Butedale Cannery
I know, I’ve said it before, but every day of this trip has been getting better and better. Cruising through British Columbia has been one of the highlights of my travel career so far. The area is simply amazing. There is no other way to describe it. To see the snow on a mountain top melting off into a roaring stream that then free falls 400 feet to the ocean is extraordinary, really. From what I hear, this is nothing compared to what we are headed to Alaska to see, but it still dwarfs any winter-snow time sights I have ever seen.
Today we stopped off at this place that was where a river terminated into the ocean, this river being maybe 30 feet across and raging, but the coolest thing was the last 1/8 mile of it descent. It had two miraculous free falls in a row, the first I would guess to be in the 100 foot range, then the river turned at 45 degrees and fell another 300 feet down to the ocean. At the mouth of the river is the site of an old dilapidated cannery that is half falling into the ocean, and apparently there is one building still being used for something or other, because there was smoke coming from the chimney of one of the buildings. It reminded me of a scene from an old mining site in the Rockies or the Sierras, very nostalgic. The name of that place was the Butedale Cannery in the McKay Reach, a narrow stretch of water about 2/3′s of the way up the British Columbia coastline.
I now have about 3 weeks left on my rotation here on the Sea Lion, I would suspect that they will go fast. I’ve adapted to life on the boat pretty well now, I’m actually thinking it’s going to be quite strange to get OFF the boat now. Everything is so interesting here, and then there is the fact that I will have to spend my money again when I get off, and that’s no fun! Actually I have been looking forward to going for a drive, and even a nice night or two in a tent for a while now. It’s going to be good to see some familiar faces as well, I’m sure that some one misses me.
