked into town from our campground and found the source of the Harrison Hot Spring.

The hot springs themselves were originally used and revered by the Sts'Ailes (Chehalis) First Nations people who live along the Harrison River. The Village of Harrison Hot Springs has been a small resort community since 1886, when the opening of the Canadian Pacific Railway brought the lakeside springs within a short carriage ride of the transcontinental mainline. Today, the hot springs are controlled by the Hot Spring Resort and Spa. There are two options to enjoy the healing waters. One is to book a so-called "day room" at the resort and spa for a mere $145.00, and the other is to go to the public pool for $15.00.

On the way back from the source, we stopped in the Hot Springs Resort Garden and noticed a 9/11 memorial.  A New York resident who frequented Harrison Hot Springs planted a New York Maple tree at this spot and (presumably) funded the memorial stone.

In case you didn't know, the Sasquatch is legendary in Harrison Hot Springs with many regional sightings. Described as a bi-pedal mammal of exceptional size with great strength and reddish hair covering its entire body. The word Sasquatch is thought to be a mispronunciation of the Sts’ailes First Nations word ‘Sasq’ets’, meaning ‘hairy man’. For centuries, the Sasquatch has occupied a unique niche in the oral traditions of the First Nations communities of Harrison Lake and Harrison River. The Sts’ailes believe the Sasquatch is a spiritual being that can vanish into the spirit realm at will, which may explain why the elusive being is so difficult to track down.

For more information, you can visit the Sasquatch Museum located behind the Visitor Center in downtown Harrison Hot Springs.  It is a serious exhibit and documents many of the "sightings" that have occurred.

Just behind our campground was a wilderness area. We would have loved to explore it more, but it would have been a hike straight up!

On one of our coffee walks, we walked around a man-made lagoon on the shore of the lake. The waters of Harrison Lake are so cold, the town built the shallow lagoon so the water could warm up enough to allow folks to swim.

As we walked by, this blue heron had just finished its fishing expedition in the lagoon and was drying its wings.

Just a short walk another direction, to the east, from our campground was The East Sector Lands Recreation Site, a 316 acre nature park. After the loggers came through, this area was allowed to regenerate into a diverse landscape that consists of mixed coniferous and deciduous forested areas.  Huge old-growth stumps, some with springboard notches, are everywhere in the woods:

Some of the trees are even big enough to hug!

During our time in Harrison Hot Springs, we also explored part of the Miami River Greenway. A number of houses back up to the trail along the Miami River. Some of those houses have very whimsical garden decorations.  Because so many houses had old, rusty equipment or vehicles in their backyards, we imagined that the developer of the neighborhood distributed some of this artful junk among all of the building lots, from stuff found on the old farm from which the neighborhood was developed.

Technically a creek, but the local insist on calling it a river, the Miami River has its headwaters in Agassiz and its outfall through the dike, just past the Harrison Resort Hotel. “Miama” is almost certainly the original historical name for the waterway, since Miami, Florida, had not yet become a well-known place when the local map was drawn.

During our coffee walk, we crossed the Ruth Altendorf Bridge. Let it be remembered that she was passionate and kind, a performer — both singer and actress — and outdoor enthusiast, she was also a local advocate, author, humanitarian and supporter of heritage, arts and culture.

Our last morning, we woke up to see snow on the surrounding hills. Time to head south!

We leave Harrison Hot Springs with fall in full bloom.

Our next stop is Aldergrove, just a few miles from the US Border. Before we cross, we are looking forward to our day trip into Vancouver. For more on that adventure, see the next blog.