July 6, 2019 – Today’s part of the journey along the coast would have included the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve. The navigational chart provided by the Canadian Fisheries and Oceans organization specifically states that all vessels, whether human or otherwise-powered are to stay clear of the outer boundaries of the reserve so that the pod of Orcas that lives there can be free to do what it is they do without any human interference.
I took this pretty seriously and decided it was going to be a day of seeing a bit of the interior of Vancouver Island. So Uncle and I packed everything up into the Saab, strapped BABS on the kayak rack, and explored the inland area between Telegraph Cove and Naka Creek which is about a 23-mile distance I would have paddled had I decided to disregard directions. We visited Nimpkish Lake, a stunning and huge alpine lake, and the town of Woss including the Woss River. I learned about the railroad-based logging history of the north part of the island. It helped to explain all the little towns that exist today, like Alert Bay which is on a small island across from just south of Port McNeill called Cormorant Island, which all started as logging worker towns/communities. Kind of like back home.
We took a long set of logging roads, which thankfully are not used by logging trucks on Saturdays and Sundays, out to the beach where Naka Creek meets the sea and there is a sweet little rugged campground with one shaded spot left just for us. Also a nice and easy cobble beach from which to launch in the morning. I made us a supper of chili and salad, Uncle made us a fire and some more s’mores, and I as asleep by 10.
