The End of the Adventure

After the West Coast Trail Dad and I hitched a ride into Bamfield, the closest town where we looked for a place to stay for the night. I love camping in a tent but the stench of my clothes and self convinced me I needed someplace with laundry and a shower. After hunting around Dad finally located a B&B with a single vacancy. The place would probably have only rated half a star but given the temporarily low expectations I had briefly developed, it was wonderful.

A few showers and loads of laundry (the smell still lingers on some of my clothes despite multiple washings) later we went down to the dock to meet Brian, the Juan De Fuca water taxi driver, who we booked to drive us back to Port Renfrew in his boat. True to the forecaster's words it was raining and we were informed that a third of Brian's passengers that morning had gotten sick because the water was really choppy. Only four of us passengers decided to head back on the boat. Brian said a ways into the ride that if he had known the extent of the storm he wouldn't have drove us, the weather, he said was normally only that bad in the winter time. Personally I think I enjoyed the ride more because of the storm. It was more exciting to ride through the crashing waves and rain. I'm convinced I would have been cut out to be a sailor in a different life. I love the salt water on my face and the wind in my hair.

Dad and I hung out behind the cabin for a couple hours of the trip so we could see the coastline and sea lions better. Brian kept the boat close to the coastline the entire time so we could spot various landmarks we had hiked past on the beach. He also took us up close to sea lions and a california grey whale (probably the same one we watched from Chez Monique's). I wish I could have taken pictures but Brian had the number of cameras lost on his ship carved into the dash and I didn't want to add to the casualties.

A few hours drive and a ferry ride later we settled into a campground and then checked out Vancouver the next day and a half. We walked and shopped around downtown, ate Japanese food, and trolleyed around Stanley Park. We also hiked the "Grouse Grind", a nearly vertical 3-km trail leading up to the top of Grouse Mountain where we got a great view of Vancouver. All that walking meant the soles of my feet still felt like they might blister. After the Grouse Grind, Dad drove us all the way home until we arrived in Calgary at 6:30 am the next morning. Thanks for the adventures Dad!