Day 14 June 30th Jasper National Park
We got breakfast at a Jasper Coffee shop then biked around town and up to Patricia and Pyramid Lakes just outside of town. There are shallow (therefore warmer lakes than anything else in the area) as we decided we would come back to them in the afternoon to take a swim. In town we got a backpacking permit and ate lunch then to the lake we went. We took a swim at Pyramid Lake Beach shadowed by a giant mountain but bathed by the hot northern sun. Surprisingly it was really hot even though we were very far north, it was almost unbearable to be in the sun because it was so intense. We drove out to the trailhead and packed our bags to go backpacking. We were hiking up Fryatt Valley (because it was one of very few snow free trails in the area). We ended up starting up the trail at 5om- which means the sun is still very, very high in the sky. 11km (7miles…we think) later- we found our camp site. It was really nice with brand new picnic tables, a toilet, and an amazing wooden bridge crossing a definitely loud creek which we sat beside and listened to the boulders rolling along the river bottom sounding like thunder crashing. We enthouriastically read (Chels- Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston: a guy who cuts his own arm off that was stuck under a rock and Jacob- Watership Down: A Rabbit Adventure) We hung the bear bag and fell asleep in the land of the endless light (it never got dark that night)
Day 15 July 1st Jasper National Park
Ohh Canada!! Today is Canada day which means…we are still being attacked by their mosquitoes. Today we left the river bottom and headed up Fryatt canyon (it was about 6 km away). We found our campsite, had lunch and hung out, resting before our day hike. We hiked up a massive glacial moraine of baseball size rocks to a turquoise lake set below a 100ft cascading waterfall. We had to ford many creeks to get to this part. We scrambled up the steep “headwall” to the top of the waterfall where a beautiful backcountry hut sat beside snowfields. We watched an avalanche rumble down the mountainside and then quickly hiked back to camp before the rain set in. Jacob fell in a creek while slipping during a jump and by the end we were just wading straight through all the rivers. We napped until the rain slowed down and then cooked dinner. It is still Canada Day so we did the Canadian Salute aka hold hands in front of face and swing madly at the mosquitoes that are working their hardest to drain you dry. We ate and then declared defeat and ran back to the tent to avoid the mosquitoes.
Day 16 July 2nd Jasper National Park
We woke up and thankfully the rain had stopped. We packed up camp cooked breakfast and tried to brainstorm why a sleeping bag filled with clothes and water bottles would be laying in the campground through a night of rain. We hiked the 17km and arrived at the car with tired feet, soggy shoes, mosquitoe bitten, conviced we had seen grizzly poo on the trail and exited about being alive. We took our first shower in 9 days and gorged ourselves on pizza. We saw a poster for a lost lady where we had been backpacking and I told a policeman about the sleeping bag. He laughed and told me that the lady had been missing for half a decade. We washed our clothes, ate ice cream and watched people. We started driving towards Kamloops and luckily made it through a narrow window of open road when a landslide closed the highway before and then after we drove by it. A river of mud was still flowing across the road and we had to just drive through it! We ate dinner at A&W, which are everywhere up here, and they had a minimal amount of food available because the trucks couldn’t get past the mudslide area and flooding had made their water unsafe to drink! We drove into the night (our first non-lit driving of the trip) through deep logging country to Kamloops. The only note worthy items are that we saw a bear that had recently been hit on the road, lots of logged forest and we resorted to talk radio. We crashed at the visiters center in the van.
Day 17 July 3rd Jasper National Park to Whistler
We woke up, got coffee in Kamloops, started driving towards Whistler and got breakfast at a little dive on the way there. The drive was crazy mountain valley and mountain pass driving. There were unmarked single lane bridges, 15% grade downhills and numerous panoramic views. Ecologically, we made the transition from a sage brush desert to a North-West Mountain Rainforest. The brakes on our van were beginning to stink pretty bad by the time we got to the valley floor. We saw a bear on the side of the road and also stopped to take a nap and view a glacial lake. Economically, it is interesting that just a few minutes East of Whistler is a reservation that reminded us of Panama or Costa Rica. People and dogs walking down overgrown streets to work, houses made of wood scraps and tin, dense jungle and zero road maintence (even where the road was flooded out). This scene is odd because minutes away Whistler is an economic bonanza (ex. $5 glasses of Kokanee). We watched in awe as downhill mountain bikers flew over jumps and sailed down the mountain and pondered the idea of glacier skiing in July. This place is the mecca of male adrenaline seeking twenty-some things... In Whistler the skater style is not unique, it is to be expected. We checked out the resort town watching mountain bikers and skateboarders, eating supper in the park, getting beers at a restaurant to start/continue with our thank you’s from the wedding. However we love to watch people and did not get very far. We are sleeping in the van tonight in parking lot number 4.
Day 18 July 4th Whistler to Vancouver
Waking up to the sound of a giant bus starting its engine next to us this morning was a beautiful sound to wake up to in parking lot number 4. We drove out of town looking for a gas station and did not find one until about 25 miles later. We had Burger King breakfast and caught up on the local news in Squammish. We headed to Vancouver and had construction the whole way- they are getting the roads ready for the Olympics and people traveling from Vancouver to Whistler. When got a sneak peak at the ocean along the way and headed to Stanley Park- one of the greatest attractions in Vancouver. This park is beautiful with many different ecosystems. We unloaded our bikes and headed for the information center to see where we could visit in the park. We made our way throughout the park watching people and looking at the beautiful scenery. We went to the Vancouver Aquarium- one of the best around. The big news at the aquarium was that a baby beluga was born!! We walked around seeing all kinds of fish and animals and even going through the rainforest section. We then headed downtown Vancouver and were overwhelmed right away. There were glass buildings everywhere with small streets and tons of people getting off work. We wanted to go to Chinatown- the 3rd largest in North America- to get sushi. We parked the car and started walking. We noticed while trying to get a parking spot that there were some sketchy areas- places where homeless people congregate and where people are just lying in the street. We were trying to walk to Chinatown but trying not to appear like a tourist with a map. We walked there and noticed it was a sketchier area and all closed up by 7pm on a Friday night. We were getting a little nervous and decided to walk back to the car and get food somewhere else. On the way back to the car we walked past: prostitutes on the corner, a pimp giving his ho her cut of the money, a crack deal (in the open), a cracked out guy looking for his drugs, and hordes of homeless people in parks and on the streets. We wanted to be in America!! We got out of that area fast- holding hands and not looking into other’s eyes. We found a sushi restaurant in a better area and drove to the burbs. We slept in our van in a quiet street out of Vancouver.
Day 19 July 5th Vancouver to Northern Cascades
National Park
We woke up, went food shopping and then happily sped across the border into America! We spent a lot of the day driving through dairy farms and small forested towns along large salmon filled rivers as we made our way to Cascade Mountains National Park. The visibility of the mountains there was pretty minimal due to extremely low-hanging clouds but we did get small glimpses of the amazingly rugged and snow-capped cascades. We drove up a scenic dirt byway with vegetation so thick that they formed an arch over the road and we had to use headlamps to see because so little light fell the forest floor. We camped on a steep and rugged side road to the sound of rain on the temperate rain forest surrounding us.
Day 20 July 6th Cascades to Seattle
We woke up and headed out of the mountains to the city of Seattle. We stopped at an Ice Cave although we couldn’t get to it because the bridge to it had been washed out from the 2006 flood where they received +18inches of rain in 36 hours and left all of the Northwest in shambles. A year and a half later many roads, bridges and trails are still out. Jacob forded the rivers icy waters to find myself amid a life size pixy stick game of 100ft tall trees that had been set there by what must have been a massive avalanche. Chelsey waited for Jacob’s return entertaining guests who would want to ford the river. We drove to the Seattle locks and watched boats head out of Lake Washington and into the Puget Sound of the Pacific and Salmon work there way up river through the fish ladders. We were bedazzled by the ridiculous boats that people own. One was a 100ft party yacht that seemed to be made specifically to wine and dine friends. We attempted to see downtown Seattle and Pikes Market but were thwarted by the lack of parking, the confusion of roads that close to car traffic during certain times of the day and a pure hatred for all cities. When we did make it to the Market it was all closed down due to the fact that it was late Sunday night. We didn’t think about this detail because to us there is no time or day. We had a drink on the pier and then drove to Tocoma discussing the dilemma of homelessness in N. America.
Day 21 July 7th Seattle to Silverdale, WA
This morning we woke up in the church parking lot ready to get some coffee and head out of town. Jacob started the van and the van would not move. Something had happened and the van will not shift into drive or reverse. It would go about 10-15ft and then rev up in neutral. We rollickingly decided that it needed to be towed…again. We only waited about 30 minutes and had it hauled down to Silverdale. During the trip to the shop the tow-truck driver told us that last night he was out on a job where a 16 year old girl drove her new Acura SUV into the bay by shifting into drive instead of reverse and then jumping out of the car as it jumped three retaining walls and coasted into the ocean. He wouldn’t pull the thing out at 2am during high tide and by the time low tide came around the car had floated down the beach. Can you imagine her trying to explain that one to her parents when they get back from their trip to Italy! We ate and spent the afternoon in Silverdale, cruising around on our bikes, checking out the bay and visiting the library. The van is getting fixed- a few holes that are getting patched and some added transmission fluid and we are on our way. We need an ice cream treat!!
