A short three day vacation by automobile to the northern end of Vancouver Island

Both Sylvester and Tucker went with us on this trip, and as you can see, they were both anxious to get going! After a brief stop in Nanaimo to visit with my folks, we next stopped at Buckley Bay. The ferry to Denman and Hornby Islands docks here.  When I was a kid, the tiny old ferry just beached itself on a concrete ramp, and people drove on.  Now there is a proper dock and terminal, and fairly large ferry.  Here is a truck with oyster seed onboard - a thriving industry along this cold water area of the Strait of Georgia.

We took a walk down the main street of Courtenay, stopping at Leong's - a throwback to the old general store, that has a bit of everything, including an old-fashioned lunch counter. We drove over to Comox airport for a lunch break (see picture of a Gooney Bird - DC-3 and a DC-6 behind), and then proceeded up the highway to Campbell River.  We experienced rain and drizzle throughout this small trip, which isn't unusual for the North Island - even in summer.

We stayed at the Austrian Chalet in Campbell River, and as you can see, Sylvester liked the idea of being up high and peeking out from the bedroom balcony, or playing in the drapes.  He was a bit upset for the first couple of nights - waking us up with howling.  Of course we had to shush him up, so he wouldn't disturb the other guests!

Discovery Passage, just outside our hotel.

The next day we traveled from Campbell River to Port Hardy along Highway 19.  The photo shows a vista of the narrows of Johnstone Strait between Vancouver Island and Quadra Island. There was a submarine rock called Ripple Rock, which used to restrict passage through this strait, however in the late 1950's the rock was removed using the largest man-made conventional explosion. 

The Nimpish Valley portion of Highway 19 is beautiful and yet quite remote.  The usual cautions apply when using this road from Campbell River to Port Hardy.  Leave with a full tank of gas, take some food and water with you, and watch out for heavy truck traffic (including logging trucks).  There is also an active logging railway, which crosses the highway on trestles.

Take your time, and enjoy some of the beautiful parks and rest stops along the way.  Keep your eyes open for wildlife. We saw a turkey vulture on the side of the highway, obviously retrieving something from the ditch.  A black bear rumbled across the highway in the Eve River area.

Highway 19 will take you past the communities of Sayward, Kelsey Bay, Woss, Port McNeill and Telegraph Cove.  All are worth investigating, if you have the time. 

We arrived in Port Hardy in the early afternoon, checked into the Airport Inn (just south of the town) and had a rest for an hour or so.  Then we were off to Cape Scott.  This road is a real adventure...not for the faint of heart!

The road is a gravel logging road the whole way, and it is usually very muddy, since this area gets so much rain.  I took my Camry over the road, but kept my speed down to 40-50 km/h on the Port Hardy to Holberg portion, and slowed to 30-40 km/h on the Holberg to Cape Scott portion.  At these speeds, it took 1.5 hours to travel from Port Hardy to Holberg, and a further 1.5 hours to travel from Holberg to Cape Scott (twice as long as people in town will tell you it takes). If you have a 4WD or truck and a strong back, feel free to blast through at faster speeds!  In any case, your vehicle will go through hell and back - over gravel roads the whole way: potholes, sharp gravel, mud, rain, high humidity and lots of winding steep logging roads.

There is a small general store in Holberg, and a single restaurant/pub - the Scarlet Ibis.  Good food and drink, reasonable prices, and a very nice view of Holberg Inlet. When you get to the general store in Holberg, there is a 3 way intersection - stay right to get to the Scarlett Ibis - and the road to Cape Scott.

When leaving the Scarlett Ibis for Cape Scott, keep going toward the logging company yard, but keep right - don't go through the yard. The sign for the Cape Scott road will be on your left, but the sign is hidden behind some bushes. Don't continue on the road to your right, or you will end up going back the way you just came!

There are some directional signs along the road to Cape Scott, so keep alert and don't get lost on these logging roads! Virginal timber lines the road most of the way, and also very mature secondary growth which started after a 1905 hurricane blowdown.

There is a campground available just a few hundred metres before reaching the Cape Scott parking lot - where the trail starts to Cape Scott itself and San Josef Bay.  I headed along the trail to San Josef Bay - a 45 minute hike there and another 45 minutes back. Tucker came along and had a terrific time.  He found a stick, and packed it almost all the way back to the car - but he was so tired for the last part of the trail, that I ended up packing his stick back for him. We had to give him a good rubdown and snuggle him most of the way back to Port Hardy, since he was a bit hypothermic due to the cold and wet. Everyone was *very* tired after our little adventure, especially me!

Sylvester always entertained himself in the hotel rooms...here he is discovering how much fun a TV stand can be.  After we settled back into our hotel room at Port Hardy, Tucker stretched out on the blankets - dry and warm at last.

Although Cape Scott is a beautiful area, it is also incredibly wet, humid, and cold there. As a co-worker who had hiked Cape Scott told me, "you will be constantly wet while in the Cape Scott area".  If you are camping in the San Josef campsite or along the Cape Scott trail, plan for these cold and wet conditions, and prepare yourself for some physical stress. It appears BC Parks and the Federal Government are quarrelling over who is responsible for the trail to the Cape Scott Lighthouse from Nels Bight, so if you plan to use this portion of the trail system, you would be wise to research this before you leave.

Here is a picture of the Camry after the road to Cape Scott, and before I took it through the wand wash at Port Hardy.  After a wash, it was none the worse for wear, due mainly to me taking it very easy on the rough roads to Cape Scott.

The next day we traveled back to Campbell River - an uneventful trip back to civilization. The tide must have been slack in the early evening at Seymour Narrows (Ripple Rock area), because a whole line of Alaska cruise ships went past our hotel (southbound through Discovery Passage) around sunset on their way south to Vancouver.

We were very late getting going the following day, since we were all still a bit tired from yesterday's trek. We took the road to Strathcona Park and Gold River, which is west out of Campbell River.

First stop was the John Hart Dam and spillway. There was a huge amount of water being released down the spillway, due to the snow pack being almost double what it normally is at this time of year. 

We then headed south down Upper Campbell Lake through Strathcona Park and by Buttle Lake, where we took the turnoff to Gold River. This is a paved 2 lane highway the whole way, so it was easy traveling compared with yesterday!

Gold River is a nice little town. Traveling through the town site a further a couple of kms brought us to Muchalat Inlet and the former pulp mill. The mill appeared to be in the process of decommissioning, with about 50 workers' vehicles still parked outside, and piles of chips still there. There was a boat launching ramp and a seaplane base - both active.  Back at the townsite, we stopped for lunch, then headed back the way we came. Beautiful country, but so remote!

Our trip back to Campbell River and Victoria was uneventful. We encountered lots of rain all the way down the Island, until we passed Duncan, where it started to clear up a bit. We had dry roads by the time we entered Greater Victoria.  This is typical for Vancouver Island - it gets colder and wetter as you go north.

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