TRAVEL THE WORLD - TOFINO, B.C., CANADA

These photos were taken at Long Beach at Tofino on Vancouver Island in 2003. We spent four days there during the summer when it normally has so much rain. We were very fortunate in having no rain at all making it possible to go for many long walks on beautiful Long Beach.

TRAVEL THE WORLD - WICKANINNISH BEACH, TOFINO, B.C., CANADA

These photos of Wickaninnish Beach were taken in 2003 while on a long walk near Tofino on Vancouver Island.

TRAVEL THE WORLD - PORT ALBERNI, B.C., CANADA

Whenever I go to the West Coast of Canada, I am amazed at the beauty of the forests and size of the trees. 2003 at Cathedral Grove near Port Alberni on Vancouver Island was no exception.

TRAVEL THE WORLD - TOFINO, B.C., CANADA

These photos from 2003 were taken at beautiful Long Beach at Tofino on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

TRAVEL THE WORLD - POWELL RIVER, CANADA

Powell River is located on the coast of BC opposite Campbell River on Vancouver Island. The town began when a pulp and paper mill was opened in 1908 and grew until the mill was one of the largest in the world. When we visited in 2003, there was a lot of unemployment in the area, as the mill had been down-sizing its production. The photo is taken from the municipal campground, one of the nicest we had ever seen, located directly on the Pacific Ocean which you can see in the photo.

TRAVEL THE WORLD - TOFINO, B.C., CANADA

Tofino was wonderful. It is located on the west side of Vancouver Island quite a distance from Victoria. Because of its remoteness and the frequent rain, I had never visited the area, though I knew how beautiful it was. We were blessed with gorgeous weather for the three days of our visit in 2003. We walked on the beach, fished, and enjoyed the warmth of the sun.

TRAVEL THE WORLD - TOFINO, B.C., CANADA

Long Beach at Tofino on Vancouver Island is a surfer's paradise, although it does have a lot of rain. In 2003, we were so fortunate to be there in good weather! We were not surfers, but thoroughly enjoyed our long walks on the beach.

TRAVEL THE WORLD - CAMPBELL RIVER, CANADA

This photo was taken at Miracle Beach near Campbell River, B.C. in 2003 when my Nikon digital camera was only one year old. I took the photo looking directly into the sun to see if it would turn out, knowing that doing this would not be possible with my old SLR camera.

I spent the day with my niece, Catherine, while Paul golfed with her husband, Kevin. A long hike in the forest with its tall, tall trees was followed by a beautiful walk on Miracle Beach.

TRAVEL THE WORLD - POWELL RIVER, CANADA

Here we are in 2003 crossing on the ferry from Powell River to Vancouver Island. This was the summer of the terrible forest fires that threatened communities in southern B.C. It was also a summer of beautiful weather for travelling. We were very fortunate not to have lots of rain - so common on the West Coast. In the rain, mountain and coastal scenery becomes oppressive, but in the sunshine there is nowhere more beautiful.

TRAVEL THE WORLD - DESOLATION SOUND NEAR POWELL RIVER, CANADA

Here we are in 2003 on Desolation Sound located north of Powell River in British Columbia. We were told that a very large area around here had been mapped by volunteers who had also laid out miles and miles of hiking trails. We were shown a beautifully coloured map, and were very impressed by its detail and the extent of the trail system. You could kayak, canoe, hike, fish and camp in this beautiful, remote area hundreds of miles from the nearest city. We promised to return when we had more than a couple of days to stay.

TRAVEL THE WORLD - POWELL RIVER, CANADA

In 2003, we rented a fully-equipped motor home and drove from Edmonton to Vancouver, then north on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia and across by ferry to Vancouver Island. The photo was taken at the Wilmingdon Beach camp ground in Powell River, BC. Our campsite overlooked the Pacific Ocean and was set among the very tall cedar trees common on the west coast. This camp ground, owned and operated by the municipality, is one of the very best ones we have ever seen.

TRAVEL THE WORLD - VANCOUVER

Stanley Park is one of Vancouver's most attractive places. As this photo from 2003 shows, in the park you can take long, beautiful walks and bike rides along Burrard Inlet.

A reminder: If you right click on any of the photos and then click on "open in a new window", the photo will expand to full screen.

TRAVEL THE WORLD - PORT ALBERNI, CANADA

One of my favourite things is to walk in deep woods as we did on this day in 2003 near Port Alberni. The photo captures exactly the way the light came in towards us through the trees. If you live in Alberta, as I did for many years, you must go all the way to the west coast of British Columbia to see trees as big a these. Many in this forest were even bigger!

LIFE OF MY FATHER - 26

IN MY FATHER'S OWN WORDS

The Edmonton Journal published a small part of my father's log for his Vancouver trip. His description of crossing the Howse Pass on foot on the British Columbia side follows:

"By JOHN DARIMONT

After having supper and packing everything, I sat in the car and listened to CJCA which came booming in.

June 17 dawned clear and the forecast was for a hot day. Everything went as expected until I arrived at Breaker Creek at 9:50, about five miles along the way. Here I found a considerable creek which was in flood and which required to be crossed.

I took off my shoes and stockings and rolled up my pants as high as I could and put on my crepe sole shoes. I made an attempt to cross but found that the flow of water was too strong to permit me to retain my balance. At this point I almost decided to go back. However, after a bit of reflection, I decided to try using a stout pole as a brace against the large rocks.

In this way I managed to cross the three channels which made up this little river. The water was up to my knees and ice cold. I then took my pants off and wrung them out.

The going was extremely tough and I was lucky to be able to make a mile in an hour. At 3:30 p.m. I reached the approximate point where I had stopped when coming over the pass and turned back. I realized that I might not reach my car before dark.

The return trip was marred by several accidents. The first was that my trousers split down the seam and before I had gone many more minutes it split fore and aft. This was rather uncomfortable when I had to slide down some bushes or a rocky slope.

The second accident was that I somehow lost my bear warning tin. However, I had my whistle and I hung it around my neck so as not to lose it. At one point I came upon a large grey goose which pretended that it was injured to draw me away from her nest, I suppose.

I reached Breaker Creek at 9:15 and was quite tired and bruised. I made preparations to cross over as before but noticed that the water was quite a bit higher, probably due to the hot weather. I made an attempt but when I found I could not stand upright decided to try elsewhere.

I walked about a mile upstream in the hope that there might be a better crossing or that some large tree trunk could be used as a bridge. Nothing good in this direction.

I decided to look over the stream on the downstream side at its confluence with the Blaeberry. Here I found that the water had spread out a bit and thus was worth attempting fording. I started across and managed to cross about a third of the foaming water when I realized that I was now at the main channel.

I started across and almost made it, but at the last moment I lost my balance and felt myself falling. I grabbed the nearest branch that I was able to reach as I fell flat in the water and thus was safely across. I took off my clothes and wrung them out and put on my spare shoes which were not thoroughly soaked and started the last five miles to the car.

By this time it was beginning to get dark and in the heavy timber it was very difficult to see. I knew that if I walked two miles along the river I could then strike at right angles and climb up into the heavy timber and intercept the logging road... I hit the logging road right on the button.

I was so relieved that I decided to have some lunch so I sat down in the middle of the road and had the last boiled egg and a sandwich and, to hell with the bears, I had completely forgotten about them.

The remaining walk (three miles ) back to the car went off without incident and I reached the car to find everything in good shape at 1 a.m. I was so tired that I decided to drive back to Golden and take a motel for the night."

In the photos are:

1) Looking west from Nordegg, Alberta
2) and 3) the Blaeberry River

LIFE OF MY FATHER - 25

LONG DISTANCE WALKING AND BICYCLE TRIPS

My father played tennis well into his 60's. Another activity, one that probably began when he was in his late 50's, was riding long distances on his bike. In addition, throughout his life he enjoyed walking.

He and a friend, George Hamilton, had planned to take a canoe trip after their retirement, going all the way from the Great Lakes to one of the big western rivers, portaging wherever necessary. Unfortunately. his friend died suddenly of a heart attack. My father decided, as an alternative, to go on long walking and cycling trips.

Jean Gaspard III, my father's grandfather, had imported Waverley bicycles into Europe from the US where they were manufactured. This was in the late 19th Century, when bikes were all the rage in Europe. He advertised his bikes at an exhibit at the Brussels World Fair in 1897 and was visited there by King Leopold II of the Belgians. He also advertised his bicycles by going on an extended bike trip all over Europe. I have a copy of my aunt's English translation of the newspaper articles that covered his trip, which I hope to put on the Internet some day.

My father was inspired by his grandfather's trip to undertake something similar in Canada. He began by going on weekend camping trips while he was still working for the Department of Highways before his retirement.

His first major trip was to walk to Vancouver. He left on May 27, 1977. His method was to take his car with him, walk eight and a half miles, return to his car on foot, camp out for the night, drive to the furthest point of advance, and walk again the next day, repeating the process until Vancouver was reached.

When finished, he would have covered the distance from Edmonton to Vancouver twice for a total of about 1,600 miles. Prior to the trip, he drove over the route, logging the mileage and looking for places to camp. He decided to take the car, because he could use it to drive to restaurants and tennis courts or for shelter in bad storms. His plan was to finish in 100 days. He reached Vancouver on September 1st, 97 days after leaving Edmonton.

His route was over the Rocky Mountains through the Howse Pass, discovered by David Thompson in 1807. The David Thompson Highway which connects Red Deer, Alberta with the Banff-Jasper Highway over the Howse Pass, had not yet been completed. A gap of about 21 miles through the Pass had to be covered on foot with no human habitation anywhere in the vicinity and a stream, Breaker Creek, to cross.

I remember vividly his story of the trip when he came home after its completion. He had carried a tin with a few stones in it which he would rattle continuously to warn away any bears.

On the Alberta side of the Pass, west of Rocky Mountain House, there was a trail to follow. Walking west, he was able to reach the summit without incident and make his way back to his car. He drove around to the western B. C. side of the pass and reached the end of the road. Leaving his car and beginning the ascent to the pass in an easterly direction, he discovered that, unlike the Alberta side, no trail had been broken. In order to make his way upward to the pass, it was necessary to break a trail through the underbrush and follow the line of the streams. He reached the top of the pass, a distance of about 10 miles, and began the return trip to his car.

When he reached Breaker Creek, which had not posed a problem on the way in, he found the creek had become a torrent due to spring run-off and hot weather. He managed to find a relatively peaceful spot and attempted to cross, but even with the aid of a long pole he was swept off his feet. Managing somehow to recover, he made his way across. By now it was dark, and he had no landmarks, having made the initial crossing of the creek at a different spot. Eventually, around 1:00 a.m., much to his relief, he found his car.

The trip was covered by the Salmon Arm Observer and the Edmonton Journal. A few excerpts are worth repeating.

From the Salmon Arm Observer:

" 'Being a retired engineer, I do everything very precisely,' Darimont said. He keeps a detailed log of his travels, keeping it up to date each evening. In this diary he records the distance traveled each day, and anything of interest he has seen or done, such as landmarks he has passed and pictures he has taken. (Unfortunately, this log seems to have disappeared.)

The log also makes it possible to compute how many miles he has traveled. By last Wednesday evening he had traveled 921.4 miles, from Edmonton to the A&W in Salmon Arm... His goal is to reach Vancouver in 100 walking days, and he calculates he has covered 57 per cent of the distance in 54 days.

He carries a small tin tied to a stick to frighten away prowling bears... Two black bears did come prowling around his camp one night, but 'I flashed the flashlight at them and told them to scram.' The bears beat a quick retreat."

From the Edmonton Journal:

"You sense in John Darimont, despite his reluctance to speak about it, a feeling that walking is a true and continuing pleasure, when the muscles move to a relaxing rhythm which frees the mind to muse or daydream or think deep thoughts, when the eyes take in birds and animals and kids playing by the side of the road: the kind of things you fail to see when the metal monster goes screaming down the freeway at 100 kilometres plus.

That's not conjecture. It's implicit in the daily log of his trip, typed up conscientiously each night at the end of a day's foot-slogging.

John Darimont is an observant man. When I first knocked at his door to talk about his journey, he stopped me. 'Look there's a squirrel quarreling with two waxwings over the berries,' he said, pointing to a tall tree.

His diary reflects that interest in all things great and small: of how he watched prairie dogs, and herons, Canada geese, deer, and the raven who tried to fly like a hawk, but kept wobbling instead of gliding. ...there are vignettes of friendly farmers who let him pitch his tent on their fields, a little child who drew his picture, a bunch of kids from King Edward school at a campsite, nurses from Red Deer, yarning with other travellers around a fire at night, tennis games, and, on occasion, the savoring of cold beer at the end of the hot and dusty daily tramp."

In the photos are:

1) The Salmon Arm Observer article.
2) My Dad in his back yard preparing for a weekend camping trip.
3) My Dad, his bike and his car.