Vancouver Island

All aboard the ferry to Victoria on Vancouver Island

We left Samammish and crossed the Canadian border, arriving at the Tswwassen-Swartz Bay ferry port.  We had a five o’clock sail that docked us in Victoria a little after seven that evening.  Although still chilly, the skies were blue with billowy clouds.  We were grateful for the sunshine.

David managed to locate a campground about a half hour from the ferry terminal.  To say the least, we were tired.  We took a short stroll down to the water, then crawled into the camper for a good night’s sleep.

On the advice of a friend, the next morning we decided to visit Victoria’s famed Butchart Gardens.  We were so glad we did!  Once an old limestone quarry, Mrs. Butchart decided to transform it into a multi-level garden.  The Butchart family spent years remaking it into the stunning landscape it is today.  Engulfed in spring’s bounty, the grounds were blanketed with blooming tulips, azaleas, rhododendrons, as well as other amazing flowers. 

 We arrived before the gardens opened and were among the first to enter.  The tour buses began rolling in around ten.  By eleven, we had made the rounds and even grabbed a bite to eat at the Blue Poppy Café.

From Victoria, we headed north.  Our plans were to spend four days traveling the length of Vancouver Island, seeing as much as we could see.  We drove to Port Renfrew on the western shore, finding a First Nation campground right on the beach.  Rain and a damp chill in the air drove us into the camper early.

Thankfully, we awoke to spotted sunshine.  We drove to Sombrio beach and hiked about a half mile down to the ocean, through a spectacular forest of very large cedar, maple, and hemlock.  Like much of the upper west coast in the U.S., these shores are well below the cliffs.  A lady at the visitor center said we could see tidal pools on this beach.  We hiked across the rocky shoreline to a promising set of boulders, but, alas, no sea stars or anemones.  Nonetheless, the beach was lovely.

Sombrero beach, Vancouver

From the beach, we drove just outside Port Renfrew to Avatar Grove, a fairly recently discovered old growth forest and home to Canada’s gnarliest tree.  The hike was fairly short but strenuous with all the ups and downs.  The gnarly tree was amazing.

Entrance to Avatar Grove

Avatar Grove, Vancouver

A couple climbs the steep stairs at Avatar Grove 

Canada's gnarliest tree

We drove back to the east side of the island and spent the night at Rathtrevor beach and its lovely provincial park (complete with hot showers!).  Rains began in earnest that evening and lasted through most of the next day.  Undaunted, we strolled through another old growth forest named Cathedral Grove. 

Entrance to Cathedral Grove trail

Cathedral Grove 

Cathedral Grove

We drove Coastal Road 19A as long as we could, encountering quaint beach towns as well as worn and weathered way stations along the way.  When the road ended, we turned north and drove deep into Strathcona Provincial Park, the largest park on the island.  We spent the night at the Ralph Lake campground, an inlet on Buttle Lake, the largest lake in the park. 

Ralph Lake campground

We had a short respite from the rain that afternoon, but it began again by evening.  Thankfully, we awoke to mostly sunny skies.  Our campsite was near a short path to the beach.  We took the stroll and found a family of geese with tiny goslings in tow paddling across the lake in the bright morning sun.

We had one more night on Vancouver island before boarding the ferry to Prince Rupert.  While scouring the map, David located a small, remote campground in Schoen Lake Provincial Park.  It took us nearly a half hour to drive the 11 miles of rocky road into the campground.  We were surprised to find that we were the only campers there. 

What a beautiful, quiet, and peaceful place it was!  We sat by the pristine lake in the fading sun as long as we could before gray skies, misty rain, and a damp, cold breeze drove us into the camper.  Unfortunately the photo doesn't do the site justice... just too many clouds to see the snow-capped Schoen mountain in the background.

We awoke to a chilly 39 degrees.  As we left the park, we startled a black bear.  He literally turned tail and ran right across the road in front of us.  Shortly up the road, we saw eight deer bolt up the mountainside. 

With only a short drive left to Port Hardy, we made a side trip to Sayward, another seaside town.  Looking for a café, we drove down to the dock and discovered a huge logging operation.  Logs were trucked to the facility, sorted, and bundled by huge machinery capable of lifting 60,000 pounds.  The bundled logs were then rolled into the harbor.  We watched skilled captains maneuver their agile boom boats, moving escaped logs and sorted bundles into booms for shipping to sawmills and sea vessels.  David took a few videos of the process…

Logging is one of Vancouver’s main industries.  Many mountains here are zigzagged with scars from clear cutting.  The tree farms are then replanted to grow again.  We quickly learned that most dangerous vehicles on the road here are loaded logging trucks.  Some of these truckers seem hell bent on driving as fast as possible, taking their half out of the middle of winding roads.  It is always judicious to run your vehicle as close to the outer edge of your lane as possible.

We re-provisioned in Port McNeil then drove into Port Hardy.  We needed to arrive at the ferry terminal by 4:00 pm for our 22-hour sail to Prince Rupert.  Hopefully we’ll be able to post this before boarding a second ferry to Skidegate on Haida Gwaii (formerly Queen Charlotte Island).  Our journey through the inside

passage begins!