Two Years

It's been two years since my move out west.

I'd be lying if I said it has been all peachy
but I can say that
I've been there, and done that...

and that's a pretty good start.

Check out these Hooters

Finally got to see some wild owls!

A family of Great Horned Owls to be exact.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Storm Season is Here!

Yes, the time of year when strong winds and crashing waves make living on the west coast all the more interesting. 

With the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority's announcement that the Ogden Point breakwater will soon be wussified with handrails along its entire 700-metre stretch, today's autumn storm provided an excellent opportunity to photograph this classic structure as it stands up to those powerful, stormy waves maybe one last time before it succumbs to the wrath of modern society.

Since my camera wasn't salty enough, here are a couple of photos with the Olympic Mountains in the distance...

And what would stormwatching in Victoria be without a visit to Gonzales Beach?

Now time to dry everything out!
And celebrate Christmas' impending arrival!

Bird's Eyeview of the Saanich Peninsula

I captured the following video while flying back from Vancouver in the Harbour Air sea plane.

The video starts just south of the Victoria International Airport and continues on to the plane's landing in the Victoria Harbour.

Victoria International Chalk Art Festival

Street art is an interesting art form. After all, who would possibly want to put in so much effort creating such beautiful pieces of art, just to see them fade away within a day or so, if not sooner. Luckily for onlookers, there are quite a number of phenomenon artists who do this every day and allow us to have a peek as to how they go about creating their masterpieces.

The 2012 edition of the Victoria International Chalk Art Festival brought together artists such as Tracy Lee Stum, Jeanie Burns, Cathy Gallatin, Lori Escalera, Gabrielle Abbot, Michael Las Casas, and Victoria's own Ian Morris to showcase their talents in creating 2D and 3D chalk art.

In case you missed it, here are some of the masterpieces on display...

Although the festival ends today, the following massive 3D chalk masterpiece will apparently be displayed to the end of the month at the Bay Centre.

Luckily, Victorians don't have to wait another year to get another dose of chalk art as you can find Ian Morris putting his talents frequently to good use on Government Street all year round. Be sure to check him out the next time you visit Victoria.

Sleepy Bear

Logging is one of those gut-wrenchingly complicated issues for me. On one hand, seeing vast swaths of land gutted of its natural beauty makes me sick but on the other hand, logging is still a necessary evil as we still depend on lumber for so many things in our daily lives. There's a large portion of the BC population that also relies on the forestry industry for jobs so livelihoods are at stake, even as industry increasingly exports Canada's raw logs overseas. With such reliance on logging, there's no attempt to hide it on Vancouver Island, which makes it easier for curious members of the public to view the effects logging has on the forest ecosystem. I chose to take a bit of a closer look yesterday. I did not like it one bit. Although seedlings grow where massive trees once stood, the ecosystem will not return to its former glory for a very, very long time. These lands have been basically transformed from wild forests to cropland.

This is not the positive outlook you've come to expect on this blog so to help brighten things up a bit, here are a few photos of a little black bear, I came across, taking a nap on a mossy hill that likely took hundreds of years to develop into a cozy mattress.

  

I'll just add that this black bear was enjoying an early afternoon siesta in a small forested area right next to this...

No soft blankets of moss here.

Orca Photo Shoot

My photography skills were very much humbled during my latest experience with nature.

When you go on a whale watching trip, you dream of capturing that perfect shot but let's be realistic. The chances of that happening are slim, especially when you aren't familiar with the behaviour of wild whales. So best to leave the photography to the experts and just enjoy the show being performed before your very own eyes.

Easier said than done!
Especially for someone like me who enjoys takes tonnes of photographs.
Yes, I admit that what I don't get in quality, I compensate for with quantity.

Yes, it was a struggle turning the camera off after numerous failed attempts of capturing these magnificent beasts coming up for air but I eventually did and enjoyed every minute of my brilliantly sunny afternoon off the coast of San Juan Island .

But I did manage to get at least one somewhat decent shot of a killer whale...

but at least I didn't miss the orca breaching in the distance or the one that swam right under our boat.

I'd love to go out on the water and watch them every day so it's no surprise that I can't wait to do it again!

Avatar Grove - Home of Canada's Gnarliest Tree

After a two-year campaign spearheaded by the Ancient Forest Alliance and backed by thousands of petitioners, a small patch of forest affectionately referred to as "Avatar Grove" near Port Renfrew, British Columbia, was declared off-limits to logging through a new Old-Growth Management Area.  After hearing and reading much about this forest and its star attraction, Canada's Gnarliest Tree, it was time to check it out.

By following the directions to Avatar Grove, you head towards Port Renfrew and beyond, where you can see evidence of clear-cutting from the road.  It's very sad to see mass swaths of forest habitat devastated by mankind, and as you walk through protected areas like Avatar Grove, your appreciation for nature and its power to renew itself provides a small sense of optimism that those destroyed areas will once again rise to a great mass of biodiversity over the next few centuries.

Nevertheless, on to cherish a small victory against the all-mighty forestry industry.

Avatar Grove is split into an upper and lower grove by a logging road. While some may rush on over to the Upper Grove to see Canada's Gnarliest Tree, a walk through the Lower Grove can be just, if not, more rewarding, as giant Douglas Firs and Red Cedars tower over you as you make you make your way to a babbling steam and waterfall.

This isn't a nice afternoon walk with grandma as some may say!  Unless it's one of my grandma's you're talking about! Between the relative steep slope near the start of both hiking paths to the muddy and slippery sections, caution should be taken on the makeshift trails and proper footwear is highly recommended. If you're on the adventurous side, don't make the same mistake I made in wearing a decent pair of jeans either!  But enough about that.  This forest is remarkable!

There are plenty of examples of lush old-growth rainforest here, including many very interesting red cedars with plenty of twists and contorted burls.  Pay close attention to the lush vegetation of the understorey, and how trees are growing on top of other trees. Very cool stuff if you ask me.

While there is no formal path in Avatar Grove, a path has slowly worn its way along the forest floor. This can be a good thing for humans but a potentially bad omen for these beloved trees. Sure, they may have been saved from the chainsaws of the logging industry but now they may face a slow and arduous death, in the face of erosion caused by the eager visitors to get a very close look of these magnificent trees.  Hikers trampling near the base of trees for a great photo op have revealed roots that were once underground. While a couple of footsteps may not seem like much, multiple those intrusions by the hundreds over just a couple of years in the wet conditions of the rainforest, and significant amounts of soil around some of these trees slowly stray further away from their original location.  I'm usually not a fan of boardwalks in areas of ecological importance as I have seen them ruin the ambiance and turned them into tourist traps but while I walked through Avatar Grove, it became readily apparent that the status quo can not continue over the long run, especially as word of Avatar Grove's beauty becomes known to the mainstream public.

Is it worth potentially endangering the longevity of these few jewels to raise awareness of old-growth rainforests and hopefully, protection of other old-growth areas from logging? Perhaps the greater good trumps but maybe we should try to make Avatar Grove an example of a sustainable paradise where hikers and nature can co-exist with as little damage as possible to the trees and ecosystem this initiative has helped protect. Please keep this in mind when visiting the Grove as I too had great ideas as to the types of photographs I thought I'd take of myself with the trees but looking at the current state of the base of many of these trees, I chose not to take part as many have apparently done so in the past. Hopefully, you will try to thread carefully as well.

It should come as little surprise that the threat of erosion might be greatest near Canada's Gnarliest Tree in the Upper Grove.  In addition to all the foot traffic, natural erosion appears to occurring nearby as well.

It just happened that upon logging into my computer back home that evening, I received an e-mail from the Ancient Forest Alliance with news of their latest initiative of raising funds to build an official boardwalk and trail to protect the Avatar’s Grove ecological integrity and visitor safety.  Looks like great minds think alike! Hopefully, the boardwalk plans are fairly basic so this incredible setting isn't ruined by heavy-duty boardwalks found in other rainforests along the coast.

Anyways, you probably arrived here to see photos of Canada's Gnarliest Tree so here it is ...

Many photos online show the tree from a front angle, either straight on or a bit from the side (like above) so here are a few from the back side, just in case you were curious...

Somewhat surprisingly, the tree has been hollowed out over time on its back side...

Once again, my photographs fail to capture the beauty and splendour of this special place.  It truly is a remarkable forest and definitely worth preserving. I will certainly be coming back to Avatar Grove and the surrounding area to explore it in even greater detail.

--- August 2012 Update ---

A couple of videos from my recent visit to Avatar Grove:

Apologies about the dark videos. It seems as though the conversion to YouTube's video format darkened the video big time. You'll just have to visit Avatar Grove yourself!

Supermoon

Hey dude, why's the moon so bright tonight?

Well dude, a supermoon is the coincidence of a full moon with the closest approach the Moon makes to the Earth on its elliptical orbit, and there just happens to be a supermoon tonight.

Vancouver - Victoria Ferry

Before I could start my train trip through the Canadian Rockies, I had to get to the mainland.

Other than grabbing a hold of some driftwood or swimming across the strait, the most economical way to get between Vancouver and Victoria is by ferry.

But the ferry doesn't really take you from Vancouver to Victoria since the ferry terminal on the mainland (Vancouver) side is located in Tsawwassen while the Vancouver Island terminal is at Swartz Bay. This isn't a major inconvenience if you're travelling by car but if you're on foot or bicycle, you'll have to account for the travel time from downtown to the ferry terminal. While not ideal, public transit is available on both sides to assist you with your travels. 

The poster below summarizes the available ground transportation options from the Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay terminals:

From the above options, BC Transit is the cheapest route but it's also the slowest, especially to get to Victoria, unless you're lucky enough to get on an express bus, but even then, there's still the time it takes for everyone to board the bus. Ideally, BC Ferries would offer passengers the option to pre-pay public transit fares which would help speed up the bus-boarding process. 

The ultimate solution would be a downtown to downtown ferry service but until that happens, these options are available to make your trip a bit more bearable if air transportation isn't in your budget.  

Enjoy your mini-cruise!

The Other Niagara Falls

After making my way through the tunnel under the Malahat,

and heading further upstream, I came across Niagara Falls, well, not THAT Niagara Falls, but the other Niagara Falls...

Flowing through the canyon, Niagara Creek drops 156 feet (47.5 metres) over Niagara Falls in Goldstream Provincial Park in British Columbia.  Interestingly enough, this waterfall is nearly the same height as its namesake in Ontario.

If you continue up the canyon, you'll encounter the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway Line that forms the western border of Goldstream Park. Rail construction was started in 1884 and completed at Cliffside Station (Shawnigan Lake) when Sir John A. MacDonald, first prime minister of Canada, drove the last spike on August 13, 1888.  

But enough of the history lesson, people come up here for the trestle

and the view of Mount Finlayson...

And oh yeah, if you're afraid of heights, don't look down!

Juan de Fuca Scouting Trip

It was a bright, warm Saturday in early February... what was one to do on Vancouver Island?

A trip up to Mount Washington sounded tempting but my snow gear is still in boxes in the garage.... Ughh, don't want to waste any of my precious weekend in the garage!

So I just got in the car and ended up in Port Renfrew.

What? Port Renfrew? Really? Why would anyone want to go there?

It's about the journey, not the destination...

Judging on the number of surfers out that morning, it must have been a great day for surfing.

And it just happens that the destination was worth it too. Just past Port Renfrew, you'll find Botany Bay

and Botanical Beach

Crashing waves, bright sunshine, new terrain... time just flew by!

On the way back, I started down the road to Sombrio Beach but had to turn back as my little car wasn't really designed to handle such rough conditions so I continued on to China Beach...

This short trip provided a tiny glimpse into the countless possibilities along the Juan de Fuca Strait coast and that doesn't even include Avatar Grove and the Red Creek Fir that I found out about today. 

Can't wait to explore it all!