Sunday was another very low wind day so I went kayaking again. Low winds make all the difference in the world for sea kayaking…high winds make all can turn a paddle into an exhausting slog, and it’s tough to take photos when you’re battling the wind. With low winds you can paddle at a leisurely pace, take more breaks and it’s way easier to grab photos of wildlife when you’re not bobbing up and down. So I paddled out to the southern end of Read Island, via Breton Island and the Hoskin Islets. The southern part of Read ISland is a Provinvial Park (no facilities). I’ve never made it over to this part of Read before..a low wind day is key as there’s several open water sections getting there and a 4 mile open exposed section getting back to Quadra. It was a dream today.
Sunrise from our place
Caspian tern
Hill island, between Read and Cortes Islands. Privately owned by Discovery Lodge. You can rent the whole island from them.
Salmon berries picked right at our place.
Monday was the last low wind day for a while so one more time kayaking. That’s three days in a row for those keeping score. 10 miles RT, around Herriot island, around Hyancinthe Bay, seal island, all of Open Bay with a great pull out on the sand beach at the back end of Open Bay, through the Bretons and back to Rebecca Spit.
Bat Star
Green Sea Urchins
Abalone
Blood star
I heard these goats along the shore since they had bells on their collars. The photo doesn’t show it but this was a very steep rocky and pretty inaccessible location. They must be as sure footed as wild mountain goats. Plumose anemones
The wind arrived on Tuesday and it’s supposed to stay windy for a while so I’ll be off of the water for awhile. Did a 8.5 mile RT hike…Newton Lake, Small Inlet, Wiatt Bay. It’s 2.25 miles and about 300 feet of elevation gain to Newton Lake, then another 1.5 miles or so to Small Inlet, but 500 feet elevation drop (and most of that is in a 0.5 mile stretch), and a final 0.5 miles to Wiatt Bay. Biker/sailor Dave was walking his dog at Wiatt Bay, and I had a long chat with him..he was 71, has lived on Quadra for 16 years, but lived on Read Island for a while and originally grew up in Quebec. He marveled that I was hiking the 8.5 miles….he looked a fair bit older than me, but I suspect some hard living may have played in to it (he said he had been to Sturgis 6 times). He didn’t say he was a biker but the white pony tail and white braided beard and the 6 trips to Sturgis, shouted Harley guy. He wasn’t a fan of Trump though so good on him.
First, two shots from Monday evening.
Three swimmers taking advantage of the calm evening.
A small part of the spectacular view from our place on Quadra.
Dawn at this time of year is ridiculously early, but up here in the summer I tend to rise extra early so a few sunrise photos, plus the whales are back!!
Hike into Newton Lake.
A small lake before Newton Lake
Hike to Small Inlet and Small Inlet
Very low tide
Wiatt Bay and hike back
Another windy day and I’m a bit tired after the last four days of fairly strenuous outings (but fun), so I mostly hung out at our place, doing our standard 4 miles walk/hike, Some tail splashing by whales down the coast in the evening (got one crappy photo) as a bonus for the day.
Donna arrived on Thursday, her already very long layover in Vancouver was even longer by an hour as her flight to Comox was delayed (over 7 hours total in Vancouver airport). Cleaning and laundry were my morning agenda, and just as I was leaving in the early afternoon there was a double eagle on the rock. Saw a great t-shirt in the Wal-Mart in Campbell River…made another run to Costco and Thrifty in Comox, and we made it back to the island around 9:20. Donna made another great friend on her puddle jumper flight to Comox - a Dutch couple sho emigrated to Canada 16 years ago, after visiting the area and falling in love with it. They live in Cumberland (one of the three towns that make up the Comox Valley), the “mountain” town, probably the most affordable of the three towns. They were returning from a months long trip to Morraco and other locales in that area.
Hung out at our place, local walk and berry picking in morning. We had a great whale experience this evening, just as we were about to sit down to dinner a humpback was slapping its tail right out in front of us. I got two videos and some photos. I’ve witnessed this several times, but never so close.
Photo Donna took from plane flying from Vancouver to Comox
Photo Donna took from plane flying from Vancouver to Comox
On Saturday, I did our routine loop walk through the woods and along the ocean. Then, Donna went to the Saturday market, and I rode my bike there about a half hour later, Donna did that same walk in the afternoon and I road my bike to the HAskins farm trail. Burgers for dinner.
I heard these goats along the shore since they had bells on their collars. The photo doesn’t show it but this was a very steep rocky and pretty inaccessible location. They must be as sure footed as wild mountain goats.
Comments
Post a Comment