The Deep Cove Canoe and Kayak Centre offers great sea kayaking on Vancouver's doorstep

    by Keith and Heather Nicol

On Sunday, June 7 we headed to Deep Cove where we planned to go sea kayaking and have a picnic lunch in a sea side park with our daughter Kristie and her boyfriend Eric.  It was Kristie’s birthday and this was one of the activities she wanted to do to celebrate. We had sampled kayaking here in May 2014 with Deep Cove Canoe and Kayak Centre (DCCKC) and we were keen to head back and do some more exploring. This area is just a 30-45 minute drive from downtown Vancouver but seems more remote since Indian Arm is a steep walled fjord. And there are several islands and beaches which make for interesting destinations from DCCKC’s launch point in Deep Cove. 

Eric and Kristie paddling in scenic Indian Arm

  Despite our relatively early start time of 9:30 am Sunday morning there was lots of activity on the beach from paddler boarders, to rowing shells and canoes as well as sea kayaks being launched.  We opted for 2 double kayaks from DCCKC and in no time we were out of the harbour heading for Jug Island for our 2 hour self guided tour. There was also quite abit of other boating activity from sailboats to powerboats which you need to keep an eye on but the flat calm sea conditions made for easy paddling. We paddled along the opposite shore and then past Jug Island which is about 2.5 km from our launch point. We noted a nice beach opposite Jug Island but decided to paddle around the corner and into Bedwell Cove. We stopped for a short break on the beach we had passed by earlier and then paddled back into Deep Cove spotting our first eagle of the trip. Deep Cove Canoe and Kayak Centre  offers a variety of rental options and we wished we had booked a longer trip since Raccoon Island beckoned as did the more rugged shoreline further into Indian Arm. That will have to wait until next time! If you are interested in paddling in scenic area on Vancouver’s doorstep, then check out Deep Cove Canoe and Kayak Centre.  They offer a full service programme of rentals, sales, tours and rentals and you can check them out at http://www.deepcovekayak.com/    

Paddling out of Bedwell Cove

The beach at Deep Cove is a happening spot!

  

The Sea to Sky Gondola offers many reasons to visit

by Keith and Heather Nicol      

     On June 5 we headed to one of our favourite new visitor attractions in the Vancouver area- the Sea

The Sea to Sky Gondola whisks you to the top in 10 minutes

to Sky Gondola which is located near Squamish, just north of Vancouver. Our first visit was just over a year ago when they first opened the Sea to Sky Gondola and we were immediately impressed amazing views from the large viewing platform at 885 meters. The Sea to Sky Gondola is easily accessed from Highway 99 and is just past the turnoff to Shannon Falls. In just 10 minutes you are whisked from the base station to the Summit Lodge which has a restaurant, washrooms, gift shop as well as an immense viewing deck. Several short trails leading for the lodge provide other views of Squamish, Howe Sound as well as the surrounding mountains and valleys.

Heather and Kristie look at one of the many interpretative panels

One of the many viewing platforms with Howe Sound in the distance

  On our most recent visit we had our daughter Kristie in tow and we did the short 400 meters Spirit trail which includes a suspension bridge as well as exploring the 1.6 km Panorama trail. Both of these trails are suited to a wide range of hikers since the grades are slight and the crushed stone makes for easy walking. The Panorama trail has several lookouts which make this trail particularly appealing. We also decided to check out the newish Wonderland Lake trail which is also 1.6 km. This trail is narrow and more rugged but gives good views of Sky Pilot Mountain as well as passes by Wonderland Lake. At Wonderland Lake we saw a small garter snake skipping across the water from lily pad to lily pad! There are also other trails that lead further up and down the mountain but for many people these 3 trails will be a great introduction to this area. We think the Sea to Sky Gondola is a great destination since appeals to such a broad range of people from those that want to have a coffee and relax on the deck to those that want to rock climb at Wrinkle rock. And we were told that they have already matched last season’s busiest day and the main tourism season hasn’t even started yet. For more information check out: http://www.seatoskygondola.com/

 Kristie hiking on the Wonderland Lake trail with Sky Pilot in the distance

  

Sea kayaking to Chrome Island Lighthouse on Denman Island

by Keith and Heather Nicol

   On Saturday, May 30 with the good weather continuing we decided to head south from Courtenay and do a sea kayak trip from Deep Bay to Chrome Island Lighthouse which is just off the southern tip of Denman Island. It is about at 40 minute drive to Deep Bay and we put in at the end of Burne Road (10 U 0374280E 5480721N) where there is a small parking lot at the end of Mapleguard Point. We hauled our sea kayaks for about 40-50 meters or so along a sandy trail to the sand beach on the inside of a spit of land that extends out into Deep Bay. Another option is to put in at the boat launch at Deep Bay. We headed out around 2:30 pm with a tide of around 2.9 meters and the finished about 5:15 pm close to high tide (4.1 meters). The weather was sunny with light-moderate south east which turned out to be just the opposite of the marine forecast which had called for light NW winds. 

Chrome Island Lighthouse is a great destination

 We paddled about 2.5 km across to Denman Island and paddled along the shore toward the lighthouse. This part of Denman Island is quite rugged with a steep slope descending to the water and a mix of cobbly – bouldery beaches with some possible landing areas where the cobbles are abit smaller. We headed out and around Chrome Island Lighthouse which is on a scenic island just off shore. It is a classic lighthouse with bright red roofs and bright white paint on the buildings. It was started in 1891 so it has been around for a long time. We were surprised to see little wildlife like seals or sea lions on this trip but we did see a colony of cormorants on the north side of the island. From there we headed along the eastern side of Denman Island to Eagle Rock (a small offshore island) where we landed on a small beach to stretch and have a snack before backtracking to our put in at Deep Bay. Overall the trip was about 11.5 km according to our GPS so this is a good morning or afternoon trip. Since there is an open water crossing, keep an eye to the weather and the tides as well as the general boat traffic. There are other full day paddling options here which could involve heading to Hornby Island or further along the Denman Island shore.

For 4 other blogs on 1/2 day sea kayaking trips on Hornby Island see these posts:

http://keithnicol.blogspot.ca/2015/09/sea-kayaking-from-fords-cove-to-shingle.html

http://keithnicol.blogspot.ca/2015/09/sea-kayaking-from-whaling-station-bay.html

http://keithnicol.blogspot.ca/2015/09/sea-kayaking-from-sandpiper-beach-to.html

http://keithnicol.blogspot.ca/2015/09/sea-kayaking-from-grassy-point-to.html

Heather paddling past the end of Eagle Rock with Hornby Island behind

Landing at Deep Bay where we ended (and started) our trip

Photographing wildflowers along the Paradise Meadows trail in Strathcona Provincial Park

by Keith and Heather Nicol  

 On Friday, May 29 we decided to check out Paradise Meadows in Strathcona Provincial Park since

Western Bog Laurel

the last time we were there was in early April hiking in 20 cm of fresh snow. This area is just a 30 minute drive from Courtenay –Comox and is a quick way to get into the sub alpine. On this hike we decided to focus on some of the wild flowers which we were told we easy to see along the Paradise Meadows trail. This area is certainly popular and we were surprised to see the parking lot near the trailhead virtually full when we got there. Fortunately there is lots of overflow parking in the Nordic skiing lot nearby and we started out with a visit Strathcona Wilderness Information Centre which we suggest especially if you want to get hiking trail maps, brochures etc for the park. We were told that over 10,000 people come through the visitor centre each year and we thought the volunteers at the centre do a great job providing a much needed service.

The board walk trail is very popular and has numerous benches enroute

  The Paradise Meadows trail is about 4 km and you can do a shorter 2 km wheelchair accessible

Jeffrey's Shooting Star likes wet areas

boardwalk trail if you have people with mobility issues or small children in your group. There were about 17 species of wildflowers out when we did the hike and there are markers identifying many of them along the trail. The trail also gives views of Mount Washington Alpine Ski Resort as well as several ponds. Also several other trails branch off from these trails providing access to the higher mountains nearby. Our goal is investigate some of those trails in the near future. For more information on the Strathcona Wilderness Institute which runs the information centre see: http://strathconapark.org/

You get good views of the runs of Mt Washington Ski Resort as well as small ponds

Sea kayaking around Goose Spit with the Comox Valley Paddlers

Starting out in Comox Harbour

by Keith and Heather Nicol

     We had not been back to paddle in the Goose Spit area of Comox since mid November 2014 so we decided to join the Comox Valley Paddlers for their Wednesday evening paddle on May 27.  The Comox Valley Paddlers run regular Wednesday evening paddles in various locations and it is a good chance to meet some other paddlers and find out about new destinations to explore. It was another calm, sunny, warm evening so conditions were ideal for getting out on the water. We arrived at around 6:15 pm and had our kayaks in the water by 6:30. Over all there were 2 canoes and over a dozen sea kayaks in our group led by Frank and Anne Mccullough. 
 

The lighting was perfect for pictures

 We set off on the protected Northwest side of the spit and our plan according to Frank was to paddle around the spit and then head east along the cliffs toward Pt Holmes. Along the way we saw several standup paddle boarders, some other sea kayaks and a few seals. The previous Wednesday we had seen an Orca whale on our paddle near Royston!  We pulled out on the southeast side of the spit and had a somewhat longer carry to get our kayaks back to the cars. Overall we had paddled about 7.5 km and we were off the water by 8:30. This is one nice aspect of paddling Goose Spit is that you can do a loop around the spit and since it is quite narrow in many places so it is feasible to pull out on the opposite side you started on and return to your car. For more information on the Comox Valley Paddlers see: http://comoxvalleypaddlers.ca/

Coming ashore at Goose Spit with the mountains of the B.C. mainland in the distance