all sorts of stuff going on...

A photo just sent to me by Francoise, one of the folks I worked for near Nelson. Here I am in front of some of the wood I split while I was working there for 10 days:



In a nutshell, there's definitely some good news. I got a job here at Jasper National Park, the landscaping job that I was told about by the campground attendant (it was his second job, both of which he was quitting to go back to school in Montreal, and so he's the guy that trained me the past couple of days). I got the job Monday, moved into employee housing the next day and then yesterday was my first day. It's full-time, doing landscaping and groundskeeping for Mountain Park Lodges here in Jasper (click on the subject line above to go to their web page). I'm the only guy doing it and it involves keeping track of four different hotels here in town. But it's not quite as much work as it sounds, since all the actual landscaping and planting, etc. was done in the spring already, so mostly it's just maintaining things, i.e. mowing, weedwacking, weeding, watering, etc.

It's actually pretty much perfect because I'm on my own, the boss is really cool and basically lets you work whatever hours you want as long as you're getting 40 hours in and getting the job done. And I get to use the company truck (which is really beat-up and starts without even putting the key in). The pay isn't spectacular, but it isn't too bad either, and the super good thing is that the housing is dirt cheap, $150/month, so I'll definitely be saving some money. It's a 4-story employee housing building, with bathrooms and kitchens on each floor, and you have a roommate. But two good things with the roommate situation. First, he works the front desk in the evenings, whereas I work during the day, so I have the room to myself all evening. Second, he's from India. So that's super cool, he was really surprised to hear that I had spent 11 months there, so we've talked about India quite a bit. Oh yeah and another thing, he has a laptop and said I can use it whenever I want in the room (but there's no internet there), so that I can hopefully get some writing done in the evening.

So, onto the bigger news. My book, "Kundalini and the Art of Being", was apparently published several months ago! How typical, that they finally got around to it, but then didn't bother mentioning it to me. I'd emailed them back in May to find out what was going on and they assurred me, once again, that it was around the corner, once they got some proofs back. So I emailed them a couple of days ago asking what the heck was going on, reminding them that this month marks seven years since it was accepted for publication and that it was really taking a long time. The person who wrote me back was an office manager who had worked there several years ago, but just come back, and was pretty sympathetic, saying it was overdue when she'd last worked there so it was indeed pretty ridiculous, but at least it's now out. The book can be purchased through the publisher's website at StationHill.org

...or else there's a few copies, both new and used on Amazon.com

As for other news, I saw my second (and third) bear a couple of days ago. I forgot to mention it before, but I saw a black bear cub on the road when I was camping near Nelson a couple of weeks ago. Then, the day before I started work up here I drove up to Medicine Lake, about twenty minutes from the town of Jasper, and did a nice hike along the lake. On the way driving back, I saw another black bear, full-grown, with a bear cub alongside. They were feeding right along the road. The adult bear sure wasn't very big though, nothing like a grizzly. But that was pretty lucky to see bears twice, both from my car so that I didn't have to worry about them.

The only bummer news is that I got 4 rolls of photos back today, and most of them were ruined by a scratch on the negatives (this is the camera that I dropped at Annapurna Base Camp, so that's probably what caused the scratches, as it's been acting weird lately). But fortunately, I brought along my dad's old 1971 Canon, which I also got one roll developed from and those pictures came out good. But it's definitely time to get a digital camera sometime soon, after spending almost $50 for mostly messed up photos. Oh yeah, and the other bummer is that it seems I'm unable to send text messages from here in Jasper (although I do get cell phone reception), which means I can't upload about 10 photos I'd taken along the way here that I wanted to put on my blog. But maybe I'll drive somewhere else outside the park at some point, and be able to text them to my email at another time and then be able to post them.

Jasper, Alberta

I'm now in Jasper National Park, in the town of Jasper. Banff and Jasper parks are both in Alberta, the next province over from British Columbia, and both of the parks are right up against the B.C. border. So it was actually only about a day's drive from the Nelson area up to here, though I camped three nights along the way getting here. I left Nelson Tuesday evening, drove just a few hours and then camped at another free campground by a lake.

The next day I made it to Banff in a couple of hours, and camped there for two nights, doing a great hike the day that I was there, up to a waterfall that was coming out of a glacier. Then, yesterday, I headed north up through Banff, to Jasper, you drive from one directly into the other. I did another hike up to the Columbia Icefield (which was only a ten minute hike, with tons of other people on it)(oh yeah, and the name isn't just a coincidence, it's actually the source of the Columbia River that flows through Portland). That was pretty amazing. Then I continued north to the town of Jasper and camped in a campground here last night (no free ones in the national parks, unfortunately).

So far, I really like the looks of Jasper, seems like a great place to do lots of hiking, camping and exploring while it's still warm, and then to ski for the winter. It's a mellow little town that feels more like a real town than Banff, which although nice as well felt more like it was there just for the tourists. So we'll see what I manage to find here. I already got a job tip though, from the campground attendants that I talked to this morning, doing landscaping at a hotel where one of the guys that I talked to also works. But it sounds like this is a good time to be here looking for a job, as I'd expected, since people are leaving soon for school, and just with the end of summer coming. A number of the campgrounds actually close September 1st, in just a few weeks. So I took some more photos that I wanted to post, but my text messages aren't going through right now (although I do have cell phone service here), so I'll have to post them later.

moving on from Nelson

I pulled into Nelson once again this morning, after camping the past three nights at another free campground, Six Mile Lakes campground, just a little ways northwest of Nelson (although I got there from the other side, from the Slocan Valley). I was going to come into town yesterday, but then I noticed there seemed to be an awful lot of people around for a Monday morning, and asked someone and it turned out, as I was wondering, that it was a Canadian holiday, B.C. day, and things would be closed. So today I pretty much did a whirlwind of errands, and am now all set to leave town. I still haven't received my SIN card, but I arranged to have it forwarded to the post office in Jasper National Park (in Alberta, but right on the B.C. border), where I'm planning to go from here. I was thinking of doing some more wwoofing around here after camping the past week, but thinking about it, that's just putting off making some money, and there isn't much of the summer left.

So after doing assorted reading and some internet surfing, Jasper sounds great, and it's also where someone I met in Asia recommended as a good place to spend the winter skiing and possibly working at a ski resort, which is sort of what I had in mind for this winter. There is actually a little town (called Jasper) inside the national park, and it sounds like there are lots of work opportunities around there. So I'm basically just going to head up there, explore the park for a few days and then start asking around and see what might be available in the job department. If it's anything like Denali Park in Alaska, then they will be looking for people to finish out the season, who can stay longer than other folks. I'm also planning to stop through Banff National Park and check it out. But it's supposed to be busier and more touristy, so for the time being I won't plan to spend much time there, but who knows. That pretty much covers things for now, I'll be hopping in the trusty Toyota (which I just got an oil change for, seems to be running pretty good, and it got me up a bunch of gravel roads) and heading out this evening, most likely staying at another free campground along the way. It's not really all that far, so I'll easily be getting to Banff tomorrow and then may stay there a night or two. I'm not sure about internet access after this, hopefully I'll find something up that way, I imagine I will.....

photos...

At Whatshan Lake, at a free campground I stayed at near Saddle Mountain:



A meadow with wildflowers on Saddle Mountain, looking up at the peak where the fire lookout station is:



At the top of Saddle Mountain:



A room with a view:



A tree on the side of the mountain, looking a lot like a Bristlecone Pine; Arrow Lake is in the background below, where the town of Nakusp is located:

more photos...

Another shot of a meadow on the side of Saddle Mountain:



Box Lake, just outside Nakusp, where I camped for two nights. It wasn't quite as serene as this photo makes it appear however, due to noisy neighbors at the campground:



One of the Six Mile Lakes, near another free campground I stayed at:



Another lakeside self-portrait, at Six Mile Lakes:



Some flowers in bloom, which someone who actually knows something about flowers might be able to identify:

in Nakusp yet again

I think this is my fourth time stopping through Nakusp...Several reasons, for one it's the largest town around (maybe even a thousand or two!), it's at sort of a crossroads between a number of interesting places, it's a friendly little town with a nice beach, on Upper Arrow Lake, and plus there's free, unlimited internet use in a little building next to the library. So, a pretty good place to stop through. I camped just a few miles away in a free campground last night (thanks to my new book, "Camp Free in B.C.").

I was here on Monday as well, but didn't get around to posting a message. So I'll try and wrap things up fairly quickly....I left Achille and Francoise's place, where I was working for a little over a week, last Saturday morning and caravaned behind Achille to the Little Fest music festival, in the Slocan Valley, near the town of Slocan. Achille had arranged for me to be a volunteer, so that I got into the festival for free. The volunteering actually turned out to be the funnest part. And camping there was included, so I spent Saturday night there.

The next day I was a little undecided as to my plans, so I went to a nice spot on Slocan Lake, Banoch Point, where I had camped once before, to swim for the day. As it was a good place to camp, I decided to stay there for the night. The next morning, I decided that I wasn't quite ready to commit to another wwoofing situation, so I headed north (up to Nakusp) and decided to hike a mountain, Saddle Lookout, which I'd heard about when I was in the area previously. There were two free campgrounds mentioned in my book in that area. So, after doing assorted business in town, I headed south and then took the free ferry across Arrow Lake, which deposited me at a gravel road, which I then followed a ways out to the campground.

The campground was right on Whatshan Lake, and since it was free and quite picturesque, I decided to stay there a couple of extra days; in which I didn't do a heck of a lot, other than assorted reading and writing, swimming and a bit of hiking around. Then yesterday, Thursday, I got up and drove to the trailhead for Saddle Mountain, hiked up and down in about 3 hours, and then came through Nakusp last night, and found that nearby campground. The hike was truly spectacular. The wildflowers were in full bloom, and the views down to the lakes, including a 360-degree view from the top (it was previously a fire lookout, and there's a cabin-like structure on top complete with an outhouse) were amazing. I got a number of great photos on my cell phone, but unfortunately there's no cell phone service here, so I can't send them to my email address yet to be able to post them. But I will whenever I get the chance.

And the other, more unfortunate thing is that the hike caused my leg to hurt again, the same one that left me in a bad situation out at the Kalalau Valley in Hawaii a few months ago. It was an intense uphill hike the whole way, so if it was going to happen anywhere then that would have been the place. But it's a bummer that it's still an issue, whatever the problem is (possibly tendonitis). But the bit of good news is that, whereas originally my right leg was the problem, now it's switched over to my left leg. So hopefully that means that my right leg has healed entirely, in which case perhaps that will happen to my left leg as well at some point and then they'll both be healed. In the meantime, I have to factor that into my hiking and especially backpacking plans.

So as for what's next, I still have to make up my mind. I'd like to head north from here to Revelstoke and then east towards Banff and Jasper, which would be the most direct way to go; except that I'm waiting for that SIN card to show up in Nelson, and it could arrive any day now at this point. So I'm thinking of calling the post office there and seeing if they would be able to forward the mail to me elsewhere, i.e. Jasper. And if not then I'll plan to get that before I head for the national parks, since part of the point is to look for work in that area. So that might make up my mind. Either way, I may stay in this area at least through the weekend. There are several hot springs around, which would be nice since the weather has been coldish and cloudy lately, and in fact it rained on me in my tent all last night. And there are plenty of hiking opportunities, as well as several more free campgrounds. I'll be pondering the plethora of possibilities over the next day or so. This internet office is closed over the weekend, so not sure when or from where I'll be writing next...

heading out

Here's a photo of me swimming (well, not actually swimming, but about to) at a nearby lake....I'm going to keep this one nice and short as it's getting late. But I take off from Achille and Francoise's place tomorrow (the French Canadian couple I've been wwoofing for). Achille and I are both going to a nearby music festival, in the Slocan Valley, about an hour away. Then I've talked to someone else that I may be wwoofing for next week. But I'm ready for a break for a few days, after hauling and chopping wood for, I think, 8 of the past 9 days (with a day off in the middle). Speaking of which, notice the photo below of me chopping wood. I chopped all of the wood in the pile next to me, plus another even bigger pile, and one smaller one. So I definitely had a bit of a lumberjack experience...I'm sore but mostly in a good way. And it's been great hanging out here on their beautiful piece of land. So the wwoofing thing is definitely a great idea, a good way to meet local people, travel around and do it cheaply. I literally didn't spend a dollar while I was here (except, of course, for all my unavoidable monthly bills, i.e. phone, insurance, credit cards and student loan).....I'm not sure exactly when I'll have internet access again but most likely pretty soon, so I'll write again whenever I get to another place, or at least get my upcoming plans straightened out.

chopping wood on a rainy day...

still WWOOFing

I'm now working for some other people doing the WWOOFing work exchange. I worked for a nice fellow named Joseph over the weekend, clearing out an area of weeds and then erecting an already-assembled dome greenhouse (which turned into a little bit of a fiasco, due to a lack of directions, but eventually we got it set up). He had a busy week though this week and wasn't able to accomodate me beyond just a few days, which worked out fine because I was ready to do some more exploring of the area.

So I arranged things to start helping out some other folks starting this past Thursday, then last Sunday I took off and headed up the Slocan Valley to check it out. I camped two nights by Slocan Lake at two different spots, and spent another night near some hot springs, which I didn't go in because it was already hot out, so I just went in the river instead. I did a great hike up to Shannon Lake, up above the much larger Slocan Lake, and other than that just drove around the area, explored a few back roads to see where they went, took photos, etc. But there's definitely a lot more exploring to do around here as B.C. has so many National and Provincial parks it's ridiculous. So hopefully I'll get some more free time this summer to do some more cruising around, which I'm sure I will.

Wednesday night I arrived at the house of Chanisse and Francois, a French Canadian couple who live on a nice little piece of land about 20 minutes west of Nelson. They are both originally from Quebec, but were living in the S.F. Bay Area for a while, before moving up here a few years ago. They're really nice and the food is great. So far I've worked a bit in the garden, plus yesterday Chanisse and I went and loaded up a truckful of firewood, then I spent today splitting it. Although WWOOFing implies that you'll be working on farms, that's obviously a fairly wide-open definition, as a lot of the hosts in this area seem to be simply individuals who need some help on their land. That's fine since I think it's probably a little more laid back and a more personal experience than working on a large farm. But we'll see, I'll probably get the chance to work on a farm as well for comparison. As for how long I'll be here, I really have no idea. They like about a week committment, so I'll be here at least that long, and then it'll probably just depend on how much stuff they have ledft for me to do. I like the set-up here, a nice piece of land with a creek flowing through it, and the room I'm in is pretty nice and definitely plenty quiet at night.

In the meantime, I've also gotten my application in to get an SIN card, which will allow me to work for pay in Canada. That will take 3-4 weeks to be processed, by which time I may be ready to start thinking seriously about finding some paid work. Nelson is a great little town, but I hear that it is hard to find jobs there. But I guess I'll just keep my eyes open and see what's out there, and then be prepared to head out and perhaps find some work in one of the many parks in the area, which would be a pretty good arrangement, at least through the end of the summer. So I guess that pretty well covers things for now. I'm actually in cell phone range here, and I'm able to get online here as well so I'll try and be fairly regularly in touch. Below are some photos I took over the past week...

more pics...

My car parked in front of Joseph's large dome, where I worked for a few days over the weekend:



Joseph wacking down some dead tree limbs:



A barn on the way out to the Slocan Valley:



Banoch Point, on Slocan Lake, near where I camped in an unnoffical (and free) campground the first night that I headed up the Slocan Valley:



A farmer's field: