Wild Places and Open Spaces

September 19th – October 4th 2006

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During our 10 ½ hr flight on Hawaiian Airlines – which is an excellent outfit I must add; free food, beverages (including beer and wine), and excellent service from very friendly staff – we were able to reflect on our 16 days on the ‘Big Island’ – which is what the island of Hawaii is referred as.

In almost every aspect it was a lesson and very different from what our preconceived notions were; geophysically it looked different than we thought, geologically it is quite simple, and the island has nearly every ecological zone! Finally, biologically we were most surprised of all!

Upon arriving in Hawaii the first thing we noted was how very big and urban Honolulu was – definitely not our cup of tea. Oh well, we didn’t have much time to bother looking around anyway so we figured we’d check in with Aloha airlines for our flight to Kona. Low and behold, there was a plane leaving right away and it had room for us so we had zero wait time!

Arriving early in Kona we’d have to wait for our bags that would come on the next flight. This would however, give us time to get our rental car sorted out. People have always told us that Hawaii is very expensive but we never found it to be. For example: our rental car – $40.00 per day including taxes and insurance, groceries – cheaper than Canada in most departments, fuel around 0.90 Canadian/litre, camping ranged from free in the National Parks to $20.00 a night for an ‘A’ frame cabin on one of the premier beaches (click here for Hapuna Beach info) on the island. We also stayed at a bizarre hostel/farm place one night where we were informed that all the dogs had mange and to stay away from the attacking billy goat. We set our tent up under a tin roof beside an old couch and car seat and spent the night talking to a free spirited 50 year old man who was fresh off a commune on the mainland. We never did find much of a crop growing other than the tomatoes around the toilet – our guess is that there was some herb growing somewhere, we just weren’t sure where. Writing about it won’t do it justice, so just take our word for it – it was really interesting. So, needless to say we found our visit to Hawaii to be very financially reasonable and laughable at times.

The next thing we soon noted in Hawaii was its people. We felt in general the Polynesians seemed rather not friendly – not unfriendly either, but rather emotionally detatched. Almost as though we never existed. Curious indeed. Perhaps they’re bitter about being displaced from all the prime real estate by rich Americans?

Flying over the islands it was amazing how lush and rugged the islands looked. However, some islands are literally as flat as a pancake. Upon closer inspection we noted the big island was only lush in certain areas and ironically the best beaches were located on the lee side of the island that was mostly desert! The entire windward side of the island including the three monsterous mountains were extremely wet, cool, tropical rainforests. We visited these areas, but we saw enough rain when we were in Alaska so our visit to the rainy areas was short lived. We also visited some of the high elevations – we drove up 9200ft to the Mauna Kea observatory visitor station – but generally they were quite cool and often wetter. To give you an example, we spent four days in Volcanoes National Park (click here for info)– where we were fortunate to see the lava flow awaken into a violent eruption – and at sea level it would be around 85ºF and at 4000ft it would be around 65ºF! Needless to say we spent most of our time at lower elevations.

Strangely looking at the two big mountains of the island, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa which are both huge mountains rising to well over 13,000ft, they appeared much lower due to their massive volumes. They cover so much area, and in the summer lack a snow top so they just look like big hills. Anyhow, they are giant volcanoes that affect all the weather on the island and are one of the best locations in the world for the worlds observatories.

Because of the mountainous terrain, Hawaii brags to possess nearly every ecological biome on earth. That would lead one to believe the island would be very diverse in its flora and fauna, which couldn’t be farther from the truth! When the Polynesians arrived on the islands there was actually almost nothing terrestrial available to survive on! They brought their own taro, fruit and pigs. Westerners brought the rest of the introduced flowers and fruit trees that have wreaked havoc on Hawaii’s endemic species. Practically everything on Hawaii today is a non-native introduced species. This really came as a shock to us as we always envisioned Hawaii as a lush island group with beautiful flowers, a plethora of fruit and plenty of pretty birds.

There actually was an impressive bird population when westerners arrived on the islands. Unfortunately of the 71 endemic birds of Hawaii, 30 species are endangered, and even worse, 25 are extinct!

The birds now most common by far are all non native; the house sparrow, Java Finch, Myna, Kalij Pheasant…fortunately of the endemic species left on the island we were lucky enough to spot several endangered ones not found anywhere else in the world which was a good feeling. Particularly of not was the Hawaiian goose (Ne Ne), a crimson Hawaiian honey creeper (I’iwi), a Hawaiian hawk (Io) and the Hawaiian owl (Pueo).

The loss of so many birds is kind of complex and varied. The ever present ‘loss of habitat’ and displacement by introduced species. Rats brought over in early trading ships have eaten their fair share of bird eggs and to try to rid the island of rats we – in our infinite wisdom – introduced the mongoose. Mongoose would eat rats because they’ll eat nearly anything. The only trouble is their paths rarely cross as the mongoose is diurnal and the rats are mostly nocturnal, so in essence we introduced a species which also adds to the declining bird population. Probably the best animal on the island to control rats is the huge ferral cat population, but I think anyone raised watching Sylvester and Tweety knows the problem with that scenario! The most complex problem is partly due to a Polynesian introduction which proved to be a catalyst for a western introduction which worked together to spell disaster for our avian friends.

The Polynesians introduced pigs to the island which seems unrelated to any bird issue, that is until the mosquito was introduced. The mosquito is a carrier of many diseases, particularly an avian disease the endemic species of Hawaii have no tolerance of. Hawaii is a volcanic island with little soil. Volcanic rock is very porous and doesn’t hold water very easily. The shape of Hawaii is conical so it sheds its water very well. There were no mammals to dig up vegetation and that is where pigs proved to be a big problem! Pigs love to dig up roots to eat and every time they do this it leaves a hole where standing water can accumulate after a rain which in turn has helped the mosquito population to boom. That boom spread diseases throughout the bird population on the island and has caused the decline in endemic populations. Human intervention so often proves deadly for some plant or animal, and that’s all I’m going to say about that!

One last bubble to be burst for us was the clarity of air. When we landed in Kona we kind of expected clear skies. After all it’s in the middle of the Pacific with very little industry and the place chosen for the observatories. What we saw was what looked to be brown smog. But, we later learned that due to volcanic emissions called “vog” – composed of sulphur, dioxide gas and a mixture of aerosol particles – sometimes the island is plagued by low visibility! Who’d of thunk it!

I don’t want to make Hawaii sound like all doom and gloom, because it isn’t. It’s just a lot less utopian than we envisioned! We did meet a wonderful man who lives off the land in Hawaii and it is a utopia for him – he forages for his food and lives under a tarp on a lava field. He spends no more than $40/month. He spent many years living in a monastery and lives by the teachings of Budda. We spoke at length with him – the tone of his voice alone carried such peace and love – trying to become more enlightened, and grasp how he became at such peace with life and with himself. His insight, along with others that we meet along our way, will undoubtedly add to our own quest for peace and answers.

On a less gloomier note, here are a couple of interesting things we learned in Hawaii. With only 5 vowels and 8 consonants in the alphabet, all words look and sound too similar to us to tell the difference.

Coffee and macadamia nuts are the biggest cash crops of the big island. We thought about buying some of the famous Kona Joe Coffee, until we realized it cost $45.00 per pound!

Mauna Loa @ 13,677ft is the biggest volcano in the world. It emits huge amounts of lava, who’s rock makes up the entire island of a chain extending north and west all the way to Kamchatka, essentially the distance of Florida to Alaska!

Finally on the positive side and why we loved Hawaii the most: beautiful beaches, warm crystal clear waters and a huge healthy array of tropical fishes and an excellent population of sea turtles.

All said and done we’ll probably never return to Hawaii as it’s a little too busy for us, we’re happy to have had the opportunity to visit and would advise anyone interested to visit soon because it will only get busier!

September 10th – 18th 2006

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After the Chilkoot, we truly were no longer heading North – we were homeward bound with the 1st stop at Erik’s place in Fort St. John, B.C. The drive from Alaska to his place was very scenic and we were lucky enough to see a ton of wildlife along the Alaska highway – especially from Liard Hot Springs to Fort Nelson (stone sheep, bison, elk, black bears, deer, caribou). We arrived at midnight at Erik’s place to find a few notes he had left out for us to tell us where to find things – and Jim decided to take him up on the offer of “help yourself to the beer in the fridge”. However, as good as the beer tasted then, he later regretted it when he went to the store to replenish the Sleemans…$27.45 for 12 beers!!

We ended up spending nearly a week – Erik was generous to allow us to call his house “ours” for the time being. So, under the watchful eyes of his animals (all mounts of course, along with a full grizzly mount in the basement) we caught up on some laundry, sleep, and luckily we were able to spend some fun time with Erik…he even played hookey one afternoon. We went out in his boat and the boys were successful walleye fishing – had a fresh dinner that night! Erik, thanks again for being a terrific friend.

We had much to do in the next couple of weeks before reaching home – the first on the list was Jasper and Banff National Parks. As those who have visited these parks know, the scenery is beautiful. However, we once again were quite disgusted to see how our Canadian National Parks are run. We could go on and on with problems we saw…expense ($73.00 just to get us into the parks for 4 days…this does not include camping, hot springs, historical features etc.), maintenance (Jasper had interpretive boards and info boards at some of the most popular spots that looked like they were from the 1970’s, and they were in very poor condition and quite embarrassing), lack of wardens (we saw none compared to the numerous ones we always see in American National Parks), accessibility issues (really poor disabled/wheelchair access in some places), exhibits unavailable (eg. movies in visitor centers closed due to technical difficulties and they were not getting fixed), lack of recycling (the National Parks should be an example for all of Canada, not to mention nationally), etc. etc. We did some terrific hikes there, but were glad to leave via Kootenay on the 4th day and head towards the U.S. again. It is unfortunate that we feel this way about our National Parks, because they are beautiful places (albeit exploited) but maybe it will take letters from people like us to make the government realize that our Parks need desperate help – that the cuts that have been made are really affecting them terribly.

I did a really dumb thing in Jasper…I left my camera on top of the car and we drove off…we both heard a ‘clank’ and figured it was something in the trunk. We drove about 2km to a glacier, got out of the car and when I reached for my camera I immediately with horror realized that the ‘clank’ earlier had been my camera falling off the car! My stomach was upside down as we sped back to the campground anxiously hoping it was still there…and it was, and unscathed at that. Yippeee Fuji! I tell you, I beat that thing up and it just keeps going and going….I (and Jim) scorned myself because I know better – but I was lucky this time.

On the way to Glacier National Park (the US one, not the Canadian one) we happened across a great place called Fort Steele (after Sam Steele). It is a preserved historic town that runs by volunteer and private donations, as well as the entrance fees collected. Throughout the day actors in period costume perform on the streets and put on “workshops” such as making ice cream – which we did and found that it was hard work, but well worth it! We had a great time there and it was well worth the $12.50 each. (In the car before we go in anywhere we always decide a ‘cut off’ point for how much we thing something should cost – we had decided that $12.00 was our limit for this, but once we understood what it was we collectively decided the extra buck would be okay!)

I, being the worry wart, had pre-booked 3 nights at Glacier National Park because it was going to be the long weekend (Labour Day) and we ended up having a terrific time there. It is a beautiful park (and free with our US National Parks Pass), and luckily it wasn’t too busy considering it was a weekend. We did some great hikes – one in particular was about 4km up a hill to a secluded lake where we used our fly fishing skills. We caught cutthroat trout – albeit small ones – and got a close encounter with a really curious fawn.

Our plan was to be at Yellowstone the day after labour day weekend, and on our way we camped at Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park which turned out to be an unexpected delight. We toured the caves with a somewhat humorous tour guide who told us that if someone was in complete darkness for a few weeks that light would blind them, which is of course completely untrue. Funny that an employee of the state park system would give out such false information…

We arrived in Yellowstone, as planned, on September 5th. Just before we entered the park we stopped at a store that advertised “cheap end of the season prices” and decided to go in to look for a couple of light shirts we needed for Australia. It was here, over the radio that we heard of the sad passing of Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter. We stood horrified in silence as tears welled up in my eyes. We both felt like a friend was gone. What an unfortunate accident – he was a terrific person – he did so much for animals, science and Australia in general. He will be sadly missed by both of us, along with the rest of the world.

After managing to stay out of crevasses (in glaciers) in previous parks, we now had a new danger in Yellowstone…stay out of Thermal Areas! These thermal areas are literally places of bubbling mud pots, hot sulphur springs and crusts of earth just waiting to crack and suck us into its scalding depths. Yellowstone is a “driving” park we think…I’d just be too darn scared to go backcountry there due to the fact that in many places it is so unstable. (Camping with grizzlies sounds much safer to us…). We watched ‘Old Faithful’ in awe as she spurted up as “faithful” as predicted. We visited Grand Teton National Park for a day as well which is just south of Yellowstone. That night as we set up camp an older neighbour in an RV offered us dinner (which we hungrily said “yes” to) so we chatted with them and their friends and swapped travel stories til bedtime. The next morning we met another neighbour couple who were from Whitby Ontario! Small world!

Next stop – Mt. Rushmore. We had only planned on doing a “walk in, take pictures, walk out”, but we ended up spending a couple of hours in the visitor center there, and by the time we were ready to leave, it was too late to drive far to get to a campsite. So, we decided to spend the night at a campground just a couple of miles away from the park and return to Mt. Rushmore to see the evening program when they light up the faces. It is actually a pretty neat place – the carving itself is incredible and amazingly enough about 90% or so was done with dynamite. No one was killed while working on it which seems impossible due to how they were seemingly so careless, dangling from ropes or on scaffolding with little or no safety gear. However, some have since died from lung problems due to inhaling so much dust from the granite. Borglum, the brain behind it all, died before the carving was complete – his son took over. The presidents in the carving are Jefferson, Washington, Teddy Roosevelt (our favourite president because without him the states would have no National Parks!) and Lincoln. (Just an interesting aside…Franklin Roosevelt followed the example of his 5th cousin Teddy Roosevelt and became president in 1933, but the interesting thing is that he married Teddy’s niece Anna…now that is keeping it in the family!!) We got really ripped off at the campground – I thought the guy was kidding when he told me $26.00 to camp (with no showers), but that is the price you pay in a touristy area!

Off to the Badlands of South Dakota…we saw lots of pronghorn (antelope) along the way. We were greeted at the park by hundreds of curious prairie dogs – the entire landscape was covered by their hills and holes and they loved to sit and watch us as we watched them. We spent a few hours touring around then drove to Wind Cave National Park (which is also in South Dakota). It is a large cave system which has a very fragile and rare type of formation called boxwork. We have been in many caves in the past few years – we didn’t realize until we started counting – but we had never seen this beautiful formation. The cave itself was remarkably first explored by a young man named Alvin McDonald who mapped much of the cave using only candle light and string.

We had plans to drive to a campsite that night, but when we eventually found it (which took some of Jim’s superior navigational skill) it was very seedy and quite frankly looked like the setting of an X-files episode, not to mention it was pouring. So, we made the executive decision to continue driving, knowing it would be for the long haul. So, we drove 1900 km – all night and into the morning – and surprisingly we both only slept about ½ an hour.

We were treated to many dinners during our week stay at home that whizzed by tremendously fast. We didn’t get nearly enough done that we had planned, nor did we see everyone we wanted, but truthfully we found it stressful. We couldn’t believe how busy even little Bowmanville has become!

We meant to write a summary of our North American trip, with little tidbits, expenses, etc., but unfortunately our journals are at home and now we are overseas. Hopefully the provider that maintains the blog site will not have any more problems with the site – I apologize to everyone who tried to access it for so long and came up with nothing.

August 15th - 19th 2006 The Chilkoot Trail is perhaps Alaska’s and the Yukon’s most infamous trail. It also happens to be one of its most historic. The route follows an old Indian route (Tlingit tribe) that goldseekers struggled over to ... [Continue reading this entry]

Click Here for Pictures August 7th - 13th 2006 After Erik left, we decided to once again travel the Dempster Highway - for the great views, but mostly for the good fishing. It took us a few days to make our ... [Continue reading this entry]

July 12th we headed up the Dempster Highway. We got as far as Tombstone Park, where we decided to camp for the night. No sooner did we get the tent up, did we have yet another torrential downpour - luckily ... [Continue reading this entry]

Next stop - Dawson City. Our first impression of the place was great; a quaint place with lots of historical (authentic) looking places that hadn't succumbed to tourists. It was a place Jim had always dreamed to be because of ... [Continue reading this entry]

Keno City appealed to us even before we got there - had a dirt road to it, less than 15 inhabitants and supposedly unique flora and fauna. It proved to be all of these things and many more. The road was ... [Continue reading this entry]

Click Here for Dalton Pictures July 23rd - 29th 2006 On July 23 we arrived at Pat and Denis Fox’s house in Fairbanks, Alaska - Pat Fox is my aunt’s cousin. We were treated royally and for the first time in ... [Continue reading this entry]

July 20th - 24th 2006 Our trip with Erik would be Northward bound to start off with. On the way to Denali State Park we joked with Erik that he had brought horseshoes with him, because the weather had (momentarily) cleared ... [Continue reading this entry]

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In Dawson City, almost simulataneously we both thought of all the fresh veggies in our cooler and what we could do with them before the border guards had another tossed salad on us. Throwing the precious ... [Continue reading this entry]