The expression “road trip” now has a whole new meaning for me. Once upon a time, in the Before Days, a road trip meant a trip to Tofino on the west coast, or down to Victoria, or by ferry across to the mainland to Vancouver or Whistler or the Sunshine Coast or even into the interior to the Okanagan. Not anymore. Sigh. Nowadays, a road trip is more likely to mean taking a car full of yard waste bags to the dump, 15 minutes away. This now counts as an exciting day’s outing.

In the past year, I can count on one hand the times we’ve actually left our community. In the winter, when cabin fever finally pushed us out of the crib and into the car, we drove up the coast to Courtenay (a 40 minute drive) for a daring raid on Staples to buy printer ink. The first time we did this we pre-ordered and used curbside pickup. The second time, we lived dangerously (ha) and masked up (double) and actually went inside because let’s face it, that warehouse-sized big box office supply store never has anyone in it; you could fire a cannon down the aisles and not hit a single person.

Once upon a time a trip to Courtenay would likely have included a walk along the river or a trail hike, lunch in one of our favourite restaurants (some have now permanently closed), a stroll up the main street, walking in and out of the shops, and browsing in the independent bookstore. These trips for printer ink were an excuse of course, as you can certainly order online; an excuse to get out of the house and neighbourhood and take in that beautiful drive up the coast. It raised the spirits to see the sun shining on the ocean and the snow, bright on the tops of the island mountains and across the Strait on the mainland coastal range. From the passenger seat I got to take a good look at other details – roadside shrines where accidents had occurred, new construction since I was last there, a roadside restaurant now closed and a new outdoor food truck on the side of the road open for business.

What else is missing along this familiar drive? For many years the sea lions used to hang out in winter on a raft off the dock at Fanny Bay on Baynes Sound opposite Denman Island. They are gone. I haven’t seen them for several years now and their disappearance seems to coincide with the big increase in shellfish farms along the Sound. Hmmm. Now how does one get a bunch of massive sea mammals to move their winter hangout so as not to interfere with the human sea farms?

There seemed to be some signs of life at the Qualicum scallop farm that closed some years ago when the scallop crop failed, probably because of warmer water along the coasts of Washington State and lower and mid Vancouver Island from climate change. They lost it all and I heard at the time that they were going to have to bring in a different scallop species to raise instead but that was going to take years to get that established and to start producing for market again. There appear to be a few new large tank buildings now that weren’t there before, so maybe.

There was something else I noticed from my window. Something new. In two different places, hanging from tree branches beside the road, were bright red dresses, swaying in the breeze. I had never seen this before but I knew what it was.

These symbolize and are meant to raise awareness of the ongoing issue of the thousands of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls across Canada.

Originally the red dresses were part of 2010 Winnipeg art installation by Metis artist Jamie Black to honour indigenous women and girls who were lost to violent crimes. Since then the symbol has spread to communities and areas across the country. It has now reached Vancouver Island where someone has undertaken to have the dresses placed along the highway from the top of the island in Port Hardy down to the south in Victoria. Others have joined the project and I have now seen them on other roads as well. Catching that glimpse of red as you drive by, knowing that it represents a daughter/mother/aunt/sister and all those around her, is a very powerful image.

Then, this past week, ugliness once again raised its head. Not far from here, near Ladysmith, the image was obviously too powerful for the two men who were filmed along the side of the highway, removing several red dresses hanging from the trees and tossing them like garbage on the ground (as was the fate of many of the women), then turning and running away.

Stephanie Rivers Elickus of Campbell River, who has been a major force in the Red Dress Project on Vancouver Island, says that the dresses are a symbol “to call spirits home in our culture, to call missing women home.” She personally has suffered three immediate losses associated with missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls and vows to continue her project to honour those who are gone. This desecration serves to re-break so many hearts that have already been so badly wounded from their losses.

How many times can a heart be broken?

The. Best. Trip. Ever.

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We were at the southern part of the Great Bear Rainforest, a huge area that stretches along the coast of mainland British Columbia – an area of mountains and fiords and islands and rivers and trees and… bears. Literally on Smith Inlet near the estuary of the Nekite River the floating Great Bear Lodge was our home for 4 days – to get up close and personal (well not too close) to the Grizzly bears whose home it was, or who were starting to move on in to the area, as the salmon were beginning to return to the river to spawn.

The 40 minute float plane took us over some spectacular scenery to deliver us to the lodge.

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Twice a day we would suit up and go out in the boats, 5 guests per boat plus guide. A warm camo one piece thing that was like wearing a sleeping bag, rubber overalls, jacket, boots, rain hat, gloves, life vest – trying to shuffle down the dock wearing all this stuff, let alone manoeuver in and out of the boat was hilarious. But worth it. In this temperate rainforest, there is, well, rain, and this all kept me warm and snug for our twice-daily 3 1/2 hour trips around the estuary and river in the open boat.

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The estuary was teeming with all kinds of wildlife to keep us amused while waiting to catch a glimpse of the main attraction…

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These two bears above were walking along the river’s edge in opposite directions. From the boat I was watching them both and at one point could see when they became aware of each other. Blondie, on the right, picked up speed and chased the other bear off the bank and into the forest.

So what’s cuter than the babies? Watching these two keeping up with Mom, trying to scramble over the falling logs and brush was smile inducing.

Earlier, we had seen another Mom with cubs, grazing on the sedge of the open estuary, when suddenly she became aware of a male, way too close for comfort. She quickly rounded up the babies – chop chop little ones – and ran across the shallow river, moving quickly into the shelter of the forest.

This bear was heading up the river at quite a pace, on a mission to see if the salmon were arriving upstream yet. He appears to be noticing something not far ahead. (By “notice” I may mean smelling. Those nostrils are bigger than the eyes as is the sense of smell much stronger than a bear’s eyesight.)

Two people in the river walking towards him.

These are two Fisheries Officers doing exactly the same thing as the Grizzly. Counting salmon. And keeping a close eye or two on the bear.

While we were in the boats the guides would communicate by radio. When they had a sighting they would contact the other saying something like “We have an eagle on the west slough by the crabapples heading south.” Eventually I asked one of them why they used the phrase “eagle” for a Grizzly sighting. The reason? It’s an open frequency and the practice began because they did not want to mention bears in case hunters could overhear them. They had similar codes for wolves and cougars.

After only 3 days hanging out on the river watching them eating their greens, minding their young, interacting with each other, waiting for the salmon to arrive I tried to imagine what it could be like to sit in a boat like I was doing and instead of a camera, holding a gun. Sickening. It was mind numbing to think that anyone could possibly think it was all right to murder one of these magnificent creatures. For what? “Sport”? What kind of sport is it that you can shoot, from a distance, a completely defenseless animal. Why? To mount a dead body part in a rec room? Two years ago the current BC government FINALLY outlawed the Grizzly bear hunt in the province. Thank you, thank you. About time.

This is the gate leading from the Lodge’s floats to the ramp to land. No it is not to keep bears out. As if. It is to keep the tourists in! A reminder that the rule is we are not to leave at any time without a guide.

We did get opportunities to leave though. The schedule was as follows:

• 7:00 “Gentle” wake up reminder
• 7:15 Breakfast
• 8:00 Bear Viewing in the Boats
• 11:30 Return to Lodge
• 12:00 Lunch
• 1:00 “Mystery Activity” (in our case land based – hike)
• 4:00 Return to Lodge
• 5:00 Dinner
• 6:00 Bear Viewing in the Boats
• 9:30 Return to Lodge
• Socialize – or not
• Go to bed – get up and repeat

Of course anyone could skip any of the events for any reason and just bliss out at the Lodge, enjoying the scenery, munching on the endless supply of freshly baked cookies or raiding the beverages – a help yourself station of all day fresh coffee, tea, juice, soft drinks, beer and wine. The Lodge itself was beautiful, windows everywhere and the food was wonderful – fresh, healthy, catering to all preferences, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy free, vegan, you name it. It was also interesting to see how they operated such a top notch place in such a quiet location. They made their own hydro power harnessing a waterfall on land that was also the water source which was then purified and made tap drinkable. No water problems given that this area has over 3 meters of water annually. They also had some solar and wind source power as well as generator. They had a processing system for grey and black water. Of course everything had to come in by plane or boat or barge. No cell service or internet for guests.

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One afternoon we hiked up the old logging road getting a botany lesson along the way, identifying the trees in this forest (Western Red Cedar, Sitka Spruce, Red Alder, Western Hemlock, Amabilis Fir) and the other plants and berry bushes. We were shown the identifying evidence that we were in the home of the Grizzly – the wallowing hole (aka bear hot tub) where the bears climb in and, well, wallow, no doubt enjoying a rub as they make sure their scent is spread liberally to communicate with other bears.

Our guide showed us the contents of the fresh bear scat – traces of sedge and undigested Western Crabapple fruits, a fruit smaller than a cherry. We went down a bear path to the river’s edge and saw a scratching post tree where the bears rub their backs on, again leaving scent to communicate. Hollows under trees were pointed out where bears curl up to have a rest, sometimes in the mid-day heat of summer.I should point out that as we hiked and checked out all this, one guide walked in front and one walked in back. Every now and then they would call out loud “Hey Bear” to signal our presence and were constantly checking out our surroundings.

On another land trip, we piled into an old school bus and headed further down the old logging road to where the Lodge maintains viewing stations at the river’s edge. Above, the guide is giving us a lesson on salmon and the coastal ecosystem. Every year the salmon return from the ocean by the millions to the rivers where they were born, spawning the new generation and then dying. They provide food for 200 species of animals and birds and fertilize the plants and trees all along the coast.

When we were there there were 10 guests at the Lodge. Two from Australia, one from the UK, one from France and four Americans, two from Seattle and two from San Diego. We were the only Canadians. Not only that, we were told that visitors from Vancouver Island are rare. Interesting. It took us only 4 hours to drive from our house up to Port Hardy to catch the float plane. In comparison to the others’ travel, this is our own backyard!

After four blissed out days, time to leave. Late afternoon we were back in Port Hardy to stay the night. An evening on the hotel balcony watching the action in the working harbour and sunset, and the next day we were on our drive home.

But the bears weren’t finished with us. Ten minutes outside of Port Hardy another bear, this time a black bear, crossed the highway ahead of us.

Can life get any better than this?

By the way, last year the Great Bear Lodge had special visitors. Humpback whales swam right up to the dock at the Lodge, breaching and blowing. The video went viral. That was how we first heard about the place and booked our trip immediately!

Check out the humpback video here. Note the guests in bathrobes. It was very early in the morning and the staff tried to wake everybody up to come and witness.

“What are you going to do there?”, I was asked about a trip I was planning to a mountain resort town. Well, to me, a successful trip to explore new places is all about walking, gawking and eating and I’ve been enjoying just that in spades this summer. The last item on that prescriptive list is there in reference to the fact that there very few good restaurants where we live, so travel is where to indulge that one.

Summer for me is road trip season – a time to expand the perimeter in small doses and to experience how varied and fabulous this part of the world is. I say small doses because I’ve found that I usually just don’t like to leave home for that long in summer, with the high maintenance garden requiring oversight and action, and so much day tripping to enjoy within an hour’s drive in all directions. When we do leave we find places to explore around coastal British Columbia within a few hours drive or ferry away for a 4 night maximum stay and the options are varied and amazing.

WHISTLER

The first road trip of the summer season was at Summer Solstice, my favourite day of the year.  Now from the beach where we live we look across the Strait of Georgia to the mainland coast mountain range. I’ve been staring at it for 7 years now, always wanting to go have a close up and personal look. So this time in search of a complete change of scenery, we took the ferry to the mainland and headed north into the mountains to the resort town of Whistler. It’s known of course as a winter resort, where the 2010 Olympics were held but you will never see me there in that winter snow. No way. But in summer it’s not at all quiet as it has developed into a huge mountain bike destination. There’s lots to do, great hikes, outstanding mountain scenery to gawk at, and, because it’s a tourist town, over 200 restaurants of all kinds, a similar number of shops and all kinds of people to gawk at as well after a day of all those views. I particularly liked watching the mountain bikers with their own unique sense of style and attitude.

Highlight of the trip was a Summer Solstice float plane 4-hour sightseeing flight where we flew on top of those huge mountains, in between them through the valleys and over rivers and lakes of emerald and deep blue, eventually landing on one of those secluded mountain lakes. Right beside the place we landed our pilot found an extensive cache of camping equipment beside the lake that someone had likely had delivered up there for some hikers somewhere to rendezvous with. Its contents were torn apart and scattered all over the beach and in the surrounding brush; clearly a bear had found it in the meantime.

The flight was wonderful but I did, however, also want to walk around on the top of those mountains so we took the big gondola up the Whistler mountain to where it ends at the Roundhouse. To go further up to get to the summit we then took a chair lift up to the top, later walked the 3km trail down. They make hanging out on the top of the world easy.

The Mountain Warriors

 

QUADRA ISLAND

In great contrast, a few weeks later we went back to Quadra Island (1 1/2 hour drive plus a short ferry ride) to a cottage I love with its view towards the coast mountains of the mainland and where we can kayak past seals and see kingfishers and herons and turkey vultures, as well as the ubiquitous eagles, ravens and crows doing their crazy thing chasing each other.  I love this island. This is the 3rd year we’ve been to this particular place and I’m booking now for next year. (Tales of past trips to Quadra here: Feeling the Land)

One reason I’m so fond of Quadra is that it is a large island but only a part of it, in the south, is populated so there are big uninhabited areas of forests, lakes, creeks and mountains (well, after Whistler let’s call them big hills). Some keen trail hiking locals have created a trail map book that I’ve been working my way through, and it will take many many more summer visits to get to them all, if ever. After walking on top of the world, here there was a different kind of hiking, this time taking trails through deep forests of tall trees and fern-covered banks, along cliff ridges to find lakes where there are no people at all.

In between all this traveling and scenery gazing back home in Qualicum Beach we’ve had lots of visitors this spring and summer, including #2 Son Mike who was here for close to a month. It’s been busy. But the past week or so everything has slowed down to a crawl, along with the still, heat of mid-summer, and it’s been quiet as I enjoy the scenery around my own home, living outside, watching hummingbirds and bees and puttering. I’m enjoying every quiet moment as I gather my strength because… that quiet is all about to change.

I’m overcoming my reluctance to travel in summer and soon I’ll be traveling Back East, as they say, to Ontario to go visiting some friends and family on a “How can I miss you if you won’t go away” solo trip for a couple of weeks or so. Lots of planes, lots of driving, lots of new geography and lots of visiting. And no doubt lots more walking, gawking and eating.

Stoked.