We woke up Tuesday morning feeling pretty good considering the previous day’s paddle. Sky was overcast again and we enjoyed a relaxing breakfast, walked the beach for a bit and then decided to go check out some waterfalls. We followed the northern shoreline again to a huge, impressive waterfall. We kept going for now as we knew we would be playing in the falls when we came back. Lila spotted some action in the water a long ways up the inlet. We both saw some dorsal fins coming out of the water but we were too far away to be sure of what it was, either really big dolphins or really small Orcas. The view up the inlet is really something else. The snow on the mountains and the sheer walls of rock rising hundreds of feet right above you is incredible. Due to the cloud cover we were only getting partial glimpses of the tops of the mountains. We headed back now to play in the waterfall. What a blast. The turbulence at the base of the falls just about draws your boat right underneath before it actually starts pushing you away. We were both soaked by the time we left here and it became one of the highlights of this trip. We headed back to camp then to relax for a bit and have lunch. After our break we headed southwest along the shoreline towards a marina and store located behind Double Island.
It started raining about halfway there but it was a nice, light rain that was comfortable to paddle in. We got to the marina and found it was actually a lodge/resort type business called Toba Wilderness Resort. We also found that they didn’t operate a store there anymore, we were out of luck for any sweets. Looked like really nice cabins, one with a hot tub, that could be rented for two hundred dollars a night. The owner almost had Lila talked into it. I had a hard time dragging her back to our camp after that. After another six kilometre paddle we were back at Doug and Lila’s Real Wilderness Resort. The rain continued all evening but it never turned into a real downpour, light enough that you could enjoy short walks around the area, it also helped to keep the bugs under control a bit.
The high high tides we were experiencing on this trip were all happening in the middle of the night so we had to make sure all of our gear was well out of the water’s path. Twelve feet of difference between low and high is a lot of water and changes the landscape dramatically. We had put the boats on top of logs near the top of the beach and tied them off to a tree, when I checked on them the first night the water was right up underneath both logs, but not quite high enough to float them. The area under our tarp became completely flooded also with the water coming up past the light coloured log at the right side of the photo.
John Kimantas’ books use different coloured icons to signify the types of campsites. Red being remote wilderness sites and blue being wilderness sites that tend to see a little more use. After seeing the site at the top of East Redonda, marked red, we were rethinking our plan of using a site in Lewis Channel, marked red also. We checked our charts and decided to head instead to a camp located near the south end of the southernmost Rendezvous Island.
We were laying in the tent Wednesday morning and it sounded like it was still raining out. It wasn’t until we got up and went down to the beach that we realized it was just water droplets from the trees above that made it sound like rain. It was still overcast but the water was like glass again, a perfect morning to paddle.
Our morning chores done, break camp, breakfast, and load boats and we were on the water again. I couldn’t believe how green the water was this morning. I’m guessing that it had something to do with it being low tide and all the freshwater runoff entering the inlet. We headed west into Pryce Channel, past the resort we had visited the day before. We stuck to the northern shoreline of the channel, against the mainland. This is an area that has seen, and is still experiencing, extensive logging. All the heavy equipment has to be barged into this area as there are no roads to access it. The crew boats bring the fallers in every day and take them back out in the afternoon. Once we reached Elizabeth Island we crossed Pryce Channel to follow the shoreline around West Redonda Island.
We rounded Connis Point, the northern most point of West Redonda and headed southwest to the next campsite I wanted to document for the BCMTN. We were seeing a lot more starfish now than we had so far. We even came across our first sea cucumbers, bright red and huge. You can really lose track of yourself as you meander along the shoreline, trying to take everything in. We arrived at the campsite and after making some notes and taking some pictures we put back in and paddled down the center of Deer Passage towards Rendezvous Island. Generally I try to avoid the center of most channels and try to make crossings from point to point in order to minimize exposure but in this case we hadn’t seen even one boat this morning and the water was perfectly flat, we couldn’t have asked for better conditions. We crossed over to the south end of Rendezvous Island looking for the camping area. Following the shoreline up the western side we found a beautiful little bay with an island in the middle of it. Opposite the island on Rendezvous itself was a large meadow area perfect for even a large group.
As we entered the bay, on a small bluff on our right we happened on two bald eagles, not forty feet away. We both stopped paddling to grab our cameras and watch for a bit since our being there didn’t seem to faze them at all. They started squawking a bit, one took off and then another eagle, a younger immature one, flew in and took its place.
The young one then started flapping its wings and making a real ruckus and headed back into the trees. We figured it must have been hunting something by the way it was acting. It’s hard to describe what it feels like to be able to sit and watch things like this happen. It is one of the main reasons we enjoy getting out in the boats like we do. Once the eagles got bored entertaining us we went to shore and began the ritual of unloading the boats and setting up camp.
The sun was shining this afternoon which was especially nice as our tarp and tent fly had been packed wet this morning due to the previous night’s rain. We got the tent set up but didn’t worry about the tarp since we had decided we would only be spending the one night here. We had lots of time this afternoon to just relax and enjoy the warmth of the sun. We had lunch, read for a bit, napped for a bit, and even got a bath in the bay. We were feeling like new people again, clean and rested.
We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening exploring the beach and wooded area around camp. The only trouble I was having this afternoon was that my allergies had started to really act up. I had been using a medication I use every year around this time but it wasn’t helping here. It was probably the worst reaction I’ve ever experienced, and it was going to get worse, but more on that later. Off to bed early again, partly due to my eyes being so sore from the allergies. A short note here about bears. Generally we are pretty careful about doing anything that may attract bears to our camp. We take all the standard precautions of eating and cooking away from camp, no food in the tent, hanging food if the situation dictates, and even keeping a can of bear spray in the tent at night. My concern about bears on this trip was mostly centered on the Toba Inlet area and since we had seen no signs of them while camping or on the shores while paddling I wasn’t at all concerned for some reason at Rendezvous Island. I found out my logic was flawed. We weren’t in bed for thirty minutes when we heard a loud grunting noise making its way up the beach. Our cooking gear was about thirty feet away, and all of our food, along with the bear spray, was in our boats, which were about halfway between us and the bear. Lila saw the bear on the opposite side of an old wooden platform just off the beach. She headed over to the kitchen gear and got the pot and the hatchet to bang together while I went down to the boats to dig out the bear spray. I’m glad that black bears want to hang around us humans about as much as we want to spend time with them. The noise Lila made scared it off right away but it was still a while before either of us could get back to sleep.
I woke up Thursday morning and noticed right away something was wrong with my eyes. My vision seemed restricted, as if I was squinting. The look on Lila’s face confirmed for me that something was wrong with my face. I got out a little mirror and took a look. Both my upper and lower eyelids were swollen half shut. In hindsight it really was pretty funny looking but at the time we were both a little concerned. We chalked it up to a really bad reaction due to allergies and just hoped for the best. Looking back now I wish I had taken a picture of it for posterity. As it was a travelling day again, and the longest one at that, we were packed up and loaded and on the water at about six thirty that morning.
It was a little overcast this am but the water was calm and the wind hardly noticeable as we crossed Deer Passage on our way to Lewis Channel. There really wasn’t much of interest in Lewis Channel itself. I think it may be a popular transiting route for power boaters heading north and you do need to use it to access Teakerne Arm which was our goal today. After a quick stop to check out a campsite in the channel, we headed east up into the arm, toward Cassel Falls. For some reason this part of the paddle seemed to take forever, even though the gps was clocking us at our normal pace. There’s no accounting for this feeling but it seems like you can paddle forever and not gain any distance at all. We stopped at one point to watch a prawn boat (we had seen lots this week) pull up a trap but it was taking so long we got bored with the wait and continued on.
After what seemed like days of paddling we finally reached Cassel Falls. It’s a nice waterfall set back in a bit of a bay. We tied up at the public wharf and got out for a break and to search for a geocache Lila wanted to find. Nowadays we usually check for geocaches in the area we are to be in before leaving home. It’s something to do at camp and a good excuse to get out of the boats for a break, but on this trip this was the only cache listed. We followed the trail up the hill from the wharf and towards Cassel Lake. Using the gps and the extra hint supplied we were still unable to find the cache. We turned that area upside down looking for it. We finally gave up and just enjoyed the view towards the lake and down at the falls. There was also an old piece of logging equipment rusting away beside the trail. This detour up Teakerne Arm to see the falls probably added an extra two hours to our paddling day but it was worth the trip.
As we came out of the arm and rounded Joyce Point to continue south in the channel we discovered a pretty good wind had built up. Most of this trip we had been reasonably well protected from the winds but as we started getting closer to the North Georgia Strait Basin that luxury was over. A lot of the winds coming up the strait get funnelled into the many channels that continue north, including Lewis Channel. We bee-lined it across a large bay area of the channel to a smaller, protected bay about three kilometres away. We had to work against the wind and were both feeling the effort by the time we got there. We had another short break and then continued on along the shoreline now. Our original plan was to make it to Kinghorn Island for our last night but it looked like we may be falling back on to Plan B, the Martin Islands, as they were closer and we were getting pretty tired fighting this wind. We got to the marker on the point south of Refuge Cove and took a look across the channel to Kinghorn, a little over three kilometres away. The water had settled down considerably with only the occasional whitecap showing so we agreed to go for it as it was one of the islands we had really been looking forward to staying at. The crossing was completed without incident and we arrived at Kinghorn Island safe and sound, albeit more than a little tired.
Kinghorn turned out to have one of the nicest campsites of the trip along with the most difficult landing. It wasn’t too bad landing there at a higher tide like we did but taking off at a lower tide was a lot more work. This had been a long travel day for us, about thirty four kilometres in total, and a good piece of that fighting the wind so we were thankful to be able to relax for a bit now. Lila explored the beach and found a bald eagle carcass in among the logs. The wings were still attached and complete but the talons and beak were missing. We don’t know if the eagle died from natural causes or if it was a victim of poaching.
At the entrance to the tent site previous campers had constructed an arch out of driftwood. Structures like this that blend into the surroundings are always interesting to come across. I think a lot of things like this get built, not from any real need, but from having a couple of creative people at camp with not a whole lot to occupy their time. A lot of these campsites are limiting in where you can wander off to and explore. The beaches are the obvious choice to meander along but when the tide is up a lot of times your beach strolls are cut short. If there are no trails cut in the bush or the underbrush is very thick any exploration in that direction becomes very difficult.
After supper we relaxed around a small fire to pass the time. Clouds had started coming in and it made for a beautiful sunset, the most dramatic looking one we had seen on the trip. My eyes were starting to return to their normal size which was a relief also. This was to be our last night out and we were both looking forward to getting home again. No matter how much we enjoy these trips it is also impossible to ignore the fact that they are a lot of work on a daily basis and that there are a lot of modern conveniences we do enjoy and miss. Early to bed again, dreaming of a meal cooked in a real kitchen and served to you at a proper table with chairs.
When I woke up Friday morning my eyes were doing much better but when I looked at Lila I found her eyes had done the same thing, just not quite as bad. She had never shown any symptoms of allergies before so now we were wondering again what could be causing this. There was nothing we could do about it so we just grinned and bared it, even though it looked like we both had elephantitis of the eye sockets. The weather report was for light wind in the morning and the water in front of our camp was calm, so we were off again. Eat, break camp, load boats. Only this time it was a lot more difficult to load the boats due to the tide being out and lots of sharp rocks at the waterline. We would load some gear into the boats and then have to keep lifting them further into the water so they wouldn’t get hung up on the rocks as the tide continued to recede.
We paddled around the western tip of Kinghorn Island and found we had been sheltered from the worst of the southerly wind blowing up the strait. It wasn’t bad enough to keep us from crossing back to the Malaspina Peninsula but it did remind us of how quickly your situation can change. From fairly flat, calm waters on the lee side of an island to foot and a half waves on the unprotected side. I was listening to channel 16 on the VHF while crossing and it gave a warning to all stations to listen to the weather station. They were now broadcasting a wind warning for the area we were in for later that evening.
As we would be back in Lund and off the water by noon it wasn’t too much of a concern but we were glad to have gotten away when we did. We paddled down Thulin Passage and saw an open Zodiac type boat full of tourists in the area where the native pictographs were supposed to be. When we got down to where the zodiac had been we did spot the drawings on the rock. They didn’t stand out very well and it was hard to discern what the drawings were supposed to be of, but it was good to have found them after all. We continued on south past the Copelands and were looking forward to hitting Lund soon. We saw two other kayakers coming from Lund and heading over to the Copeland Islands. These were two of the total number of four kayakers we had come across on this trip. The other two appeared to be day trippers we saw on the first day out, exploring Galley Bay. We finally rounded the last point before Lund and had the boat launch in site. It’s really a bittersweet feeling at this point in any trip. You are looking forward to getting home but the noises and pace take a little getting used to again.
I went and got the truck, having left it parked at the Sunlund Campground. It didn’t take long to empty the boats and throw all the gear in the back and load the kayaks into the racks. We were both beat and still had a long drive ahead as we decided it was still early enough to make the ferries and get home. We did stop at the Lund Hotel Pub for lunch before heading out. Having someone cook your food and deliver it to you is one of those small conveniences that seem huge after finishing a trip. No food seems to taste better than that first meal off the water.
This had been the longest trip we had ever done. We covered 170 kilometres in the seven days we were on the water. We were both pretty pleased with how we had done, we were tired but there was never a feeling that we couldn’t have done a little more if the situation had called for it. We saw everything we had hoped to and the only thing we didn’t accomplish was finding that geocache. Lila checked on the website a couple weeks after our return and saw that someone had found it since we had been there so we’re not sure how we missed it. Our eyes were back to normal after another day. The only thing we could find that may have caused it was a plant at Rendezvous Island. It is called Common Foxglove and is said to be highly poisonous, affecting muscle tissue and circulation. We’re not a hundred percent sure this was the cause but I can guarantee that the both of us will be giving it a wide berth if we ever come across it again. The first half of this trip was the most scenic and interesting. Prideaux Haven and Toba Inlet are both places I would return to in the future. While Cassel Falls is nice to see I probably wouldn’t plan a trip around it. All in all this was a worthwhile trip to make and we don’t have any regrets about how we went about it.
Total Distance Paddled - 170.0 km.
Related links:
Desolation Sound Picasa Web Album
Desolation Sound Marine Park
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