I think Journey had quite a bit of fun up in Canada. We went on a few hikes in the snow (she loves the snow), and she had loads of fun playing with her cousins Siri and Ebbi, especially Siri. They would chase each other around the yard for an endless amount of time. It was funny because Journey is so much faster than Siri this year. Siri had no chance at all getting the ball when they played fetch. Ha ha. But they both had fun.
It was not very cold this year in Canada. There was a bit more snow than last year (not too much though). We did not have very many days up there so I did not have any hiking plans, however I always have to go visit Marysville Falls. It is very easy to get to and very close to my sister’s house. I have probably been to it more times than my sister has. Ha ha! It is also very interesting to see how much snow and ice is covering the waterfall. This year it was pretty much exactly what I thought it would be like: decent flow in the creek and a little snow and ice but not too much. It was perfect.
My sister has two dogs (Ebbi, Siri) and one very cute little kitten (Boh). Ebbi is a barker, as is Journey. She did not appreciate the intruder to her house. Her primary goal was to get Journey to bark louder than her. She succeeded. It was a loud house at times. Siri on the other hand was a perfect gentleman. He and Journey got along incredibly well and were best friends by the end of our visit. Boh thought he was a puppy. He followed us around when we walked the dogs on the property. Then the dogs would chase him up a tree. It was quite hilarious.
From the Klahoose Resort website: The Klahoose First Nation peoples have lived here on the central west coast of British Columbia since time immemorial. Klahoose First Nation territories span from Cortes Island, opposite Quadra Island near Campbell River to Toba Inlet.
There is a trail from the resort going straight up the mountain alongside a creek. Supposedly there is an old growth forest up there somewhere. I wanted to hike up and find it. The security guy at the resort was a bit over the top paranoid. He wanted to know exactly where everyone was going and for how long. I can understand that but he also wanted us all to carry bear spray as well whenever we go out. There are no grizzly bears in this area, only black bears. Bear spray is not necessary for black bears. Here is the problem: most people going out have no idea or experience on how to use bear spray and they literally only received a one minute instruction on it. It is inevitable that someone is going to encounter a black bear on the trail and freak out and spray it when the bear is only minding his own business. I did not want to take the bear spray but took it anyway so I would not get in trouble from him. Then I promptly forgot it in our room and did not realize it until I was 30 minutes up the mountain. (maybe I subconsciously forgot it on purpose?)
It was an incredibly beautiful hike through the forest and a bit eerie. I did not see any wildlife whatsoever on the hike. There were not even any birds or squirrels. Only a banana slug. Also it was straight up. I climbed up the mountain for over an hour, I guess about 1200 ft. in elevation, and then the trail ended when it came close to the creek. I still did not see any old growth forest. The trail became exponentially more difficult now, it was more of a mad scramble. How much further was this old growth forest anyway? I climbed up just a little bit and lo and behold I see a waterfall! This was a complete surprise. I had figured there must be a waterfall on this creek somewhere if I climbed high enough but did not think I would easily be able to find anything. It was too cliffy and not possible to get down to the creek side, but I scrambled through the bushes and found a good viewpoint of it. The creek has no name so I will call it Klahoose Falls. A beautiful 71 ft. high bonus waterfall! I was so happy! I retreated back down the mountain and got back down just in time for lunch (and just in time before the paranoid security guy sent out a search party).
In the afternoon Roger took us to Refuge Cove and Teakerne Arm Provincial Park (which I mentioned on my last post). There is only a very small dock here so he had to drop us all off and then go back out and wait in the harbor. He gave us an hour. I really thought we had this timed out perfectly. My calculations said the waterfall would be in the shade at 4PM. However, it was still in full sun when we arrived. I waited and waited and waited but it was still in sun at 5PM. I had no choice but to take my photo. I was a bit bummed about it. Nekoda was with me and we ran back to the dock as fast as we could. We were five minutes late. They had already left without us! Well, he did come back and get us. (he could not wait at the dock for even five minutes because it is so small and it is a very busy place). My wife gave me the stink eye when we got back on the boat. Gee whiz, darling, I was only five minutes late! Ha ha! It was yet another beautiful day in Desolation Sound.
Every meal we had at the Klahoose Resort was exquisite. Our dinner the first night was salmon. It was the second best salmon I have ever eaten. The best (and it will always be the best) was when we were backpacking the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island. A fisherman came up to us one night and sold us a salmon he had just caught on the ocean. We grilled it over the fire and it was unbelievably delicious. Everyone in our group thought the same (and probably still agrees it was the best ever – I know my sister and brother in law still think so).
Much of the regular staff at Klahoose were out sick with COVID when we were there. Unfortunate, however I think we really lucked out on the replacement staff. The waitress was incredibly nice. The chef was amazing. And Roger the boat driver was above and beyond off the top nice. Here are some examples of what he did: (1) Firstly, he knew I liked waterfalls so he went out of his way to take us to some. He went to Racine Falls twice (on the way there and back – they don’t usually do this). (2) He took Nekoda and Tara out on the boat to check his prawn traps. (3) On the way home he stopped for 15 minutes at a rock island where seals were hanging out. This almost made us late for the ferry and the German family late for their flight, and their taxi driver to the airport was a bit perturbed about it – ha ha. (4) One day there was a black bear near the resort. It was off at the point in the distance (at the exact spot where my wife and daughter were swimming the day before). We could see it from the dock but it was a bit far away. Roger comes up to us and asks us if we want to go out in the little boat to see it closer. We all jumped at this. I sprinted back to the room to grab my camera, then he took us over to the point and we all saw the bear up close from the water. It was a very special experience. (5) He took us all on a second boat ride (us and the Iowa family) and not just anywhere but to Teakerne Arm Provincial Park where this is a nice waterfall. When I inquired about going here before the trip I was told it would cost an extra $2000 to go to Teakerne Arm. Ahh, no thanks. I do not want to pay $2000 to just see one 50 ft. high waterfall. I decided to skip it. But Roger took us here for no extra charge! I’m fairly certain if the main boat driver was not sick then we would not have been able to go here. We also got ice cream at the store in Refuge Cove and the Iowa family paid for Roger’s ice cream in appreciation (a small but very nice gesture).
On our first full day here we all got to go on a big boat ride to Toba Inlet. The first stop was at Brem River to see grizzly bears (unfortunately it is not the season to see grizzlies and we did not see any). We did not see much wildlife on this trip. Other than the black bear, we saw just a couple eagles and some seals. We really would have liked to see whales and grizzly bears but it was not in the cards. After Brem River, he took us to Racine Falls: An absolutely incredible waterfall dropping into the ocean at magnificent flow. We got soaked as he took us right under the falls and into the spray. I was busy trying to photograph the falls and did not realize we were about to get wet. Nekoda told me we were going under. I said that’s ok. She said, what about your other camera, it is about to get drenched. Oh yeah, I better move it! Thanks girl. It is very difficult to photograph a waterfall from a boat on the ocean. A tripod is useless so all my shots are hand held. Would I even get any decent photo? It was an incredible day in Desolation Sound.