Leaving the World Behind II: Return to Tahsis
by Eric Fattah
[ If you have not yet done so, it would be helpful to read part I, the original 'Leaving the World Behind' ]
Tyler and Anneko had been in Vancouver for some time, and were going to return to Tahsis on Thursday December 26, 2002. Lukas and I were going to follow them there, and stay in Tahsis for a few days, planning on returning Sunday afternoon, on the 29th.
This trip turned out to be a major adventure, far more epic and precarious than the previous trip. We narrowly escaped disaster on several occasions! This is the story of these adventures.
We were planning on meeting Tyler and Anneko at the meeting point (a White Spot restaurant parking lot), at 7:15am on the 26th. I got up around 6am, and in our separate cars, Lukas and I reached the meeting point, ahead of schedule, around 7am. While we waited for Tyler and Anneko, we moved Lukas' gear into my car. Then, we waited. Our plan was to catch the 8:30am ferry, and we needed to leave for the ferry no later than 7:30am. But, Tyler and Anneko were late. Very late. It turned out that their alarm hadn't gone off. By 7:35am, Lukas and I were discussing back up plans. There wasn't much point in us catching an earlier ferry than them, so we decided to wait. Around 7:45am, Tyler and Anneko finally arrived in their truck. Their truck was overloaded with furniture and other items they were bringing back to their house in Tahsis. We left for the ferry immediately, and caught it. Soon we were driving north on Vancouver Island, towards Campbell River. We reached Campbell River and hoped to refuel and do some grocery shopping. We refueled both my car and the truck, and as we tried to pay, the power in Campbell River went out, and stayed out. Luckily we had cash, and paid. Grocery shopping was now out of the question due to the power outage, and day light was precious. We couldn't hang around until power came back, if it came back. So we set off towards Gold River. We reached Gold River after another hour and a half of driving. So far so good. We didn't get groceries, but at least we got fuel. From Gold River, all that remains is the dirt/gravel road to Tahsis, which winds up the mountain then down again. The road normally takes 60-90 minutes to drive. As we drove the Tahsis road, we gained altitude rapidly, and soon the trees and road were covered with snow. The snow got deeper and deeper, until finally a steep hill was too much for us. Tyler's overloaded truck, leading the way, didn't even make it a third of the way up, before spinning out of control. His truck is rear-wheel drive. Lukas was driving my car, and we immediately went into reverse, back down the slippery hill, to avoid Tyler's truck which was now sliding backwards down the hill uncontrollably. Eventually we both reached the bottom again. We discussed our options. With Tyler driving my car, Anneko, Lukas and I put on boots and pushed my car up the hill while Tyler applied controlled acceleration. A couple of hundred meters later, we were totally exhausted, but my car was up the hill. Lukas was fighting sickness, and this exertion in the subzero temperatures was no good. But we had little choice. Next, we tried to push Tyler's overloaded truck up the hill. It was amazingly heavy. Only during brief spurts of maximal effort could we make progress. Eventually, some trucks came along the road the other way, from Tahsis. They had chains and said the road was much worse later on. Tyler was confused. He had driven this road many times last winter, and despite snow, it was never like this.
Dusk was now upon us. We still had another 50km on this precarious road, including steep downhill sections with sharp turns, overlooking cliffs. Any loss of traction could be fatal. Further, if we got stuck out there, we would be spending the night in deep subzero weather at altitude. We were out of range of any cell phone station. We decided to head back to Gold River and look for chains.
But, to go back to Gold River, we first had to get back down the hill, and Tyler's truck was parked halfway up the hill after all of our efforts to push it up. Just turning Tyler's truck around was a major problem, requiring full man-power. Then, getting him down the hill without sliding off the sides was also a major effort. Eventually we got back to Gold River. We went to both gas stations and the hardware store. Each time we asked for chains, and each time, we received the same answer, 'No', along with a blank look, as if they didn't even know what chains were. Our options were fading fast. Power was still out in Campbell River, so even if we could get back there, we wouldn't be able to shop for anything. We were about to can the entire trip, when Tyler and Anneko remembered a friend who lived in Gold River. We found him (Dave), and he had some oversized chains. We tried them on both my car and Tyler's truck. They were way too big. Again we considered canning the trip. Dave wouldn't have it, and he started calling his other friends in the tiny town, and he found someone with cable chains. The cable chains fit my car, and Tyler was convinced he could make the other huge chains work on his wheels by using bungee cords.
With darkness only minutes away, we thanked Dave and left for our 2nd attempt to cross the Tahsis road.
We kept the chains in the trunk until we would actually need them. As we neared the dreaded hill, something seemed different. Our cars went over the hill without any problem! It seemed the road had been cleared by a machine. We thought our troubles were over. We breezed along the road, through the darkness, to higher and higher altitudes. Then, we ran into the machine which was clearing the road. Unfortunately it was only travelling about 5-10km/h. If we followed behind it, it would take another 4-8 hours to cover the remaining 40km. We had to go around it. We passed it, and once again we entered the deep icy snow. Eventually we reached the top of the mountain, still without the chains; then the steep downhill sections began. We stopped and began mounting the chains. Our gloves were buried in our bags somewhere, so our hands froze in the subzero temperatures, and we had to rewarm them frequently. We weren't even done yet when the road clearing machine caught up with us. It went around us. Finally we had our chains mounted. We descended the hills and passed the road clearing machine again. Soon we reached a low enough altitude that the snow dissipated. We removed the chains, and finally reached Tahsis at about 6:45pm. Exhausted, we crumbled inside and then tried to unload the car and truck. We had left home around 6:30am, and arrived in Tahsis 6:45pm. So it had taken us more than 12 hours to get to Tahsis.
Soon we were planning our activities for tomorrow.
We didn't have any boat trips planned this time, so we needed to reach that amazing dive site, 'Liboracci's living room', without a boat. The last time we were in Tahsis, we dove that site and were utterly amazed. Our plan was to spend both of our diving days there. It was just getting there that was the problem.
We knew of two methods to reach the dive site without a boat. One involved taking the truck to an old logging site, and then swimming 3km in the freezing water. The problem with long swims is not only cold exposure of the body, but numb feet, numb hands, and general calorie deprivation. The other method to reach the dive site was to take the truck further into the woods, and then hike down a steep forest for about 15-20 minutes, followed by a 500m surface swim. That was our plan. Unfortunately, the sickness that Lukas had been fighting had taken over, and he would not be able to dive the whole trip.
The next morning, Tyler and I geared up before we left, then all four of us took the truck along the logging roads. Soon, we began the hike down to the water.
Unfortunately, a recent windstorm complicated the matter. Tyler and Anneko had made this hike before, it wasn't too difficult, but several giant trees had fallen and blocked the way. We eventually found an alternate route, but it was extremely precarious. First of all, the actual ground (Earth) was mostly unreachable. Each step involved walking along fallen logs (unstable) or branches (even more unstable), and our feet rarely touched solid ground. Prickly bushes were everywhere. When our feet occasionally touched the 'ground', it wasn't earth, and it wasn't solid; several times my foot fell through. I was wearing my smooth skin picasso suit, and a single fall would have finished my suit forever. We hadn't anticipated such a difficult hike, so I was only weaking sandals outside my slippery neoprene socks. We were also wearing big weight belts and neck weights, and we carried our fins/monofin, backpacks, a hot water jug, and lots of drinking water. The path became steeper, and more precarious. I nearly fell several times. Finally, we needed to make our way down a near vertical chasm, without climbing equipment. By then I was already overheating and sweating like crazy under my suit. My legs soon became like jello (my legs often get weak when exerting myself under solid neoprene). My sandals made every step dangerous. As I descended, I tried to hold onto tree branches, but more often than not the trees were dead and the branches gave out. Eventually we made it to the shore, drenched and exhausted. I was so hot I couldn't wait to jump into the 8C water. I tried to drink and drink, but even then I knew I hadn't rehydrated. I dragged a water bottle with me, and began the 500m swim to the dive site. Tyler soon followed. It was now around 4:15pm. I had my dive light attached to my forearm, as did Tyler. Lukas and Anneko stayed on shore, and would look for an easier path up the mountain.
[continued...]
by Eric Fattah
[ If you have not yet done so, it would be helpful to read part I, the original 'Leaving the World Behind' ]
Tyler and Anneko had been in Vancouver for some time, and were going to return to Tahsis on Thursday December 26, 2002. Lukas and I were going to follow them there, and stay in Tahsis for a few days, planning on returning Sunday afternoon, on the 29th.
This trip turned out to be a major adventure, far more epic and precarious than the previous trip. We narrowly escaped disaster on several occasions! This is the story of these adventures.
We were planning on meeting Tyler and Anneko at the meeting point (a White Spot restaurant parking lot), at 7:15am on the 26th. I got up around 6am, and in our separate cars, Lukas and I reached the meeting point, ahead of schedule, around 7am. While we waited for Tyler and Anneko, we moved Lukas' gear into my car. Then, we waited. Our plan was to catch the 8:30am ferry, and we needed to leave for the ferry no later than 7:30am. But, Tyler and Anneko were late. Very late. It turned out that their alarm hadn't gone off. By 7:35am, Lukas and I were discussing back up plans. There wasn't much point in us catching an earlier ferry than them, so we decided to wait. Around 7:45am, Tyler and Anneko finally arrived in their truck. Their truck was overloaded with furniture and other items they were bringing back to their house in Tahsis. We left for the ferry immediately, and caught it. Soon we were driving north on Vancouver Island, towards Campbell River. We reached Campbell River and hoped to refuel and do some grocery shopping. We refueled both my car and the truck, and as we tried to pay, the power in Campbell River went out, and stayed out. Luckily we had cash, and paid. Grocery shopping was now out of the question due to the power outage, and day light was precious. We couldn't hang around until power came back, if it came back. So we set off towards Gold River. We reached Gold River after another hour and a half of driving. So far so good. We didn't get groceries, but at least we got fuel. From Gold River, all that remains is the dirt/gravel road to Tahsis, which winds up the mountain then down again. The road normally takes 60-90 minutes to drive. As we drove the Tahsis road, we gained altitude rapidly, and soon the trees and road were covered with snow. The snow got deeper and deeper, until finally a steep hill was too much for us. Tyler's overloaded truck, leading the way, didn't even make it a third of the way up, before spinning out of control. His truck is rear-wheel drive. Lukas was driving my car, and we immediately went into reverse, back down the slippery hill, to avoid Tyler's truck which was now sliding backwards down the hill uncontrollably. Eventually we both reached the bottom again. We discussed our options. With Tyler driving my car, Anneko, Lukas and I put on boots and pushed my car up the hill while Tyler applied controlled acceleration. A couple of hundred meters later, we were totally exhausted, but my car was up the hill. Lukas was fighting sickness, and this exertion in the subzero temperatures was no good. But we had little choice. Next, we tried to push Tyler's overloaded truck up the hill. It was amazingly heavy. Only during brief spurts of maximal effort could we make progress. Eventually, some trucks came along the road the other way, from Tahsis. They had chains and said the road was much worse later on. Tyler was confused. He had driven this road many times last winter, and despite snow, it was never like this.
Dusk was now upon us. We still had another 50km on this precarious road, including steep downhill sections with sharp turns, overlooking cliffs. Any loss of traction could be fatal. Further, if we got stuck out there, we would be spending the night in deep subzero weather at altitude. We were out of range of any cell phone station. We decided to head back to Gold River and look for chains.
But, to go back to Gold River, we first had to get back down the hill, and Tyler's truck was parked halfway up the hill after all of our efforts to push it up. Just turning Tyler's truck around was a major problem, requiring full man-power. Then, getting him down the hill without sliding off the sides was also a major effort. Eventually we got back to Gold River. We went to both gas stations and the hardware store. Each time we asked for chains, and each time, we received the same answer, 'No', along with a blank look, as if they didn't even know what chains were. Our options were fading fast. Power was still out in Campbell River, so even if we could get back there, we wouldn't be able to shop for anything. We were about to can the entire trip, when Tyler and Anneko remembered a friend who lived in Gold River. We found him (Dave), and he had some oversized chains. We tried them on both my car and Tyler's truck. They were way too big. Again we considered canning the trip. Dave wouldn't have it, and he started calling his other friends in the tiny town, and he found someone with cable chains. The cable chains fit my car, and Tyler was convinced he could make the other huge chains work on his wheels by using bungee cords.
With darkness only minutes away, we thanked Dave and left for our 2nd attempt to cross the Tahsis road.
We kept the chains in the trunk until we would actually need them. As we neared the dreaded hill, something seemed different. Our cars went over the hill without any problem! It seemed the road had been cleared by a machine. We thought our troubles were over. We breezed along the road, through the darkness, to higher and higher altitudes. Then, we ran into the machine which was clearing the road. Unfortunately it was only travelling about 5-10km/h. If we followed behind it, it would take another 4-8 hours to cover the remaining 40km. We had to go around it. We passed it, and once again we entered the deep icy snow. Eventually we reached the top of the mountain, still without the chains; then the steep downhill sections began. We stopped and began mounting the chains. Our gloves were buried in our bags somewhere, so our hands froze in the subzero temperatures, and we had to rewarm them frequently. We weren't even done yet when the road clearing machine caught up with us. It went around us. Finally we had our chains mounted. We descended the hills and passed the road clearing machine again. Soon we reached a low enough altitude that the snow dissipated. We removed the chains, and finally reached Tahsis at about 6:45pm. Exhausted, we crumbled inside and then tried to unload the car and truck. We had left home around 6:30am, and arrived in Tahsis 6:45pm. So it had taken us more than 12 hours to get to Tahsis.
Soon we were planning our activities for tomorrow.
We didn't have any boat trips planned this time, so we needed to reach that amazing dive site, 'Liboracci's living room', without a boat. The last time we were in Tahsis, we dove that site and were utterly amazed. Our plan was to spend both of our diving days there. It was just getting there that was the problem.
We knew of two methods to reach the dive site without a boat. One involved taking the truck to an old logging site, and then swimming 3km in the freezing water. The problem with long swims is not only cold exposure of the body, but numb feet, numb hands, and general calorie deprivation. The other method to reach the dive site was to take the truck further into the woods, and then hike down a steep forest for about 15-20 minutes, followed by a 500m surface swim. That was our plan. Unfortunately, the sickness that Lukas had been fighting had taken over, and he would not be able to dive the whole trip.
The next morning, Tyler and I geared up before we left, then all four of us took the truck along the logging roads. Soon, we began the hike down to the water.
Unfortunately, a recent windstorm complicated the matter. Tyler and Anneko had made this hike before, it wasn't too difficult, but several giant trees had fallen and blocked the way. We eventually found an alternate route, but it was extremely precarious. First of all, the actual ground (Earth) was mostly unreachable. Each step involved walking along fallen logs (unstable) or branches (even more unstable), and our feet rarely touched solid ground. Prickly bushes were everywhere. When our feet occasionally touched the 'ground', it wasn't earth, and it wasn't solid; several times my foot fell through. I was wearing my smooth skin picasso suit, and a single fall would have finished my suit forever. We hadn't anticipated such a difficult hike, so I was only weaking sandals outside my slippery neoprene socks. We were also wearing big weight belts and neck weights, and we carried our fins/monofin, backpacks, a hot water jug, and lots of drinking water. The path became steeper, and more precarious. I nearly fell several times. Finally, we needed to make our way down a near vertical chasm, without climbing equipment. By then I was already overheating and sweating like crazy under my suit. My legs soon became like jello (my legs often get weak when exerting myself under solid neoprene). My sandals made every step dangerous. As I descended, I tried to hold onto tree branches, but more often than not the trees were dead and the branches gave out. Eventually we made it to the shore, drenched and exhausted. I was so hot I couldn't wait to jump into the 8C water. I tried to drink and drink, but even then I knew I hadn't rehydrated. I dragged a water bottle with me, and began the 500m swim to the dive site. Tyler soon followed. It was now around 4:15pm. I had my dive light attached to my forearm, as did Tyler. Lukas and Anneko stayed on shore, and would look for an easier path up the mountain.
[continued...]
