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Post by WettCoast on Jun 2, 2017 21:18:13 GMT -8
I won't be solo, as I will be with my other (and better) half. In the latter part of July I will be travelling into the Chilcotin country to canoe the Turner Lakes chain in southern Tweedsmuir Provincial Park. I have been there before (1984 & 2002). It is a lovely & very beautiful spot to escape into the wilderness.  Coast Mountains view from Junker Lake (part of the Turner Lake canoe route) in Tweedsmuir Provincial Park near Bella Coola, BC - 10 July 2002
© WCK-JST by Jim Thorne, on FlickrAfter finishing this trip we will spend a few days in Bella Coola followed by a ferry ride aboard the mighty Nimpkish to Shearwater where we will spend one night. Later the next day (July 29th) we will be back on the Nimpkish for the short hop over to Bella Bella where we will spend one night. On the 30th (Sunday) we will catch the NorEx south to Port Hardy. I am looking forward to both the canoe adventure, & a sampling of the creature comforts aboard the Nimpkish. I just could not wait for the Mr Shoppy One to take over ... |
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Post by WettCoast on Jul 16, 2017 9:37:36 GMT -8
I won't be solo, as I will be with my other (and better) half. In the latter part of July I will be travelling into the Chilcotin country to canoe the Turner Lakes chain in southern Tweedsmuir Provincial Park. I have been there before (1984 & 2002). It is a lovely & very beautiful spot to escape into the wilderness. Well unfortunately this trip is history before it even starts. No Nimpkish for me ... Two things have led to the cancellation ... The weather, fires and road closures all over the place are one thing. There seems to be little prospect of things being much better in a week's time. The other problem being that I had a fall about two weeks ago while walking on a slimy boardwalk at Europa Hotsprings (south of Kitimat, near Kemano). In that fall I cracked or broke a rib or two on my right side which means portaging canoes is not advisable until I am fully recovered. Some trips & ideas are not meant to be, it seems. We will use our credit with BC Ferries toward the cost of a full Inside Passage Summer Day Cruise for our return home from Vancouver Island on August 10th. I am crying because I will never get to ride on the mighty Nimpkish or to experience its many amenities. |
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Neil
Voyager 
Posts: 7,095
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Post by Neil on Jul 16, 2017 11:04:04 GMT -8
I won't be solo, as I will be with my other (and better) half. In the latter part of July I will be travelling into the Chilcotin country to canoe the Turner Lakes chain in southern Tweedsmuir Provincial Park. I have been there before (1984 & 2002). It is a lovely & very beautiful spot to escape into the wilderness. Well unfortunately this trip is history before it even starts. No Nimpkish for me ... Two things have led to the cancellation ... The weather, fires and road closures all over the place are one thing. There seems to be little prospect of things being much better in a week's time. The other problem being that I had a fall about two weeks ago while walking on a slimy boardwalk at Europa Hotsprings (south of Kitimat, near Kemano). In that fall I cracked or broke a rib or two on my right side which means portaging canoes is not advisable until I am fully recovered. Some trips & ideas are not meant to be, it seems. We will use our credit with BC Ferries toward the cost of a full Inside Passage Summer Day Cruise for our return home from Vancouver Island on August 10th. I am crying because I will never get to ride on the mighty Nimpkish or to experience its many amenities. Well Jim, you could always go to your tap and pour a glass of the potable water that Todd Stole was singing the praises of. And if you've got a hard kitchen chair, you could close your eyes, and in the warmth of your house imagine the heated lounge. And I'm not sure what the self service food station is that the website refers to, but I'm guessing that if you find a Ryan Vending machine somewhere, it might be close. So there you go... at least part of the Nimpkish experience, without leaving town. Hope you get well soon. Damaged ribs are no fun. |
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Post by Kahloke on Jul 16, 2017 11:16:46 GMT -8
Well unfortunately this trip is history before it even starts. No Nimpkish for me ... Two things have led to the cancellation ... The weather, fires and road closures all over the place are one thing. There seems to be little prospect of things being much better in a week's time. The other problem being that I had a fall about two weeks ago while walking on a slimy boardwalk at Europa Hotsprings (south of Kitimat, near Kemano). In that fall I cracked or broke a rib or two on my right side which means portaging canoes is not advisable until I am fully recovered. Some trips & ideas are not meant to be, it seems. We will use our credit with BC Ferries toward the cost of a full Inside Passage Summer Day Cruise for our return home from Vancouver Island on August 10th. I am crying because I will never get to ride on the mighty Nimpkish or to experience its many amenities. Ouch! I'll be praying for a quick recovery for you. So no Nimpkish for you, but maybe you'll get a chance to try out Mr. Shoppy One if it goes into service next year. Or is it 2019? We had to cancel a vacation this year, too. We were going to go to Tofino during my wife's spring break (she's a teacher), but had to cancel due to too many looming deadlines, so no injury, but still a disappointment. We're off on our big desert SW national parks trip this Friday. Jim, I know you've been to a lot of the places we'll be going to (Arches, Canyonlands, Mesa Verde, Monument Valley, Bryce, Zion, Yosemite, etc), so I'm really looking forward to seeing these beautiful natural creations. Wish we could go sometime other than summer, but when you're married to a teacher, vacation times are pretty well set. |
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jul 16, 2017 11:58:18 GMT -8
We will use our credit with BC Ferries toward the cost of a full Inside Passage Summer Day Cruise for our return home from Vancouver Island on August 10th. I am crying because I will never get to ride on the mighty Nimpkish or to experience its many amenities. So sorry to hear about that cancellation. The Nimpkish's amenities aside, that would have been a great trip for scenery. But I'm glad that you get to experience some more Inside Passage during summer. Here's hoping that you get a good portion of good weather for that trip. |
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Post by WettCoast on Jul 16, 2017 13:07:05 GMT -8
Ouch! I'll be praying for a quick recovery for you. So no Nimpkish for you, but maybe you'll get a chance to try out Mr. Shoppy One if it goes into service next year. Or is it 2019? We had to cancel a vacation this year, too. We were going to go to Tofino during my wife's spring break (she's a teacher), but had to cancel due to too many looming deadlines, so no injury, but still a disappointment. We're off on our big desert SW national parks trip this Friday. Jim, I know you've been to a lot of the places we'll be going to (Arches, Canyonlands, Mesa Verde, Monument Valley, Bryce, Zion, Yosemite, etc), so I'm really looking forward to seeing these beautiful natural creations. Wish we could go sometime other than summer, but when you're married to a teacher, vacation times are pretty well set. The recovery is going along fairly well. Ten days ago a sneeze was a near death experience! Your trip to the National Parks in the US south west will be interesting though probably hot & crowded. My wife is also a teacher so I understand the reason to go now, rather than at a cooler time of the year. My wife, however, is now semi retired working as a 'teacher on call', meaning a substitute teacher. So we do have the ability to take longer trips when school is in session. |
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Post by Mike C on Jul 17, 2017 10:44:14 GMT -8
Well unfortunately this trip is history before it even starts. No Nimpkish for me ... Two things have led to the cancellation ... The weather, fires and road closures all over the place are one thing. There seems to be little prospect of things being much better in a week's time. The other problem being that I had a fall about two weeks ago while walking on a slimy boardwalk at Europa Hotsprings (south of Kitimat, near Kemano). In that fall I cracked or broke a rib or two on my right side which means portaging canoes is not advisable until I am fully recovered. Some trips & ideas are not meant to be, it seems. We will use our credit with BC Ferries toward the cost of a full Inside Passage Summer Day Cruise for our return home from Vancouver Island on August 10th. I am crying because I will never get to ride on the mighty Nimpkish or to experience its many amenities. Ouch! I'll be praying for a quick recovery for you. So no Nimpkish for you, but maybe you'll get a chance to try out Mr. Shoppy One if it goes into service next year. Or is it 2019? We had to cancel a vacation this year, too. We were going to go to Tofino during my wife's spring break (she's a teacher), but had to cancel due to too many looming deadlines, so no injury, but still a disappointment. We're off on our big desert SW national parks trip this Friday. Jim, I know you've been to a lot of the places we'll be going to (Arches, Canyonlands, Mesa Verde, Monument Valley, Bryce, Zion, Yosemite, etc), so I'm really looking forward to seeing these beautiful natural creations. Wish we could go sometime other than summer, but when you're married to a teacher, vacation times are pretty well set. Enjoy your time in the South! My mom and I do an annual trip each February, and this past year we travelled across the SW on Amtrak's Sunset Limited from Los Angeles to New Orleans, spent some time there, as well as a day trip to Mississippi and Alabama, turning around in Mobile. While this wasn't a trip to visit the national parks (mostly just to ride trains and eat BBQ), the desert is truly an amazing place, as were the folks we met along the way. I will definitely be going back, and doing a trip similar to what you have planned. |
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Post by Low Light Mike on Sept 16, 2017 10:31:13 GMT -8
Mrs. Horn and I enjoy visiting various islands in the Salish Sea. Over our years together, we've done getaways at almost all of the islands that are serviced by BC Ferries routes. The islands that we still haven't visited are: - Cormorant (Alert Bay) - Thetis & Penelakut - PenderWe visited the Pender Islands this past week, and enjoyed our 3-night stay. Our style of travel is "Car & Cabin" and we found a nice simple cabin at the Woods on Pender, which is better known for its fleet of permanently-parked Airstream trailers and glamping tents. But our simple cabin suited us fine. Our visit was simple: Driving around the two islands in a "slow Sunday-drive" fashion, admiring the eclectic houses, visiting the main waypoints (Hope Bay, Port Washington, Port Browning, Bedwell Harbour), soaking up local culture at the Tru-Value Foods store (the sights and smells of the locals), sitting on a cabin porch drinking fine coffee and reading, while periodically staring at the surrounding trees, that kind of stuff. Each night, I took advantage of the early nightfalls of late summer, and went off looking for interesting places for dusk and night photography. There was an abundance of dark sky, and the clouds and moon were co-operative by staying away. My 3 favourite night photo spots were: 1) From the canal bridge, seeing Polaris on one side, and seeing the Milky Way on the other side. Also Port Browning on one side, and Bedwell Harbour on the other. An historic bridge. 2) At Hope Bay, with view to Navy Channel with Mayne Island and Saturna in the distance. I enjoyed hearing and watching Mayne Queen rumble by in the dark, on her last trip to Lyall Harbour for the night. 3) At Mortimer Spit, on the Port Browning side of the canal, with a nice view to the canal bridge that links the two Penders. From our Nanaimo home, there were a few options to get to/from the Penders. For our Monday trip to the Penders, we drove down island to Swartz Bay, and took the very convenient 2:20pm Route-5 sailing on Queen of Cumberland. This is a Pender only sailing, and it was full, with 1 side of the platforms used. For our Thursday return home, we decided to spend a few extra dollars and make it interesting. Instead of taking the free trip home to Swartz Bay and then driving up island, we took the last leg of the Route-9 milk run on Salish Eagle, around noon. The inter-island fare was approx $20 with our experience card, and we got to ride the new Eagle. Following a relaxing drive around north Salt Spring Island, we took the Howe Sound Queen home to Vancouver Island from Vesuvius to Crofton. A lovely time. Here's a bit of what we saw: (more photos are on my Facebook photo page called "From the camera of Mike Bonkowski" and my Instagram at "flugel_horn_mike" where I post coastal photos daily) A lovely old church on South Pender:  DSC06792 by Mike Bonkowski, on Flickr A night at Mortimer Spit, with the canal bridge and the Milky Way  . by Mike Bonkowski, on Flickr |
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Post by Low Light Mike on Sept 16, 2017 15:19:29 GMT -8
Mrs. Horn and I enjoy visiting various islands in the Salish Sea. Over our years together, we've done getaways at almost all of the islands that are serviced by BC Ferries routes. The islands that we still haven't visited are: - Cormorant (Alert Bay) - Thetis & Penelakut - PenderWe visited the Pender Islands this past week. My 3 favourite night photo spots were: 1) From the canal bridge, seeing Polaris on one side, and seeing the Milky Way on the other side. Also Port Browning on one side, and Bedwell Harbour on the other. An historic bridge. 2) At Hope Bay, with view to Navy Channel with Mayne Island and Saturna in the distance. I enjoyed hearing and watching Mayne Queen rumble by in the dark, on her last trip to Lyall Harbour for the night. 3) At Mortimer Spit, on the Port Browning side of the canal, with a nice view to the canal bridge that links the two Penders. Here is the scene at Hope Bay, looking south on Pender, with Mayne Island behind me  . by Mike Bonkowski, on Flickr |
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