Posted on by Matthew Lettington

Wrangling on Nootka Island with the Island Mountain Ramblers

–submitted by John Young; originally published on his blog

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This was billed as a work party, clipping salal, cutting some smaller deadfall, and, most importantly, replacing some of the decrepit ropes on the steeper slopes. A total of about 350′ of rope, in fact! However, we didn’t let this stop us from having fun!

Location

Nootka Island is located off the central west coast of Vancouver Island. We drove through Gold River to Tahsis, where we boarded the water taxi.

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June 21st – water taxi to Yuquot; camped just outside the Yuquot Reserve, 1 k from the lagoon outflow

June 22 – “Headbonk Camp” – just past Maquinna Point

June 23 – Beano Creek

June 24 – Calvin Falls

June 25 – First Beach

June 26 – Tongue Point

June 27 – water taxi back to Tahsis

On June 21st, via Shorebird expeditions, we took an 80 min. boat ride from  Tahsis to Yuquot, departing at 3 p.m. 
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Yuquot Church – c. 1949

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Photo of church by Michael Paskevicius

Looking back at Yuquot from our first campsite

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Along the shore

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June 22

We put up a few new ropes and clipped some salal along the way. The highlight of this section is Maquinna Point. What a view!

One of the many sea caves along the shore

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Paul and Shawn crossing the lagoon outflow, at a tide of less than one meter

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Paul, our chief wrangler, setting up a rope, and Lesley trying it out

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Columbine and Nootka rose along the way

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Headbonk Camp – so named because a hiker “bonked” her head on a tree here

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Snails and sea anemones hugging the rocks

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A fabulous sunset closes the day

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June 23 – to Beano Creek

Some rough headlands on this section, beautiful cedars, and a whale surfacing offshore made for a spectacular day.

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Whale photo: Michael Paskevicius

Our only campfire on the hike

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June 24 – to Calvin Falls

Fishboats out early in the morning

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Beautiful hiking at low tide!

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Lesley – all dressed up and nowhere to go!

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Bajo Point

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Karen high stepping it!

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Roger approaching Calvin Falls

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The decrepit outhouse at Calvin Falls

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The Surfers’ Camp

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Photo: Michael Paskevicius

June 25 – to First Beach (or is it Third Beach?)

Foggy to start the day

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But the fog burnt off and then we saw a bear ahead of us rooting through the seaweed on the shore. We were upwind of it, and it looked our way, but wasn’t going anywhere, so Shawn set off his bear banger, and it hoofed it into the bush.

Trying to scare the bear away

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It looked at us, and finally ran off

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Scat, bear!

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More smooth hiking on the tidal flats at low tide

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And headlands to cross

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A beautiful spot for lunch

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Until Shawn, ever the explorer, slipped climbing down into this channel, rupturing his left biceps. (A 4-month recovery. Ouch!)

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We bandaged him up and continued on to First Beach

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At First Beach, I had the pleasure of testing the recently installed “Green Throne.” It works!

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With no bear caches to secure food, we haul our food up a tree. Easy with a tree like this!

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Sun setting on another wonderful day

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June 26 – to Tongue Point

Shawn and I went ahead of the others, while they clipped some more salal on this trail. We did a thorough job here three years ago, but it sure needed more work now!

A beautiful less-travelled section of the trail (most people fly into Louie Lagoon)

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Little remaining of the whale carcass we spotted last year!

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Paul using up the last of his rope on the last slope–a good guesstimate or what!

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Hedge nettle lining the shore

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Hungry firefly

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At a tide of about 1.4 m, we crossed the mudflats

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Muddy indeed!

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Photo: Michael Paskevicius

And passed the ruins of the Greek freighter Treis Lerachi.

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Apparently the ship was wrecked in 1969 on the outer coast, and some people thought the steel was worth salvaging. So they re-floated it, towed it around to this sheltered bay, and blew it up to make salvage easier. And, here the pieces have sat ever since! (Jason Pineau, flickr)

Our camp in a clearing near Tongue Point

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No water there, so we whacked through the bush for an hour to collect some

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Not the freshest source!

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The view from the nearby RCAF Station – Sept. 1942-September 1945

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The sun sinks in to the sea near our last camp

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June 27

Conrad, our captain, arrived early for our voyage back to Tahsis. A smooth ride!

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And a smooth ending to a great trip!

One Reply to “Wrangling on Nootka Island with the Island Mountain Ramblers”

  1. You are a great storyteller John!
    It was fun reliving this adventure through your pictures- I have fond memories of it from 2 years ago.

    Reply

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