Day 25: International, Midnight Difficulties

This morning was perhaps the first time I've set an alarm while camping. I woke up at 5:30 with the help of The Bands "Get Up Jake", packed up, had a Cliff Bar, and rode 14.5 miles into Port Angeles. With the ride and the ferry boarding 30 mins before launch at 8:15, I skipped breakfast and boarded for Victoria on a 90 minute each way, $47 round trip ferry ride.

Getting off they stamped my passport and I was loose in Canada, officially making this trip international! I headed for the tourism office and got a map and recommendations. Since my phone no longer worked I used a cafés Wi-Fi for last minute directions. For a coffee they accepted my American $ but gave me back Canadian change, as I hoped that the currency issue wouldn't be too big of a deal. I checked out Craigdarroch Castle which is a mansion built in the early 1900s by a coal baron. The mansion is four stories of wood paneling, stained glass, and glamorous furnishings for the time. Although impressive, it reminded me that it's quite far from my personal style. Afterwards I rode around the formal gardens of the Government House and down to the water. Victoria is a very English town and there's evidence all around: formal gardens, pictures of the queen, architecture, etc. I visited Fisherman's Wharf and found Red Fish Blue Fish, a little restaurant with amazing seafood dishes. They make Tacones, which are basically soft tacos rolled into a cone shape, so I got one of those and the special which was poutine. Poutine is a Canadian specialty of fries with stuff piled all over it, kinda like chili cheese fries. The poutine had tuna bacon, shrimp, and chunks of tuna smothering the fries and it was fantastic.

Next I checked out the Empress Hotel, which was lovely, but had to pass up the $60 afternoon tea. I did however indulge in this English custom at a less fancy place, where the Light Tea consisted of a small pot of Ceylon and a plate of crumpets, scones, and little desserts. It was simply lovely. To work that off I bike up to Beacon Hill Park and lounged by the pond to do a little reading. As it neared my departure time I rode over to Spinnakers, which is Canada's first brewpub, and had dinner and beers. On the way I passed what I believe will be my northern-most point, the corner of Bay and Government, and took a pic.

Consistent with the town, the beers at Spinnakers were very English, which isn't really my fancy. The Scottish Ale was delicious but the others lacked an element of flavor customary for English beer, in my opinion. I had mussels and fries in honor of a brewpub meal that Joel, Jerry, Thomas, and I had in Portland, and although they were good, they lacked compared to those of Bridgeport Brewing. Stuffed again, I made my way back to the ship and enjoyed the first real sunset I've seen on this trip. It was beautiful to watch it dip into the sea just as we arrived back in the U.S.

I had "planned" to stay at Heart O the Hills campground in Olympic Natl Park which was 7.5 miles away. The reason planned is in quotes is that I didn't look at the elevation gain. I expected a simple ride like I had to Altai the day before so I kept my regular clothes on. I hit the road and once I entered the park, 5 miles to go, it started to climb. And climb. And climb. I began to sweat and took off my vest. Then I had to undo a couple buttons on my flannel. After 2.5 miles of steady ascent I stopped for a breath. I was sweating and it was now dark and getting quite chilly. At about the 3 mile mark I had to pay close attention to my temperature. Too much sweat and I would get really cold, really fast when I stopped. Too little clothing and I would get really cold period. I ended up with my flannel half buttoned and found a happy medium. Around the same time I realized my biking headlight was dying. It's rechargeable and therefore doesn't have replaceable batteries, so I just shut it off and continued the last 2 miles in darkness with just enough light from the stars.

When I got to camp I checked my GPS and found I had climbed over 1800 vertical feet over the last 5 miles, not at all what I had expected to end my day on! I was pretty sweaty and it was in the low 40s so I went to the bathroom and had my most hobo-ish moment yet. To dry off I used the air hand drier, but since it didn't turn, I crouched under it and opened up my shirt to dry off my chest and back. I did the same with my neck and yes, my pants. I just hoped that nobody would walk in and see me drying off in the hand drier. After having to change campsites I finally unpacked and set up, and was in my sleeping bag at midnight. Longest day yet but definitely an interesting one.