Two years since the initial attempt to reach the Arctic in 2020, the Canadian border finally opens for us to make this long-awaited journey, and of course to fulfill Paul’s bucket list. If successful, we can say that we’ve been “on top of the world” via Tuktoyaktuk (Arctic Circle) and at “the end of the world” via Ushuaia, final landmass by Antarctica. Ushuaia, located at the southernmost tip of Argentina, is known as the “city at the end of the world”, also is the most popular springboard for expeditions to Antarctica. Admittedly, we visited Ushuaia on a long cruise to South America, but regardless of the transportation mode, it was truly iconic. While Tuktoyatuk, simply referred to as Tuk, lies north of the Arctic Circle on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, and is the only community in Canada on the Arctic Ocean that is connected to the rest of Canada by road. How many people can brag about having been kinda close to the north pole and south pole in their lifetime, right? (Yes, it’s a stretch to say north pole and south pole but you know what I meant.)
It’s easier to visualize what this means via pictures:
Interesting facts about the North and South Pole:
I’ve always thought the North Pole was colder than the south pole, hmmmm….
Now that you have the context of our expeditions, the journey begins…
Wednesday June 1st, 2022
Paul started the expedition going solo, heading north, while I stayed back to join my family for another booked vacay. This arrangement gives Paul time to slowly head towards Oregon and Washington visiting friends along the way. Sorry, there’s not much content here as I was not on this part of the journey.
Tuesday, 6/28/22
I finally met up with Paul in Seattle at the Blue Sky RV park in Issaquah, WA, completely drained of energy after hopping around the country the last few days. Now I need a vacation from a vacation.
Wednesday 6/29/22
We decided to enjoy a day of touring in Seattle, visiting the Space Needle, Chihuly Garden & Glass Art Museum, and the famous Pike Place Market. We Uber to the Space Needle, walked everywhere, even went to a Vietnamese restaurant, Local Pho restaurant (not that great), and Uber back to our campsite in the evening. It was a fun filled day. Two years ago as we attempted this trip, it was during the covid pandemic, Seattle was deserted and lost its soul, quite a depressing site. But this time, it is vibrant, full of life, flooded with locals and tourists, the hustle and bustle vibe is back, I love that energy! We walked to the original Starbucks in the Pike Place Market, but the line was down the street, must have been over a hundred people lining up trying to go inside Starbucks just to say: “I’ve been to the original Starbucks…” Luckily, I’ve been there, done that before so I can just pass by without feeling like I’m missing out.
Thursday 6/30/22
Paul wanted to cross the Canadian border a day early to catch Canada Day on July 1st, similar to our Independence Day on July 4th. Paul made friend with another overlander via Instagram, AJ, who lives right at the Canadian border in Langley. AJ invited us to come for a visit as we pass through this area. AJ and his family, Carol, Nick, Nathan are the most gracious hosts. We were able to park BAT in their lot, and performed the official ceremony of affixing the Canada sticker onto BAT, officiated by the Canadians, AJ’s family!
AJ’s family made us dinner where we enjoyed a very nice outing in his backyard. It’s funny how Carol and I exchanged info and both came to the same conclusion about these two men and their big ass trucks – “their truck is their priority, not their woman!”
Friday 7/1/22
AJ gave us some tips on things to do in the area. We visited Fort Langley and thoroughly enjoyed the fort and the historical content. Excerpt from the Fort pamphlet:
“Built in 1827, Fort Langley was a Hudson’s Bay Company fur trading post. Located on the banks of the Fraser River, it was once part of a British trade route at the center of a large population of Aboriginal people.”
Afterward, we strolled around the quaint town with lots of cute shops and restaurants, and of course, flooded with tourists since it’s a national holiday. We also visited the Abbottsford Exhibition Park for it’s annual Canada Day celebration. Several vendors were in the park giving out promo products, a few stage performances, dog shows and other events going on in the park, similar to a county fair without the Ferris wheel ride… So that concluded a full fun day in the sun with 8K+ steps!
Saturday 7/2/22
In the morning, AJ asked us what level of hiking we desired, strenuous level from 1 -10, I said probably a five if it’s not rocky with big boulders. He said the hike he’s thinking of has a nice trail up in the mountain with beautiful sceneries and a bit of elevation. So we agreed and set off towards the mountain range. We drove up the mountain a bit to save some time and set off at the base of the Elk Thurston Trail marker. The Trail started with a little uphill but then it got steep very quickly, and then steeper and steeper. Paul and I have to take several breaks in between to catch our breaths. We do a lot of walking at home, but pretty flat surfaces. This hike became more challenging as we gain elevation. More than half way through, I asked AJ “just for calibration, how would you rate this Trail from 1-10 in terms of strenuous?” He said “at this pace, I would rate it a 3!” I laughed and said, I would rate it about a 9-10, and Paul concurred. We’re just old and out of shape. As we continue on, AJ assured us we’re almost there, just around the corner, maybe another kilometer, 5-10 minutes before we reached the open area with an incredible view. Uh, AJ, didn’t you say that about 20 minutes ago? My quads started to feel cramped and my heels feel like they’re developing blisters. Crap, I begin to wonder if I can make it to the top as we continue to hike up the steep and even steeper trail. AJ was very considerate in reminding us that there’s no shame in going back. Well, we’ve gone this far and would hate to miss out so we pushed ourselves and finally made it to the lookout. It was a fantastic view of the mountains and incredible view into the Chilliwack River Valley. We were definitely low in energy, so we took a long break for some snacks and I had a chance to put a band aid on each of my heel.
We decided to turn back while AJ and his son check out the open meadow that supposedly looks like the one in The Sound of Music with wild flowers where I was supposed to twirl around in my dress and take out my guitar, and Carol said she would provide the children for the scene .. 🙂😁
The descend off the ~5000 ft elevation mountain was easier, but the constant leg bend and sideway hike to avoid skidding was hard on the knees. Yes, I’m a whiner because I haven’t hike for almost two years now.
We almost reached bottom when we saw three young people stopped in the middle of the trail, waiving us through. The young man was hopping on one foot so I stopped to see if they’re OK and asked if they needed any help. He said he twisted his ankle on the way down and trying to figure out how to make it back to their car. AJ finally caught up with us and provided a wrap for his ankle, and hiking poles to crutch himself down to the trail head where we parked the car. AJ then offered them a ride down to their parking spot before turning back to pick the rest of us up.
Yes, this long story depicts the character who is always willing to help out a total stranger without any hesitation. We complimented AJ for doing a good deed, and he humbly responded: “I just thought if that was me, I would really appreciate the help too.”
We drove back and dined at Earls restaurant with a much needed rest and hot meals as we were all starving after the tough hike with over 10,000 steps and achieved 124 stories in elevation. Woohoo!!! We conquered yet another mountain.
Endless Trail Expeditions 