Nootka Sound South

Wed 27th - Sat 30th June

We had a lazy day om Tuesday and didn't do too much. I went off for a walk for a few hours after lunch to the next settlement (Oyster River) to go to the shops, but overshot when I reached the next town and ended up at Sarotoga Beach intead (should have turned right at the pub - no I hadn't been in the pub!). Interesting walk through coastal woods - lots of people walking very large dogs or large packs of very small dogs. A rare sunny day but we didn't manage to overcome inertia and ended up watching the tides rather than playing in them!

On Wednesday we headed off to the wild west coast to Nootka Sound, via Gold River. We set up camp at Cougar Creek and paddled in the afternoon up Hisnit Inlet, site of an old limestone quarry - no part of it remains. Neil spotted our first sea otter.

Cougar Creek jetty

Hisnit Inlet

Hisnit Inlet

Marauding squirrel checking out the food bag!

Next day we packed up and headed out to Bligh Island Marine Provincial Park. The weather forecast sounded distinctly dodgy - basically a gale warning for most of northern Vancouver Island, and yet people in the camping ground were saying that it was quite flat out in the ocean outside the sound. The weather was misty and the low cloud sat on the hilld pretty much obscuring the scenery. So we paddled in the 'lee' of what were the expected SE winds and down the side of Bligh Island in Fidalgo Passage.  We stopped to look at Bald eagles a few times but they were quite high up so the photos aren't really any good. We had lunch at Vernaci Island at the camping site and saw a couple more sea otters, which nearly tempted us to stay, but it was a bit damp & had rather a lot of mosquitos.

Green reflections, Bligh Island

We decided we'd try the campsite at Charlie's Beach on the SW corner of Bligh Island, but it was still a bit early so we explored the Spanish Pilot Group and out to Pantoja Island. These are the outermost islands of the group so if there was any wind or swell you'd expect it to be here - nothing! The swell was about 20cm. We did see some nice seals - they undulated off their little outcrop and popped up behind us. They'd duck under if you looked at them then reappeared as you turned back.

View SE from Charlie's Beach

Our camp at Charlie's Beach - looking quite neat!

Arriving at Charlie's Beach, we found another kayaking couple from Seattle, who had paddled from the other local launch ponit, Tuta Marina. They had the big site with the views but it wasn't very flat. We pitched camp in a smaller, but sheltered site - should be pretty protected if the gales ever arrived. There was a small amount of wind overnight but hardly a gale, and fairly constant rain.

Next day (Friday) was wet and the clouds had come down to meet the water, so we had another rest day, as did the other kayakers, and spent it chatting and reading. No sign of the wolf that they'd seen a couple of days earlier - thought I heard it in the distance a couple of times but it could have been the wind... Plenty of cute hummingbirds (they sound like really big blowflies) and squirrels chasing through the trees. The other couple departed in the afternoon, so I took the opportunity for a swim. The water temperature is about the same as Port Phillip Bay at this time of year but doesn't change in temperature much. It was cold but refreshing! This is summer after all!

Centipede - one of many creepy crawly or slimy critters in the woods!

Checking out the intertidal zone - a little crab

The rain started to ease to a heavy mist and we had enough dry wood for a fire - very pleasant evening. It stays light here until after 10pm and gets light around 4.30am. Everything was pretty damp by this stage so we decided to come back to the east coast to dry out a bit, so Saturday morning we packed up and paddled back. More seals & bald eagles. Cougar Creek was only slightly busier than when we'd left - we'd been told it would be packed for the long weekend (Canada Day is on Monday) but this was far from the case. Rather quiet really.

View from Charlie's Beach gone all misty

Bald Eagle

The whole area is very peaceful and beautiful. There is a lot of moss and lichen over pretty much everything  - it has a rather Fangorn Forest feel to it I am sure (no Ents to be seen!). The only sounds are the birds and squirrels, dripping rain and the occasional powerboat, floatplane or aircraft (seem to be on the flight path to Alaska).

It's all very mossy (the other things are liverworts)

Lunch at the cafe in Gold River, then back to Campbell River - taking pot-luck on accommodation as it could well have been packed (the Seattle kayakers thought it wouldn't be and they were quite correct). We got a very reasonable rate at the friendly Above Tide Motel with a great balcony view - there is a cruise ship going past as I write, looking across Discovery passage to Quadra Island. Our gear is drying on the balcony  (the sun came out for a while) and we are well fed from seafood at the Riptide Marine Pub (great seafood bowl!). Very happy.

Checking out the Canada Day celebrations tomorrow then heading back out for more kayaking.

Drying our gear out in Campbell River

Cruise ship passing by, Quadra Island in background