Oh Canada. How happy I am that we don’t have a river site tonight, because when we walked along the river, I discovered that the mosquitoes are so much worse down there than up here.
A few days ago we stopped to view Nooksack Falls in Washington. The first thing we saw was this large sign warning of extreme danger and "respectfully enumerating those known to have perished while visiting Nooksack Falls". Will observed most of the eight victims had something in common – they were males between the ages of 18-25. Pretty scary and very sad. The sign declared, "Without risking your life, it is not possible to get views of the falls that compare to the professional photographs on this display."
When we walked beyond the sign and looked over the fence, what did we behold but someone in that demographic, along with his female companion, busy taking pictures of each other with the falls behind them.
I squelched the motherly impulse to yell at them to be careful and get back up here right now. I also virtuously heeded the warnings and stayed on the appropriate side of the fence.
I am often disappointed with the quality of the pictures when they show up on this blog. This picture isn't supposed to be this dark!
Yesterday we were camped near Bridal Falls (in BC, not Oregon!). There was a warning signs there also: “Caution: Hazardous Area. For your own safety, do not proceed. Violators will be subject to fines, etc.” Many people were disregarding it and traipsing on up the steep hill to get a better view. I tried to take some pictures from the very unsatisfactory viewing point...then I stepped over to the other side of the fence to photograph these interesting tree roots.
Once on the wrong side of the fence, I was soon climbing the hill. The view was so much better there.
The worst part was awkwardly but carefully stepping down the steep slope, with the viewing deck full of people who would all witness it should I fall on my rear. In fact, Will had already seen one woman do that. But with my customary gracefulness, I made it safely down. As we started back down the trail, Will decided to take a fork in the trail heading up - and where should we end up but up as high as I had scrambled! Oh well, the rush from the risky behavior was worth it!
We later visited Hope and admired the view of the Fraser River and the many wood carvings all over town. Any resemblance between this guy and another one we know and love who uses a walking stick??
Everyone in this story survived the forbidden trips across the fence. But tonight many mosquitoes have made it into our fifth wheel in a risky venture of their own and they are not living to tell the tale! I haven't killed this many mosquitoes or had this many bites in years!
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