More to come later, but here are a few photos from our weekend backpacking trip up Mt. Adams in NH. We stayed in a super cool and rustic cabin called Gray Knob where the people are fit and interesting (and in one case creepy).

Housed in a repurposed bank space, the SAALT pub is just so cool. From the plush leather chairs to the back of the menu that describes each food source, this place is a winner and definitely
Hennacornoelidays recommended.

Cool Stop #22: Ainsworth Hot Springs (just north of Nelson, B.C.)

Nothing cool about this stop. Well, the cold dunk pool is, but everything else is thermal heated between about 85 and 102 degrees. The question is, to dunk or not to dunk? Corey surprised me on this one by immediately dunking in the ice cold water immediately after leaving the super-hot pool. This pool is actually more like a contained stream that flows through a small cave in a semi-circular pattern. You can splash your way through this cave although the sulfur fumes may not be for everyone. The hot springs used to be an afterthought of the mining operation that owned the land. When the mine ceased to be it became a resort stop and now is part of an understated, but modern hotel. Admission is $10 an adult, $5 for a kid. To Henna’s chagrin, kids are more than welcomed but not allowed to splash or cannonball into the not quite as hot bigger pool. They are allowed however, to float on their back while pulled through the cave.

Cool Stop#23: Nelson, B.C.

Located in the gentle West Kootenay’s, Nelson has transformed itself over the last twenty or so years from a timber to tourist town without actually become overly touristy. Although it has plenty of good restaurants and coffee shops, we did not see one souvenir shop. It took us four days in fact just to find a sticker and that one was given to us for free at the Visitor Center. . The people of Nelson, by the way, were, even by Canadian standards, extremely nice. Maybe it is partly the result of the cash crop grown throughout the area but this had to be one of the most easy going places we have ever been. At the Friday Night Market (held every third Friday in the summer) we milled around some of the shop keepers we had met earlier, dread locked aimless wanderers, and more clean-cut citizens. Kids ran around everywhere and a few people danced to the live music in a soulful Deadhead kind of way. There was only one porta potty (for what had to be hundreds or maybe even a thousand people) and people politely lined up for it. We did not see one police officer there and in fact saw only one officer for the entire four days we stayed in the area. Even the guy who stole firewood from me (it was a misunderstanding and the only reason I knew he took the wood was because he told me) talked my ear off. We also returned from a day exploration to find a whole bunch of wood stacked by our fire pit. That’s Canada for you, even the thieves are nice.

Cool Stop #24: Ferry across Kootenay Lake

You really cannot ever know a lake without crossing it. Nelson is in located in the warmer, more laid back Western Kootenay’s. Once you cross the lake you are in the more built up Eastern Kootenay’s and if you head further east you will find yourself in the majestic, over-the-top Rocky Mountains. For me this trip has really driven home the fact that from Pacific to Plains is a series of mountains and valley (from west to east, in Canada, you have the Coastal Mountains, then the Frasier Valley, then more mountains, and repeat).
The ferry is really just a glorified barge and many people, like us, stood by their car while feeling the wind blow in our face. At Balfour (where we boarded) there was a very large Osprey nest with mama feeding her hatchlings). The captain of the boat invited several people to walk through the brig (“just don’t touch anything”) to get to a point that allowed for us a direct view of the bird scene. I was asked to hold Henna’s hand while on the exposed not so kid friendly deck. In forty years of riding the CTA I can honestly say I have never had a similar experience. 7/30/13 Noel

Cool Thing #13: The Ryan Dempster Factor

I don’t like one thing that Theo Epstein has done for the Cubs. He took an average to above average team and traded it in for middling AA workers. And getting rid of Ryan Dempster may have been the worst move he made. Since leaving the Cubs, Ryan keeps on winning and the Cubs keep on losing.

For the last several days I have seen a couple of Cub shirts a day. I was not that surprised to see it in Whistler but here, on the Sunshine Coast (which is a hundred mile or so strip of land on the mainland of BC accessible only by air and water) it feels a little more exotic. A lot here, by the way, surprises me. We expected remote and beautiful and got only the latter. The place, especially considering that the main road (Highway 101) is around sixty years old, is actually quite built up with good sized towns. It also has a more lived-in, less touristy quality than the serene San Juan Islands (where the locals joke you either have three homes or three jobs). Here you have mansions, shacks, artist studios, farmer markets, First Nation lands, and fried fish shacks. You also have a lot of locals wearing Cub gear. That is because Ryan Dempster grew up around here and the town folk have not gotten around to updating their wardrobe. Ryan also remains active in the community both in building a baseball field (Dempster Field) and with his own charity. One person I talked to said that when Ryan was in Chicago he would always give away his game day tickets to the homeless. This led Corey to wonder what a homeless person would do at Wrigley; I pictured them napping in their seats. But then we figured they probably sold those tickets.

Cool Thing #14: Robert’s Creek Provincial Park

We decided not to camp here (and are presently at Porpoise Bay Provincial Park) but it really made an impression on us. So much of travel is perspective and after a frantic morning of us almost missing our ferry to the coast this place was a true respite. Again no marine animals were spotted but we did have fun swimming in the warm strait and searching out the tidal pools for crabs and fish. The Sunshine Coast is like that; full of little things waiting to be discovered but lacking the big, over-the-top attractions found elsewhere. The forest drips with moss, but lacks enough precipitation to be rightly called a rain forest. The beaches are nice too but not as wild as they are in Olympic National Park or the West Coast (Vancouver Island) or as sandy as they might be further south. We have seen a bunch of bald eagles, but after that the animal viewing drops off to slugs and crabs. Henna could care less and spent most of the morning following slimy slug trails around our campsite. As of this writing she has tracked down two of the elusive and kind of gross snail-like animals. I am just hoping she does not want to eat them.

Sand Art by Henna

Cool Thing #15: Skookunichuck Narrows

One exception to the subtle coastal offerings is the Skookunichuck Narrows. The picture below does not begin to do it justice. Picture water moving in an “S” laid on its side. When we first popped out of the trail and I saw the wave moving between the rocks I actually got dizzy. Also cool are the plentiful tide pools stocked with lots and lots of star fish.

Cool Thing #16: The Communal Fire Pit at Porpoise Bay Provincial Park

Instead of having individual fire pits here there are instead two or three communal fire pits (instead of the fifty plus fires you would have otherwise). I do kind of miss the distinctive campfire smell that usually permeates everything we do while camping, but this led to us making a lot of friends here. We also enjoyed being a bit of the celebrity here as almost everyone here is from the Vancouver area (though there are some Washingtonians here too). There are some very nice people in North America and we are lucky to have met so many of them.
The beach here is pretty good too. A lot of sand and even calmer waters than there are elsewhere. Davis Beach (which is just a bit south of here) might have the more even impressive views as a mountainous Vancouver Island with a few snowy peaks thrown in looms across the strait. The tide there is a bit tricky though as it kept pushing our blanket and stuff back until eventually we gave up and returned to Porpoise Bay. And that might be the coolest thing about this coast; the choices one has in beaches. At the tough decisions one must make here. 7/24/13 Noel Happy Birthday Brad!

Our day jobs are on hiatus, Henna is finishing up the last few days of school, and our house sitter has been hanging with us over the past few days. I am starting to feel the pull of the road. Today is June 21st (happy Summer everyone) and we are meeting friends (who are also cousins) on July 8th in Mount Rainier. We begin our trip June 24th. That is the extent of our plans and even those plans lack reservations. This is the way we roll, day trippers without a net. Hope you are able to join us.

Day 20:  Las Vegas, NV to Mammoth Lakes, CA

Leaving Las Vegas we had two choices:  a quick run to the coast or a ramble into the Sierras.  It could have gone either way but we chose the latter.  And, sitting here by a fire and typing up these words I am glad we made the choice we did.

20 minutes north of Vegas on 95 and we were out in some serious desert (the kind of desert where the mobsters dump the bodies).  And this desert continued for quite a long time with some scrubby bushes, interesting cactuses and dusty mountains to both sides.  At a small, indiscrete road Corey told me to make a left heading straight west into California.  There was no tar on the road and a sign said not to go over 35MPH.  Another sign said not to expect gas for 56 miles.  The road led into the dusty mountains and I noticed that oncoming cars had big canisters of gas and water strapped to their sides.  Not the sign I was looking for.

As the road began to switchback I questioned Corey’s route.  She asked if I would prefer going through Death Valley.  I would have come back with a good one, but right then the road began to narrow to such a degree I was concerned our car might scrape against some cliffs.  The switchbacks continued and desert became short trees which became small forests and the temperature dropped to below 80.  And still we climbed and just when the view became good, we dropped and the forest faded as the heat rose.  Around one bend there was a pull out and some ruins.  A small sign said that there was once a small mining town there (Palmetto).  We explored and in doing so found many rusted tin cans and pottery shards (could have been a few days old, could have been a few thousand years old).  Another family was also playing around the bricks and it felt good to be on this crazy road somewhere between Nevada and California.

I am not sure exactly when we entered California as there was no sign greeting us.  This distressed me a little and I felt cheated out of knowing the exact moment when you cross into a new state.  The road in California was even windier than before and filled with dips that sometimes prevented me from seeing beyond a few feet of pavement (like a ship cresting a wave).  One bend warned of a single lane ahead.   Just to be on the safe side I beeped my horn just before making the turn and was surprised to hear an answering honk.  Another piece of road found a group of cows being herded across the street by men on horseback.  For a moment I feared that I took a wrong turn into the past century.   The only real blemish to the trip was us not having time to check out the Ancient Bristle Pine Cone area (7,000 year old living tress, the oldest living plants in the world).  On the plus side we have a good reason now to come back.

Eventually we came to 395 and everything was green and prosperous looking.  In Owens Valley (more things to make me homesick, we also looked for Glen’s brewery, Jean’s bookshop, and Griffin’s art studio) the Sierras were to our left, the dusty Nevada mountains to the right.  Tired we stumbled into Mammoth Lakes and decided to spend a few days here before heading to Yosemite on Sunday (a good day to find campsites).

Day 21:  Mammoth Lakes, California

We woke up today happy to be in the Sierras.  Henna overslept, I read and texted my dad and a friend in Wisconsin, and Corey joined me for a cup of coffee.  Before leaving for the day’s adventure I asked an older couple advice regarding possible area hikes.  John and I started talking (and his companion talked to Corey) and I soon found out that he served as a crew member on Air Force One for six presidents (Eisenhower insisted on being called general, Ford was very friendly and often draped an arm over his shoulders, Johnson was feared by everyone except his wife and J. Edgar Hoover, Carter was a stick in the mud).  John was a good guy to talk to but baited me into political discussions (Me:  “I love camping.”  Him:  “It’s all going to go away (high gas prices) if we reelect this Marxist President.”)  A good balance to John was his wife whom heads a non-profit focused on helping high school drop outs get their GED. While Corey and her talked about the need for a more comprehensive approach to education, John and I debated whether or not death panels were going to decide my future health options.

Our day later involved standing next to a fault line, a long wait for a bus, a crazy standing room only bus ride down from a mountain, and a cool hike leading to Rainbow Falls and Devil’s Postpile National Monument.  It all felt like what I imagine Yosemite to feel like for a reason; prior to the early 20^th century it was part of the national park.  Mining interests, however, wanted to exploit the area and select parcels of land where kicked out of the park (and then later protected as a national monument).  You are not allowed to drive the road in (probably due to it being one lane for a few stretches) and for that reason we paid for a shuttle to take us to the trail head.  While waiting we met a married couple from Anchorage and found out that he is a special education teacher who works primarily with children that have autism.  Another commonality was that her birthday is close to Corey and her father works very hard as a freelance writer (but has a different day job).  They were headed off on a three night excursion with tripods and expensive camera gear in order to reproduce Ansel Adams work.  Many of his photos feature lakes in this area.    The hiking was good, the return bus trip scary, and laundry was postponed for another day.