Poltrack Blog

We spent our last full day in the City of Vancouver after taking the ferry back  from Nanaimo. We stopped at  Stanley Park to take a last look at the waterfront and the Totem poles. Beautiful carvings and sculptures  It may be picturesque but I always feel sorry for the horses Chief Skedans mortuary pole They don't look happy do they? Great park for biking, but I almost ran over someone who cut in front of our car A military installation was on the park, I liked this detail on the gate Lots of new construction in the city, so much glass and metal Along the path at Stanley Park   www.poltrack.net

The Woodman Museum in Dover may be the perfect place to visit on a rainy Saturday when you have time to look at stuff, tons of stuff from pinned butterflies to a Garrison from 1675. What an odd collection of items.  There are plenty of dolls to see Captured cannon from the war of 1812. The large white building in the rear contains a garrison built in 1675 The museum is actually made up of three buildings, this is the main building  There are a number of large mammals that were shot by Dick Mathes in the late 1960s including this Alaskan Moose I was surprised to see this native design from the Northwest. It was on the wall across from a collection of arrowheads from the Eastern Tribes Can a clam eat a man? Cases and cases of stuff Future exhibit of more taxidermy I couldn't get the entire stuffed polar bear into the camera frame, it stood over 10 feet high The room of creepy dolls It would interesting to visit the Ham and Wee

Petroglyph Provincial Park   One of my side excursions in Canada was a quick visit to Petroglyph Provincial Park located at the south end of Naniamo, BC on Vancouver Island. However I'll admit that I was a bit underwhelmed. They had concrete representations of the Petroglyphs because the originals were very hard to discern. Still it is thrilling to see images that have been created 1000 years ago. Illustrations show what drawings were discovered The flat rock surface had no petroglyph and appeared to be defaced a bit These were the only images I could find on the actual rocks. A fence blocked another path which might have held other carvings. Sproat Lake Provincial Park In 2004 I saw a much more impressive collection of petroglyphs at Sproat Lake in Port Alberni, BC. These were much larger and carved on the side of a cliff. If you can only visit one, I would suggest Sproat Lake. Petroglyph Many carvings Sproat Lake is also home to Coulson

In the Pacific Northwest under the canopy of tall trees you will find an interesting  plant with nasty spines and large leaves called the Devil's Club. Its botanical name is even more frightening   Oplopanax horridus .  I was tempted to touch the spines to see if they would cause a reaction but chickened out. I heard a bit about this plant from my indigenous in-laws. It has ceremonial and medicinal properties. I admire it for its beauty. Large leaves capture as much sun as possible beneath the tree canopy These berries will turn red and are called "bear candy" Impressive Spines   www.poltrack.net

We visited the pier at Gold River after an absence of 13 years. We were hoping to catch a ride on the Uchuck III  to Nootka Island. Sadly this was a case of poor planning on our part. I was dismayed to see that this beautiful spot is still an industrial site. At least the air quality has improved since my first visit in 1974. One view from the view Now the location of Western Forest Products. Judging by the lighting I'm guessing that this operation runs 24 hours a day. What a view The landslide was evident in 1974. My wife told me bears would migrate down the scar. There are risks of course Noisy but better than the pulp mill of the 1970s Gold River Site of the former reserve, now a parking lot for tourists Former Reserve Flashback to 1974. How would you like this in your backyard? Personal observation, it STINKS! Pulp Mill 1974 which did pollute the water My wife and her folks. We saw Joey on our 2017 trip Meeti