August 7-9, 2009
Day 1 – The Drive Up
We left our trek to Cape Scott Friday afternoon at around 1pm from Victoria. It was a bit of a later start than we wanted but we did manage to get to the campground before dark. The forecast for the weekend called for rain, rain, and more rain. The drive to Cape Scott was about 8 hours in total including a couple of stops for gas and a bite to eat at Subway. From those 8 hours, 2 hours were spent driving on the logging road from Port Hardy to the trailhead. Holberg was the closest settlement from Cape Scott which is about 16 Km away. Our original plan was to hike about 45 min. and camp at San Josef Bay but by the time we arrived it was already dark and beginning to rain. We stayed overnight at the San Josef Heritage Park Private Campground just a few minutes away from the parking lot and trailhead to Cape Scott.
There to great us at the entrance was a big, barbarous-looking fellow who kind of resembed bit of Santa Claus and one of the seven dwarfs mixed together. When we told him we were gonna hike Cape Scott, he made this “clumping” sound with his mouth and pretended he was stepping in knee deep mud. It was pretty funny to see actually. If that was a sign of what was to come we were in big trouble. We then asked how much the camping will be and he replied,”It’s by donation…..(long pause)……minimum of $15 dollars“. Huh???!!! What kind of donation is that? We managed to put up our tent in time just before the pouring rain.
Day 2 – The Hike to Cape Scott
It rained the whole night. I couldn’t sleep. The sleeping bag I bought a few days ago kept me warm and snugly all night but the loud rain drops on the tarp kept me awake. Should’ve brought ear plugs! After we ate a quick breakfast (bagels and pepperoni sticks) we were on our way around 9am. There was a light drizzle at the start of the hike. The trails weren’t that bad. I pictured we would be hiking in knee deep mud but it was nothing like that. Sure, it was a bit muddy but it was nothing too hard to handle. Most of the trails were made up of boardwalks which can be slippery if you don’t have the proper traction on your shoes. It took us around 5.5 hours to hike to Nels Bight where we set up camp. A map of the trails and locations can be seen here.
From here, it’s about another 2 hour hike (4 hour r/t) to get to the Cape Scott Lighthouse. We quickly set up our tarp and tent to ensure we got the best spot. About a 5 minute walk from our camp spot was a place we could get “fresh” water. It turned out to be brown with floaties in it! Just to make sure we didn’t get sick, we treated the water with iodine and also boiled it to death.
It took awhile for us to set up camp but we did manage to leave around 3:45pm to the Lighthouse. Along the way it cleared up considerably which made the beaches more enjoyable. The 2 hour hike to the Lighthouse felt like a breeze without our backpacks on! As we were walking along the trail, I spotted from a far distance what looked like a bear! When the “bear” caught my eye, it came towards me. As it came closer, I realized it wasn’t a “bear” but “wolf”! It was now running faster than before. I was scared. When the “wolf” came a bit closer, I noticed it wasn’t a “wolf” after all but a dog! Phew! It was one of those wolf-looking dogs.
I must say I wasn’t too impressed with the Lighthouse. I do not want to give it away but it was not what I pictured it to be. Don’t get me wrong, it was nice to see the northern tip of Vancouver Island but it was strange sight to see. We made record time on the hike back to our camp spot. I think it was due to the fact that we were ready to eat the biggest meals of our lives. The menu was beef stoganoff and stir-fry (onions, garlic, carrots, celery all spiced up to perfection)!! Words cannot describe the awesome sensation of this meal. It was the ultimate flavour explosion!
It had cleared up considerably near the middle of the day and at night. After dinner we enjoyed a nice campfire and star gazing at night.
Day 3 – The Hike Back
We woke up to a wet morning. It had drizzled the whole night leaving the tent area pretty wet. That didn’t let us down though. We started the day with the breakfast of champions. Two packets of maple and brown sugar instant oatmeal for starters and then a huge package of Korean noodles with celery and carrots in the soup. It was soooo good! We packed up all our gear and said our final goodbyes to the beach and we were off. About an hour into the hike it started to pour down rain. The trails got a bit muddier as our legs and feet got a bit sorer. Chris’s right knee was also acting up but we still made record timing on the way back! Tired, thirsty, and wet, we made it back to the car at around 3:30pm. We got all our wet clothes and shoes off and slipped into something more dry. Such a relief! We make a quick detour to go see the “Santa Claus-dwarf man” to get some fresh water before our big drive back to Victoria. I should’ve gotten a picture of him!
We wanted to make it back to Victoria as quickly as possible. However, maybe we were too quick. Chris got pulled over by the cops around Port McNeil. He was clocked at around 125 Km/h in a 80 Km/h zone. As the cop was approaching the car, I could see Chris starting to shake. He has never gotten a ticket before let alone being pulled over. He was pretty nervous. We acknowledge how fast we were going and gave the cop our ID’s and registration. Several minutes later, the cop comes back and acknowledges the fact that Chris has a perfect driving record. Because of this, the cop gave Chris a warning! The speeding ticket would have been $196 but we left without paying anything! Oh yah! The drive back to Victoria was a bit slow and cautious after that but we did manage to arrive safety at around midnight.
For all the pictures click here
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