From Ucluelet to Squamish

Today is Thursday, and we're leaving this heavenly place in the woods, on the shore, in Ucluelet. This reminds me of the sadness I felt when leaving summer camp when I was a kid. But, we're up and out early, in order to catch the 12:30 ferry at Departure Bay in Nanaimo. The little town is mostly asleep as we drive through, and there is no one else on the crooked road back across the mountains, except a couple of delivery trucks. Kennedy Lake, the big lake on the west side, is pretending it's a huge mirror - calm and relfective. We marvel at the idea, first, of having no road at all, and then at the idea of how this road was built. Other than the road, this area hasn't been touched...other places have been clearcut, but the terrain is too steep here I guess. There are several sections of road with a 10% grade, but there is one 3 km stretch with an 18% grade!! Holy hot brakes!

Debbie suggested that we would be nuts to miss Cathedral Rock, between Port Alberni and Nanaimo. Stuart was going to blow through, in a hurry to get in line for the ferry, but I convinced him to turn around. Wow! The oldest trees here are 800 years old. EIGHT hundred years old! Most of them are about 400 years old, because of a fire. And, they are magnificent! No photo by this snap-shot girl would ever capture the majesty.
I know,there is a fern in our faces, so, take a look at this photo....

You can tell it's cold: we both are wearing polar fleece. In the shade, you need a coat, but in the sun, a t-shirt is perfect!

We hurried on to Departure Bay, waited for the ferry, hurried on the ferry, and ate our picnic lunch. The Queen of Oak...(can't remember the full name of the ferry!) holds 362 cars. The 'articulated trucks' (read: semi's) and RVs are shuttled to the lower decks.

Back on the mainland, it's a gorgeous day, and we hit the Sea to Sky highway in about 1 minute from departing the ferry. The 2010 Olympics are being held in Vancouver/Whistler, and there is much work being done to get ready for the world to arrive. The scenery along this road is impossible to describe accurately. The mountains seem to come straight up from the water, which must go equally in the opposite direction. The road follows Howe Sound as far as Squamish, and we both are in awe. The world is going to be delighted by the slow traffic during the Olympics: it will give them longer to look at the mountains and the water. I saw our first eagle this afternoon. Gary, our host in Ucluelet, suggested they might all be out chasing the salmon and that we'd see them once we got back to the mainland. She is beautiful!

There is new housing developments all along the skinny land available between Howe Sound and the mountains, with the cuving road dissecting the small space. You can imagine, the houses are Grand and some are behind locked gates. We stopped at a pocket park, with a pier and some sunken ships, just to get a closer look at the scenery. The BC government has done a good job of making park space, and almost always there are places to pitch a tent of park a small RV. I saw my first otter of the trip here, too!

Hannah Falls is the third tallest fall in Canada, taller than Niagra Falls (you know, the famous one). The light was perfect, and we took a couple of photos...

Parking is not free,and after we viewed the falls, we passed our parking ticket onto some Germans who were just pulling in. Remember, BC stands for Bring Cash. We had to buy a ticket to park while we were in Uculelet, too!

On we go, towards Squamish. The road work gets more intense as we head north, and the magnificent scenery gets even more beautiful. It's hard to stay on the road! Our hotel in Squamish is the hostel, and while it's pricey, it's comfortable and well-appointed. We do have a room to ourselves, and the shared bath is right across the hall. One thing about hostels: there are usually more men than women, so bathroom access is easy. The Squamish Inn on the Water has a nice patio, but we headed downtown to the brewery for a taste of the local pride. We sat outside - everyone keeps exclaiming how PERFECT the weather has been lately - and ordered crab cake appetizer to share with our good Howe Sound Pale Ale.

Since we have a nice kitchen and dining area, and a bottle of cheap wine at the hostel, we order a dinner to go, and head back to the hostel. While having dinner (and this is what we love about hostels!) we met Joe, a Canuck from Croatia. Well, he was born in Canada, but his parents are from Croatia. He, like most of the other travelers, is here to climb rocks. The Chief, the local BIG rock, is a destination for climbers from all over the world. I learn from the other young woman who is staying at the hostel that the hiking at the base is good, too. There are young people with scraped knuckles and sun-burned noses wandering in and out of the kitchen, speaking many different languages. What a great place!