It's August.....Rubye & I are driving North to escape the California heat....it's been 100+ plus degrees for days on end......Phew...and I mean phew....Wild fires have been burning in Northern Cal for weeks and the valley is filled with smoke. It's time to get out of Dodge. As we approach the The Siskiyou Mountains at the Oregon border the air becomes thicker, our eyes burn....the end of the California valley is a vortex of swirling brandy colored smoke. We drive to the summit.... the air begins to clear & then there's the Shakespearean festival community of Ashland. The smoke is gone but the heat remains. Yikes this never occurs in Oregon. They're having a heat spell as well. At Eugene we drive West to the Pacific coast for relief. The rest of the trip is a cool breeze. The miles click beneath our tires....soon we'll be in Port Angles, Washington catching the Black Ball ferry to Victoria.
When the great creator made British Columbia, he really knew what he was doing. I'm sure he is responsible for the license plate ring that says “Beautiful British Columbia†as he reflected upon the beautiful islands, beautiful ocean, beautiful wild life (orca, bald eagles, etc) and beautiful people. Not only are the people physically beautiful, but they are the nicest people on earth. Ok, so their socialized medicine needs work....but Victoria, British Columbia is my favorite place on the planet.
In a previous thread I related that we had taken a harbor cruise in Victoria. These harbor taxi cruises are pretty bare bones....the captain narrates the history of the harbor to about twelve people pointing out the Hudson Bay warehouses & local sites : the Empress Hotel, the Parliament Building, etc. Soon we are up island two miles. The harbor has narrowed with trees coming to the water's edge. The captain is now pointing out where the 1880's wealthy lived. One of these early families names stands out....The Dunsmuirs. They lived in B.C before moving to Northern California and establishing the town of Dunsmuir. They had a mansion just above the water way. Although their home is gone, replaced by the Gorge Hospital, they obviously enjoyed access to the water. Rubye & I looked into the water. It was gin clear...tidal...salt water & diveable.
As we checked into the Helm's Inn my heart was racing thinking about the diving I would do in the next week.
Dive day was here...I helped Rubye place her Kyack ( a 14' red Carolina ) in the water at the lower harbor. I drove to the Gorge Hospital not knowing what to expect. The Gorge Hospital is very small. It has pay parking that borders the gorge waterway. The distance to the water is about 100 feet. I checked with the employees of the hospital...there would be no problem parking there & walking to the water. I geared up. The trip to the water followed a narrow dirt path & ended up on a large granite bolder. This would be a perfect location to enter the water without breaking my neck. I slipped into the gorge with a sudden thrill of cool salt water entering my wet suit. I slowly descended to the bottom. Marine growth came up off the bottom a scant one foot. Sculpin, perch & crab scurried about. I soon noticed a lump in the mud bottom. I brushed the mud aside to uncover a Victoria beer circa 1890's. The first dive in a bottle rich site is amazing. I made multiple trips to the surface placing bottles on the granite bolder. Beers, sodas, stuff...It was heaven. I searched the area thoroughly. There seemed to be bottles everywhere.
Shortly into the second tank I heard a rap rap rap above me. I looked up to see the silhouette of an ocean Kyack . I surfaced to find my lady and lunch. We beached the Kyack near the granite bolder & ate sandwiches in the shade of a large Madrone (Arbutis). This was heaven......Rubye had paddled up stream til she saw my bubbles...thank you dear.
Pictured below are some British Columbia memories & treasure......for your approval.[
]
When the great creator made British Columbia, he really knew what he was doing. I'm sure he is responsible for the license plate ring that says “Beautiful British Columbia†as he reflected upon the beautiful islands, beautiful ocean, beautiful wild life (orca, bald eagles, etc) and beautiful people. Not only are the people physically beautiful, but they are the nicest people on earth. Ok, so their socialized medicine needs work....but Victoria, British Columbia is my favorite place on the planet.
In a previous thread I related that we had taken a harbor cruise in Victoria. These harbor taxi cruises are pretty bare bones....the captain narrates the history of the harbor to about twelve people pointing out the Hudson Bay warehouses & local sites : the Empress Hotel, the Parliament Building, etc. Soon we are up island two miles. The harbor has narrowed with trees coming to the water's edge. The captain is now pointing out where the 1880's wealthy lived. One of these early families names stands out....The Dunsmuirs. They lived in B.C before moving to Northern California and establishing the town of Dunsmuir. They had a mansion just above the water way. Although their home is gone, replaced by the Gorge Hospital, they obviously enjoyed access to the water. Rubye & I looked into the water. It was gin clear...tidal...salt water & diveable.
As we checked into the Helm's Inn my heart was racing thinking about the diving I would do in the next week.
Dive day was here...I helped Rubye place her Kyack ( a 14' red Carolina ) in the water at the lower harbor. I drove to the Gorge Hospital not knowing what to expect. The Gorge Hospital is very small. It has pay parking that borders the gorge waterway. The distance to the water is about 100 feet. I checked with the employees of the hospital...there would be no problem parking there & walking to the water. I geared up. The trip to the water followed a narrow dirt path & ended up on a large granite bolder. This would be a perfect location to enter the water without breaking my neck. I slipped into the gorge with a sudden thrill of cool salt water entering my wet suit. I slowly descended to the bottom. Marine growth came up off the bottom a scant one foot. Sculpin, perch & crab scurried about. I soon noticed a lump in the mud bottom. I brushed the mud aside to uncover a Victoria beer circa 1890's. The first dive in a bottle rich site is amazing. I made multiple trips to the surface placing bottles on the granite bolder. Beers, sodas, stuff...It was heaven. I searched the area thoroughly. There seemed to be bottles everywhere.
Shortly into the second tank I heard a rap rap rap above me. I looked up to see the silhouette of an ocean Kyack . I surfaced to find my lady and lunch. We beached the Kyack near the granite bolder & ate sandwiches in the shade of a large Madrone (Arbutis). This was heaven......Rubye had paddled up stream til she saw my bubbles...thank you dear.
Pictured below are some British Columbia memories & treasure......for your approval.[
]
