August 31, 2025
60 deg. @ 6:30; 80 deg high, sunny
I went down to the beach at sunrise to see if I could post. I think I got in one before the phone went from two bars to one. Frustrating, but what a gorgeous spot in the early morning with loons calling, sea gulls crying, ducks on the cove and a fox trotting up the side, pausing to take a look at me.
We were late getting going this morning. The puck lights and table light would not come on in the dinette. The other two lights run off my puck light, and they are our main reading lights. Something had apparently jarred loose, maybe on the 200 bumps coming into the campground.
Could be a fuse, I thought, so I checked. Lew Farber put in a nice panel for such 12V circuits. He put an LED light next to each fuse, so you can quickly see which is the bad one. I keep a bunch of those, so I changed it out and the light worked.
Problem was it hummed, and wasn’t strong, so there had to be a short or a loose wire. There are a whole bunch of wires above that light that I am very familiar with. About 2 years ago I put in a new stereo and new speakers, and all those wires are in a small space above the speaker. I pulled down the puck light and found a stink bug in there!! How the hell does a stink bug get in there?
The soldered connection to the on/off switch also looked a little dicey. I pulled on all the other connections I could see, and didn’t find anything loose.
If we were going to hike, we had best get going. The majority of trails branch off the main trail, South Kabeyun Trail, which is 37km long, or 74km round trip. Sea Lion is the first trail off Kabeyun, so we figured we could do that, and get some idea about Kabeyun.
There is a parking lot at Kabeyun Trail Head, but it is not big enough. By the time we got there it was packed. I parked in front of a picnic table, which was probably not allowed, but there was no sign. People were streaming in, parking on the road outside. It is Labor Day, the last big camping weekend of the summer season.
We started off on the “trail,” which is really a pretty good gravel road. I don’t think it stays this way, but people passed us on trail bicycles. That’s the way to do it! Makes it a lot easier and faster to get to your next trail. There were lots of people from other countries.
It’s a short, easy walk out Seal Lion to see a unique, rather thin rock formation that looks like a lion. I guess it used to look more like a lion 100 years ago, but still it is a cool thing to see. More than that, it is a gorgeous cove with crystal-clear water, pine forest all around and a mountain in the background that I think is the sleeping giant.
Several boats were out, which is unusual. We have seen very few boats so far. One was fishing, while another came about 50 yards from the lion. There must have been some incentive, as a boy jumped in and swam to the lion and back. I’m sure that water is cool, but it was a perfect day, sunny and clear.
We hiked/walked back to the truck and drove to Silver Islet, the only “town” on the peninsula. It is a remnant of the silver mine that was worked for 18 years in the late 1800’s. The store was busy, but they had a great, young staff. We ordered a pizza, which was very good, and sat on the back porch overlooking the docks as a fog rolled in. A couple next to us were sharing a piece of blueberry pie, giving it a thorough evaluation with every bite. They loved it, so we got a piece to take home.
We came back, changed into bathing suits and went to the beach. I was able to make one post before my computer battery ran out of power. The cell service was also dicey, but hey, it worked for a while.
Back at camp, Martha laid down for a nap while I confronted the buzzing light. I decided to work my way up from the light. I removed the on/off switched, cut a couple of narrow strips of electrical tape and wrapped the two connections. Happily, it worked. Just in case, I may order a new light, or at least a new switch.
The big, thick piece of blueberry pie was wonderful.