John Young's Out There

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Nootka Island Trail Backpack - July 9-13, 2016 (An Island Mountain Ramblers' Outing)

Maquinna Point

Isolated.
Rugged.
Awe-inspiring.
But most of all, humbling.

Yes, the Nootka Island Trail is all of these.

Isolated because it is an island off the north-west coast of Vancouver Island, accessible only by boat or float plane.

Rugged because of its jagged coastline and challenging "trail."

Awe-inspiring because of the beauty of not only the rock formations and cliffs along the shore, but because of the lush first-growth forest.

And humbling because of the physical demands of this short hike (only 35-40 k.) due to the ups and downs along the coast and the ruggedness of the inland trail, up and over logs and around obstacles.

We started out with an hour and a half water taxi ride on Saturday, July 9th from Tahsis to Tongue Point at the northern end of Nootka Island. It was a beautiful ride in an open boat with Tahtsa Dive Charters, mostly smooth, except for some rough waters in Gillam Channel as we rounded the north west point of Nootka. We enjoyed seeing a raft of sea otters in a kelp bed, but mostly we enjoyed the dry weather, as rain had been forecast.

The tide was ebbing when we reached Tongue Point at 8:30, and we set off across the rocks and along the exposed mud flats. With the low tide at 10:30 (.9 m.) this gave us ample time to cross the surge channel on the west side of the island before the tide would be too high.

"Wow, look at this old shipwreck.!"

"This is easy going here."

Nearing the surge channel, and the trail head crossing the headland.

After about an hour, we reached the trail that cut across the headlands leading to Third Beach (also called First Beach). Most people take a float plane into Louie Lagoon and then take a short hike across to Third Beach, so this section sees little traffic, and was correspondingly bushy and rugged.

"Do you want a hand?"

"Be careful!"

And, with the recent rain, the trail was a little "soggy" in places.

"Where do we go?!"

After one detour, we reached Third Beach at 12:30, just in time to set up camp, have lunch, and relax.

"Ah, this is the life!"

We did have some showers in the afternoon, but we were grateful for the "good" weather. One other group of three hikers (and their Golden Retriever) took the float plane in and hiked across to "our" beach and camped a few hundred meters north of us along the shore.

Clouds draping the hills at Third Beach.

Scenes at Third Beach.

Packing up Sunday morning, in sunshine! "Yahoo!"

Sunday we hiked from Third Beach to Calvin Falls, with about five hours of hiking, some of it on bushy trail, but most along the wonderful shore.

The trail around the first headland.

"Ah, so nice to come back down to the shore!"

"Oh, this sunshine is a bonus!"

But then, about an hour after we had started out, Mo stepped in a hole and twisted her ankle. Since she was unable to walk, Ken and Clarke both activated their SPOT devices, and just two hours later an RCMP helicopter arrived.

"Oh, I hope it doesn't take too long."

The chopper leaving. The pilot flew it over from Courtenay and picked up the two RCMP officers in Gold River.

Some more breath-taking scenery on the way to Calvin Falls.

A good flow at Calvin Falls with the recent rain.

"So nice to have shelter from the rain in this old surfers' camp!"

We started off on a drizzly Monday morning with a ford of Calvin Creek.

"If I step fast enough maybe I won't fill my boots!"

It rained off and on on our way to Beano Creek, about a four-hour jaunt.

When we arrived at Beano Creek, it was drizzling and windy, so we found a sheltered spot along the creek, set up our two tarps, and were quite comfortable under the trees.

"Ah, this fire is so nice!"

I went out onto the point to make some pictures.

After taking this shot, I started back when a rogue wave swept up over the sand and elevated my heart rate when it washed up to my ankles.

Tuesday morning was a soggy affair!

But then the rain let up,

and the sun came out!

And then we neared Maquinna Pt., the most scenic section of the hike.

Maquinna Pt.

Tuesday night we camped at my "secret cove." A hidden beach down a trail girded by salal. We were treated to the glow of the sun on far-off Hesquiat Peninsula.

Wednesday dawned clear, and we had two hours of fabulous hiking before reaching the lagoon near Yuquot (Friendly Cove.)

I had been informed that a party last year had crossed the lagoon mouth at a tide of 1.6 m., and it was chest high. The lowest tide for us on Wednesday was 1.8 m., so I had fore-warned the others that we would be swimming across. We reached the lagoon just before 11 at a tide of 2.3 m., and were over-joyed to find it easy crossing! The sands must've shifted since last summer.

Nearing Yuquot (one hour from the lagoon)

A happy group at the end of our hike!

Monday, June 27, 2016

San Josef Bay to Lowrie Bay - June 23-25, 2016

Eden at Lowrie Bay

An Island Mountain Ramblers' Outing

The second San Jo beach on Friday morning, with rain threatening.

Cape Scott is almost a six-hour drive from Nanaimo, with the last 60 k from Port Hardy on a rough logging road.

On Thursday night we hiked into San Josef Bay and around the point, and then on Friday we went up Mt. St. Patrick, down to Sea Otter Cove, and over to Cowrie Bay. We then returned on Saturday.

Remote.
Hard to get to.
Physically demanding.
Beautiful.

Yes, the hike from San Josef Bay to Lowrie Bay in Cape Scott Provincial Park is all of these. And it's well worth the effort to get there. It's only 10 k from the trailhead at San Josef Bay to Lowrie Bay, and yet it took us 6 hours, and we didn't have any extended stops. (Although if the other four hadn't waited for Beth and me, the turtle and the tortoise, they would have been much faster.)

We left Nanaimo about 5 p.m. on Thursday, and didn't start hiking until almost 11 p.m. It was overcast, but had quit raining. We head-lamped the 2.5 k on the almost wheelchair accessible trail to the first San Josef Beach, and then made it around the point to the next beach. We managed to locate Reashy's tent (he met us there), erected our shelters, and had a few hours sleep before we arose and started hiking about 6:30 a.m.

It looked like impending rain, but none when we started out up the steep trail to the top of Mt. St. Patrick.

The trail had been officially closed for a number of years, and was actually better than I'd expected.

It was a steal uphill, gaining 462 meters, to the summit, but the forest was beautiful!

"Wow! Look at that Sitka Spruce!"

The summit of Mt. St. Patrick seems much higher, with a sub-alpine feel to it.

Misty and cool up top!

We stopped briefly on the fogged in summit, but it was too cold to stop for long. At first, the trail going down to Sea Otter Cove was good, a nice open forest.

"Ah, nice walking!"

But then as we neared sea level it became very challenging, and tiring, with logs to go over, or under, bogs to avoid, and salal to swim through. And although it wasn't raining at the time, it had rained Thursday, so the trail, and all the salal, was soaked, as were we.

"Ah, love this wet bush!"

We had a couple of challenging creek crossings, exacerbated by the wet logs, and most of us filled our boots.

"Where do we go?"

Nearing Sea Otter Cove.

We crossed the mud flats of Sea Otter Cove at a tide of about .8 m., and then started across to Lowrie Bay.

""Boy! Mt. St. Patrick looks so big in the fog!"

Magical or what!

The trail across to Lowrie Bay was surprisingly good - much better than the last section just before Sea Otter Cove. Flagged, and not "too" bushy. We reached the beach about 12:30, and I was surprised at how beautiful it was! I had been expecting something like Sea Otter Cove - camping in the trees about a mud flats.

"Ah, this fire is nice!"

We set up camp, had lunch, and got a fire going. Luckily, Beth had brought a tiny hatchet along and Michael split off some cedar tinder to start the blaze. Once we had it going, we could add bigger pieces and they caught, even though they were soaked on the outside.

I was wet and cold when we arrived, and helping Michael get the fire going had warmed me up some. I only had one pair of pants, and they were soaked. But I put on my rain pants, and after standing around the fire for a couple of hours my pants were pretty much dry. Then we went for a walk down the beach.

"The clouds can't get much lower!"

"We're so lucky! It could be pouring down rain. "

Sand art.

Rock sculptures.

More art.

Exploring.

Heading back to camp.

After dinner, I ambled out to the headlands in front of our camp. Beautiful!

The headlands.

Beach art.

Wave action.

The next day, Saturday, we slept in until just about 8, because the tide was low about 11 a.m., so we wouldn't be able to get around Sea Otter Cove until about then anyway. It had rained steadily overnight, and was still drizzling when we arose. I only had a tarp for a shelter, and was grateful that I had stayed dry.

After breakfast, we donned our rain gear and started out. Oh, it was wet! And cold. Nothing quite like wet salal on a cool day.

The dripping rain forest.

The creek the other side of Sea Otter Cove had risen, and we all filled our boots this time.

We just couldn't run fast enough to avoid filling our boots.

We sure didn't stop much on the way back, as even after just a few minutes we would get cold. But once hiking, we'd warm up, and we still marvelled at the beautiful forest!

"Wow! Look at that log!"

And the moss is gorgeous!

Heading up Mt. St. Patrick there wasn't much water on the trail, but going down it was another story. There was a sign asking hikers to "stay to the middle of the trail in order to maintain soil integrity." I was wondering what "soil" they were talking about!