Vancouver island: A surprisingly wealth of natural wonders.

Right now, we are in the trendy, surf-focused town of Tofino, spending a few days soaking up the atmosphere and fishing for salmon with my father.  Last time we wrote we were in the seaside town of Port Hardy, recovering from a long ferry ride.  Since then, we have ridden south through hills and alongside mountains.

We have crossed a surprising number of rivers and streams, swam in lakes, and entered the busy world of Canada’s California.  Vancouver Island is so much more than we ever expected it to be – more than a 300 mile long adventure island, it is a mecca for surfers, fishermen, beachwalkers, retirees.  It has snowcapped mountains and sunny beaches, with raging rivers in between.  In short, we decided this island has it all.  If the apocalypse ever happens, Vancouver Island will be the one place where food and water will always remain plentiful.

More than two dozen First Nation Canoes in Port Hardy.

Inside the longhouse during the welcome ceremony.

A few stories, then, of our last few days.  We were remarkably lucky in Port Hardy to be there at exactly the same time as nearly two dozen first nation groups who are canoeing north to Bella Bella.  We were invited to camp with them for the night, eat dinner, and witness their welcome ceremony in a traditional longhouse.  Needless to say, it was an incredible experience in an incredible location.  We walked the beach to admire their canoes, and saw half a dozen bald eagles.

The next day we started the long road south along the sole paved road.  It was a good road too, with an acceptable shoulder and gentle grades.  We have begun to see other touring cyclists too!  One in particular, Joe, was a blast to chat with.  Great to meet you Joe, and happy riding on your trip North.

It is always fun to chat with other touring cyclists. This one is heading to the far North.

Gathering washing water at another wild camp.

The weather has been fantastic, sun and pleasant temperatures.  We have shifted our riding times forward – waking up progressively earlier each morning to ride while traffic is calmer.  Surprisingly, we have managed to camp in lovely places for free each night.  Our favorite spot was at Robert’s Lake Picnic Area.  Technically, it is a day-use only area, but we were told by local residents and the visitors center that it would be no problem if a couple of cyclists spent the night there.  It was beautiful. We did laundry and dried it on the fishing dock, spending an afternoon lazing in the sun and dipping in the sparkling clear water.

Relaxing at Robert’s Lake

The island has a long logging history.

After two days riding in the more or less isolated northern part of the island, we were dumped unceremoniously into the bustle of modern towns.  Actually, it was quite nice to find all the services we needed in Campbell River, and to chat with the folks at the visitor’s center.  After refueling and getting food, we headed south along the extremely busy highway next to the sea.  The shoulder was good, and we were comfortable next to the mostly-polite traffic. The views were very good all along the beach, and we reached yet another milestone: the 50th parallel!  about 14 down, now just…  about 105 to go! Hee hee.

Woohoo! 50th parallel!

Creekside Camping – Daisy took a full dip here!

After Campbell river we tried to find a real campground to stay in, following small ‘camping’ signs to an organic farm that used to be a cyclist campground.  Now, the goats live where the camping used to be, but we were told about a creekside campsite down the road, and given a fresh bag of lettuce, kale and peas.  So lucky for us!

Yummy greens at our stealthy campsite.

The show: preparing dinner in our bug suits.

We also came upon a chainsaw carving competition display. Crazy!

Finally, we rode over the “hump’ from the east side of the island to the west.  The road was crazy, insanely busy, and we were scared when the shoulder  briefly vanished.  Despite this, it was a beautiful ride through forest, past a large lake, and through an old-growth grove.  We met the local iron-working crew who insisted on a picture.  What a crew!  Daisy jumped in the lake to cool off.

We are now taking a side trip to fish with Daisy’s dad for a few days.  Believe it or not, we took a bus to Tofino (gasp!!).  We were warned the road was a bit horrendous for cyclists, and since it’s a sidetrip we decided it wouldn’t be cheating.  No busing north or south, but east and west side trips ok!  Sure enough, the view from the bus was terrifying enough.  The road was incredibly narrow, winding, and steep with heavy traffic.  Yikes!

Iron workers of Vancouver Island.

Jason next to the biggest tree in an old growth grove.

Daisy on the lake – right before she got all the way in!

We are now in a beautiful campground living the luxury life and getting out on the water soon.  Next update about our fishing!

Riding in the stunning valley.

The road from the base of the steep hill to the village of Bella Coola passes through absolutely stunning scenery that we believe rivals even Yosemite. There are sheer cliffs and mountains on either side of a swift river, with hanging glaciers towering above. The forest is lush because of the frequent rain, and there are healthy populations of salmon and bears. We were so in awe of the place that it took us all day to ride less than 40 miles downriver – we had to stop to take picture after picture.

Cabin with a view

Cows with a view

Calling for news about the ferry.

We stopped for lunch at an elementary school, and made a phone call to see if there was room on the ferry for both of us. There was! Celebration!

We also managed to locate a very well-hidden site of ancient petroglyphs. The collection of more than 100 rock-carvings is at the end of a trail that starts at the end of an unmarked dirt road, which in turn starts at the end of a minimally marked side road. Once there, we chanced upon a first nations man giving a tour to a German guy, and we happily joined up. It was a wonderful experience to hear the stories from the carvings, and also to hear songs from their culture. He showed us how the English alphabet has been adapted to write their language down, and even let us read along as he sang the words.

Ancient rock carvings

After leaving the petroglyph site we finally made it into Bella Coola proper. We arrived at 5:45 to learn that the grocery store closed at 5:30. No! It was ok though, because we had only wanted to buy muffins for the morning. We did locate the campground in town, which was a blast. It was just a field behind a motel with a few picnic tables and another pair of hilarious touring cyclists. The ‘showerhouse’ was actually a mostly-abandoned house with a funky bathroom and kitchen that all were free to use. We got set up, showered, chatted with the cyclists who are travelling in southwest British Columbia for a little more than a week, and finally went to sleep prepared for an early start to catch the ferry.

dawn light as we ride to the ferry dock.

loading up the little ferry.

It truly was an early start for us – the alarm went off at 4:30 and we awoke to pouring rain again. It didn’t take too long to pack up our soggy gear, eat a breakfast of oatmeal, and ride to the ferry dock. We were there at 6:00 as they told us to be, just so that we could hurry up and wait for boarding at 7:00. The ferry was small, with room for a maximum of about 13 cars. On this particular trip, however, there was a coach bus full of seniors on a travelling tour. It made for crowded seating on the boat, but hours of entertainment. They loved to talk! We talked about our trip, about Canadian government, about all sorts of things. It was a riot.

Jason on the tiny ferry.

Tiny, mostly abandoned town.

Rock meets water.

The tiny ferry carried us through deep fjords and we stopped in three small ports. At the first stop all the cars and bicycles were required to get off the ferry, turn around, and get back on. At the second stop, the bus and all the bicycles had to get off and on again to make room for an oncoming pick-up, and at the third stop everyone disembarked to change ferries. Holy cow! The second ferry was giant, and fast. It had multiple restaurants, state rooms, a bar, etc. We ate surprisingly good burgers with our new cyclist friends and also a pair of guys that had just completed an eight-day kayak trip.

Unboarding and reboarding…

After a nap on board, we finally arrived in Port Hardy at 11:00 pm. It was a 6-mile ride in the darkness from the ferry to our hostel, but we were very visible. As someone who passed us said, ‘it was like a lightshow’. Ha! To our surprise, we were upgraded from hostel bunks to a bed and breakfast in the hostel owners home. We had our own room, a big, soft bed, and a shower. What a treat!

Now, we are in the little town of Port Hardy at the northern end of Vancouver island. There seems to be so much to see and do on this long island, and we are looking forward to exploring a bit. We found a place to buy Maple Smoked Salmon, and already devoured half a pound of it. We plan to buy more this afternoon…

Bulls on a ranch

Wow, what an eventful week we have had. We are finally far enough south that we need our headlamps at night! Last time we wrote we were just outside of Prince George, and we had decided to push on with some long days to make the ferry on the 6^th in Bella Coola. We made it! To see a map of where we’ve been, click on the Where are we Now? tab above.  Here is a recap of our journey this week. Because so much happened, I am splitting this into 2 somewhat lopsided posts!

We’ve been riding by many farms and ranches.

The buffet is open in camp!

From Prince George, we headed south for two days along the busy Cariboo Highway. It really felt like we were just putting in the miles to get to nicer roads, since this one was full of traffic and through pleasant but uninspiring scenery. We stayed for one night in an RV park with a list of rules that took up most of a page, and another night in the camping portion of the local stampeded grounds.

Upon learning the ferry was full.

On July 1, we called the ferry to make sure there was going to be room for two walk-ons. They said no! Apparently there was only room for one more, so we reserved that space and got first in line on the waitlist. We decided to gamble, and make a go for the ferry hoping that someone would make a cancellation.

After finishing our ride south along the Cariboo, we turned sharply to ride west for four days. The scenery was to chance dramatically, and the traffic to be greatly reduced. We left the town of Williams Lake the morning on July 2, and quickly descended into ranchland alongside the Fraser River. This mighty river is a major Canadian landmark, and carves a deep canyon through the surrounding land. Deep canyon = steep climb out!

Climbing up and away from the Fraser

Scenic high country.

We climbed nearly 2000 ft. out of the canyon and emerged onto a high plateau of grassland, cows, and ranches. It was like a completely different world! We rode along the gently undulating plains, and met another pair of Spanish touring cyclists going the other direction. After weeks of cold and rain, it was sunny and hot hot hot. One day it reached 90 degrees!

We put on fresh brakes for the descent down a gravel pass.

Our first night out we stayed at Bull Canyon Provincial park, right next to a swiftly flowing river. It was a peaceful spot, and we slept well. The next few days would see us gradually climbing up up up to the coast mountains. The scenery seemed brand new – like we had emerged into the Canadian Wild West. There were cows next to and on the road, and horses too. They all seemed unphased by cars but terrified of cyclists.

Horses ahead.

The next two days were full of headwinds, and more gentle climbing. By the end of those days we were exhausted from fighting the wind all day. My parents finally returned our bags and went their own way on the fourth of July. It was sad to see them go – we have had so much fun with them, and certainly appreciated the light bicycles and delicious food every night. Thank you!!

Gently climbing up the pass.

We got out bags back just when the pavement ended and the climb to the top of Heckman Pass (5000′) began. To be honest, the climb was pretty easy. The road slowly gained elevation over more than 20 miles through uninterrupted forest and a belt of wildflowers along the road. Most notable during our climb was our encounter with Crazy Fox. Crazy Fox was trotting along next to the highway when we first saw him, carrying about 5 dead mice in his mouth. He barked at us as we approached, and seemed to have no fear of us at all. I whistled at him, which at least got him off the road, but he continued to trot forward with us for a few miles. After a hill, we thought we had finally lost him and stopped for a snack. Suddenly, there he was again, approaching Jason and looking for a handout! Jason scared him off, and we quickly moved away again. Crazy Fox! Apparently, he had also approached other travelers who we spoke to down the road.

Crazy Fox!

Summit! highest so far at 5000′

We finally reached the summit, and after the obligatory photo began riding the swift drop down to sea level. This is called the Freedom Highway, or Freedom Road, because the coast mountains are so forbidding the government refused to build the road for the locals. The locals, however, took matters into their own hands and bulldozed the road themselves. We saw the place where the bulldozers from both sides met. Now, the road is well-maintained but still a challenge. The grades range from 11% to 18% through steep switchbacks. We had to stop multiple times to allow our brakes to cool down, but we made it!

Where the bulldozers met when they made the road.

At the bottom we had planned to camp at a Provincial Campground, and we arrived around 9:00 to find it had been closed due to flooding. Yikes! We could have slept anywhere, but this was a pretty active bear area and Daisy freaked out and wanted to stay around other people. So, we pushed on about 10 more miles to the next campground, arriving exhausted just before dark. It didn’t seem like it would rain that night, but rain it did. It started in the night and continued until morning.

Stopping to let the brakes cool.

Next up – the ride into Bella Coola, and taking the 16-hour ferry ride to Vancouver Island.