Port Hardy Here We Come

Along time back, well maybe only about six months ago, Steve targeted Port Hardy (located on Vancouver Island) British Columbia as a destination spot for our adventure. It seems they are one of the fishing capitals in the world for ocean/river fishing. Don’t know why he would want to come here???!!!

To get to Vancouver Island one must journey to a ferry terminal. We left Libby on July 8^th with the goal of being on the ferry on July 10^th. We were able to actually get to Tsawwassen to take the ferry a day earlier than planned. So we had time to sit and relax after driving quite a bit for two days and found this recreation area nearby to hang out.

 

We ferried over and spent the night of the 9^th at Campbell River. This is a pretty area and a fairly nice sized town. Funny thing as we met a couple from Campbell River when we spent the night of July 8^th in Princeton British Columbia. They were really nice and gave us some great places to be sure and check out while we are on the island.

We left Campbell River in the morning and continued our adventure to Port Hardy. We stopped along the way for lunch. We picked a nice rest area and wouldn’t you know it Izzy discovered water down the hill. I wonder if we can turn her into a dog that can witch for water underground!!

Getting dried off

Movin' on after lunch break

We arrived at our destination the afternoon of July 10^th. The campground is the Quatse River Salmon recovery Centre and Campground and is along the Quatse river. Lucky for Izzy to have her own swimming hole.  Since it's a fish hatchery maybe I could practice my fly fishing too!

The area is beautiful and the town is small and definitely a port town. Steve being the shy fellow he is was able to open up long enough to get connected with someone that enjoys fishing as much as he does. The good part about this is he owns a boat. Go figure!

So we met Jim and his dog Scooter. Needless to say we didn’t waste any time getting into the boat to go fishing. Our first day out was Friday and quite successful. We brought in five fish to the boat, all Chinook (also called springers and kings) and Coho. Yummy! It is too bad we didn’t get all of the ones we hooked into the boat. But we wouldn’t have been able to keep all of them anyway unless we got Scooter a fishing license too!

Getting ready to go fishing

Captain Jim and First Mate Scooter

Steve and I actually did go fishing on Thursday from the dock. We caught a few of these wonderful looking creatures and decided since they were so interesting we didn’t want to keep them!

There are several trails from the campground that you can walk or ride your bike on so one day we decided to go for a bike ride to the marina. We ran into Jim there as he was pulling in with his boat and his boss. We sat and visited with them for a bit and then headed back to our camp.  The trail was wide enough in some spots we could ride side-by-side. Unfortunately I being the talented klutz that I am found a spot that had a nice low branch encroaching into the trail which I had to skillfully avoid. My skills are so good that I had to sacrifice myself so I wouldn’t run into Steve’s back tire. So yap you guessed it I gracefully had a bike accident. Lucky for me all those years of being a klutz paid off and I was able to fall correctly and not damage my bike or me for that matter. Good thing to as Izzy wasn’t there to kiss any scrapes and make them better!

We have been exploring and checking out the different sites. We went to an area called Telegraph Cove which has about only 3 residents during the winter.  However this time of year there are quite a few people hanging around. It is a beautiful spot and filled with history of WWII and the establishment of the telegraph in order to let the country know if there was any enemy activity going on. Besides being known for the telegraph, the town is a fishing and logging community.  We had lunch overlooking the marina and wandered around and toured their whale museum. The museum is great and has quite the variety of bones on display, and is a great place for an education on these creatures as well as other. It’s also built above the water so if you look through the cracks in the floor you see the water.

An old Dodge at Telegraph Cove

The view from the dock

Part of the marina at Telegraph Cove

  

Jim and Scooter accompanied us one day for a tour to Port Alice and the Marble River. We stopped at one of the lakes for a picnic. Of course Izzy had to go swimming.

Waiting for a stick to be thrown

 

The Marble River is quite well known for its trout fishing ability and we stopped on the bridge and even spotted a couple of Steel head. Pretty cool if you ask me.

The Marble River

 

On the way back to our home, Jim routed us to the southern part of Port Hardy. We stopped at this bay and spotted this old boat. It is has been here quite a while so I think we might be able to buy it pretty cheap if we want!

We might be able to afford this boat

Jim and Tory

Deep in conversation

 

Jim took us out fishing again this week to a different spot than we fished the last time. We had a great day and brought back more fish! Scooter decided to hang out with me for a bit of the boat ride as we did some touring of the Gordon Group islands. At the end of Vancouver Island is Cape Scott and this lighthouse which is still staffed.  We didn’t realize how many islands there are off of British Columbia’s mainland. You could spend a lot of time island hopping up here.

 

 

Scooter found the best spot!

Cape Scott Lighthouse

Guess what's for dinner?

We hadn’t been fishing for halibut yet so we arranged to go on Thursday (July 18) with one of the local guides. We had to wake up at 0400 for this little trip. Made me feel like I was back at work! We struck out on getting even a nibble from a halibut or any other bottom fish, but did manage to hook three more salmon.  Steve caught the biggest one which was around 25 pounds when we were shooting for halibut.  It didn’t matter to us since we kind of like salmon.

Steve won the biggest fish for the day

We haven’t given up on trying to catch some of those funny looking bottom fish so we will find another day to try again.

We will be checking out the festivities this weekend here as they have an annual event called the Filomi days. It stands for fishing, logging and mining since those are the three primary things that happen in this neck of the woods. 

We will be moving to another RV spot on Sunday which is pretty sweet. We get to have a gorgeous view of the mountains and the golf course at the same time!  You know what that means don’t you? Yap, we get to chase the little white thing some as well as the little things that swim!! Heaven help us! More to come from Port Hardy!

I Didn’t Break My Ankle This Time

 

You are probably reading the title of this and wondering “what on earth”?  Well the last time I was in Libby for firefighting I broke my ankle during my fire assignment. I won’t go into detail but needless to say I was glad I didn’t do it again!

We chose to come through Libby on our way to Canada so we could do some fishing and see our friends Paul and Sherry.  I also was hoping to connect with another from friend from earlier Forest Service days, Becky, but couldn’t swing it.

We had an opportunity to get out and do some golfing the day we arrived. We encountered some unusual golfers at the end of the seventh green.  I don’t think they were too interested in playing or in us for that matter.

The view of the Cabinet Mountains is spectacular so you can see why we wanted to come to the course. It surely wasn’t to play golf according to our score!

Posing for the camera guy

 

We spent July 4^th fishing, exploring and of course having a barbeque.  The fishing was fun and we even caught some fish. Finally!  Too bad they were underage children so we through them back into the water. Izzy of course went to look for them once we did that but she just wasn’t quite fast enough.

 

 

IT by the Dam on the Kootenai River

Dumping into the Kootenai

We were able to get Paul out of the office Friday afternoon and play some golf. It gave us a chance to get caught up plus remember how well we used to play the game!  Over the weekend we were able to go to one of Paul and Sherry’s spots for fishing. Paul was the motor for the boat and Steve and I targeted fish with our flies. No not the kind you want to swat silly.  After a while Steve and Paul switched places so Paul could fish for a while. I think since it was his spot he had the fix in with the fish since he caught one and we didn’t.  It really didn’t matter to us as we were enjoying the company, conversation and the surroundings!

The View from the Boat

 

Steve and Paul relaxing

 

We ended our time with Paul and Sherry with one last golf game and dinner. It was so good to see them and Steve was anxious to fish the Kootenai but wasn’t able to as it was too high and too much water moving through so we might just have to come back once we leave Canada!

Paul and Sherry

 

Leaving Paul and Sherry's we encountered some unusual wildlife. This guy appears to be a cross between a mule dear and a white tail dear. What do you think?

 

Monday we ventured on down the road to cross over into our neighboring country. More to come from SIT.

 

 

 

Maybe the Fish Will Like Us Better In the Flathead Area

 

Our journey from Missoula landed us in Bigfork Montana for a few days and then Hungry Horse Montana.

From our site in Bigfork

Setting Up in Bigfork

 
 
Our goals were simple, we wanted to fish and see Glacier National Park. Oh yeah and maybe play some golf.

The first two days at Bigfork really didn’t offer us a chance to fish any as it pretty much rained cats and dogs. Too bad it didn’t rain fish!  It did give us a chance to explore the area some and check out Kalispell. There is quite a history in that area.

Since the weather eluded us for fishing we were able to take in the arts!  Bigfork has some pretty cool artists and their studios are available on the main drag.  Only if we had a bigger RV!!  The other art thing we did was go to a musical at the Bigfork Summer Playhouse. We decided to go see Spamalot since it fit our schedule best.

We had a chance to visit with someone in the know at the playhouse and learned about the actors and how they end up in a small town in northwestern Montana. These young people have a huge challenge as they have to learn lines in five musicals that run during the summer season. Steve and I take our hats off to them as we are challenged to remember our address!  Oh yeah, we kind-of don’t have one!!

We left Bigfork on Saturday June 22^nd to hang out for a while in Hungry Horse. Steve’s sister Chris, her husband Dale, and one of their children, Rachel, were going to be there during part of the time we were so we decided to stay longer to get a chance to visit with them.

The first few days we ventured into Glacier National Park. If you ever get a chance to come to this area of Montana we highly recommend it as you will not be disappointed.

Glacial flour makes the color

Inviting but cold Lake McDonald

A waterfall in Glacier National Park

Lake McDonald from the Lodge

 

The park offers a variety of sites including a short Trail in the Cedars. We came across this root structure from a huge cedar tree that had seen better days. 

Root art along the Trail in the Cedars but Steve say's it looks like my hair in the morning

There is also a beautiful waterfall as part of Avalanche Creek.  Shortly after passing the waterfall it started to rain so we decided it was a good time to seek out some cover for a bit and this buck strolled by. Funny the rain didn’t seem to stop him from eating!

Avalanche Creek

Just Passing Through

We were able to play golf a few times at the Glacier View Golf Club. One of the wonderful things about traveling is you get to encounter both great golf courses and great scenery!

The View at the Glacier View Golf Club 

We were told fishing at the Hungry Horse Reservoir might produce some of those critters with gills so we set out one day to just find out!  We found the spot (a creek entering the reservoir) and set-up to try. The act of fishing was fun, the place beautiful, the weather moist at times, but the results were nil. Oh well, one has to try!

Feeding the Hungry Horse Reservoir

Maybe the Fish Will be Nice to Me

 

We also tried to find a fishing hole somewhere along the Flathead River. The rafters were out but the fish weren’t!

Don't know if the fish are here but it's pretty

Since the little swimming dudes weren’t cooperating we headed back into the park. Steve put the fear of traveling on a road into me and said we were going to take the Going to the Sun Road to Logan’s Pass. I wondered why it was a road that would invoke fear in a person. I am not one to usually have problems with traveling mountainous roads so I wasn’t worried!  We started to climb from along the river and into the glacial surroundings. He was right about the road if you have a fear of heights and a lot of curves. Luckily I don’t and besides you could always close your eyes.

I was able to get some pictures along the way to Logan’s Pass and such a view! At Logan’s Pass we were able to view some bighorn sheep grazing on the side of a mountain but unfortunately they didn’t want to come closer for a photo op.

Glacial Activity Results

Quite the site

We were just down there

A hike with a place to cool off

Just one of the beautiful waterfalls along the Going to the Sun Road

A View from the Going to the Sun Road

 

At the top of Logan's Pass

Just a bit of snow

The last couple of days we spent our time with Chris, Dale and Rachel. We enjoyed playing cards, and taking a trip to White Fish to check out the view from the top of Big Mountain. The ski lift runs in the summer so you can ride to the top of the mountain. We took a picnic and enjoyed the cooler temperatures for a while. A short hike around was fun and snow was still hanging around. I won’t tell you who wanted to have a snowball fight, but I bet you can guess.

Card playing with Dale and Rachel

Chris and Tory at the top of the mountain

Dale and Chris cruising

Looking at the Rockies from Big Mountain

White Fish Lake from above

 

One of the fun things about traveling around is the people you get to meet. Our neighbors in the Canyon RV Park in Hungry Horse were great and we were able to spend a bit of time with them. So we decided to have a barbeque one night and hang out. Phil and Veline are retired and do a bit of traveling every year away from home which is in Utah. We had a nice time and the best part is they like Izzy!

Phil and Veline our neighbors in Hungry Horse

We pulled up stakes, well actually hooked the truck up and pulled the slide-outs in and headed to Libby Montana for a few days before we enter Canada.  More to come!!  Happy Fourth to all of you!