Day 36, Thursday, October 9, Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic National Park, Washington state, 5643 miles
Some thoughts..
A thought about Vancouver Isand. On my first 600 miles there, i saw not a single roadkill. But as i got within 50 miles or so of Victoria, the major city, i saw two. A symbol for civilization.
It seems that planning where i hope to spend the night gets easier and easier with each trip. Of course, it helps to have been down these roads before because i can always revisit my former camps, and often do. But the planning is complicated by things such as my desire to be off the road long before dark, i never know if the camp will be full or closed or the best sites taken, and so forth.
By way, recall my story about that other Defender that pulled up next to me in Ucluelet? I am now convinced that the driver was indeed a dog if that sign I saw on the road was for real, "Expect the Unexpected."
As i wrote yesterday, i bivouacked at Elwha Camp because i was losing daylight fast and i hate driving at night down unknown roads with wild animals around, and hate setting up camp in the dark. Devoted readers of my blogs will recall what happened before Calgary last year when in the dark i tripped over a rusty metal fire pit and tore open a huge wound in my leg. Elwha camo was a good choice because it was a pleasant enough camp. But also, as i discovered today en route to where i am now, the trip to Klawaha was a lot longer than i expected and the road is one of those you really don't wish to drive during the day, let alone at night. Mark one up again for my ingenuity and sound judgment, not to mention my numerous rules for the road.
On these trips, as i have written, everyone is interested in Erde or the Defender, but no one is interested in me. There was even some young lady at Radar Hill on VI who saw me smoking my pipe and said that that was an impressive pipe. Well, that changed today and when two people showed an interest in me. Just after Erde and i got back from our morning walk, before 8am, two US park rangers raided my campsite. The bad cop was kind enough to ask me to put Erde on the leash instead of just shooting her dead as the park police and police do in DC. I thought they were coming after me because of the three tomatoes given to me by Sue that i accidentally smuggled into the country. No, they were busting me for not registering in the camp the night before. But i did, I told them, and they accepted that because they did not have the key to the self-registry drop box. Then they tried to bust me for not having a permit for the park, at which point i whipped out my Golden Pass, and they accepted that. Just to make sure that i wasn't some some evil-intending character disguised as a guy taking his dog for a ride, the bad cop took my driver's license and golden pass and said they every time they had a contact, they needed to log it in. i had all the right to resist this interrogation, but i cooperated and chatted away about the Defender with the good cop. Then they both went on their way. I traveled 5500 miles in Canada without so much as waving to a cop. I travel maybe 10 miles in the USA and this. Welcome home, Eddie. Is there anyone who does not understand why i prefer camping in Canada? What has happened to the USA over these last 13 years?
If anything, the cops could have busted Erde for her pooping habits. Why she prefers to avoid pooping on her own territory, but thinks nothing about walking over to a neighbor's and doing her business, i do not know. If her poop was normal, that would be one thing, but with all the treats i am giving her off-enzyme (she needs the enzymes in her food for her pancreatic insufficiency), her poop is not the most interesting thing you come here to see. I always have to take three dog poop bags with me wherever i go because she is full of surprises as well as something else unprintable here on this family blog.
On the road today i stopped off for a takeout breakfast at Granny's roadside cafe just beyond Elwah. The only thing the had to offer for the road was some of Granny's homemade apple pie. What a shame. A nice park ranger there was kind enough to give me his only map of the park when i asked for directions to certain camps. It just goes to show you that you that good people show up everywhere.
In 2001, returning from Alaska with then-pups Leben and Erde, we camped in a wonderful rain forest on the Olympic Peninsula here, but i could not recall the name. Thinking that the Hoh Rain Forest was it, i decided on a short-drive today and came here instead of moving on further. After a splendid 20-mile drive into the forest, i discovered that it was not the one we stayed on in 2001, but it was too late to move on. The site we have is rather pleasant enough with the Hoh river in back of us, but the camp draws a lot of visitors and so is showing its wear. And if the condition in which i found my site is any indication of the visitors here, they need to offer some camp manners lessons here to some people. At first i was disappointed that no pets are allowed in the rain forest, (again, a US invention that Quebec has adopted), but dismissed it after recalling Erde's graceless fall at the Rain Forest on Vancouver Island. Regardless, no rain forest for me today as my hard and fast rule is that i do not leave my dogs on these trips for anything other than rest rooms and shopping, and i have made exceptions to that perhaps in four cases in over 300 days on the road with them.
Unfortunately, many of the sites here are being stripped bare by ignorant people going around collecting all the dead wood (and sometimes right off the trees) for firewood instead of paying $5.00 for a bundle, depriving the soil of the nutrients it needs to thrive.
Sleeping tonight should be nice with the sound of the nearby river abetting it. The fresh air and forest sounds in all my sites produced such deep sleeps that i sleep for nine or more hours most nights and have the most fantastic dreams, unlike anything at home.
Yesterday marked the two month anniversary of our losing Leben. I still cannot believe that he is gone, he was such an important part of my life -- and Erde's especially-- for more than 13 years. To say that I miss that magnificent dog would be a gross understatement.
Tomorrow is another short-drive day, just down the highway to a camp on a large bluff on the Pacific. Gotta get there early since it will be crowded for the weekend. After that, we are going to have to pick up the pace of our dairy driving a bit or we will never get home.
Photos of the day...
Our camp at Elwha Camp, Olymoic Natuoanl Park...#10
Austin, the adventurer with his priorities right, and his cozy home on wheels....
The Defender takes in a scene at Crescent Lake along the Olympic Highway. It's near a mountain called Storm King, the same same held by a magnificent mountain in my back yard along the Hudson River where i grew up
The driveway to our hine for the night at the Hoh Rain Firesf camp
Our cozy camp at Hoh River
Our back yard view at Hoh
A visitor who dropped by for dinner. If i wasn't a vegan it would have been "as dinner."
Ed and Erde, On The Road
P.S. Sorry for any errors in this message or posting. The iPad spellcheck is not known for its attention to detail.
1 comment:
Hi Ed, this is Randy, a friend of Karen H. I envy your trip. I was where you are back in April and I think I might know about where you are going today, maybe Kalaloch? If you have time pop down to Ruby Beach, and the short walk down to "Beach 4" (I think that's what the sign says) is very scenic. I'll look forward to your next post. That was awful getting hassled by the rangers, what's up with that??
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