Vancouver Island

Gary took us to hidden beaches where we inspected numerous tide pools. Treasures included small crabs, sea anemones and little fish.   

Gary told us that Vancouver Island actually originated in the South Pacific Ocean. It was formed by undersea lava deposits which broke away and slowly drifted northeast toward the North American continent. It is still moving at a rate of one half inch per year. You can see in the picture below how the shore reminds one of many shores in the Hawaiian Islands which were all formed from volcanic flow.

Gary also told us there are no poisonous snakes or grizzly bears on the island. There is no poison oak or poison ivy but there are stinging nettles. We saw lots of them on the trail:

I got stung by a plant while in Russian Gulch State Park last May. I now know it was a Stinging Nettle. It felt like micro needles sticking into my thumb and fore finger. It was very painful for two days and my thumb was numb for several more days. Gary showed us a plant right next to the nettles that the Indians use to relieve the pain. Good to know the next time I play catch with stinging nettles.

In case you are wondering, Barbara is looking at a seagull with a large star fish stuck in its mouth. He can't swallow it and he can't spit it out.  I don't want to speculate on the final outcome.

Next Stop
 

This was a neat place. They raise milk cows and make a lot of different cheeses from the milk. They also make fruit wines from local berries (not grapes). While we were there a cow gave birth and we watched while the baby tried to stand for the first time. She didn't succeed while we were there.  

In the cheese factory we sampled 13 different kinds.  I bought some very fine blue cheese. In the winery we tasted apple wine (very sweet), gooseberry wine (kind of tart), cranberry, blackberry, and blueberry. I bought a bottle of blueberry wine because it had just the right taste to go with blue cheese. 

The final stop was Englishman River Falls Park. We walked about half a mile through a lush second growth forest of Douglas fir, cedar, hemlock and maple to a bridge over a gorge where the water plunges down the narrow rock canyon toward quieter waters below. Beautiful, loud and peaceful at the same time.