Hike the "Pub to Pub" trail along the Oyster River

by Keith and Heather Nicol

      On July 11, 2016 we decided to check out the “Pub to Pub” trail which starts along the Oyster River, roughly half way between Courtenay and Campbell River on Vancouver Island. It a scenic trail with both river and ocean/beach views and if you like you can drop into a pub at the start or at the end of your hike. Since the trail is just 3.5 km (1 way) it is suited to a variety of options. If you have young children or walkers that would find 7 km too long a hike, you could park a car at each end and just make the 1 way trip. 

Mary Ellen has a look at the tall trees near the start of the trail

     We started in Courtenay with my brother Bruce and his wife Mary Ellen in tow and we drove north along highway 19 A. Keep an eye out for the Oyster River bridge since you want to turn right on the next road (Glenmore Road).  Then travel one roughly 1 block and then turn left on Regent and almost immediately park in the parking lot with a sign Oyster River Nature Park. The parking lot coordinates are 10 U 0347166E 5526405N. Then follow the Ferguson Trail which is well signed and easy to walk on. After about 1 km you reach the ocean and from there you follow the Jack Hames Trail to Salmon Point.

Heather walks along the ocean trail

   From there the trail winds along the upper part of the beach and through the trees giving fine views of Georgia Strait and mountains beyond. There are even some picnic tables along the way for anyone wanting a scenic place to have lunch. Sometimes the trail separates into 2 trails and there seemed to be some new cedar shavings placed down on part of the trail just above the beach. After about 1 hour we came out to Salmon Point Resort RV Park and Restaurant and the trail’s end.  Our GPS showed that we had walked about 3.5 km. We fully recommend this trail since it offers scenic ocean views and can be walked by a wide variety of people. Check it out on your next trip to this area.

A Boat Trip to Friendly Cove aboard the Uchuck III makes for a Great Day

By Keith and Heather Nicol

The back deck is a fine place to view the scenery

    On Wednesday July 6 we took a trip to see Nootka Island on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. Nootka Island is steeped in history and when we found out that Captain Cook had visited here in 1778 we knew we had to check it out. You see between 1762 and 1767 Cap’t Cook had refined his map making skills in Newfoundland and produced the first accurate maps of the Corner Brook-Bay of Islands area in Western Newfoundland where we had lived for 33 years. Access to Nootka Island and more specifically Friendly Cove is provided by the Uckuck III which makes a twice weekly trip seasonally from June 29 to August 31. The Uchuck III is a working vessel that doubles as a “cruise ship” in the summer and is based out of Gold River on Vancouver Island’s west coast. We drove from the Comox area in the morning to board the Uchuck III for its 10:00 am departure. 

The Uchuck III in Friendly Cove with the lighthouse on the right

    On our trip there were roughly 50 passengers aboard (the Uchuck can carry double that) and we also  took on some fuel drums to drop off enroute. We steamed down Muchalat Inlet, a deep ice carved fjord, which provides access to the open Pacific Ocean roughly 40 km to the west. We passed by a variety of islands, rugged mountains, several salmon farms and part way along dropped off fuel to Nootka Island Lodge which is a remote fishing lodge along the way. At 12:45 we docked at Friendly Cove on Nootka Island and our Captain Spencer Larsen told us he would sound the horn at 2:05pm for a 2:15 departure. It turns out that Friendly Cove has a photogenic lighthouse and it has been the home of first nation’s people for over 4000 years.  Margaret James, a first nation’s welcomer, asked us to go to the church where she would talk briefly about the church and native life on the island. “Friendly Cove was centre of our nation for many years and despite the fact that much is made of this area being the first European contact in B.C.’s in the 1770’s, our people have lived here continuously for 4300 years according to archeological data.” she told us. 

Be sure to see the church with its elaborate carvings and poles

       While at Friendly Cove we had time to visit the graveyard, walk on the beach, take photographs of the lighthouse and we even tracked down a fallen totem pole that was toppled in a wind storm in 1994. Then all too soon the ship’s whistle sounded and we headed back for the 2 hour trip back to Gold River. On the way back we stopped briefly at Resolution Cove where Captain Cook first landed and made repairs to his vessels.  We recommend a trip to Friendly Cove but next time may bring our kayaks since the Uchuck III offers a unique wet launch procedure which means they can drop and pick up kayakers at many places along the coast. The Uckuck III also offers other adventure tours which are certainly on our list of trips to check out. For instance, the trip to Kyuquot certainly looks interesting and is a popular location for kayaking. For more information see: http://www.getwest.ca/

A fallen totem can be found just off a main trail

Take a guided wildflower walk in Strathcona Provincial Park this summer

By Keith and Heather Nicol

Purple Heather in bloom

   On July 3 we headed up to Strathcona Provincial Park to do a wildflower guided walk lead Alison Maingon. This walk was part of the Strathcona Wilderness Institute offerings for the summer and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Over 20 people turned out for the 2 hour walk and fortunately Alison had a couple of assistants to help the group identify the large number of flowers that currently in bloom in Paradise Meadows. Much of the route was over boardwalk so was accessible for most people and the pace was ideal for anyone wanting to learn and photograph these flowers.

  On our trip we saw dozens of flowers and other plants and we would recommend this outing to anyone interested in learning about the plants in this area. For more information about the Strathcona Wilderness Institute (SWI) and their programmes can see:  http://strathconapark.org/    

Alison talking about plants along the boardwalk

      The SWI also has an online flower  ID web page at: http://strathconapark.org/paradise-plants-id-guide/   To reach Paradise Meadows follow the Mt Washington Ski Resort assess road and near the top turn left toward Raven Lodge. There is a large parking area and the information centre is open through the summer and into the early fall.  

Deer Cabbage flowers were abundant along the trail

Jeffrey`s Shooting Star could be found all along the wetter areas

Sea kayaking on Hornby Island continues to impress

by Keith and Heather Nicol

    We recently returned from a biking, hiking and sea kayaking adventure to Hornby Island before the summer crowds descend. We headed over on Monday, June 27 from Courtenay and after taking the 2 ferries (to Denman and then Hornby Island), we arrived around noon. Fortunately high tide was about that time and we knew from our experience last year that tides can raise havoc with paddling here.  This is because there is a large intertidal zone which can translate to long carries with your kayaks.  For paddlers interested in the places we sea kayaked on Hornby last summer, check our 4 archived posts from September 2015 for “put in” information and other details. 

Heather paddles past a large stump with an eagle perched on it

       We wanted to head to Norris Rocks again but this time we launched from Ford Cove which had a better launch point than the Sandpiper Beach access we used last year.  The launch point in Ford Cove is fairly obvious and is next to the marina (10 U 0978713E 5484017N) with some parking nearby. We paddled with a light to moderate north wind and followed an impressive sandstone shelf to Heron Rocks and around a low island. Up to now we had not seen much wildlife except for an eagle sitting on a huge stump that had somehow been washed onto the top of the island!  From there it was on to Norris Rocks and there we saw a lot more wildlife with 40 or so seals to dozens of harlequin ducks and a few black oyster catchers. We kept our distance, circled the island and then paddled back into a slight chop to Ford Cove. Total paddling time was a bit less than 2 hours and the distance was 7 km return.  You can’t beat this paddle for its wildlife offerings. 

You can't beat Norris Rocks for wildlife (photo taken with telephoto lens and cropped)

 Our second trip on Wednesday, June 29 was a repeat of one that we had done in September 2015 and on that day we were lucky to see 4 orcas, and 2 swam just in front of us near Flora Island. Could we get lucky this time? We put in at Whaling Station Bay where there is a public access and a small parking lot. Here our “wheels” came in very handy since even though we were close to high tide, the long beach would mean a longish carry over the sandy beach. The weather was perfect for padding with a light NW wind and this shoreline has lots of places to pull in if the need arises. We looped around Flora Island but this time there were no orcas in sight. In fact we saw very little wildlife except for some harlequins on Flora Island. We did take a side trip to the cliffs of Helliwell Park and this is worth doing to see the wind and wave sculpted sandstone rock in several places. Our route was about 8 km and it took us 2 hours to do the trip. Hornby Island is well suited to ½ day to day trips but watch the weather and plan your launch locations accordingly. Also “wheels” really help if the tides aren’t in your favour to make launching easier.

Heather paddling past sculpted sandstone at Helliwell Park

     

Hornby Island has scenic mountain bike trails to test all levels

By Keith and Heather Nicol

     On our most recent trip to Hornby Island in late June 2016 we also wanted to explore the extensive mountain bike trails that are found in Mount Geoffrey Park. We saw lots of vehicles on the ferry to Hornby with different kinds of bikes strapped to the back or roof and even four people who planned to explore Hornby Island exclusively by bicycle. Our own vehicle was weighted down with 2 kayaks, camping gear, hiking boots and mountain bikes .  We had previously visited Hornby Island in early September 2015 and had biked many of the main roads and side roads but this time the focus was going to be the trails that have been built on Mount Geoffrey. Be sure to get a Hornby Island Trailmap which has over 40 trails identified and where the main access points are for these trails. 

Starting out on the Ford Cove- Shingle Spit trail-a great intro trail for a variety of ages

 On Tuesday, June 28^th we were joined by a fellow cyclist Norm Reynolds from Courtenay for part of our stay and our first explorations were on the trails off of the Strachan Road access. We used Northwind to climb uphill and it is evidently a commonly used route for ascending. From there we branched on to Cold Deck which is also classed as a beginner trail. Our route down included Slalom to Far Side which were fun twisting descents.  Then it was left on Purgatory to Mr Toads Wild Ride which was certainly more difficult and rated as intermediate. Tadpole (classed as easier) dumped us back onto Northwind for a fun and fast descent to our car. We found locating ourselves fairly easy since most trails were marked at intersections and there was the occasional map of all the trails. Nevertheless we found ourselves pulling out the Trailmap frequently to make sure we knew where we were. We also explored the first part of Bike Fest dual which passes along the edge of agricultural lands providing different views from the mainly forested views we encountered on these trails.

Norm riding up Northwind amidst the tall trees

    On other days we also got a chance to ride a range of other trails and we would recommend the Ford Cove to Shingle Spit trail for a fast fun 3 km ride that will take about 20 minutes to do (1 way)  . This trail is suited to a wide range of riders and it provides nice water views of Lambert Channel through the trees. We also recommend the very scenic Middle Bench Trail (3 km – 1 way) which can be accessed off of Euston Road. This trail gives amazing vistas of Denman Island and the Beaufort Mountains of Vancouver Island and although it is rated as easy it is harder than the Ford Cove –Shingle Spit trail. The final trails we had a chance to test out were the Outer Ridge – Summit trails rated as intermediate and easy respectively. Outer Ridge is another spectacular trail with stunning views and we suggest inexperienced riders (like us) ride it up and take Summit down since there are several places along the ridge where a fall or miss-step could be very serious and this is more likely on a descent rather than riding uphill. It took us about 1 hour to do this loop back to our car at Euston Road. For some reason in this part of the Park very few trails are sign posted and you need to rely almost entirely on the Trailmap to figure out where you are. Also we were struck by the fact that we saw no other cars at the trailheads and no other riders on the trails. Not sure why this was since these trails are well worth checking out. See http://www.hibike.ca/ for more information.

Both Middle Bench and Outer Ridge offer awesome views of Lambert Channel and beyond