A September trip to Hornby Island- Part 2

by Keith and Heather Nicol

Heather at Heron Rocks

     We recently returned from a week long trip to Hornby Island were we had hoped to get in lots of mountain biking and sea kayaking. But although we did have some good weather at times it was often very windy and wet at times so we decided to explore Hornby’s rocky shoreline when the weather cooperated. Hornby Island is well known for its sandy beaches like those at Big and Little Tribune Bay and Whaling Station beach.  But we like to explore so this time we decided to check out the rocky shorelines instead. .  Of course the best to visit these areas is when the tides are low or medium so check the tide tables for Hornby Island before you set.  We explored both places at tides of around 2 meters which was fine but lower tides might be even better. The places

mentioned here are easily seen on the great Denman/Hornby visitor map that you can pick up at the ferry terminal at Buckley Bay.

The sandstone is pitted and eroded in strange shapes-Heron Rocks

Some sandstone looks like a rasied spider web

  The first area we came across is at Heron Rocks near Ford’s Cove and it is accessed at Ford’s Cove or by going to the Heron Rock Friendship Centre ( http://heronrocks.ca/) . We opted for the latter and the shoreline here has amazing wave washed sandstone erosional features that are well worth taking a look at. Much of Hornby is underlain by solid conglomerate (basically solidified gravels) but along this shore sandstone makes an appearance. Sandstone (basically solidified sand) eroded differently and can form very interesting patterns. Bring your camera and see what kind of rocky art work images you can create!

Sandstone layers at Sandpiper Beach

 We also explored Sandpiper Beach which is accessed by a community park and shore trail.  The rocky shore is different here featuring sloping beds of sedimentary rocks and again the sandstone rock creates the nicest rock art in our opinion. Some areas look like topographic maps since the rock layers erode at different rates.  There are no doubt other areas of that are great for rocky shore exploring but we found these 2 areas to be interesting and easily accessible.  For more information see: http://hornbyisland.com/.