August 17, 2002
9:05pm, Storm Haven
Well done sausages. We're holed up in the tent on platform #2 at Storm Haven. It's an early night for us because the day was quite hard.
That business about the puzzling isolation of High Dump? Solved. It's Saturday and Storm Haven is swarming. All the platforms are booked with hordes of day hikers and kayakers. I didn't see any other people who were backcountry hiking.
Storm Haven is a beautiful spot -- many of the same features of High Dump, but wow. Is it ever crowded.
Our platform is very far away from the water. If you want to camp here, try for #7 or #8. And aim for a weekday.
--cmkl
Wildlife so far...
- Slug -- huuuge
- Fuzzy green caterpillar
- Red-yellow caterpillar
- Loon
- Cormorant
- Garter snake Frog/mouse (inside the garter snake. Gulp!)
- Hawk
- Turkey vulture
- Duck a merganser?
- Seagulls (what-ever) Kaaa-rin!
- Smelts
- Big Cape Croker fish
- Chippies -- gorp lovers -- including the rare Flowerpot Island chipster
...and more that my wonderful comrades will remember.
It's hard to write in this journal partly because of exhaustion -- what a good hike today -- and partly because it's so hard to find the words that could approach a description. There are many sound effects that could be made, but I'm trying to use my words.
We did the most challenging part of the whole trail today, about 9k. We can now call ourselves amateur rock climbers.
Too hot to write more -- hot tent. Cathy is letting us put our feet in her face. She is an egg of goodness.
What great travelling comrades. More tomorrow.
-kj
We lingered around our site til about 11:30am. Luxurious breakfast -- okay, it was oatmeal -- on the rocks. A swim and then off on the trail. It looked sunny, though it did cloud over. Eventually the sun came back and the heat covered us like a coat of paint.
We made Half Way Dump (after passing half a dozen parties headed for High Dump) at 2:40ish. We dined on brie and apple, and cheddar and salsa sandwiches. It may have been too much food as we all felt a little bloated and queasy getting back on the trail. The next stretch was hard. We moved slowly over the three something km. Lots of steep inclines to ascend and descend. But the views. Oh my god.
We made Storm Haven by 4:45, threw our packs on the platform and ran for the water. Phew. What a relief.
Dinner was dehydrated glop. Oh well we were hungry enough to eat anything. My back is sore so I'm going to stop writing now.
--cmkl
