So much to report, but here are the highlights since Seattle:
VANCOUVER: Spent a day with a very "Sneaky Canadian" Pat, who as our fanstic host, showed us all of the best places to drink, including the Grizzly bear orphan sanctuary at the top of Grousse Mtn, Grenville Island Markets, and a great sushi joint.
MIRACLE BEACH: Camping 1/2 way up Vancouver island, with fantastic views of snow capped mountains of the mainland.
QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS: Our whole voyage north was kind of a build-up for this trip, our first real adventure of the entire journey. 7 days kayaking in the remote wilderness of Gwaii Hannas National Park. To get there, first you have to get yourself to the "big city" of Prince Rupert, take an 8-hour ferry to the Queen Charlottes, another 15 minute ferry to the southern Charlotte island, then about an hour on windy dirt logging roads, then an hour and a half on high-speed Zodiac boats puts you in the park. Once we were there, we saw very few other people: just the occasional fishing boat, park ranger, and a few "Watchmen" -- very hospitable Haida folk who fed us well and told us about their ancestral sites.
The Queen Charlottes acquainted us with all sorts of different types of rain, and for the first few days it was a struggle to keep dry. But we were rewarded with plenty of wildlife, from abundant bald eagles to a bear swimming across a channel, and plenty of curious but skittish harbor seals watching our progress. One calm and quiet night, we heard a pod of Orcas from our campsite and saw them passing very close to us -- I think they were sleeping. One day some humpback whales popped up right next to our kayaks and we followed them for a little bit.
The highlight for Mandy, though, was on day 4, when everything we owned was wet and cold, we happenned to find a yurt along shore, equipped with a pot-belly stove and plenty of wood to keep us warm for the day & night. We then went out and caught some fish which we fried up (delicious!) and then finished the celebration off with a chocolate fondue! The next day we went to Hotsprings Island, and further warmed up in the hot pools overlooking mountains and sea. The last couple of days we saw tons of marine life and enjoyed some unusually nice weather for the Charlottes.
JUNEAU: Very cute town - unfortunately overun by cruise ship passengers. We went into town while 4 cruise ships with 3000+ people each were docked. Our entertainment was counting how many tourists did NOT have shopping bags in their hands (very few).
Went for a hike to the Mendenhall Glacier, and camped near the bottom of it, beautiful place. Our first of many glaciers to come.
Grousse Mountain Bear Sanctuary
Miracle Beach
Queen Charlotte Islands
Hotsprings in the Queen Charlottes