Category Archives: Travel

Orcas Close But Still Elusive

We have had some good opportunities recently to see orcas up close. That didn’t stop us looking for them while we were on San Juan Island. The west side of the island has regular whale activity of a few species. When we showed up at the good spots, we met people telling us what had been passing by earlier. We even just missed a humpback (or gray depending on who you talked to) that had come into Friday Harbor. We did get a bit luckier when we got to San Juan State Park.

A bunch of orcas were off the coast a bit north of the area we visited. They seemed to be hanging around in one area so may have been feeding. There are two distinct groups of orcas in the area. The resident group feed on salmon while the transient group like mammals such as seals. This was the resident group apparently. Eventually they headed north away from us but, in the mean time, another part of the group came into view from the south. They transited north although sadly a bit far out for a good view.

Where Have the Twin Otters Gone?

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A few years ago we spent some time in Victoria on Vancouver Island. Victoria has a lot of floatplane activity and, at the time, an airline called West Coast Air was operating with a large fleet of Twin Otters. Since that time, West Coast was taken over by Harbour Air. Harbour Air is the dominant operator at Vancouver. However, while we were there, we saw only one Twin Otter. A check online seems to suggest that they have focused more on the Otters and Beavers and reduced the Twin Otter fleet. I assume they are not so economical for the type of operations they undertake but, if anyone has any more information about what happened, pleas let me know.

Otters and Beavers

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A trip to the northwest may involve seeing plenty of wildlife but the Otters and Beavers that I was most excited about were slightly different. These came from the stable of deHavilland Canada. More importantly, they were on floats. The Pacific Northwest is a great place for watching floatplanes. They are heavily used for transportation between many locations on the water. I saw a few while we were on San Juan Island or on the ferries between the islands but not a large number and not when I was in a position to get good shots. However, once we got to Vancouver, things ramped up a bit.

If you have not been to Vancouver, the harbour (it is a Canadian harbor so I think I am spelling it correctly) has a very busy floatplane base. Flights go to surrounding areas and the gulf islands on a regular basis. The planes are a combination of turbine powered Otters and Beavers with either piston engines or turbine conversions. Harbour Air is the dominant operator but others do show up occasionally. The area along the waterfront has undergone a big redevelopment with a convention center and it has great walkways along the water that provide an excellent view of the operations. Planes seem to be coming and going all the time. The may come in across Stanley Park and land in front of you or swing around the harbor and land towards you depending on the wind. As they water taxi in someone else will be heading out and departing towards North Vancouver before turning around the park and heading out over Lions Gate.

We were there at the end of the day so the evening light was very nice on the aircraft. The large number of high rise buildings on the shore does mean that shadows can encroach before the sun has gone down but this is a small issue. Later in the visit we were over in Stanley Park and I got to see some aircraft taking off since they came closer to our position. The damp air certainly makes for some nice streaming vortices off the props when they are at takeoff power.

Rialto Beach

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If you mention going to the beach, most people will initially visualize a sandy stretch with the sun in the sky and the waves lapping the shore. While that is certainly nice, I also love a rugged beach on a rough weather day. We took a diversion during one of our day trips and headed for Rialto Beach. There was rain in the air and the wind was certainly blowing but this enhanced the atmosphere of the beach. Just offshore, large rocky outcroppings rose from the water. Their tops were almost obscured by low cloud and the waves were crashing up against them.

The shoreline was covered with debris that had washed ashore. Logs were stacked up at the high water mark where the waves had pushed them as far as they could go. The bark was stripped leaving the core wood polished and exposed. The stones that made up the beach were ridged based on how high the tide and the waves would push them. Everything looked dramatic in the damp and windy conditions. The attraction of the place was obviously high because plenty of people were there. Whether walking their dogs along the beach, taking a walk along the water’s edge or just standing up near the logs and staring out to sea, they were there in numbers.

The Smaller Ferry

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Our vacation included a few ferry rides. Washington State Ferries come in various sizes depending on the route you are taking but they are all a fairly decent size. However, we passed this guy on one of our legs. This is what I would call personal ferry service. I imagine that, with so many islands and less traffic to most of them, this is the best way to deal with transportation needs. I don’t know whether there is a schedule or if it is on demand but I love the idea. I imagine the onboard catering is pretty limited though.

Dogs Driving Cars

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Okay, I will freely admit that this is not going to be the most informative post. We were walking through Port Townsend and a car came by. Nothing unusual in that. However, out of the sunroof was a dog wearing goggles, presumably to protect the eyes from dust and debris while on the road. This is not the sort of thing I normally see so I thought I would share.

Deception Pass

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We made a transit from one location to another that involved two ferries. It was necessary to drive across Whidbey Island to get from one to the other and, aside from the weather meaning there was no action at the Naval Air Station for me to see, it also meant that we would cross Deception Pass. I had no idea about this pass before we drive over it. As we did so, we could see that it was a pretty dramatic spot so we quickly turned around and parked up.

I decided to cross the first bridge to get to the viewing area in the middle. It was raining quite hard but it seemed like it was worth getting wet for. What I hadn’t thought about was my queasiness with heights. While I have no issue with flying and I’m quite happy to sit in the open door of a helicopter while photographing something, I do have an issue with heights in certain circumstances. Walking across high bridges while very close to the edge is one of those. This bridge has a sidewalk but it is not wide and you have traffic very close so you don’t have much scope for staying away from the railings.

My logical mind knows there is nothing wrong and that I am not going to spontaneously flip over the railing but that doesn’t stop me feeling very uncomfortable. However, just like being on the top of high buildings in Chicago for photo shoots, if I want to get the shot, I am going to have to suck it up. It was worth it. The viewing areas in the middle provide some great looks at the structure and the colors of the bridge were enhanced by being so wet. The water below certainly looked turbulent and I can imagine how happy everyone was when the bridge was originally built.

Disappearing Glaciers

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From Hurricane Ridge, you get a great view of the surrounding mountains of the Olympics. September obviously is not the time to see the snow on most of the mountains but there are some glaciers on some of the peaks. However, it appears like they are in retreat. Photos on the display boards near the visitors’ center show the extent of the glaciers in previous decades and they have retreated a long way. If they don’t slow down (and usually this accelerates), they will be gone before too long. We saw them but it seems plenty won’t get the chance.

Climb to the Top of Hurricane Hill

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Hurricane Ridge is a popular place to visit but go a bit further along and you come to the trailhead for the climb to Hurricane Hill. We felt up for a bit of hiking. The hike is not terribly long but it has two elements to consider. One is a fair bit of climbing with some reasonably steep grades. The other is that you are quite high so the air is noticeably thinner. That is a great excuse for taking things at a steady pace. It isn’t me, it is the altitude!

It certainly is a popular trail. Plenty of people passed us as we were going up and coming back down. The views as you climb get better and better. Some wildlife shows up as well. We saw a marmot at one point. It only lives between certain elevations so this was the only place we were going to catch it. Once you get to the top, you have a view down to the coast. Port Angeles lay beneath us and you could see over to the islands in the distance although the view was a little obscured by the haze. The trip back down was okay but walking downhill is something I don’t enjoy if it is steep. Climbing may be tiring but I find it less hard on the knees. This wasn’t too bad though. You stop less on the way back down since you have seen all of the views on the way up when you were more than happy to pause (only for the photo – not tired at all).

Hurricane Ridge Deer

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Planning our time in the Olympics meant checking the weather forecast. We wanted to go up to Hurricane Ridge but doing so on a day that was forecast for rain was not going to be very good idea. However, one of our days was showing clear skies so we headed up the mountains. The forecast was not wrong. The weather was great and there were plenty of nice overlooks to check out on the way up. Once we got to the top, I was turning in to park when I saw some people stopped ahead of me. Turns out that there are a bunch of deer that hang around up on the ridge and they don’t seem in the least bit bothered by the presence of people. One was looking to come through the parking space I was planning on using. I waited until it decided it was ready to move and then we parked the car. It headed off to join its family.