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| Vance Middleton | profile | all galleries >> Galleries >> summer2012 | tree view | thumbnails | slideshow | map |
 Vancouver Island, BC. |
 The West Coast Trail. Not for the faint of heart. |
 Day 1 on the WCT. The first of many ladders. |
 A view of Pachena bay. In 1700 a tsunami wiped out the winter village here leaving no survivors. |
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 A blow down from last winter. |
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 Pachena light house |
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 A view of the ocean from the trail. |
 A spittlebug. Really. |
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 Hikers carve the buoys that wash up. This one is 11 years old. |
 Miriam |
 Left overs from a 1943 shipwreck. There's a shipwreck per mile. |
 Miriam |
 Some sort of coast guard incident off shore. |
 Bald eagle |
 Bald eagle |
 Our camp fire. End of Day 1. |
 Day 2. Miriam's shell flower. |
 A crabby crab. |
 Whales eat these krilly things |
 Some off the trail exploring |
 Can only be explored at low tide. |
 Goose barnacles. These can live for 20 years and are edible. |
 Small pool |
 Impassable. Valencia Bluffs surge channel. |
 Vance at Valencia Bluffs |
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 Typical WCT board walk |
 Bald Eagle |
 Trestle Creek beach access point. |
 Camp art |
 Tsusiat Falls. Everyone spends a night here. |
 A beach mouse drowned itself in our water bag. |
 Our camp at Tsusiat Falls. |
 Day 3. |
 Bald eagle. |
 Giant Green Pacific Sea Anemone |
 Rooty section of the WCT |
 The WCT runs through First Nations land in places. There are 3 places along the trail where you can get a hot meal. |
 Edgars |
 Edgar's dogs |
 Hikers waiting for their grilled salmon. |
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 An impromptu jam session |
 Nitinat Narrows Ferry |
 Broken down boardwalk |
 One of the better sections |
 A Hairy Woodpeck (I think) |
 Horsetail. A prehistoric plant. Indians of the North American Pacific Northwest eat the young shoots of this plant raw. |
 Hikers on the beach trail. We took the high (mud) trail. |
 Good morning. |
 Hiking to Bonilla Point |
 Whale sighting |
 High five from a whale |
 A sea lion rock near our camp |
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 Stairway to Carmanah |
 Carmanah lighthouse |
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 Lots of ladders |
 Arriving at Chez Monique's |
 Chez Monique |
 Our breakfast. $20 hamburgers and worth it. |
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 Vance |
 Bonilla Point. Our camp for 2 days. |
 Bonilla Creek waterfall |
 Bonilla Creek. |
 Miriam's shell garden |
 Bonilla Creek. |
 We took a day off from hiking and just explored. |
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 Sea ducks |
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 Bull kelp. The fastest growing seaweed in the world. |
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 High tide washing sea lions off their resting rock. |
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 Vance |
 Garter snake |
 Bonilla Point campfire |
 Carmanah creek. Miriam and I put this crosssing in. Note the cable car in the background. |
 Carmanah light house. |
 It took an hour to melt our names into that buoy. |
 On Day 5 the sun came out and we could see across the Straits of Juan de Fuca to Washington (abt 12 miles way) |
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 Bonnila Point. Abandoned section of the WCT. |
 Miriam was betting money that this ladder was going to break on me. |
 Core samples we think. |
 Sunset at Bonilla Point |
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 Day 6. A river otter crossing our camp |
 A wrecked mini-tug used for logging. |
 Cool fog |
 Walbran camp |
 The trail gets progressively harder from this point one. |
 Telegraph wire insulator. Over a 100 years old. The wire was still solid in the center. |
 Suspension bridge |
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 Lunch break at Culite Cove |
 Straits of Juan de Fuca |
 P1050485.JPG |
 Wading at Culite Cove |
 Many hours of hiking on this |
 View from our camp. End of Day 6. |
 Camper Bay. Always crowded. Miriam and I stayed on the 'island' apart from everyone else. |
 Sunset from our camp. |
 Camper Bay. End of day camp fires. |
 Camper Bay. |
 Day 7. Our last day on the WCT. |
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 On the last the trail was very muddy and rooty. We averaged 20-25 min/km. |
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 Old logging cable with a tree growing around it. |
 Miriam signalling to the ferry to come get us. |
 End of the trail. Gordon River. |
 Gaiters are a necessity. |
 Gordon River ferry. |
 Goofing off time in Port Renfre |
 Day 7. End of the day at the Big Fish lodge in Port Renfrew |
 Panorama of Port San Juan from the Big Fish Lodge |
 Sunset at Big Fish Lodge |
 Day 8. Kayaking from Fairy Lake to San Juan Port (12 miles) |
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 Lunch break |
 Paddling in a brackish, tidal river. |
 Port of San Juan |
 Miriam sampling edible rock kelp. |
 Day 9. A ride on a water taxi. Retracing the WCT. |
 Juan de Fuca Express |
 Sunrise. Port of San Juan. |
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 Sport fishing boat. |
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 Thar she blows! |
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 Whale |
 The Nitinat River flowing out and the tide coming in makes for some dangerous currents |
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 Tsusiat Falls viewed from a water taxi |
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 Coming into the town of Bamfield |
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 Macro shot of a water drop on a leaf |
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 This is your captain speaking... |
 Canadian coast guard ship |
 Whale off in the distance |
 Whale |
 Checking out the Nitinat Narrows |
 Juan de Fuca Express with a full load of hikers who just finished the WCT. |
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 The catch of the day for a sports fisherman |
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 Exploring Victoria |
 Interesting lines |
 Interesting lines |
 Interesting textures |
 Victoria's Chinatown |
 Our lunch being cooked |
 Lunch time |
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 Chinatown |
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 Inner Harbor |
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 Inner Harbor |
 Inner Harbor |
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 Street performer |
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 Miriam |
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 Hiking in Southern California |
 12 mile hike |
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 Lupen |
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 A view of the Palm Springs desert |
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 Peak of Mount San Jacinto |
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 Isolated hiker's cabin. I spent the night here alone back when I was about 20. |
 Mount San Jacinto Wilderness |
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 Palm Springs Aerial Tramway |