North Vancouver Island – some thoughts
The beauty of nature and human exploitation
Compared to South Vancouver Island where we traveled four years ago, we noticed that in the north the provincial parks are side by side with logging and mining, like in a symbiosis. Whereas the parks clearly take advantage of the mining and logging activities. Read More
Last day in Vancouver Island – Strathcona Provincial Park
After yesterday’s long hike, we settled for short walks in the Gold River area on our last day in Strathcona Provincial Park.
The first stroll led us to “Lady Falls”. Bigger than expected, we stood on the falls viewpoint platform and were splashed by the mist and the cold morning breeze. It did not take us long to feel cold and head back.
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Lake Bedwell Hike
5h, 9km, 600m elevation change
We debated which hike to do in the Strathcona Provincial Park. There is a 9-hour and 1200m-uphill hike, a 7-hour hike to alpine lakes with only 600m up or a 9-hour stroll along Elk River and an alpine lake, just to name a few… all the hikes are rather strenuous, long and steep. I’m in love with hiking and used to long tours but nevertheless, 7 to 9 hours is rather long and make Philippe, well, let’s say, hesitant.
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Myra Falls Hike
Lower Myra Falls
Today’s first hike spot in the Strathcona Provincial Park is Lower Myra Falls. We had to drive from the lodge to the end of Buttel Lake and around it. We saw hardly any other car on the road but when we arrived at the trailhead, surprise, we were not alone! Read More
Quadra Island Walk
Quadra Island, Chinese Mountain South Peak, 4km, 2 hrs
From Campbell River we took a 10-min. ferry to Quadra Island, the largest island among Discovery Islands. Fun fact: On the ferry terminal, our totally normal rental Ford, next to oversized pickup trucks and camping cars, was price-wise categorized as “undersized car”. Read More
Courtenay Riverway Walk
Courtenay is not an exciting town. It has a couple of good restaurants like Locals and Atlas Cafe which we visited, but the town is a bit far away from main outdoor activities and loud compared to our last destination, Alert Bay. Read More
Goose Spit Park
An intended short stroll became a rather long walk around the entire Goose Spit which also accommodates a military base. That base becomes a summer camp playground every year with many teenagers running around. A friendly military woman at the gate explained that we cannot trespass the compound due to top secret summer activities, but we could walk around it as long as we stayed on the beach. So we did.
Read MoreTelegraph Cove
We dropped by Telegraph Cove on the way south from Port McNeil to Courtenay. Telegraph Cove is a historical timber dwelling with a very narrow cove – rather kitschy for our taste. Read More
Kayaking around Cormorant Island
12km, 2h
We jumped at our hotel owner Colin‘s offer to rent us a double-kayak. We pulled it out from his recently purchased run-down shed and off we went. Read More
Cormorant Island Hike
After an interesting chat with Colin, the hotel’s owner and a person with character, we started our hike around (most of) the island. From the hotel, we walked through the Ecological Park and soon crossed the highest point of the island Read More
Fly, Hike & Travel. 