Eagle Paw Organics

This week I had a breif stay at Eagle Paws Organic Farm. It really does feel great to get into the dirt and after a long day of work enjoy some great organic homecooked foods. Eagle paws is located in East Sooke, Coastal dense forests and lots of fog. It's a beautiful farm with many varieties flourishing due to the hard work of Candice and her hard working apprentices and wwoofers.
My stay was breif partly because i need to get down to nickels and dimes, and find some paid work to cover my new bc auto insurance which is double than that in ontario. This week I've been spending much time online and searching classifieds for building workshops and apprenticeships.
This weekend I will head out to Mayne island for a celebration on the future Farm where Jeff and Samantha will live. I'll Hopefully have a chance to meet some locals including A cob home builder and find out more about work opportunities on the island. More on this later.

Shredding Waves on Long Beach, The Rainforest Coast

It's been a wonderfully wild week on Longbeach in Tofino, on the westcoast of Vancouver Island. On Tuesday Shannon and I, headed out towards Sooke and Portrenfrew, which is the end of the highway along the south west coast and the beginning of the west coast trail. We gassed up at a marina in port Renfrew and headed out on the logging roads north. Across into lake Cowachin for a night in an old logging camp, the type of lake a lochness would love to love in.

Then up out to see Nitinat sound (these are real bad roads and now i think i need new shocks and a tie rod) this is where everyone whose into kite surfing goes. From here it was north to Port Alberni and on to Tofino.

This is a beautiful place and a nice little town but it's a tourist trap too. Ucluelet is great with an active fishing village and community. When we got there no campsites were available we finally found a walk in site but they wanted $60 for a night! we talked them down to 40, and later found cheaper walk-in deals when sites opened up at Greenpoint provincial park (first come first serve).about $17 a night but no shower. So I was a salty dawg for about 4 days.

We nosed around the towns and had guided nature walks in the rain forest, but the most fun was the Beach. Everyone who comes here has to come for the Beaches and the surf. Huge wide sandy beaches that go on forever. Beachcombers keep your pants on. Tide pools and sea life all over. Morning fog (in fogust as they call it here) clears to warm sun and ocean breezes. For 8 a day you can rent a Boogie board from the peoples drug mart in tofino and a wet suit from long beach surf shop $15 (you need a wetsuit cause the water is cold). You can hit the waves (best at high tide) with no experience and have the most fun of your life getting your ass pounded by waves. I was really sore the next day but got back out there.



We picked up at least 7 hitchhikers mostly young travelers trying to get to beaches, all nice people, and Patrick and ukee from quebec who came out wave surfing one morning with us.
We met a crazy hippie named Claude Robert who goes to the Tofino sat. Market with his van and giant dream catchers to put out his wild vibe. He strangely doesn't sell these but charges tourists $1 to take a picture of him. He'll chase you down across a parking lot. No Jokes. I gave him some money to get a new fuel pump for the dream machine. We also saw a live folk show Jeremy Walsh on Saturday night.
On the way home we stopped at Cathedral grove to take in the big old growth (see photos on flickr) Now shannon is leaving for the east and i am getting the van worked on (new tie rod and shocks) to keep her going.
p.s. - no more logging roads

Squamish Loggers Days

I drove down from the mountains and through Kamloops, where I picked up some organic Veggies and a fresh caught salmon tail for dinner at the local market. Down into steep mountain valley's, trains flying by down into the outskirts of Vancouver for a nights stay.
The next day I headed into Vancouver to find Jeff Taylor's place. I spent the entire day lost in parts of both North, West and downtown Vancouver. It's turns out there are 3 east 15th streets. Finally i met up with Jeff and we headed out to and Ethiopian restaurant for dinner with his fiancee Samantha. Jeff and Samantha will be getting married next month and moving out to Mayne isl. in the Gulf where they are planning on developing a piece of land and starting a farm. Jeff invited me to come work later in the season when they get set up out there. It's a wonderful opportunity and I will defiantly take them up on it. Samantha is a wonderful gal with a background in folklore and ethnomusicology she loves to teach through song. Jeff's a lucky guy. I hope i can help in some way to make their dream farm a reality.
The next morning I was up early to go have breakfast in North Van with Douglas Curran, an extremely talented documentary photographer who i have admired for a long time. He has created visual portraits or Traveling tent preachers, Metis communities in Alberta and UFO cults. But now he is heading out to Milawi in Africa where he has been going for the last 15 years to photograph the Nyau masks and rituals. check out his stuff at http://www.dougcurranphotos.com/
I headed into MEC and Bought a pair of Hiking boots, and headed up to Squamish. The highway 99 up the edge of the coast is a great drive however it is under heavy construction to expand it for the 2010 winter Olympics in whistler.
Squamish is a beautiful town surrounded by mountains. It seems like everybody here is super active outdoor sport enthusiasts. It's the long weekend and I didn't book ahead so i spent two days sleeping in the van in a parking lot with a bunch of other climbers. It seems that climbers from all over the world make a stay here to climb the "Stawamis Chief" the second largest sheer granite face in the world. I hiked up the back side on my first night there. 655m to the top for an unbelievable view of the whole valley and bay. This an incredibly steep climb and could possibly be renamed the Millennial stair master 3000 and be included as a new winter olympic event.
The next day I went into town and rented a tricked out mountain bike and rode some amazing trails through dense old growth and giant fern woods.
Sunday is when the Loggers festival was happening. I got up early and went to the loggers breakfast with a Japanese Climbing instructor named Take. Take writes freelance for Rock and Snow, a Japanese climbing mag. I went early to the logging sports to get out on the field while qualifiers were on. I met a number of world champion sportsman and learned all about these games. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the fest. Logging and deep sea fishing are the worlds most dangerous jobs and these loggers put there Mad Skillz to the test, Burling, climbing 90ft poles, chopping, cutting and felling trees onto a stick in the ground the size of my fist. This is a terrificly exciting event to see for yourself. More photos available on flickr.



I have now just landed in North Langeford at Colin Amey and Cat's house. THey have chickens and a small garden, selling eggs and berries and jam at a farm stand on the end of their driveway. I feel really welcome here, but Shannon Amey and I are hitten' the road and heading up to Tofino for the week for camping and hiking. More on this later when we return.