Pixmin

Well, it took me some time but I think I found quite a nice spot to spend the night. It might be a bit dared but I’m willing to risk it. The view is just too good not to stay here.

I’m trying to think about where I should go tomorrow morning to catch the sunrise but the map isn’t detailed enough to find a good spot and from what I’ve seen of Tofino, all of the land seemed to be occupied, so I just watch the sunset and call it a day.

I wake up surprised that it’s already 7am and I missed the sunset. The car is covered of ice. The night was much colder with temperatures getting pretty close to -10c, if not that. I wake to a minus 7c.

First things first, I need to find a place where I can sit down and charge my batteries, all my batteries: laptop, camera, and myself with food. After ordering 2 muffins at the Common Loaf (voted best place to have breakfast in the local Tofino Time local paper) it appears that the wireless won’t place nice with macs. So don’t go there if you have a mac. Actually, don’t go their either for the muffins, they were not that good at all, nor felt very fresh. But do go there if you want to talk french!

I try a second place called Vicente’s café. $5 to have access to the Wifi for the day, but their Almond Crescent are just delicious, no regrets!

I have enough time to keep driving down the Oceanside route and decide to go by Qualicum beach. Slightly disappointed. It’s just another beach. I’m not sure what all the hype is about, maybe I missing something here but I just stop to take a photo and I get back in the car, direction Tofino.

I’m not sure if it’s me but just the fact to be on the road “to” Tofino and I start noticing Surf shops’ signs. The rain slowly turns into snow as I get more inland.  I’ve already said that, but this has to be one of the best road I’ve ever driven on, and yes it beats the road to Port Alice! Maybe the fact I’ll be following someone who obviously knows the road leading me ever so quickly to Long beach plays a part in it. And finally, a real big sandy beach!

Funny weather. It’s sunny, I could almost walk in t-shirt on the beach, then as I get back in the car, I get into a hale storm, minutes later it’s sunny again, and then raining, and again a hale storm that paints the road in white, and sunny again, and it will go on like that for a while. Crazy. I now need to find a place to spend the night, maybe get lucky and even book my surfing lesson but everything seems to be already closed.

I pass Sayward and Mount Cain without seeing much. It’s snowing and the visibility doesn’t give me a chance to see the surrounding mountains. But the weather gods will treat me with a great sunrise as the clouds slowly clear up reveling the snowy mountains.

I have to mention the great work the people taking care of the road are doing. They got the road cleared so quickly that I almost didn’t get to drive on snow, just enough to have fun :)

The road to Gold River simply is one of the best I’ve driven so far. I’m not sure if it’s along a lake or the sea, but it just looks so beautiful.

I pass Gold River and continue driving until I get to the end of the road and have breakfast here:

I’m looking around, taking photos, and the pilot of the seaplane comes to me and asks me if I want a ride. I first think he’s joking but he’s not. He says he just needs to check if there’s enough space on the way back for me. So I decide to hang around, watch the “wood factory” (can anyone let me know how this is called?) and have breakfast. This place is amazing. No network, at the end of the road, yet I don’t feel “claustrophobic” as I did in the other city ports I’ve just visited (Port Alice, Port Hardy, Port McNeill). Also, watching the wood workers is better than watching TV. They’re working in harmony like ants, moving wood around, dropping some in the water for the little boats to store them.

Anyway, I just gently wait 12h30 and times flies by. The pilot seems to be gone, another one arrived but isn’t offering me any ride, so I guess I missed my chance to fly in a seaplane and get great views. Never mind. Time to get back on the road, direction South.

My first night in the car and first impressions. Well, it feels much warmer than I thought it would be. I didn’t have to put 2 extra pairs of socks and extra layers, not even close the sleeping bag, so really it feels way warmer than in Iceland, yet the thermometer shows pretty much the same temperatures, just a few degrees below zero. I guess my survival guide David was right and my body is getting used to the cold thanks to the last few month I’ve spent sleeping either outside or near an open window. Just as in Iceland, it’s snowing when I wake up and the car is all white.

First impressions of the car (Jeep Grand Cherokee). It feels smaller than the Toyota Land Cruiser I had during my last road trip. The inside of the car also feels cheaper, especially all the plastic stuff. The back windows are all black and you can’t see inside, which is great for sleeping inside it discreetly. That wasn’t a problem while in Iceland since there was never anyone around the car, but here on Vancouver Island it’s different. I’ve also noticed the car is drinking more fuel than I’d like to, averaging 12.5l/100km.

Time to think about breakfast. The tea I prepared yesterday morning before leaving is still hot yet the bottle is freezing cold. I slowly sip it while checking the map and wondering what surprises today will bring. I think I’ll head to Gold River and have breakfast there.

Decided to see as much as possible, I take the Oceanside route up to the North instead of the highway. Amazing views from the road, what a pleasure to drive this road.

My first stop will be at Miracle beach. I only stop because of the name I saw on the sign. What a disappointment. Nothing miraculous about it. Back on the road.

Next stop will be by Sayward, another little town by the coast.

On my way to Port Hardy, I made a u-turn so see Port Alice. I liked the name of it and the sign was showing plenty of outdoor activities, definitely want to check it out. The road is just amazing to drive. I cannot but feel such a respect for the guys who built this road, what a tremendous work!

Arriving in Port Alice clears my mind in such a way. It’s a small town, by the water you guessed, but there’s such a peaceful feeling to it, another place where I could spend more time. Only I don’t feel like sleeping here, so I decide to continue driving and check out Port McNeill which isn’t too far.

But again, I don’t feel like staying here. I decide to get back on the road and try to make it to Woss as I’ve been there before (during our trip to Mount Cain) and I know I’ll be able to find a quiet spot to park the car and spend the night.

I have the car. Everything is packed. The first part of the Rocky Road trip is starting today. I woke up to a beautiful view on the pink mountains. Direction North. Let’s see what one can find in the North of Vancouver Island.

I was looking for a magnesium block to be able to start a fire if the lighter fails or say, if my fingers are too cold to use the lighter. I ended up in a shop which felt like paradise. All excited about my coming trip starting next week, walking through alleys of camping gear and all sorts of outdoor gear was a bliss.

They did have a magnesium block that makes sparks but it felt cheap and I didn’t really felt like trusting it, plus it was way too bulky. I suppose it’s alright for camping cars and people who have a lot of space and don’t mind the weight. I need something small and light. So I found little fire starters that are “odorless, waterproof and environmentally safe”. Great.

A few hours after I got back home, the gods bless me with the perfect weather to try them out: rain and wind. So I got a lighter (I will have to try with the magnesium sparks once I get it next week) and tried to light it. With the wind, the little Bic lighter had troubles, and it took a while to get a flame, and once I got one, it took a while to get the fire starter started. I think a good windproof lighter is a must as the fire starter has to be burnt for a good few seconds, I’d say 5 to 10, to get started. But boy once it’s started, it really does the job. Nor the rain nor the wind could stop him. A nice flame, up to a feet high, burning for a good 5 minutes. That’s more than enough to start a fire even without dry wood.

Can’t wait to be out in the wild.

A few weeks ago, Adrian and I went for a hike in the backcountry to ride some powder. I didn’t take any photos that day (except for the one of Adrian walking up which wasn’t good anyway). So today I decided to walk around that same mountain to try to capture how much of a hike it was (I think we left before 10am and only came back by 8pm).

This time I didn’t have snowshoes, which was quite stupid really knowing how much snow there was. I sometimes had to walk on my knees, putting some of the weight on the front leg to be able to keep going as I was sinking into the powder.

A few days ago, Adrian and I went to the beach and tried to start a fire before going for a swim. Unfortunately the lighter melted before the fire got fully started and we had to do without it. I then realized that the tools you have are not worth much if you don’t know how to use them. Using a lighter is easy enough, and so is starting a fire in the fireplace, but doing it on the beach with wet wood and wind is another story.

So today, willing to gain some experience, I stopped a couple of times to start a little fire (small as a bowl, just enough to warm up my hands and make sure it was properly started). The first one took me three trials, as the wood was wet by the melting snow but I took more time to prepare the second one and used the “green hair” from the trees and it started very easily from the first time.

Anyway, enough fire talk, I went back just in time for the big air competition and tried to take some photos but there wasn’t much light, so I doubt anything good will come out of it.

Photos from my hike around Mt Alan Brooks »

Not many places where one can:

• Hitchhike to go snowboarding in the morning (I failed, but I could have been snowboarding in the morning and got back by lunch time…)
• Take a bike and be in the forest in a few minutes, where it smells so good of pine trees that you forget that a few minutes ago you were cycling through a town
• Take a relaxing walk by the river
• Have a break and sunbath on a sandy beach (ok, it’s mostly pebbles but there are sandy spots)
• Watch eagles and all other sorts of wild animals

All in a day… I do *love* British Columbia.

Finally, after hearing so much about Mount Cain and its fabulous powder, I went there. Cain is a place opened only during the WE, so the snow isn’t packed like in other places during the week. Makes for great powder.

Five of us left early from Courtenay and after a few hours drive we arrived right in time for the opening. Powder there was. Happy we were. It reminded me of my trip to Val Thorens last year. Cain definitely gets full marks for good powder. It was mostly foggy but we did get a glimpse at the surrounding mountains as the sky cleared up for a little while in the afternoon and Gena and I even saw a beautiful lake in our last ride. Great trip.

Since it was foggy I left the camera in the car, so no photos of this trip, but I’m pretty sure I’ll go again, and this time I’ll bring some photos back.