BC Coast and Southeast AK

Getting into Canada took longer than I expected.  I thought the customs folks would just look at my passport.  Instead the process took 30-45 mins and involved questioning, a background check, and proof that I had enough money to get back out of the country. Maybe a lot of cyclists stay and never leave.

Remember Sharon, Matthew, and Ella from Joshua Tree National Park?  They live in Delta, BC just south of Vancouver and welcomed me to their home.  I ended up staying for several days and they showed me a great time with hiking, a tour of the city, hovercrafting, bonfire party, many delicious meals including an excellent sushi dinner, and an opportunity to get my bike ready for the remote riding ahead.  I found a new pair of Schwalbe Marathon tires that have been treating me well since.  If all goes well I will run into them again in Glacier National Park in August. 

Out for an easy walk in the woods with the Glades in Squamish at Stawamus Chief Park. Squamish is north of Vancouver toward Whilster.  It is a very athletic and outdoorsy community.  Despite the bad weather there were dozens of others on the trail. 

As we neared the top the rain picked up making the rock scramble part of the trail a bit more difficult.  The view was not as hoped, but there was a little break in the clouds.

Ella taking the hovercraft for a ride in the driveway. Matthew and Ella built it with a leaf blower, plywood, tarp, and duct tape.  Works for adults too!  

The big hovercraft.  Matthew works for the Canadian Coast Guard leading search and rescue operations.  I got a tour of the facility and may or not have gotten a ride on the hovercraft.  There are a lot of areas on the BC coast that cannot be accessed by boat, so the hovercraft is a useful tool. 

Matthew's  brother, Kevin, getting the barn burning party started.  Kevin was visit friends and family in the Vancouver area and so I got brought along to the party.  A great BBQ with fire, potato gun, horseshoeing demonstration, music, and good company.  Party host, Rod, has big plans for his new farm.  I think he will be the Polyface farm of BC.

From Vancouver I took the ferry to Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island to ride down to Victoria, the capital of BC before heading north up the east coast of the island to Port Hardy, where I caught the ferry to Prince Rupert, and then to Skagway, AK. The southern half of Vancouver Island reminds me a bit of Cape Cod, but much less crowded.  Still much more developed than I had expected with several large towns along the way (big enough for big box development). That changed north of Campbell River, where it became much more remote.  People I met all along the way were not only extremely kind, but all around impressive and inspiring.

The view along the southern tip of Vancouver Island, just outside of Victoria.  Mt Baker in the distance. 

Heading in to Victoria.  Lots of beautiful quiet areas just outside a bustling downtown. 

Finding a Warmshowers host in Victoria was not easy as it was Canada Day weekend (Canada's 4th of July). William, a cook in the Navy, came through in grand fashion! A delicious meal and 5 star accommodations. 

Cowichan Bay on Canada Day. Along the way I rode by Shawnigan Lake where Canada Day festivities were in full swing.  BBQing, music, and boating  

Warmshowers host, Peter, came to pick me up in Cowichan Bay to bring me to his house in the village of Musgrave on Salt Spring Island, one of the Gulf Islands east of Vancouver Island. Getting to Musgrave is not easy.  The dirt road over the hill to the paved road is more suited for dirt bikes than touring bikes, so he gave me a ride over to the paved part too. Most travel to down is by boat.  Peter is an impressive and interesting guy.  He is a top competitor in international masters track events, and has done a number of bike tours, including a 79 day ride around Australia. That is quite a feat. Here is a link to descriptions of all his trips:   http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/directory/?o=1&user=petersfreeman&v=3 We had a delicious healthy dinner.  Peter makes his own ice cream and grinds his own flour. He sent me off with a handful of muffins.

Riding along the east Vancouver Island coast.  A quiet spot on the Old Island Highway near Qualicum Beach.  I stopped in town and found a smoothie shop.  A few ladies walking out asked me about my trip and ended up buying me a fancy smoothie. I found a place to camp in the woods near the Little Qualicum River.   

At Campbell River I took a ferry to Quadra Island to stay with Warmshowers hosts, Sam, Andrea and family.  All around awesome people.  They build custom bicycles at their home (www.timetogetnaked.com) and both have or held  world landspeed records on two-wheeled human powered vehicles.  Sam did over 80mph on a recumbent!  (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Whittingham).  On top of all that they are wonderful, fun, and down to earth.   We had a great dinner and played music until midnight.  Above Andrea playing  a Concertina, Misha (their son) playing guitar, and Sam playing harmonica. 

The road north of Campbell River up to Port Hardy.  This was more of what I was expecting.  Not much out there.  A couple very small towns over 155 miles of hilly wet riding. 

I camped at Hoomak Lake rest area just outside of Woss, per the suggestion of the police officer I met in Sayward at the gas station. A very wet night after a very wet day or riding.  The first night of bad mosquitoes.  

I arrived in Port Hardy a day earlier than expected, so spent a night at one of the hostels in town.  Turned out to be a good thing as I got a shower, a good night of sleep, and caught up on the blog.  The second night I found a place to camp out near the ferry terminal.  I could literally see the ferry pull in, which was good as departure was at 7:30AM and I was told to be there 2 hours ahead of time.  At least it was light out. 

The ferry ride up to Prince Rupert involved a lot of napping and staring out the window.  Lush green hillsides and occasional whales. 

My first couchsurfing host, Devlin, in Prince Rupert.  She kindly stayed up for my 11:30PM arrival into town and gave me a futon to sleep in.  She also let me hang around her place the next morning while I waiting for the next ferry to Skagway AK.   

In Prince Rupert, BC I got on the Alaska Marine Highway system into southeast AK.  The boats are noticeably older and dirtier than the Canadian boats.  Unfortunately a bus load of young campers were on my boat, and they took over the upper deck solarium everyone had been telling me about.   I found a comfy enough place on the semi-clean floor in the seating area.    

Mostly cloudy and rainy weather the entire time.  I don't remember the name of this town, but there are a number of towns in Southeast AK that are only accessible by boat or plane.  

Amazing clouds were one of the highlights.  The other was the whales.  At one point there were dozens of whales within view from the boat.  I believe they were all Humpbacks.  Also a couple icebergs floating in the distance farther north.

Heading into Juneau.  On the boat I met, Jim, who was on his way back from the Race Across America (www.raceacrossamerica.org). His wife, Janice, won the 2014 race.  Over 3,000 miles in less than 12 days.  Insane! 

We stopped at several towns up the coast and I got out for a couple quick rides in Ketchikan and in Juneau.  In Juneau I rode out to the Mendenhall Glacier just outside of town.  

Sun setting as the ferry departed Juneau.  My last night sleeping on the ferry was  not great with a 4:45AM arrival into Skagway, AK but I was happy to get back on the bike. And it wasn't raining when I arrived!