Cougar tracks: Travels with my wiener

Thanks

Cool Dog and nice pics!

Thank you very much, more to come

From Cathedral Grove we continued east on Hwy 4 past Cameron Lake



and on to Qualicum Beach.



The mountains in the background are on the mainland of British Columbia. The waterway between the mainland and Vancouver Island has recently been renamed the Salish Sea to reflect the aboriginal heritage of the area.



Joe on the beach



After soaking up a (very) little sun on Qualicum Beach we turned north toward Union Bay. I spent an hour driving up and down tiny backroads trying to find the perfect shot of the Chrome Island lightstation. This is one of the few remaining manned lighthouses on the BC coast.



Not long after we arrived at our destination - Union Bay.



Party time!!

Friday evening I met up with my friends Maria and Clint at their friends' house in Union Bay. There I met Chris and she, Maria and I decided to join up for a few days ride up the Island. We planned to set out in the morning for Port Hardy which is about as far north as one can go and still be on pavement. Chris was riding a big cruiser so we'd be avoiding gravel the next few days. Joe was happy about that - he wasn't keen on the bumpy gravel roads.

Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny and we set out for points north.



That's Maria on the KLR, me in the middle and Chris on the Road Star.

From Union Bay we followed the coast road to Campbell River where the sun disappeared. Being intrepid voyagers and Adventure Goddesses we decided to continue anyway We stopped at Seymour Narrows so I could take a picture to replace the botched one I had posted in an earlier ride report. I hate power lines in my pictures but this is about the only view one can get of the Narrows. Some day I'll get one in the sun and preferably with a cruise ship or other big ship in the middle



As we left Seymour Narrows it began to drizzle and it wasn't long before we had to pull over again to don rain gear. I wrapped Joe's kennel up in my towel so he could keep dry too.

Then the skies opened up and it began to pour! By the time we made it to Woss we decided it was time to warm up and dry out so we stopped at the pub there. I snuck Joe's kennel in the back door and stashed him under the table so he could warm up too. I think the owner knew but he turned a blind eye The owner was very friendly and he came over and talked to us about our journey and his own adventures. He was a really nice guy and the food was excellent too Much warmer and slightly drier we hit the soaking wet road again.

Great RR ... I hope to hear more about traveling with small dogs & have a small 7lb poodle that would love to hang out with me all day while I travel about.

Loved reading about Travels with Joe.

There's more to come on this RR and he'll be coming with me more often now. We're heading to WetFest in a couple of weeks which promises to be a bit of a WienerFest as well Watch for that RR in Cougar Tracks: Cowgirl gets Wet

That is one happy looking canine. Actually looks like you both might be enjoying your travels. Looking forward to more when it comes.

This is good.

Came here to see some cougar where is she hiding?

I'm really terrible about getting pictures of myself - there is one on page 1 on this RR

Great job, love the whole thing. Really cool that you can bring your buddy with you!

I just stumbled onto this RR - nice job!

I like the orange wee. I was looking at one just before I picked up my yellow 2008 model.
I've only had mine on gravel a few times for limited distances - I'm still kind of scared of it.
Looks like you are much more bold than I am. I'm gonna need to work on that.

I've been talking about coming up from the Seattle area to tour Vancouver Island next summer.
I've been to Vancouver before, but never been to the island.
Thanks for the info - I definitely have more research to do.

No better friend then a wiener dog

Nice.

I alwasy travel with my wiener

I'm heading off to WetFest on Wednesday so I figured I better get this RR wrapped up so I won't feel guilty (as if) about starting a new one I'm sure I'll have lots of good stories from there, most in the "I'm just here to amuse you" vein

We left Woss in the driving rain. It had been my idea to go to Port Hardy since I'd never been there and as we left Woss I did suggest to Maria and Chris that we could find somewhere else to go where it wasn't raining but they declined - a little wet wasn't going to deter the Adventure Goddesses

The road to Port Hardy is magnificent - forest right up to the edge of the road and in many places the road goes through these fantastic rock cuts. The pictures are coming on the return journey - too much rain and fog on the way there. We took a side trip to Telegraph Cove - what a cool, funky place! I'd love to go back there and stay for a few days, do a little salmon fishing





Over looking Maria over looking the harbour



What Maria saw.



Maria and Chris, aren't they cute?





On the way to and from Telegraph Cove we passed Beaver Cove and this log sort.



It's Joe!



Beaver Cove



This was cool.



It was wet.



From Telegraph Cove we continued on to Port Hardy in the rain. When we got to Port Hardy it was still coming down in buckets so we decided to stay indoors. We came across a hostel but they wouldn't let Joe stay in the room. It was too bad because the owner of the thrift store next door even offered to let us park our bikes inside his store for the night Actually I think he was a little bit smitten The managers of the hostel were very helpful though and pointed us to a hotel that was reasonably priced and allowed pets. When we got there we found several Harleys parked under the entrance way awning. There was still room for the adventure bikes so we gratefully parked and unloaded our wet gear. Cozily ensconced in our room we opted for delivery pizza and TV. We were in for the night

Let me know when you're coming up - maybe I can show you around or at least give you some route tips.

Beautiful pics! I live in the wrong province for long riding seasons.

You should try and bump into Knybanjo from SC while at Wetfest... A great guy to know and to ride with anywhere...

He rides that Wee of his all over the place!