Pemberton Epicness

The end of May finally brings nicer weather and a great weekend in Pemberton. Lots of XC flying was done. I managed a new PB (personal best) - distance and time wise. 110 km and 5.5h. Could have done without the first 50 min I needed to get away from launch. I was going to turn around at North Creek (for an 80km out and return flight) but met Pete on his way back from Spindrift and he encouraged me to fly on. Great flight with Pete and Mike. Up at Spindrift the Lillooet valley is very narrow and almost everything one sees from above all the peaks is snow, ice and glaciers. What an amazing sight!

Unfortunately I didn't reset my camera from the star photo session the night before. No photos!

The track log instead:

Pacific Beach Hike - Shi Shi

I revisited the Olympic Coast to check out Shi Shi beach and Cape Flattery. The hike to the beach is just an hour so I took the opportunity to bring lots of camera gear. There are super scenic sea stacks and sea arches on both ends of the beach and the sunsets were well worth schlepping the camera gear.

I timed the tides and got to where I turned around on my visit last year coming from the south and Ozette Lake. While I didn’t meet another (human) soul during two days of my hike last year Shi Shi Beach was more popular and I had a couple of cups of tea with four fellows from Seattle.

Just like last year the noise of crashing waves only meters from my tent at high tide kept me awake and wondering. When ocean kayaking we always camp at calmer spots… it makes landing kayaks a whole lot less painful.

Shi Shi is accessed through Makah tribal land and there are fees for a recreational permit and overnight parking in addition to the National Park backcountry fee. Things to remember: map with tidal heights and ferry booking.

Winter is back - May 16th

Ooops, apparently winter is not over yet. 30 cm fresh snow at Cypress. Went up for a morning run. Snow was a bit heavy but I got some turns in. Still snowing higher up but rain lower down so I didn't go up for seconds.

Garden Birds

After several years with limited success this spring our hummingbird feeder is very popular with the little flyers! So far identified: Anna’s female and male and Rufous female. Its very entertaining to watch over breakfast and a good reason to have another cup of coffee later. Well worth boiling some sugar water once in a while.

Update May 16th: Mr. Rufous made an appearance too.

Every few years our cherry trees are infested by caterpillars having a good munch on the leaves. On the bright side they attract several species of warblers; MacGillivray, Willson’s and Yellow Rumped (Myrtle) warbler.

But it wasn’t just us enjoying the many songbirds in our garden. One day this Cooper’s hawk (or sharp-shinned hawk?) landed on one of our big Douglas Firs and had its lunch. Couldn't identify what sort of bird s/he caught, but it looked like a bigger one, maybe a Robin?

A while back I got some nice shots of a crow attacking a bald eagle that was resting on a fir in one of our neighbors gardens.

Tulips!

Finally got around to check out the Tulips in Abbotsford. Although all the plants and flowers are 3 or 4 weeks behind this year due to the cold and wet weather, some of the tulips were already being 'harvested'. Despite visiting on a weekday the fields were very crowded and lots of people were out enjoying the colors. I got a few 'uncrowded' shots of the tulip rows and then focused on close-ups. Unfortunately the sky was grey and uninspiring - no impressive clouds. Abbotsford also doesn't have the cool mountain backdrop like Seabird Island where the tulip festival was a couple of years ago.