Attack of the Giant Cephalopod

Cthulhu emerges...

On the beach at Port Renfrew sits this piece of driftwood looking vaguely like a giant octopus with its tentacle-like roots.

You might be thinking: "Well that's ridiculous. Octopuses live in sea water. They can't crawl around on land."

Guess again... and try not to think of one of these critters crawling out of the deep looking for a meal.

The mountain

Mt Baker seen from the Malahat...

Snow-capped Mt Baker is located in the state of Washington, but can be seen from many locations at the south end of Vancouver Island. A scenic lookout at the top of the mountain to the north of Victoria is popular with tourists and locals driving north on Vancouver Island for its awesome views of Baker.

The community of Sidney gets a great view of it too from their waterfront walkway.

Not many locals realize that Mt Baker is an active volcano. The last time it erupted was about 6000 years ago

Birds resting on Sidney's pilings...

A pop of colour

A colourful truck on the road to Port Alberni's waterfront...

The COVID pandemic has effectively crushed our normal travel plans to the U.S. Not gonna lie... we are not happy about it.

We won't even be able to do extensive travel in our own back yard this year. My wife's employer is trying to recover from a three-month shutdown so extended holidays are out for her this year.

We may have to settle for close-by locations such as Port Alberni.

Mystic

Waterfalls at Mystic Beach on Vancouver Island...

People in BC are discovering the outdoor beauty of their province during these days of lock downs, closed borders, and limited vacation time. Media have reported that camping gear is selling briskly as BC residents opt to vacation in their own backyards.

Mt Arrowsmith

The snow capped peaks of Mt Arrowsmith...

Mt Arrowsmith dominates Vancouver Island's central region. It can be seen from Parksville on the island's east coast all the way to Port Alberni on the island's west coast.

Here it's lit up by an early morning sun on a winter day...

Parksville Bay x 2

High noon versus sunset on Parksville's beach...

My wife and I decided to retreat to our condo in Oceanside during the Easter weekend. People across the world are being urged to stay indoors during the COVID crisis. Rather than sitting in our house we figured we could at least enjoy some seaside scenery and fresh air.

This is the view of Parksville Bay from our room. One was taken during the low tide of day, the other during the high tide of sunset...

Retreat indeed

West coast beautiful...

Retreat Island is a pretty-as-a-postcard 7-acre island off of Galiano's west coast. It's hard to believe that this photo was taken during a very spring-like day in February.

There is a home on the island... Google tells me it was for sale as late as 2017 and sold sometime in early 2018. You can see more details of this island and the superb home on it on this Youtube video and here.

Sunrise at 20.8478° N

A panorama of gold and blue...

Sunrise over the Caribbean off the coast near Puerto Morelos, Mexico...

Top of the island

Vistas at the top of Mt Washington...

My wife and I went skiing this past weekend at Vancouver Island's Mt Washington.

It was a 10/10 day... sunny with freshly groomed snow that had just the right 'bite' to it. 

And few crowds despite the excellent conditions. That may have had something to do with the COVID-19 virus which is spreading across the globe. 

Many public venues and events are closing down in an effort to slow the spread of the disease. Mt Washington itself had already cancelled the rest of the season's social events. 

It was a good thing we went skiing when we did. Two days later management decided to shut down all operations on the mountain, effectively ending the ski season about three weeks early.

Morning breakfast

Warm sun, good food, excellent company...

Both mornings during our Galiano stay, I picked up some coffee and some very tasty baked goods from a nearby cafe/bakery.

We enjoyed them from our very private balcony which overlooked the resort grounds and the main ferry terminal of Sturdies Bay.

In the warm mid-morning sun, we were happy to eat our breakfast while watching the ferry traffic go by.

Winter whitewater

Stamp River Falls

Stamp River pours through a cleft in the rocks as it makes it way down to Port Alberni.

The falls are impressive to see. Even more impressive is the fact that salmon somehow fight upstream past this barrier, although they have help from an installed fish ladder.

Cenote

A refreshing swim...

Cenotes are a common feature of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. They are essentially sinkholes which appear when limestone bedrock dissolves to the point it collapses to expose the river underneath.

Tourists will often go for a swim in these cenotes after a day spent doing tourist-y stuff. I'm always surprised by how clear and warm the water is. It's also surprising to see fish swimming in them.

Here on Vancouver Island we have our very own cenote. Wikipedia tells me that it is known as the Devil's Bath. I can't say I've ever heard it called that... it's difficult to get to and I don't think swimming it would be a fun experience at our latitude.

Waterplay at the end of a hot day...

On the road to Tofino

A Vancouver Island river carves a leisurely path..

Driving to Tofino on Vancouver Island is a long twisty adventure but along the way you get to see some of the prettiest scenery on Vancouver Island.

How Green Is My Valley

Green fields and sheep in the distance...

Salt Spring Island off Vancouver Island's east coast is a mix of lush farms tucked in between tracts of lush forests.

Wayback Wednesday: Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon... words can't describe the impact of its view...

It was six years ago that my wife and I were perched on the edge of the Grand Canyon basking in its rich colours and vast scale.

Under an alien sky

Southern Vancouver Island under twin stars...

Google is pretty clever.

I uploaded some photos of a recent ski day at the top of Mt. Washington. Google's robots detected that some of the photos featured overlapping features and promptly stitched them together in this panorama shot. No input (or request) from me required.

Or maybe it's not clever? Yet. You'll notice two suns in the photo indicating that they were taken at different times of the day. 

Spearfish Canyon

The walls of the canyon...

During our summer 2018 trip we stayed at a campground just outside Spearfish SD. On the advice of our camp host we did an early morning drive through the adjacent Spearfish Canyon.

In the early morning light, the scenery and serenity was a thing of beauty. The canyon walls had interesting textures of trees and rock. The rocks that peeked out of the trees were shades of pink and pale yellow.

Distant rock formations peak out from the forests...

Beautiful deadly

Do NOT attempt to swim laps...

Yellowstone's thermal pools might look inviting with their aquamarine colour so reminiscent of tropical water, but don't be fooled.

The temperature of the water is only slightly below boiling and the water is extremely acidic. Staff are often on the lookout for people 'hot potting', i.e. illegally trying to have a soak in the pools as if they were hot tubs.

One unfortunate man from Oregon several years ago learned how deadly they could be in the final minutes of his life. He slipped and fell into the water. The high temperatures and the acidity of the water literally dissolved him before his body could be recovered. Ewww...

Hot potting... a good way to thin out the stupid ones...

Desert dawn

A glorious dawn over the barren landscape...

 The sun rises over the Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho.

We're all going one way... let's hope there's a light at the end... 💀

Craters of the Moon

All that remains of ancient eruptions...

Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho is a surreal black landscape of ancient volcanic rock deposited in a wild variety of shapes and textures.

Inferno Cone is a mountain of ground up pumice as black as pepper...

One tree hill...