Category: Backpacking

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A beaut of a Beachcomb on the Tatchu Peninsula

July 8-13, 2024
Where is Tatchu Peninsula?
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On July 8th, the six of us in our group drove in two vehicles to Fair Harbour, the last two hours on logging roads, going through Zeballos before driving to Fair Harbour. The resort there provides safe parking, for a fee, of course. From there, it was a 25-minute boat ride with Voyageur Water Taxis to Rugged Point. From Rugged Point, we hiked as far as the bay just before Yellow Bluff, and back. Leo Jack, our captain, picked us up on schedule on the 12th. Yes, we had farther to drive than going from Tahsis (another option), but our boat ride was much shorter and more sheltered. Some people opt to take a float plane in, hike one way, and be picked up at the other end. I’d much rather avoid taking a float plane, and the trail is short (about 20 k , so you might as well do an out-and-back. And the direction we went is preferable, too, because the last section south of Tatchu Creek is rugged; best done without overnight packs. 

 

A smooth ride to Rugged Point on July 8th

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Juan De Fuca Trail — Multigenerational Hike

–originally published on John’s blog.

The trail’s east end is about 75 kilometres from Victoria and extends from Jordan River to Botanical Beach, near Port Renfrew.

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Our Itinerary

  • March 20 – China Creek to Bear Beach — 9 k, 6 hours
  • March 21 – Bear to Chin Beach – 11 k, almost 8 hours
  • Marh 22 – Chin to Sombrio Beach – 9 k, 6 hours
  • March 23 – Sombrio to Payzant  Beach – 10 k., 7 hours
  • March 24 – Payzant to Botanical Beach Parking Lot – 7 k, 5 hours

We certainly didn’t break any speed records hiking this trail, covering the 47 kilometers in five days, and a total of about  32  hours, including breaks. The mud, downed trees, and bushwhacking slowed us down.

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The Central Walbran Valley — August, 2023

This August, I made two trips to the Central Walbran Valley, on August 2-3 with Chica, and on August 22-24 with three friends, and Chica, naturally. I had been wanting to get into this area for a few years, ever since my friend Rishi raved about it, and I finally did it. And I plan to return! Wow!

The area is jam-packed with hundreds of monumental red cedars, especially in the spectacular “Castle Grove,” which is perhaps the most extensive stand of near record-sized cedars on Earth. (Ancient Forest Alliance)

The road going in, however, is a deterrent, and it degrades appreciably in the last ten kilometres. Slow going, so slow, that I only averaged 22 k an hour for the two hours on the return. 

 

Slow going or what!

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The reason for the slow progressThese photos were taken going in and returning on my first trip. 
 

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Hiking the South Brooks Peninsula

–SUBMITTED BY MICHAEL PASKEVICIUS; ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON HIS TRAVEL BLOG

This report recounts a story from a less-visited location, although it is not about a club trip.

I have been fascinated by the Brooks Peninsula for some time. Geographically it is significant as it sticks out quite prominently on the west side of the island near the northern tip. It is rumoured to have its own weather system and significant hazards for boaters and kayakers rounding its western point. There are some very hard to reach mountains on the peninsula as well, one called Mount Doom that has a great mystique by name and remoteness. Up in those mountains contain some interesting flora and fauna as this part of the island may have not been covered by snow and ice during the ice age, resulting in some prehistoric plants still living to this day.

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Flower Ridge to Central Craigs

–SUBMITTED BY MICHAEL PASKEVICIUS; ORIGINALLY POSTED ON HIS TRAVEL BLOG

I met the Ramblers group for 9am at the Flower Ridge trailhead. Our group of six set out just after 9am. We got to the ridge in about four hours and continued along for another hour or so to camp. It was windy on the ridge but the sun was out, so my gear finally had a chance to dry.

After a solid night’s sleep, we had a casual start to the day departing camp at 9am. Our goal for the day was Central Crags, the summit of this mountain is just over 1650 metres. We made our way along Flower Ridge gaining and losing elevation as we went. The ridge is wide and open offerings lots of different paths and perspectives along their way. The Septimus Rosseau massif started to come into view topped by a thick layer of cloud, but we caught great views of the hanging glacier and snow fields.

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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!

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Nootka Island Trail Maintenance Trip

–SUBMITTED BY MICHAEL PASKEVICIUS; ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON HIS BLOG

[The below report is for the club trip done in June 2023]

The Nootka trail is a remote and rugged 40km through hike on Nootka Island. We accessed the trail via water taxi from Tahsis, starting from Yuqout with a pickup at Tongue Point. The trail passes through the Mowachaht/Muchalat First Nations territory. We planned a south to north hike with intention to conduct trail maintenance along the way. We brought clippers for clearing the trail, ropes for helping with steep sections, and planned to mark headland trails as well with buoys that could be found on the beach.

Day One: Travel to Nootka

After a long drive from Victoria with a pick up in South Nanaimo we arrived in Tahsis in the early afternoon. We learned a small plane had crashed in the area just the day before, so there was a fair bit of activity in town with first responders, reporters, and fire crews dealing with the incident. We were still able to board our water taxi and travel to Yuquot to begin the Nootka Trail from the south end. It was a short walk to our first camp where we spent the first night.

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The Elk River Trail– A Great Plan B!

–SUBMITTED BY JOHN YOUNG; ORIGINALLY POSTED ON HIS BLOG

We had originally planned a trip to Flores Island, but with Highway 4 being closed we came up with a Plan B–hike up the Elk River Trail to the second gravel bar camp on Wednesday, Thursday a hike up to Burg Lake and back, and Friday hike out. And what a great alternate hike it turned out to be! Perfect weather, great company, and some beautiful forest and mountain scenery.

Wednesday–A beautiful trail to the second gravel bar camp

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Augerpoint Traverse

July 26 – 29, 2021

~ submitted by Greg Deabler

The forecast for our Monday to Thursday Augerpoint Traverse was superb, and this time the mountain forecast was right on.  We had decided to do the traditional Raven Lodge to Buttle Lake direction, with the standard first day to Circlet Lake, 2nd day over Albert Edward and on to Ruth Masters Lake, with a third day to the tarns at the base of Jack’s Fell with side trips to be determined; both Augerpoint and Sid Watts were on the table.  A leisurely 4th day from the tarns down to the lake to pick up the vehicle left for the return trip to Raven Lodge.

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