"Brian H." wrote: > Doug, > My first "real" kayaking trip was out of Port Hardy, and all I can say > is that I am > impressed that you feel comfortable going out there by yourself. Our > first day > was hairy by our standards - wife thought we were going to die, and we > were in > doubles! :-) Hi Brian (et al), Just got back from family vacation, so catching up on backlogged e-mail, etc. Don't be impressed by solo trip reports. Going solo is inherently dangerous, especially in areas typified by open water, remote wilderness, and tidal considerations. My point in going solo was that I had the ability to control every aspect and phase of the trip, which for me, made for a safer paddle - but, in a more dangerous context. This may seem oxymoronic, I'm sure; but believe me, the nervousness I felt out there with being alone and all, promoted a much more cautious approach to everything I did - kind of like a solo hiker in the backcountry who places every foot step with careful consideration, much more so than if he or she was with a group. Yet, that same hiker, if an accident did take place, would indeed be in a sticky predicament. I also kept well under my thresholds for what I can ultimately handle. See the latest issue of SK magazine for an excellent treatment of the solo crossing question in both the editorial and incident report. > > Have you stopped at Gods Pocket? After 4 or 5 days of being "out", it is > a great > stop for pie! We stopped and toured the light house you mentioned. Nice > folks, > even though they seemed really surprised that they had visitors. I'm saving God's Pocket for later in life when I do some milder touring with my wife, who is slowly starting to look forward to some outdoor water travel when our kids are older (well, she was - more on that in a minute). I did keep God's Pocket in mind as an emergency point for outside contact, as they have a marine telephone based there. I did not stop at the lighthouse as one needs to make a decision on a trip as to whether one is going to tour stops of interest, go on a picture taking "safari", cover lots of miles as a goal, or in my case, finishing a "mission". One cannot do all things on a trip, and do them all well, so one must choose their priorities. > You > were right to > be thinking about bears, there are many amongst the islands. Three > weeks before > our trip, the guides were doing a training/exploratory trip up there, > and spotted a > cougar eyeing them. That was 2 to 4 miles (I don't remember now) out of > Port Hardy > on Vancouver Island. It was funny for me (this whole bear thing). I was so proud of myself at Shelter Bay, prancing around in the bush, back in the deep forest, pretending I had overcome my fears of grizzlies. When I got back to Port Hardy, the father of the fish farm worker I had spoken to the night before in the bay, asked me if his son had told me "the" bear story. I said no. The father then said that his son was probably sparing me the trauma of a sleepless night. Apparently, the fish farm worker was out in his skiff, pulling up a crab trap in the evening on his free time, when he smelt something awful from a small islet in Shelter Bay. Suddenly, he saw a huge head coming toward the skiff, then swimming by toward the islet. Instantly, a huge bear jumped out on the shore, and bounded up the 10 meter high rock in two phenomenal bounds. The young man was impressed by the agility and quickness of the bear, who even with its hair matted flat by the water, was still huge and thick bodied. It torn into a dead dear carcass in a frightening frenzy of carnage and rage. Carrion - a bear's most desired object. The young man motored away instinctively, glad he wasn't camped out on the beach. Man, I'm glad that fellow didn't relate that story to me that particular evening! > > > Geez, now I want to go back. Thank you so much for posting your trip > report!!! Thanks for the thanks. It wasn't a very good post, nor a particularly good trip report, but it is what went down as recorded in my log book directly, and was a "Doug trip" through and through, though I did paddle as safe as I could allow myself too - seal landings and reef surfing notwithstanding :-) BTW, I agree, the Port Hardy and the surrounding area is a gateway to wonderful, glorious adventure and wilderness beauty. It is rated among the six best paddling destinations in the world. I went back up there last week with my wife a two young daughters. We spent two days on Malcolm Island, near Port McNiell. You take the ferry over to Sonitula, then drive over to the free tenting sites on the east side facing Queen Charlotte Strait. As we pulled in, 6 orca whales meandered by. The next day, 3 orcas came within a stones throw at Bere Point, one of the few easily accessible "rubbing beaches" (Robson Bite, the other one, is difficult to legally enter). We also went over to the west coast on Vancouver Island, near Cape Scott, saw tons of bears, swam in a warm bay with the kids as eagles soared overhead. I had finally got my wife hooked on the North Island. We also found one of the area's best kept secrets, and apparently, one of the west coast's few (possibly only) spots where one can pull a car right up next to the fullness of the wild coast, without having to backpack in. It is just north of Raft Cove (noth of Winter harbor), and a bit south of San Joseph Bay (Cape Scott). The locals call it "Five Minute Beach". It is 15 miles from Holberg, on the Coast Main logging road. It has raised tent sites, a river, and an outhouse. It is pure paradise, and provides easy adult low tide hiking to Raft Cove or Cape Palmerson. The potential for sea kayakers is awesome (as is Malcolm Island, where we saw and camped with a number of kayak day-trippers). This may be off topic, but I goofed big time on our little family holiday. We tried hiking to Raft Cove from the camp site, but my 5-and 7-year old girls were getting too small for the rigorous inter tidal ordeal. I went on alone to the last headland, and fell off a log spanning a chasm. I landed on my chest, arresting a more serious fall. Unfortunately, I had torn the cartilage in my rib cage a week earlier while giving 110% at a teen co-ed camp where I had staged a fight with another counselor as part of the medieval theme. I landed on it again during the log fall, which is the worst thing to do (retraumatize a cartilage tear). Heavily sedated on codeine in my tent, I still slept on and off in agony back at the beach. Violent hiccups (that lasted two days) from a bruised diaphragm (possibly), made me feel like I wanted to die - as each one pierced the mending tear during the late night "carry-over pain" period. We prepared to leave the next morning, as I needed a real bed the next night, with multiple soft pillow support. In my drug induced state, I left the radio on while loading the car early in the morning and drained the battery. I had to leave my wife and kids on the wild west coast with a big bear visibly stomping around on the hillside, and hike the 15 miles to Holberg, on a remote logging road know for cougar activity. I had also ruptured a groin tendon at the camp (the camp director said he had never seen a counselor go 110% non-stop - which is kind of the way I kayak too), so hiking out was not easy. I took bear spray, and left a spare with my wife. I prayed real hard about the time I started to give out and wince with pain, and part way there, a car headed to Raft Cove drove up and gave me a lift back and a jump start. The area is not well traveled, and I was lucky. The point of me telling you all this, of course, is to suggest that I'd take solo kayaking to the Storm Islands any day compared to my present predicament of having a wife who currently wants to kill me! She says I'm the only husband she knows of who can turn a simple family holiday into such an adventure. BC'in Ya Doug Lloyd (aka "Kid Codeine" of the wild, wild west) *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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