Lisa and I decided to continue our exploration of this beautiful island we call home by planning a 3-day trip "up island". Ironically, the AirBnB residence we found had availability for the Labour Day long weekend, but not earlier, so we ended up "traveling" along with many others. Our intended first stop was the Trent River Falls, but we missed where to park on the side of the highway to begin the short hike to the falls. We decided not to backtrack, instead stopping at the visitors' centre to use the facilities, have a bite to eat, and check out the plane. Most of our weekend was spent enjoying the Comox Valley area. The first beach we visited Saturday morning was Miracle Beach. Just a little further up the coast is Saratoga Beach. Armed with directions from the internet, we went in search of the Oyster River Potholes. When we arrived at the river, we found an official, permanent sign saying that the potholes were 3.2 kilometres further up the river and giving very complicated directions that involved approaching from a completely different area on unpaved roads. We decided to check out the river where we were, and still found some smaller "potholes" and some excellent swimming spots. Accessing Lower Myra Falls required driving out of the way through the lower portion of Strathcona Provincial Park along the south shore of Buttle Lake and then a short, easy hike. The falls have become very popular this summer and many people were picnicking and hanging out. Buttle Lake offers many hiking and camping options. Next, we checked out Elk Falls and suspension bridge. It was time to drive until we ran out of highway (literally) in Port Hardy at the top of the island. We checked into a private little room in the backpackers' hostel, then walked along the short Hardy Bay Seawall. We watched the sun set from Carrot Park, and then rise again from our room's ocean facing window. 63 of the 66 kilometres of the drive to Cape Scott Provincial Park are unpaved logging roads, making the drive far more difficult than the 40 minute hike to San Josef Bay passed very cool, big trees. We had read to expect fog, mist, and rain at San Josef Bay at any time of day, any time of year, so we weren't entirely surprised when that's what we experienced despite it being a warm and sunny day everywhere else. We timed our trip to coincide with low tide so we could easily explore the famous sea stacks and the expansive sandy beach. There were approximately 35 tents set up along the top of the beach. After visiting San Josef Bay, we made the fateful decision that we might as well make the "easy one hour hike" to Eric Lake while in Cape Scott Park. The old settlers' road forms most of the trail and is obviously in disrepair. We carefully picked our way around and over increasingly muddy patches and puddles, each time hoping that we'd passed the worst of it. Eventually we encountered a returning couple who informed us that the trail ahead of us would not improve and that the lake was socked in with fog anyway, so we turned around. Retracing the route back down proved even more difficult. At one point I decided to make a small jump across a mud puddle onto the boardwalk... Unfortunately, my lead leg did not gain purchase, instead sliding across the boardwalk. My trailing left leg bashed heavily into the side of the walkway, causing me to fall on my butt in the mud. This meant that in addition to my injured elbow from being bitten by the neighbour's dog two days previous, my left side now also had a giant split welt and bruise on my shin. As with the dog bite, my personal doctor, Lisa, did a fantastic job of cleaning me up, disinfecting and bandaging the wound before the long drive back down to the Comox Valley and Seal Bay Nature Park. We spent Sunday night in a basement suite in Courtenay. Our first stop on Monday morning was Goose Spit Park. Next up was Filberg Park and Garden. We strolled the Courtenay Marina park and Riverwalk. We stopped to photograph the artwork of the K'omoks First Nation. Almost nothing was open on Labour Day Monday, but the empty streets of downtown Courtenay suited us just fine as we explored 5th Street. We even learned a little about nature through Courtenay's Covid-19 physical distancing awareness signs. The main destination for the day was the Mount Washington alpine area of Paradise Meadows in Strathcona Provincial Park. We hiked the loop trail to Helen McKenzie and Battleship Lakes. Afterwards,we visited Nymph Falls and could definitely see spending some afternoons there if it was closer to home. We drove through Cumberland and then hiked to the Cumberland Potholes (aka Perseverance Potholes and China Bowls). The last "official" stop of our weekend was Cumberland Lake Park. We stopped for a Tim Horton's dark roast in Oyster Bay on the way home. The entire trip involved approximately 1350 kilometres of driving and over 43 kilometres of walking/hiking - not bad for a #staycation!
2 Comments
Wayne Wiebe
9/9/2020 04:40:28 pm
Great photos.
Reply
Denise
9/11/2020 08:59:23 am
Looks like an amazing trip! Your pictures brought back many memories of my time in these same areas, most fondly, Cape Scott Park. Thanks for sharing and please take care of those injuries!!
Reply
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
January 2024
Categories |