Oh Canada...

So, up until very recently I've been able to boast that I've never set foot off of good ol' USA soil. Many find this interesting because Mel and I spend so much time driving ungodly distances to see things, and we've always lived pretty close to our humoriously-accented friends to the north. The reality is that I've never felt a strong urge to go anywhere else... We have things pretty damn good here in the US and there really isn't a shortage of things to look at (especially if you are willing to spend countless hours behind the wheel to see them). Yes that may be close-minded, but why run the risk of loosing hundreds or thousands of dollars trying to make sense of the dollar/gallon vs. cents/liter gas price conversion? Why put myself at risk on their roads, which invite forigners to travel at 110 while the locals poke along at 65?

All conversion jokes aside, this past weekend we found out that Canada has kinda been holding out on us... Mel and I rolled out of Corvallis on Wednesday evening, and after a sleepy night in an I5 rest area, we arrived in Olympic Park thursday morning to stormy weather and high tides. We spent a low key day wandering around rain forests, preparing ourselves mentally for what was sure to be an intense day of border crossing and canadian->english language translations. Thankfully everything went smoothly and we were soon hauling NW across vancouver island towards Bill's house in Nanoose Bay. After a too-short visit at their new place we loaded his gear and a few dozen fresh oysters for the 3 hour trek to their ski cabin at Mt. Cain.

To summarize briefly: we probably timed our trip for one of their best weekends of the year, allowing us to spend a few days enjoying fresh powder stashes, spectacular t-bar accessed slack country, and some of the nicest locals I've had the pleasure of drinking a beer with. Without hesitation I would say that the trip ranked up there with some of best ski trips I've ever had. Enjoy the pics! :)


Love the sword fern everywhere. This is from a short loop trail before the park.


Awesome little river canyon we hiked along.


More of the Olympic national forest, just outside of Lake Quinault.


Quinault rainforest.


More of Quinault rainforest


Liked this shot of Mel down by the lake so figured I'd include.


Came across this little gem in the Hoh rainforest, started snowing at this point.


I had a hard time resisting photos of snow in the second-growth rainforest.


Friday morning now, looking back towards Hurricane ridge and Port Angeles from the ferry.


Mt Baker from the ferry


Stupidly, this is the only shot I took of the inside of Bill's cabin. The Canadians haven't discovered electricity yet, so candles were in vogue!


Should have taken the time to make this a better pic (tripod) cause the (moon)lighting was perfect.


This is kinda an example of what we got to look at when we woke up. Couldn't find the name of these.


Amazing peaks of the Haihte range: Merlon (L) and Ya'ai (R)


More awesomeness. Couldn't find the name of this either.


Zoomed out view of the Haihte range (L->R): Rugged Peak, Merlon, Ya'ai, and Haihte Spire.



Absurd views from the top of the first T Bar. Only gets better on the next one! LONG lineup though!


Looking kinda towards Mt. Abel and the E. Bowl from the top of the second T-bar. No shortage of backcountry in that direction.


Been a while since I've seen one of these. Usually not with such a backdrop either.


Looking over the W. Bowl towards Hapush, getting ready to drop into our first run. Woot!


One of the super friendly folks I got to meet up there. Seemed like everyone knew Bill...


West Bowl on the last run of the day, still plenty of fresh out there to be had!


Looking down from the cornice at the top of the bowl.


Choose yer own adventure! :)


Sharks tooth(?) from the saddle between North Bowl and West Bowl


Karma biting us in the ass on the last run. When the lift breaks, a local-looking guy shows up, crashes into a lift tower (was pretty funny), climbes unprotected in ski boots while Bill heckles, curses a bunch, but eventually fixes things (but of course, only AFTER we decided to ski off).


Mel preppin for her first run on day II


Mel post-shreadding hard!!! You can see the West bowl behind her (where we spent most of our time on day I).


Day two was dead compared to day one... We had everything to ourselves, including the awesome views.


Riding the lift with the little lady. She didn't even crash once on the way up (sorta a right-of-passage thing)!


Yer's truely. Couldn't seem to lose the grin that weekend.


Shot of Bill's deck. If you stand just right you can see the water through those trees.


Awesomeness in the Cathedral Grove, about a half hour from Bill's


Love the Cedars (my favorite spp), and there were lots here.


Mel and Bill taking in the sweetness. We had this usually busy place to ourselves.


Amazing that this sucker was still alive...


Bella scoping out Bill, wondering what the best way to eat him would be.


Taking her first (cold) bath of the past couple of days.


No, that is not a stick.


Seriously, you'd think with water that clear that she'd be able to see the freaking stick.


Old growth cedars, right on the bank of Cameron Lake


Again.


Great colors along the lake!


More trail through the Cathedral Grove.


Awesome. Awesome. (A theme of the trip apparently).


Riding the BC ferry over to the mainland.


Neat weather rolling in over the coastal mountains.


Vancouver


Parting shot of the coastal mountains... Next time hopefully we'll have more time to explore that way!