Hello everyone! As you know I injured my Achilles at the beginning of February. I was hopeful I would be able to head back to the fundraiser this Spring before I head North for work in the Summer. Unfortunately it is looking like I will not be fully recovered until mid-May as of right now. I do not want to jeopardize my employment this Summer and have made the decision not to risk it.

But this doesn’t mean it is over! Just on hold! I said I was going to do three months, and I am still committing to that. I will be going back to Astoria next April and May, when I have some time off of school and work again to complete the trek. Thank you so much everyone for being patient with this little speed bump along the way, I cannot wait to get back to it!

Hello again! Here’s my post for the next week! As is explained throughly in the last paragraph of the post I have busted my achilles on my left foot and have had to come home to let it heal. I will be home until it’s 100 percent, hopefully a month at the most, and then will be extending the trip into May instead of April. It’s unfortunate and I am sorry about it. However, it was an amazing week, and I met a lot of very generous people. I would also like to point out that I am obviously not going to be living an exact parallel to the people in Nepal we are raising money for. I have been helped a lot by strangers along the way, which is something people in rural Nepal would presumably not experience on a daily basis. Just something to keep in mind! I also just made a donation on behalf of all the amazing people that have donated by giving me cash along the way. It is visible on the fundraising page. Remember if you’d like to donate the link is at the top of the page!

Jan. 28’th: Lake Quinault

My achilles tendon on my left foot was particularly sore today. So despite being a little restless and wanting to move on I decided to spend the day in beautiful lake Quinault. It turned out to not be such a terrible idea to take a rest day. I sat outside the mercantile shop that had shut down for the Winter because of a lack of tourists rolling through. However, they had the good grace to leave their wifi running despite not being open which I am eternally grateful for. I finished up last week’s blog, and chatted with people back home. I got talking to my friend Jeremey, who I actually met in Nepal, and we made a plan to meet up when I made my way to White Salmon. Which is where he lives, and across the Columbia River from Hood River. At one point I wandered into the lodge across the street to charge some of my electronics up and my resolve immediately broke.

Remember Ron from last week? The twenty dollars he wanted me to use on myself? How I was going to save it for something really special? Well….it was about ten in the morning; I’d had my usual mush for breakfast. Then I walked into the lodge, and I smelled all the wonderful smells coming from the restaurant and that was pretty much game over. I got a table, sat down, ordered eggs and hash browns, and just devoured it. But I am going to consider that a special occasion anyways, I had a full warm stomach. Life was good!

I spent the rest of the day reading by the lake where I’d set up camp and lounging around. Nothing crazy, and I was definitely battling boredom but I came out the other side. The weather had been fairly meh for the last couple days before this, but as the sun was setting the sky finally cleared. The stars were unreal! The lack of light pollution in the area allowed me to see every star in the sky as far as I could tell. The Big Dipper, among other constellations was reflecting off the still lake, it was beautiful! I had some very reflective and philosophical moments as I munched on chocolate raisins which I purchased with the last $3.50 Ron had given me.

Jan. 29’th: Lake Quinault to Cosmopolis

It was still clear as the sky glowed dim orange over the lake, it was a new day and going to be beautiful. I decided to do a quick two mile hike in the forest above Quinault to test my achilles, after the day of rest, first thing in the morning. I got up to what was admittedly a fairly lacklustre waterfall called ‘Cascade Falls’ above Quinault. My heel was still a little sore but felt pretty good, and I’d gotten into the woods and seen a waterfall so it was a good start to the day. Now, it had not occurred to me that after that two mile hike that I chose to do I still had a three mile hike out of Quinault. This is where my heel started to go again, and it was a very slow trudge out. But I made it! And it was, as mentioned, a beautiful day. I could see moisture evaporating off every log and tree the sun hit. After a decent wait, about two hours, I was picked up by Lorne who got me to Humptulips. (Which is officially my favourite town name in the world). Lorne is 58 and is currently experiencing parenthood for the second time, as he is raising two little girls that his niece abandoned. He was actually on the way to pick one up from a preschool program. As well, he donated 3 dollars, which is awesome!

I waited in Humptulips for another decent stretch of time, and eventually came to the conclusion today was not my lucky day for getting rides. I caught a public bus for one dollar from Humptulips into Aberdeen. Aberdeen, at least the area I was in, was a little bit sketchy, so I got a transfer ticket for no extra fee and took another bus to the very South of Cosmopolis. My plan was to try to hitch a ride out before the sun went down and set up camp somewhere in the forest off the highway. But this didn’t happen because on the bus to Cosmopolis I met Barb, a very kind 45 year old woman who would be my saviour that night. We just got chatting and ended up sitting by the river after I got off the bus where we saw a seal! She invited me over for dinner, which was delicious. There was always some commotion going on in the house. Barb lived with her friend Nicky, and her 91 year old grandma. They also had a little dog named Muffin. On top of this there were always people coming and going, more than I can name here. So it ended up being a very fun night. Eventually I ended up crashing on the couch. I don’t think I made it past 10:30, despite all the commotion around me; I was exhausted.

 

Jan 30’th: Cosmopolis to Astoria 

It was a slow morning for me. I was curled up on the couch, and was relishing not having to psych myself up to get out of my sleeping bag into the cold for one morning. Eventually I got moving; had some cereal (NOT MUSH!) for breakfast, and found out Barb had packed me a lunch which was the best possible way to start my morning. I had decided I was going to try to make a bunch of ground and get to Astoria today. Because, rumour had it, that if I could make Portland by the first of February I could get a ride from Jermey’s sister to White Salmon, which would have been amazing.  I said goodbye to Barb and the many occupants of her household, and then walked over to the road where I started hitching from. It was only a two or three minute walk but I was limping quite badly. The pressure from the back of my boot on the tendon was extremely painful.

 

After one little mishap, where I was picked up and immediately realized we were not going the same way, it was a pretty good day for rides. It was also a great day in terms of weather. Not a cloud in the sky and it was warming up quickly, despite the frost on the roofs of the houses around me. So even when I did have to wait around, I simply basked in the sunlight. First after a little wait, I got a ride from Robbie and Jason, who were both awesome guys! They were grocery shopping in Aberdeen and heading home to Raymond. Robbie works at a fruit stand and gave me some dried pineapple he had on hand which was delicious. As well, after we got to Raymond they gave me two loaves of orange cranberry bread, which they claimed was the best in the world, and I have to agree. I actually gave everyone else that gave me a ride that day a slice and they too concurred that it was the best in the world. They also donated nine dollars! After this I got a quick ride to South Bend from Bob, who was going to drain his friend’s sailboat so it didn’t sink.

South Bend is a fishing and crabbing town, and I had been dropped off right outside a factory on a warm day. Fortunately Diantha picked me up and gave me a quick ride to the end of South Bend, rescuing me from the stink of the factory. Here, a very kind lady named Waynona the Judge picked me up brought me 14 miles closer to Astoria. She was out getting ice cream for her old man, who couldn’t drive and really wanted some because it was such a nice day. She said (and I’m not bragging here it’s a direct quote), that my smile and bright eyes were why she picked me up. So hitchhiking tip #1 of the journey; don’t look like a grump. After this I got picked up by Kevin, who was driving home to Long Beach. He works driving all over Washington state delivering marijuana to dispensaries (although he doesn’t smoke his own product). He also donated twenty dollars, and gave me a pack of gum!

Finally I got picked up by Bob (second one of the day)! Who was coming back in his company’s van from a coffee delivery route. He brought me to the coffee shop he works at in Astoria. Where I received a free cup of coffee! I settled down to use the wifi and tried to figure out where I was going to sleep. I had a plan to get to a park by the waterfront on the other end of Astoria. Unfortunately my heel gave out on me after only five minutes. So I found an old viewing platform on 6’th street, which overlooks the inlet Astoria sits on at the exit of the Columbia River. I set up shop here for the night. I met a good chunk of Astoria’s homeless population, and had a really good talk with one guy named Jerry (or Jer Bear) as he told me to call him. Jer had served in the army and was in Germany before the Berlin Wall came down. We were all treated to a beautiful sunset over the city. I also got in a few more wildlife sightings! Saw a heron, who’s name evidentially was Harry jr., and some sea lions swimming around and barking in the distance. I fell asleep as ships went back and forth in the night, illuminating the inlet.

January 31’st: Astoria

Remember how I was all like “wow sea lions are amazing, so happy I got a chance to see them all here.” Well, I’ve changed my mind. Some time in the night one brave sea lion hopped up on the docks immediately below me and started barking at god knows what. Despite my best efforts of shining my light and yelling down at him, he was determined to stay there. Eventually about 30 minutes later he decided to leave of his own accord, after successfully robbing me of a good night’s sleep. I sound grumpy but in retrospect the whole thing is pretty funny, so I moved on fairly quickly.

Sunrise was also pretty from my little platform, and I enjoyed it as I packed up my belongings. I had planned to get close to Portland today. Unfortunately it was not meant to be. I could barely put any pressure on my heel, let alone hike around on it and stand for hours to hitchhike. I decided I would stay in Astoria, and try to haul to Portland the next day to get a ride still. As days go it was fairly uneventful. I set up shop outside a motel with an ice machine and iced my heel, determined to heal it up. I fought boredom most of the day as I had finished my book, and as the light dimmed I made my way back over to the viewing platform for another night.

February 1’st: Astoria

I had no improvement overnight. I actually did an online physio appointment, and was given some stretches to do to help my achilles, which is very badly sprained. I continued to ice it as well. After my consultation I spent an hour asking around the city if anyone knew where I could get some crutches. After not finding any my heel was feeling awful, and I realized things were getting a little ridiculous. So as mentioned at the top, I’ve had to make the decision to come home for physio and to allow my achilles to hopefully heal quickly. After it is 100 percent I’ll head back to Astoria and pick up where I left off! I will still be down in the States for three months, and my trip will now extend into May instead of April, assuming I can get healthy within the month, which seems likely! I know it’s not ideal but I’m going to prioritize my own health, especially because I need to be able to walk for work in the Summer. You’ll still get the full three months, just a little broken up. I will probably make a small blog post mid February just to keep everyone updated. Thank you for understanding.

Hey everyone! I did this post in kind of a journal format, so it is easy to see from day to day! Let me know what you think, or if I should make it a little more cohesive. Thanks! It has been a blast so far. I might be laying low the next couple days as me left heel is a little busted up, but I’ll keep everyone updated!

Jan 21’st: Port Angeles, Washington – Olympic Hot Springs

Today was a day of farewells. First, after scarfing down as big a breakfast my stomach could handle, I waved goodbye to Gail and my seven favourite new dogs (you met two of them, Ghost and Morpheus, in the last update) as my Dad and I pulled out of her property while the sun slowly rose over the Olympics to our South. After this my Dad drove me to the end of driveable road down the Erwha Valley, which leads towards the hot springs and into the Olympic National Park. We waved hugged and he slowly pulled away, I started down the road with my monster bag weighing in at fifty-sixty pounds at an estimate. The sky was bright and a mountain shone in the gap in the trees made by the road. Most of the hike in was actually road; it was closed due to a washout not far ahead.

Along the way I was passed by several bicyclists, who evidently frequently did daytrips up to the springs. I had some gorgeous mountain views along the way; fortunate to have a mostly clear day to start. The temperature dropped as I climbed, which led to a few icy bridge crossings that were still fairly manageable.

About 16 kilometers and 5 hours later I arrived at the hot springs and set up camp. The hot springs would be more accurately described as warmish springs but it was still a nice dip and I had it all to myself as all the cyclists had gone down for the night. I had my first of many cardboardish tasting porridges for dinner (although it starts to grow on you). Two things I noticed immediately that night were the cold and dark; which I know sound obvious. The cold was fairly easy to manage with smart layering. However, the lack of daylight hours in Winter in the mountains has been a continuing struggle, as I only have so many hours in the day to accomplish things before I have to quickly set up camp. I have actually been breaking down camp in the dark and leaving at first light. All this said, doing this in Summer would have been way to easy, so here we are!

Jan 22’nd: Olympic Hot Springs – Erwha Valley Entrance

I drearily got out of my tent to a damp, cold, dark (this makes it sound worse than it is it was still lovely, these are just the things that were happening) morning by the hot springs. I treated myself to more mush (this is what I’ve renamed anything that is porridge or oatmeal related) for breakfast. I was looking at doing Appleton Pass this day, I had been given contradicting advice by people on the way up as to the conditions and feasibility of it. So, I figured I would go up for a bit and turn back if it looked bad or I was making slow progress. A little over an hour later I was turned back. I was alone, under a severe daylight crunch, and the snow was already building up despite being far below the elevation of the pass. The river I came across that was at least knee deep with no way around was just the final nail in the coffin, and ended up being my turn around point.

I started the long walk down around 9:45. The weather was not nearly as nice and I only saw one other person coming up as I went down. Just before I arrived at the Gilles Canyon overlook I stumbled across a doe and two almost fully-grown fawns. It had started raining quite hard at this point, so I attempted to seek shelter under the entrance to the locked bathroom by the outlook. Unfortunately, after half an hour it was still pouring down; besides it was much lighter on the path under the cover of the trees, so I continued on. I got to the ranger’s cabin a couple of kilometers from the entrance where I left from yesterday, and was contemplating setting up camp but couldn’t find any great places so I carried on, and thank God I did! Right by the road closure my Dad had dropped me off at I found a large shed which I could set my tent up under and hang my wet stuff up in. I decided on cold beans for dinner; in order to save fuel. I listened to Guaranteed by Eddie Vedder (cliché I know, but I’m okay with it) as the rain drummed down peacefully on the roof and the trees swayed with the wind in the distance. Not a bad way to end the day.

Jan 23’rd: Erwha Valley Entrance – Hoh Rainforest Visitor Centre

I woke up in my tent this morning fearful of what seemed to be the rain still going strong outside my shelter. But as I emerged from my tent I realized it was simply the Erwha river flowing across the road behind me. It was overcast and would rain on and off throughout the day, but nothing to the extent of the day before. I got a short two or three minute lift to the main highway, and then started my first hitchhiking leg of the journey. I think after this post I will start to ask if I may take pictures of my drivers, as I think it will give a more human aspect to sections like this. First Chris gave me a ride from the Hot Springs road to Barnes Point, where he works getting kids involved in the National Parks; many school groups come out to visit his center. Then from Barnes Point to the Sol Duc entrance road I got a ride from Logan, who is working on setting up his own campground there, close to Crescent Lake. After this Dan gave me a ride from Sol Duc all the way to Forks, where he was picking up some old fishing equipment. He is also hoping to get a new liver soon even though he is not very high up on the list, and he used to work in the mineral exploration industry in Alaska, just like I do in the Yukon. We bonded over bear stories in that part of the world.

In Forks, I made my first purchase of the trip, a $1.25 can opener. I had broken the tip off my knife trying to get into my beans the night before, I figured this would be a worthy investment based on the amount of canned food in my future. Unfortunately, that night my one dollar can opener immediately broke on can of beans number two. I’ve since gone back to hacking at the cans with my broken knife and hoping I don’t cut off a finger.

I got a ride out of Forks to the beginning of the Hoh road from Teresa, who wasn’t even planning on going that way! She also gave me $13 to put towards the cause, all the money she had in her pocket! (Remember if you’d like to donate the link is at the top of the page). She’s currently getting an online business degree out of her trailer, while at the same time working four days a week at a store down Hoh road. One thing that I really have come to love about hitchhiking is you get a little insight into random stranger’s lives. For some reason people are fairly likely to tell someone they’ve just picked up something personal, and it definitely makes you realize every person’s world is just as radiant (weird word choice but I’m sticking with it) as your world is to you.

I hiked the first six miles down the road until I got a ride from Ashley and her 10ish? year old son Omeran. They live down Hoh road and it is fairly remote; Omeran had just got a whetstone for his new knife and they were driving back from that pickup. Omeran loves science! He had just learned about Avogadro’s number, which I didn’t hear of until grade 12; he also loves the outdoors and was really interested about my work in the Yukon. They gave me a ride to the road closure further down; I then hiked the last six miles to the Hoh visitor center, where the trails start from; along the way I watched a bat chase around insects above me in the dying light. It was totally dark by the time I arrived, so like 5:30 or so. I was still in bed by 8:30 though, occasional boredom from lack of daylight hours and lack of things for me to do after dark has occurred. However, there was a canopy with a light on outside the visitor centre, as well a working power outlet! This was amazing, as I haven’t had to dip into my portable charger at all so far. Everything was sore upon my arrival after three days of decent miles with my heavy pack. I had some blisters on my feet, but I assume these will improve as I break into my new hiking boots.

Jan 24’th Hoh Rainforest Visitor Centre – Olympus Guard Station (Campground)

As I set out from my well-lit and electrified camp spot in the morning, it was overcast but not raining, making it a perfect temperature for hiking. The ten mile or so trail between the visitor centre and Olympus guard station is in very rough condition. This admittedly made it seem a lot longer than ten miles. There were multiple washouts that required me to take my boots and socks off, hike up my pants and go right through the river or puddle that was in my way, as there was no way around. As well, due to the same massive windstorm that hit coastal British Columbia before Christmas there are downed trees everywhere! Most are easily surmountable, but the odd one is massive! These big ones also brought down other smaller trees with them, leading to one ginormous mess of plant matter. There obstructions all required their own unique work arounds to find my way back to the trail. During one such incident, I leaped and landed directly on a sizable blister on my left foot, which led to me limping the last three miles into camp. I actually got to the station in six hours, but it felt like much longer.

One window on the ranger station at the campground was left unlocked. I squeezed my bag into it, and then fell through headfirst. I would set up my sleeping bag inside tonight and make this my home for the next couple days. Here I shamelessly raided the shelf marked ‘community food’; all that was really there that was still edible was a little bit of oatmeal and one freeze dried meal of scrambled eggs. Most of the food was marked from 2015 or earlier. However, I did sweep their floor and refill their water, so in my mind we’re pretty much even. In relation to my raiding, this was the first night that I went to bed hungry, I did eat dinner but the portion sizes I can afford on five dollars a day are not enough to keep me full. But hey, if it was easy you wouldn’t be reading this!

Jan 25’th: Elk Lake

As I shimmied my way out the window of the cabin (the door was locked from the outside making this my only way in or out) I was treated to two beautiful sights. First it was an amazing weather day, only a couple of clouds were in the sky, it was a brisk and clear morning. Secondly, I was only about 30 meters away from a herd of elk grazing around the campgrounds. By a quick head count I would guess there were about ten of them, and they were big majestic beasts. I think we startled each other, which happens when people are falling out of windows, we both stood there staring the other down. After the initial shock of me appearing out of nowhere they went back to their grazing, which allowed me to sit back and take it all in for a couple minutes. I then approached closer to try to get a picture for you guys and as I got too close they all took off at once. (I apologize for the terrible quality picture, I did my best promise). They settled down further away from me than they started, and I set out on a hike in the opposite direction, never to see them again.

That day I headed along the trail further away from the visitor centre, towards Mount Olympus, the highest peak in the Olympic range. The trail on this side of the guard station seemed to be less effected by the windstorm, as there were far less downed trees. I made my way up six miles to Elk Lake (there were two trails I was thinking of exploring, I guess I was drawn this way due to my morning encounter), it was well worth the hike; WOW! I wish my phone camera did these landscapes any justice. I walked out on a log half submerged in the frozen lake, which was set against the trees illuminated by the sun (finally!), which were set against the snowy peaks of the Olympic mountains. For whatever reason “The Kids Aren’t Alright,” by Fall Out Boy came on just as I got there, (I could use my phone liberally because I knew I had power at the visitor center) so I sang and danced there on the frozen lake under the mountains, it was beautiful.

This was the furthest I would explore into the national park, it seemed like a fitting point to turn around. Would I have liked to go a few miles further and get a view of Mount Olympus? Of course! But once again, like back at Appleton Pass, the daylight crunch and the first patches of snow appearing caused me to make the decision to turn around. It wasn’t such a bad way to end. I got hungry on the way down and dipped deeper into my food supply than my rations provided for, but I didn’t care I was riding high. I got back by three o’clock and still had half an hour of direct sunlight on the front of “my” cabin before it dipped below the ridgeline to my South. I took this opportunity to hang up my more wet clothes and just stood there soaking in the rays. My body is still a little sore, I feels like I banged my left foot on the hike down as it is fairly sore, and I still have blisters. For dinner, I treated myself to the scrambled eggs and bacon I had found, I was literally almost drooling while it was cooking in the bag. Then I went to bed, NOT hungry.

Jan 26’th: Olympus Guard Station – Hoh Rainforest Visitor Centre

As I threw my bag out the window of the cabin for the last time and squeezed out after it I looked around for my elk friends where they had been the morning before. Alas, they were no longer around, which was a mild disappointment. However, I consoled myself with the fact that it was another beautiful day and headed back the way I had come from originally. Not a lot new to report seeing as I hiked the same trail already; still in pretty poor condition. It was just nice to finally have a little sunshine in my life. Because the Hoh river runs along the South side of the trail and there being no trees in the river, there were sections where I had direct sunlight hitting my side as I hiked, it was wonderful. Unfortunately, it feels like I must have pulled something in my back-left heel, I noticed it the day before and it was mildly painful as I hiked and occasionally limped along the trail.

This time when I got to the visitor centre I set up my sleeping gear inside the first doors of the entrance, instead of under the canopy outside. This way I could go for a small walk around the area without my heavy bag (although less so now as the food diminishes). It turned out to be a very good idea. As I walked past the large pond by the centre, a big blue heron flew out of it into a tree above, where it stood watching me. Not five minutes later a bald eagle soared over my head. I had the last of my scavenged oatmeal for dinner, and settled down to start writing this out. I promise to stop complaining about it after this but I am hungry! From this point on unless mentioned otherwise just assume that I am hungry. Not horrible stabbing pains, but more of a constant nagging. As it turns out, rather unsurprisingly, five dollars a day is not enough to keep me full, especially with the amount of hiking I’ve been doing. I may have to dial back my physical activity, which just leads to having less stuff to do. But oh well! Part of the challenge! At least I only have to deal with this for three months, some people do their whole lives. Remember, if you’d like to donate the link is above!

Jan. 27’th: Hoh Rainforest Visitor Centre – Lake Quinault

As I was chowing down on my porridge for breakfast, I was quite surprised to see a white van rolling around the parking lots by the visitor centre. As far as I knew the road was still closed because of the government shutdown. I didn’t think much of it and they didn’t seem to notice me. My second surprise of the day came only a couple minutes after I had started hiking back up the road towards highway 101 and the way South. I was greeted by another herd of elk grazing in the morning mist along the road, perhaps as many as twenty of them this time. They are BIG creatures. These ones, perhaps because they are closer to roads and more people than the other herd, were much less skittish and I ended up quite a bit closer to them. I actually was doing my best to avoid coming into super close contact with them, but some of the more stubborn ones refused to move off the road, so I hugged the shoulder and tiptoed nervously by them.

I hiked the six miles out to the road closure, and was met there by a park ranger. He was heading back to work for the first time in a while. Evidently the van I saw earlier was some of his employees, we talked about the conditions of the trails and I carried on. After another mile of hiking I was picked up by a nice fellow named Gene. He was planning on fishing up river but the road had not been reopened to civilians yet, despite the shutdown being over. He drove me the rest of the way out of the Upper Hoh Road and down the highway South for a couple miles. I was then picked up by Shannon and Greg, who were technically on the job as they work along the Hoh River shuttling people’s cars to pick up points while they drift down the river fishing. They only brought me eight miles South, but I absolutely took them up on their offer. Every little bit counts! Finally, Dick Martin picked me up and brought me all the way to the entrance road to Quinault. He was on his way to babysit his two granddaughters in Vancouver, Washington for a week. He was quite the character! He had his golf clubs and one of his many guitars in the back. He plays in a blues band and has more string instruments than I knew existed. Including but not limited to; guitar, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, and many more.

I hiked into Quinault and at the little village shop bought my first groceries of the trip! Five cans of beans for $1.50 each; very exciting I know! I chatted with a few of the locals and then set up camp under a shelter along the lakeshore. Next, I wandered into town to pick up Wi-Fi and charge some stuff as I poked around in the local, and very nice, lodge. There I met Ron and his cute black schnauzer, Lily. We chatted in the lodge for a while about all kinds of things, his time working as an army medic in Korea, me biking across Vietnam and how they compared. (Obviously very different as we discovered.) As well as what I am doing currently; travelling around and my challenge in support of people in Nepal. He ended up slipping me a 20, which a would love to put towards the donation counter, but he insisted I use it on myself. Which, at the end of the day, I am not particularly upset about. There could be a hot meal indoors in my near future, hopefully something involving fruit, which is no longer a part of my diet. I will save it for a special occasion. Thank you very much Ron!

For one last taste of luxury living before I start my challenge of living off of five dollars a day, my awesome dad took me down to Port Angeles. Here I will start my adventure tomorrow, in the Olympic National Park.

But first, back to the morning of the 19’th, my Dad and I woke up early and drove from Vancouver to Seattle. For part of the drive we took the scenic (and wonderfully named) Chackanut Drive. Upon arriving to Seattle we explored the Pike Place market, where I got an apple cider that, somewhat depressingly, cost me six dollars. So, it is looking like there will be no touristy apple ciders in my immediate future. We also went on a very well done underground tour of Seattle, where I learned some incredibly interesting things about the history of the city. One that certainly stuck out revolved around the fact that Seattle was built on mud flats, and had one of the worst sewage systems conceivable. Evidently, once upon a time if you were to accidentally flush the toilet while it was high tide you would come face to face with “up to 8 feet of geysering sewage.” All in all amazing tour.

The  following morning we left for the Edmunds-Kingston ferry, which carried us onto the Olympic Peninsula and towards Port Angeles. We then stopped for what will hopefully be my first hike of many in the Olympic Range. We stopped by Marymere Falls; and then headed up to the peak of arguably the best named mountain I have ever climbed, Mount Storm King. The view from the top was beautiful, overlooking Crescent Lake . We were fortunate enough to arrive just before some clouds rolled over the nearest ridge to obscure the view. Also sometimes obscuring the view, and I’m not complaining, were the numerous Grey Jays (also known as Whiskey Jacks) swarming us as we tucked into our sandwiches.

After coming back down from the peak we made our way to the Air b&b in Port Angeles that my Dad booked as my last night indoors for some time. Now the path to my heart, as I learned today, is having seven dogs. We stayed on a property a short drive out of town, which had llamas, goats, turkeys, horses, and incase you missed it the first time SEVEN DOGS. Along with all its other occupants, it has the master of the house Gail, who was  also fantastic. As well, she made gave a much needed donation to Himalayan Trust, which will benefit those living in Himalayan Nepal. Who, like me starting tomorrow, live off very little. This donation will go towards, among other things, helping children receive and education, and providing safe drinking water for communities. If you would like to make a pledge as well, just click on the “donate” link at the top of the page. Thank you so much!