San Josef Bay (August 2012)

This is a catch-up post.

After an unsuccessful attempt to head to the Brooks Peninsula in our loaded hatchback, we had to look for an alternate destination on the coast that would be more accessible in our cars.  With our two other friends, we quickly found Plan B: San Josef Bay.

To get to San Josef Bay one drives about 60 km on a logging road that takes you through the small town of Holberg.  It's the same route to the trailhead to Cape Scott Park.  The launch spot and place where we parked our vehicle was the private campground/Heritage Park owned by a friendly man named "Doug." The way to get out to San Josef Bay from here was via the San Josef River.  It was a 10-minute paddle and we had to make sure that it was high tide so that there would be water and we also didn't want to fight any currents. Check out Wild Coast for details.

We decided on a beach that was at one of the ends of the Cape Scott trail.  It was nice but there were still quite a number of people walking about.  We weren't completely isolated.

We decided to pack up and paddle out the following day to find another place to stay.  Surely, there would be other beaches reachable only by boat.  We went past Hanna Point and were on our way to one of the squatter's cabins that we'd heard about.  The swells as we rounded the corner kept getting bigger even when we paddled away from the headland.  Hmmm...should we turn back or keep going? It was at that point that we were greeted by the loud barking of a gang of seal lions.  They aren't shy creatures at all and were actually getting closer as they barked at us.  "Where do you think you're going?!" I thought I heard one of them say.  It was also when I heard Caro yell out "Paddle!"  The sea lions decided that the four of us weren't to go any further in the direction that we were thinking of.  We instead paddled back and after avoiding a beach where there was a black bear foraging on the seaweed at the shore, we found a neighbouring pebble pocket beach that was to be home for the next 3 nights.

There were sea stacks here and the rocks were ruddy (red).  My fishing expedition the following day resulted in 1 rock fish landed...it was called dinner. Caro cleaned up the beach that had a lot of flotsam that looked like it was mostly from Asia somewhere.  This resulted in the genesis of "Agent Orange," a raft on which we carried 3 black bags of beach garbage back to our cars.

The paddle back to our launch spot was interesting.  It looked like we had to surf into the river; it seemed wilder than it looked but we all made it without a "yard sale" taking place.

Brooks, Cape Flattery, etc.

LURKS IN 2009

Since we're missing a post for 2009, here's a recap of what some LURKS were up that year.

BROOKS PENINSULA (August 2009)

At short notice, 4 of us managed to organize a one-week trip to the north end of the Brooks Peninsula in August of 2009. With 3 Ellesmeres and 1 Caribou, we travelled along the rocky logging road from Port Alice to Side Bay without any incidents (i.e. no flat tires from the big sharp rocks that line the road). We were lucky once again to have a flat water crossing to Heater Point; we launched after 6 p.m.

The following day, we paddled towards Amos Creek aka "Tahiti" for a lunch stop and shelter from the rain. The large swells made a couple of us feel seasick after leaving Heater Pt. From here, our planned camp stop was only 3 miles away. The strong wind and the rain made it a challenge to set up our tents and kitchen tarp, but manage we did, and by 7 at night, we were out of our wet gear and cooking.

Base camp was a beach around Crabapple Islets = PARADISE!!!  We had a long stretch of sand on either side of our camp. There was a waterfall on one end of the beach, about 500m away from our camp. A source of fresh water during what could be a long trip is not to be taken for granted. It not only means drinking water, but a chance to have a shower. The forest behind the beach provided great scenery as well. On the southwest side of our camp was also another long sandy beach--a series of beaches, really.

With 5 days planned for this part of our trip, there was lots of exploring to be had. Our first day at base camp was spent organizing and exploring on foot. After a morning of meandering towards the waterfall to fetch a supply of water, we spent the afternoon walking in the other direction, i.e. southwestern beach where we found a trailhead. The trail took us about 100 feet above the shore. It was boggy. It was marked with flotsam by other kayakers--no doubt--and lead to another beach facing Guillaume Island.

On the second day, we paddled our kayaks through the inlet and shallow stream, getting in about a kilometre or so into fresh water.The creek ends where the forest begins. We found a few Humboldt squids washed up along the 2 beaches on either side of us.  The largest was about 24" long.  Craig found another that seemed to be hissing.

On Day 3, with clear skies and great marine weather, we decided to paddle towards Cape Cook.  If the weather would allow once at Cape Cook, we would then go around Solander.  This wasn't going to be the day as the afternoon winds picked up and reports of bad weather coming our way.  We had an average of 2 metre swells on our paddle back to camp, and we went at quite a speed, too!  Soon after getting back, the winds picked up!

We decided to leave our base camp early for Heater on Day 4, mostly to avoid the winds. High winds made the paddle back across Klaskish Inlet a bit tougher but we made it across.  We stayed at Heater Point once again and then paddled back to Side Bay the following day.

With 5 days, you can launch from Side Bay and head to Heater Point. Make Heater Point an overnight stop if you're not feeling too ambitious or are in no hurry to make it to the Peninsula. From Heater, you can stop at what we call "Tahiti" and then proceed towards the shore where you can find a long stretch of sandy beaches on which to set up camp.

This was a perfect getaway.  The Brooks never disappoints!

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CAPE FLATTERY (Easter 2009)

The LURKS scheduled several trips in 2009. This is Easter weekend at Neah Bay in Washington. There were 6 of us (Bern, Bob, Craig, Dominique, Richard and Steve). It was gray wet weather that didn't inspire weekend travel to these parts because few paddlers and holiday folk were to be seen. We had this beautiful beach to ourselves. Very nice!

Paddled south towards Shi-Shi beach. Along the way, we had a close look at the caves and rock cliffs. An hour into our paddle, the wind started to pick up. Since we were still quite a few miles from Shi Shi, we decided we would turn back after lunching at a nearby pebble beach. To get into this lunch spot, we entered a calm bay surrounded by monolithic rocks. (The calm bay was quite white with frothy water the following day--a full day of rain and high winds towards the shore.) Paddling back, the swells were a good 3 feet larger than they were a couple of hours before. Surf in, boys and girl!


A lot of surfing in sea boats went on during the weekend, including a maiden surf for Richard's skin boats!

Heading to this Peninsula took a total of 5 hours from Vancouver, excluding the 2-hour wait at the border crossing. There was also a 1-hour wait at the ferry terminal heading to Port Townsend. No matter, however, as the drive along the scenic coastal highway was quite a bonus.

Summer 2008

Though not much has been posted here for a while, the LURKS are still around.
There's been a trip to Skookumchuk, and a trip is planned for Cape Flattery.

A few clusters have been paddling together this spring and summer from the Jericho sailing club. A few of us have also dabbled with whitewater paddling.

Stay tuned for an update!

Lurking Quietly this 2008

These have been the quietest few months for the LURKS; at least for us it has been: we haven't paddled since October of 2007, i.e. after our Greenland rolling session with Dubside!

Our paddles have got to touch the water soon. And when they do, there'll be more to write about.