thunderseed
Paddler
- Joined
- May 14, 2014
- Messages
- 106
I am back and completed my first kayak trip :mrgreen: I changed my route at the last minute because there were more things to explore around the Northern Gulf Islands, so here is the route I took:
My paddling expedition lasted 11 days rather than 21 days but I camped for longer; I still completed my route, I just underestimated how long it would take me.
I gained a deep respect for solo kayaking; the freedom is exhilerating, tough, dangerous, it is nothing like anything I could have experienced exploring by land. Being able to travel to faraway islands - all reminiscent of the freedom of olden days when explorers would die just because of a small wound. And seeing the places I have traveled from look like a blue mountain in the distance is very exhilarating, thinking, I have come that far!
But I don’t think I’ll ever undermine these kinds of trips again. It was a brutal adventure that tested my survival skills, motivation and perseverance. It wasn’t pleasant, but ironically that’s how I like it. I love the freedom it gave me, but that kind of freedom could have killed me at times! There were times I didn’t think I would make it home and where I questioned my reasons for being there.
Every person I met thought I was either nuts or very brave, especially being alone.
But I had time to ask myself philosophical questions about the meaning of my life. I became closer to nature, got back to the basics, and my trip filled me with gratitude for every little thing I have.
But it was a lot of true survival. I couldn't have done it without all the preparation you guys helped me with, that's for sure.
In review, the Gulf Islands are quite surreal with amazing rock etchings, but honestly, the rocky terrain became dull to me fairly fast. Once you’ve seen one gulf island, you’ve seen them all because they all look the same. It’s all just a bunch of rocks and in-between these rocks, just long stretches of absolutely nothing.
I never saw any whales due to all the annoying motor boats everywhere. There are many seals in the gulf islands, and the seals stole the only flat rocks that I could have stopped to rest at. There are rarely rest spots. The only nice beaches that I saw were at Saltspring and Galiano.
The camping spots on the islands have awful racoon problems.
Wallace Island has a couple of pretty camping spots but it is the noisiest island out there, surrounded with all types of creatures and pests you wouldn’t think to find on a small island.
Decourcy Island at Pirates Cove is infested with hundreds of mice and rats that come out to look for hiding places at night, it was really disgusting. It’s also swarming with the heaviest blankets of mosquitos that I have ever seen in my entire life. Decourcy Island was the most vile island I stepped foot onto.
Galiano at Montague Harbour was very nice (my fave) and worth the money to stay there, it also had fresh water and stores nearby, but the racoons are more aggressive there than anywhere else.
There aren’t many kayak friendly camping spots in the gulf islands.
In summary, been there done that, I wouldn’t want to go there again.
Day 1
I departed late in the afternoon from Chemainus, stressed that I only had a short window of time to get to Wallace Island before high winds picked up.
I stopped briefly to rest at Tent Island on a tiny yet beautiful shell beach, and that is when I realized I forgot my cell phone! I continued on my route to Wallace but my Uncle came looking for me in his boat and thankfully dropped my cell phone off so I could keep in touch with my family in case anything bad happened.
Despite paddling as fast as I could, I got stuck in 15-20 knot winds as I fought very unmanageable choppy waters in the middle of the ocean. Paddling through that was awful. I arrived at Princess Cove late in the evening with barely enough time to set up camp, I found a neat little grassy shore with trees to unload cargo and set up my hammock.
I shall call it Wallace Island, the Island of Noisy Creatures. There are many noisy creatures on Wallace Island and they all romped around my campsite at night. They grunted, farted, yelled, snorted, and had a grand time keeping me awake as much as possible. There were deer, racoons, seals and other sea creatures who took a liking to my camping spot.
Day 2
I relocated to find the perfect campsite despite the gloomy marine forecast. I paddled around Wallace Island, into very large rolling waves then crossed over to Galiano in very rough conditions and arrived near Bodega Ridge.
I thought Montague Harbour would be closer but it was a very long, unbearable paddle. The lack of pictures of this area are due to not being able to work my camera when the water was too rough. The scenic route alongside Galiano Island looked very eerie to me. It was nothing but miles of giant rock cliffs that towered over me, with strange water carvings over the rock faces. Some spots along the way really creeped me out and disturbed me (just a bad foreboding sense, so I got out of there as fast as I could). The sun beat down at me and it was this day that I learned I should wear full sleeves while kayaking - I got badly sunburnt.
Such barren, ugly, alien rocks. There were no spots to stop for a swim to cool off. Despite high winds, it was sunny and didn't rain once for the whole trip! By the time I arrived at Montague, I had heat stroke, but I set up camp anyway after a huge ordeal of trying to find the campsite.
Day 3
I rested at my amazing campsite at Montague Harbour (in the overflow feild), recovering from yesterdays journey and a terrible sunburn, slept well at night since my hammock is more comfortable than any bed I have ever slept in. I explored Galiano’s stores and markets, rode the famous Galiano Pub Bus up to the Pub and feasted on nachos ( it is a free tour bus that takes you up to the Pub while playing loud music).
Day 4
I paddled gently around Sphinx Island and the other little islands near Galiano Island and didn’t see anything noteworthy. The boaters I camped next to gave me some Ling Cod for dinner though.
Day 5
I paddled from the back end of Montague Harbour after visiting the marina and getting some groceries (fell on barnacles and obtained a nasty cut on my foot) and crossed over to Saltspring, and followed Saltspring all the way to the end of Wallace. That was a very pretty route. I can see why most people prefer Saltspring over the other islands. I set up camp in a very cute campsite, near what I think is Chivers Cove, near where all the boats are moored. I don’t think you are allowed to camp there, but I did anyways. It was free of racoons for that night, unfortunately, 3 party boats kept me up until 4 in the morning, along with having very itchy skin from a combination of salt water and sunburn.
Day 6
I journeyed all the way from Wallace Island to escape the party boats past Reid Island and along Thetis Island in search of the Bat Caves, which I never found! I lost my way and my foot was in a considerable amount of pain and thankfully I saw that if I crossed over to the island I could get to a relative who was camping in Yellow Point on Vancouver Island.
Then I arrived at Yellow Point at the All Four Seasons Resort. Despite the painful cut on my foot, I went to a dance that night at the resort and had a very good sleep in my hammock, which I got to hang up for free in my relatives campsite. Apparently this resort is quite famous and famous people like John Wayne used to camp there back in the day.
Day 7
The cut on my foot courtesy of the barnacles at Montague Harbour a few days prior became infected. I even started feeling sick. Not surprising considering my immune system weakens when I overwork myself. Probably shouldn't have danced all night!
Along with that, my lips got burnt so badly they were peeling, cracking and in excruciating pain. Thankfully my uncle who was staying there supplied me with vaseline, fresh first aid supplies and I was able to go to a small hospital in Ladysmith and they gave me antibiotics.
That night we watched the fireworks in Ladysmith from my uncle's boat. I arrived at their resort at the perfect time, during the BC long weekend, so he had the weekend off and took me to see many touristy things.
To Be Continued on Next Page...
My paddling expedition lasted 11 days rather than 21 days but I camped for longer; I still completed my route, I just underestimated how long it would take me.
I gained a deep respect for solo kayaking; the freedom is exhilerating, tough, dangerous, it is nothing like anything I could have experienced exploring by land. Being able to travel to faraway islands - all reminiscent of the freedom of olden days when explorers would die just because of a small wound. And seeing the places I have traveled from look like a blue mountain in the distance is very exhilarating, thinking, I have come that far!
But I don’t think I’ll ever undermine these kinds of trips again. It was a brutal adventure that tested my survival skills, motivation and perseverance. It wasn’t pleasant, but ironically that’s how I like it. I love the freedom it gave me, but that kind of freedom could have killed me at times! There were times I didn’t think I would make it home and where I questioned my reasons for being there.
Every person I met thought I was either nuts or very brave, especially being alone.
But I had time to ask myself philosophical questions about the meaning of my life. I became closer to nature, got back to the basics, and my trip filled me with gratitude for every little thing I have.
But it was a lot of true survival. I couldn't have done it without all the preparation you guys helped me with, that's for sure.
In review, the Gulf Islands are quite surreal with amazing rock etchings, but honestly, the rocky terrain became dull to me fairly fast. Once you’ve seen one gulf island, you’ve seen them all because they all look the same. It’s all just a bunch of rocks and in-between these rocks, just long stretches of absolutely nothing.
I never saw any whales due to all the annoying motor boats everywhere. There are many seals in the gulf islands, and the seals stole the only flat rocks that I could have stopped to rest at. There are rarely rest spots. The only nice beaches that I saw were at Saltspring and Galiano.
The camping spots on the islands have awful racoon problems.
Wallace Island has a couple of pretty camping spots but it is the noisiest island out there, surrounded with all types of creatures and pests you wouldn’t think to find on a small island.
Decourcy Island at Pirates Cove is infested with hundreds of mice and rats that come out to look for hiding places at night, it was really disgusting. It’s also swarming with the heaviest blankets of mosquitos that I have ever seen in my entire life. Decourcy Island was the most vile island I stepped foot onto.
Galiano at Montague Harbour was very nice (my fave) and worth the money to stay there, it also had fresh water and stores nearby, but the racoons are more aggressive there than anywhere else.
There aren’t many kayak friendly camping spots in the gulf islands.
In summary, been there done that, I wouldn’t want to go there again.
Day 1
I departed late in the afternoon from Chemainus, stressed that I only had a short window of time to get to Wallace Island before high winds picked up.
I stopped briefly to rest at Tent Island on a tiny yet beautiful shell beach, and that is when I realized I forgot my cell phone! I continued on my route to Wallace but my Uncle came looking for me in his boat and thankfully dropped my cell phone off so I could keep in touch with my family in case anything bad happened.
Despite paddling as fast as I could, I got stuck in 15-20 knot winds as I fought very unmanageable choppy waters in the middle of the ocean. Paddling through that was awful. I arrived at Princess Cove late in the evening with barely enough time to set up camp, I found a neat little grassy shore with trees to unload cargo and set up my hammock.
I shall call it Wallace Island, the Island of Noisy Creatures. There are many noisy creatures on Wallace Island and they all romped around my campsite at night. They grunted, farted, yelled, snorted, and had a grand time keeping me awake as much as possible. There were deer, racoons, seals and other sea creatures who took a liking to my camping spot.
Day 2
I relocated to find the perfect campsite despite the gloomy marine forecast. I paddled around Wallace Island, into very large rolling waves then crossed over to Galiano in very rough conditions and arrived near Bodega Ridge.
I thought Montague Harbour would be closer but it was a very long, unbearable paddle. The lack of pictures of this area are due to not being able to work my camera when the water was too rough. The scenic route alongside Galiano Island looked very eerie to me. It was nothing but miles of giant rock cliffs that towered over me, with strange water carvings over the rock faces. Some spots along the way really creeped me out and disturbed me (just a bad foreboding sense, so I got out of there as fast as I could). The sun beat down at me and it was this day that I learned I should wear full sleeves while kayaking - I got badly sunburnt.
Such barren, ugly, alien rocks. There were no spots to stop for a swim to cool off. Despite high winds, it was sunny and didn't rain once for the whole trip! By the time I arrived at Montague, I had heat stroke, but I set up camp anyway after a huge ordeal of trying to find the campsite.
Day 3
I rested at my amazing campsite at Montague Harbour (in the overflow feild), recovering from yesterdays journey and a terrible sunburn, slept well at night since my hammock is more comfortable than any bed I have ever slept in. I explored Galiano’s stores and markets, rode the famous Galiano Pub Bus up to the Pub and feasted on nachos ( it is a free tour bus that takes you up to the Pub while playing loud music).
Day 4
I paddled gently around Sphinx Island and the other little islands near Galiano Island and didn’t see anything noteworthy. The boaters I camped next to gave me some Ling Cod for dinner though.
Day 5
I paddled from the back end of Montague Harbour after visiting the marina and getting some groceries (fell on barnacles and obtained a nasty cut on my foot) and crossed over to Saltspring, and followed Saltspring all the way to the end of Wallace. That was a very pretty route. I can see why most people prefer Saltspring over the other islands. I set up camp in a very cute campsite, near what I think is Chivers Cove, near where all the boats are moored. I don’t think you are allowed to camp there, but I did anyways. It was free of racoons for that night, unfortunately, 3 party boats kept me up until 4 in the morning, along with having very itchy skin from a combination of salt water and sunburn.
Day 6
I journeyed all the way from Wallace Island to escape the party boats past Reid Island and along Thetis Island in search of the Bat Caves, which I never found! I lost my way and my foot was in a considerable amount of pain and thankfully I saw that if I crossed over to the island I could get to a relative who was camping in Yellow Point on Vancouver Island.
Then I arrived at Yellow Point at the All Four Seasons Resort. Despite the painful cut on my foot, I went to a dance that night at the resort and had a very good sleep in my hammock, which I got to hang up for free in my relatives campsite. Apparently this resort is quite famous and famous people like John Wayne used to camp there back in the day.
Day 7
The cut on my foot courtesy of the barnacles at Montague Harbour a few days prior became infected. I even started feeling sick. Not surprising considering my immune system weakens when I overwork myself. Probably shouldn't have danced all night!
Along with that, my lips got burnt so badly they were peeling, cracking and in excruciating pain. Thankfully my uncle who was staying there supplied me with vaseline, fresh first aid supplies and I was able to go to a small hospital in Ladysmith and they gave me antibiotics.
That night we watched the fireworks in Ladysmith from my uncle's boat. I arrived at their resort at the perfect time, during the BC long weekend, so he had the weekend off and took me to see many touristy things.
To Be Continued on Next Page...
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