2009-07-29: As is to be expected in San Francisco, the day began with a cool fog and grey skies. Since I took a liking to that city, I wanted to do something there before returning to the wild lands. A nice compromise then, would be San Francisco's Japanese Tea Garden. This was a place where every single thing has had its aesthetic qualities considered, and was then positioned accordingly.
2009-07-28: A few short minutes of driving led me back to the Kuchel Visitor Centre, where I took a brief stroll on the boardwalk around the coastal marsh.
2009-07-28: I quickly broke camp and hurried through the heights to Lady Bird Johnson Grove, high above the foggy coastal lowlands. The trail was an easy one mile loop, which nonetheless allowed me to experience the remarkable beauty of the coastal redwood forests. I arrived early enough to enjoy the tranquillity and solitude not possible with the presence of the tourist types. Fog still lingered in the darker places the sunlight had yet to reach.
2009-07-28: I missed the campground by a few miles since my GPS directed me to the Kuchel Visitor Centre. I had no problem with that, as I was able to gather informational material and facts regarding the redwood forests. California has so much to do, whatever you might be interested in. I hoped preparation would make it all manageable. The visitor centre was built near a marshy lagoon on the coast. I planned to return the next day on the way to San Francisco. I went back to the campground, set up camp, and made certain that everything was bear resistant. Many animals were present there, obviously accustomed to the presence of humans. Deer and elk wandered through the meadows, and Steller's jays waited for food to be dropped or left alone. I spent the evening relaxing, keeping off of my still sore feet. The next day, I discovered a blackberry bush near my campsite, and I had recall the park rule specifically saying consumption of berries is permitted. The berries were about the size of a ping-pong ball. They were plentiful, and sweet.
2009-07-27: The fog from the previous day was partially gone, for a short time at least, and I was able to view the azure waters of the Pacific Ocean before leaving Beachside SRA. Unfortunately, it quickly returned once I was back on the road. My feet hadn't recovered yet, so driving was the only activity I could choose today. I took advantage of the few places where the fog was not present and where there was room to stop, and I took photos or just enjoyed the view.
2009-07-26: Along the coastal highway, the dense fog obscured any view of the ocean, though visibility on the ridge upon which the road sat was decent. I set up camp and limped to the showers as quickly as possible, thinking even a cold shower in a small stall would be a relief. Rather than that, it was warm and larger than many I'd seen elsewhere. The late afternoon sunlight diffused through the fog to create an evenly lit environment in which the passage of time was difficult to gauge. 
2009-07-25: This is Part III of the photos from Olympic National Park. The last one is where I felt I was being watched.
2009-07-25: This is Part II of the photos from Olympic National Park.
2009-07-25: The Olympic rain forest was everything I had expected, and then some. The trees here, regardless of species, grow to tremendous size. Everywhere where something could grow, it did. I encountered trees growing out of other trees; in one instance a sapling was growing straight up out of a stump. Many trees had hollows underneath them where the tree they grew on top of had lain before rotting away. Mushrooms and moss grew upon the trees. Ferns and other small plants claimed any remaining open soil. The air here was slightly cool and damp - it would cool dramatically at night. The scent of the trees and the earth was very thick. Many parts of the forest were quite dark. The trail I took followed a clear and cool river. I walked quite a distance on this trail - 7.5 miles, and then back another 7.5. Unfortunately, I wore through the pads in my boots and ended up with some very painful blisters on my soles. Oddly enough, in one particular part of the forest trail, otherwise unremarkable, I had a strong feeling that I was being watched. I continued on, watching and listening for movement. Nothing came of it, but when I was on the return hike, I felt the same sensation. How strange!
Later, in the evening, the temperature dropped dramatically. I was exhausted and the cold may have been less tolerable because of that. While driving, I caught a glimpse of a cloud of fog pouring rapidly down the side of a mountain and looking like an enormous plume from a melting block of dry ice. Soon the thick fog filled the air, and was present until I had come out of the high mountains. Along some parts of the highway, the huge trees of the rain forest lined both sides of the road, creating the appearance of a gargantuan hall lined by massive pillars. At one point, a great horned owl swooped across the road in front of my car, its wingspan six feet wide, or possibly more. I stopped to capture some photos of a brilliant sunset. That night, again behind schedule, I had to find somewhere to stop and sleep. The city of Aberdeen, WA looked much like Chicago in many ways - not somewhere I wanted to stay. So as before, I found a rest stop to park at and there I slept.
2009-07-24: On this morning, all of southern British Columbia were enveloped in fog. My goal was to reach a park on the coast of Washington. I drove with leisure as the distance was not too great. Unfortunately, the ferry crossing the Strait of Juan de Fuca had been delayed by an hour or more earlier on, so the entire schedule was off. I had missed the most recent by a matter of minutes and had to wait about another ninety minutes for the next one to arrive. By the time I had crossed, I was too tired to drive and I had to stop and sleep. Though it was all too mundane, a 24-hour grocery store's parking lot was my stopping place.
2009-07-23: Canada's Sea to Sky Highway had a uniquely wild look to it. As I drove along it, following the winding road back and forth, going up and down the hills, black storms thundered across the region. I looked up at a high, rocky precipice and saw a bolt of lightning viciously strike a tree. Smaller rocks tumbled down the slope. It seems that it is a constantly changing landscape.
Chinook helicopters, some with buckets attached, constantly flew overhead. CBC radio reported that firefighters had been battling a massive wildfire; luckily it was not a threat to the area I was in. I watched one of the helicopters dip a bucket into a lake and fly away over the mountains.
About 50 miles north of Vancouver, I found a small provincial park called Nairn Falls, and decided it would be a good place to camp. I walked along a noisy, cold and fast river to visit the falls here. Minerals dissolved in the river gave it an odd, milky appearance. The forest trail opened up into an area of solid rock, which had to be climbed to get to the viewpoint for the falls. I made my way forward and took a few photos, taking care not to slip on the smooth rock. The drinking water here was excellent; I enjoyed it so much that I dumped out what I had and filled up my bottles with it.
