San Juan Island

And now for one of my favorite spots on the planet, which I recently visited...San Juan Island, Washington. San Juan's a lot sunnier than the Seattle area due to its location in "the sun belt." It's also known as being one of the best places on the planet to get up and close and personal to the killer whale. Of course, all three days I was here, it poured down relentlessly, and the killer whales snubbed me with their conspicuous absence. Worthless Shamu.

San Juan's also known for being the site of the 1859 Pig War, which was a war caused by a British pig who got loose and destroyed some American farmer's crops. Yes. The British and Americans really had nothing else to do with their time besides start wars over loose pigs.

So basically, the American farmer shot the offending pig, the British general threatened to arrest the American farmer, and the Americans sent troops to protect the farmer. Both countries set up camps on either side of the island and waited to start their little war when some German guy intervened and negotiated a truce. I can imagine how that went.

American farmer: This pig destroyed my crops. #$@(*&%* little porker!
British general: Shooting it might have been a little bit, uh, overkill, though, don't you think?
German negotiator: How about everyone shuts up and we all forget this over some bier and bratwurst.
British general: Sounds good.
American farmer: Works for me. I'll supply the meat for the bratwurst. I've, uh, recently come into some fine sausage.

And the war was over.

Anyway, despite the weather, it was (as always) an amazing time to be had on San Juan. Here's some pics.

British Camp, on the north side of the island


British Camp building


Ship off Lime Kiln Point, where the orcas usually are


Giant lime kilns from the 1800s in Roche Harbor


Church reflected on the water, Roche Harbor


The potty boat


Giant gorgeous flowers


Canadian and American flags


The Haro Hotel, where Teddy Roosevelt once stayed


Formal gardens in front of Haro Hotel


More of the gardens


Pretty flowers


Limeworks building


Grandma Beach, American Camp (south side of the island)


American Camp


American Camp fields


Beach at Cattle Point (southernmost tip of the island)


View from Reuben Tarte Park


Islands off the Northeast coast


Reuben Tarte Beach


View of Friday Harbor from the ferry

Went to Forks. Didn't see any unibrowed vampires named Edward.

Yeah, so everyone knows of Forks, Washington because it's the setting for the Twilight series. "Twilight tourism" around there is a pretty big deal -- driving through the tiny town, I saw like one grocery store, one hardware store, and like ninety Twilight souvenir shops. I've never seen the Twilight movies and only read the first book so I don't really get the whole Twilight obsession thing. The real reason to go to Forks is to go through Forks...en route to the Hoh Rainforest and other parts of Olympic National Park.

Olympic National Park is one of the most beautiful (and rainiest) spots on earth. It's also one of the few places in the world where glaciers and snowcapped mountains sit alongside a temperate rainforest (the Hoh rainforest)...all less than a hour's drive from the coast. And yes, it basically never stops raining in the Hoh. Even in rare moments when there's no precipitation falling from the sky, everything is still damp and dewey -- nothing ever completely dries out in this Hoh.

Go ahead. Make your jokes about the Hoh. I'll wait.

Olympic Rainforest on the hike to Marymere Falls:


View near Lake Crescent, Olympic National Park:


Trees glow an eerie neon color when the sun shines through:


Fjord near Lake Crescent, Olympic National Park:


Me at Marymere Falls, Olympic National Park:


Hall of Mosses, Hoh Rainforest:


Fern floor, Hoh Rainforest:


Moss over a creek, Hoh Rainforest:


Marymere Falls hike path:

Random Vancouver Pics

Just a few random pics I took on my last day in Vancouver.

Massive cruiseliner (I think Holland America) heading to Alaska:


View from Jericho Beach:


Gate to Chinatown:


Because junkies like smiling happy flowers too:


Some Canadian geese hanging out on city rooftops. Because they're supercool urbanite geese like that.:


A pretty fountain near Canada Place:


A tanker, with skyscrapers behind it:


Kitsilano Pool:

Views from Grouse Mountain

Grouse Mountain is the nearest big mountain to Vancouver. It's 4100 feet high and is reached by the largest sky tram in North America, providing an unbelievable view of the city as you ascend a mile up to the ski resort.

One slight problem: I looked up on the sales signboard and saw that a round-trip ticket on the sky tram is $40. That's a lot of cashola for an unemployed schmuck like myself.

An alternate route to ascend Grouse Mountain is the Grouse Grind, a grueling 90-minute hike known as "Nature's Stairmaster."

I looked down at my broken leg, then back at the signboard. Then back down at my broken leg. Then I sighed, went over to the sales desk, and forked over the $40 for my sky tram ticket. Not to be a wuss, but I don't think the Grouse Grind is ideal for broken limbs. Just hazarding a guess here.

At the top of Grouse Mountain was a cheesy chalet with expensive shops, a cafe, a ski and snowboard rentals place, and lots and lots of snow.

The pictures below are much better if you click 'em to make them bigger.

View of Vancouver as we ascend:


Gorgeous view of downtown Vancouver skyscrapers through the trees on Grouse Mountain:


Another sky tram passing by:


You can see the huge freighters on the water far below:


Some genius on the "Danger: Closed" trail, with a view of the city down below:


The sky tram at the top:


The tramway is actually Swiss by design. Apparently the Swiss know something about mountains. Weird, I know.


We begin the descent:


Might be a nasty fall:


Another tram struts its stuff:


View of Vancouver as we descend...see the massive cruiseships bound for Alaska?


Maybe it's a little steep...


Trams are cute!


Coming in for a landing:


Back on terra firm. Thank God.