Vancouver Island Trip - Day 7

On Thursday October 24th we didn't have to rush to the Gulf Island Ferry as we had done the previous couple of days.  Brad, Rob and I decided to head back down island to the Parksville area, and not cross to the Gulf Islands on this day.  The forecast was calling for a cooler, breezier day with overcast skies.  So we headed back over to Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park near Parksville.  This day it was a whole lot nicer then it had been a couple of days prior when it was pouring rain.

I wandered around out on the tidal flats with my camera for a while.  And Rob and Brad wandered off on their own for a bit.  I did a couple of detail shots down on the beach, and also found a tidal pool that was full of thousands of sand dollars.

Later I wandered over to where Rob and Brad were.  They had gone around the point from the bay and were exploring the rocky beach in this area.  Rob was working on a bunch of abstract detail shots of the forms in some of the driftwood logs up a the high water line.  I wandered into the edge of the forest and attempted a couple of shots of a the Douglas Fir trunks, and a solitary maple.

Once we finished up here we made our way back to the parking area.  Like last time the meadow at the edge of the trees was full of the little black rabbits that we saw last time.  They have the grass grazed down like a golf green.

Later we headed inland on the Port Alberni road and turned off to Englishman River Falls Provincial Park.  This time I didn't bother to do the entire loop trail, but focused my attention and my camera on the upper falls.  I bushwhacked my way down to small plunge pool at the edge of the waterfall.  I tried some long exposures, hoping to record the swirling eddy.

It was a great day of shooting and I think I came away with a couple of decent images.  Once we wrapped up we drove the hour back up island to Countenay and retreated back to the rental house for the evening.

Vancouver Island Trip - Day 6

On Wednesday October 23rd we repeated the drill of the day before.  Brad, Rob and I were up at 6:30AM, had a quick breakfast, packed our gear, and hit the road by 7:45AM.  Once again we headed over to Buckley Bay to catch the ferry out to the Gulf Islands.  This time around we only took the first ferry across to Denman Island.  

The tide was getting a little later every morning.  At the beginning of our trip the low tide was in the early morning hours, well before daylight.  Now, a few days later, low tide was occurring somewhat after sunrise.  

We drove up to the northern tip of Denman Island where the road ended.  From here it was a short walk through the trees to the top of the bluff above Morning Beach.  The girls and I were here a few years ago and really liked the area.  There is a steep staircase down the bluff to the beach below, and when we arrived the tide was out.  We made our way along the beach up to the spit at the northern tip of the island.  At low tide you can actually walk across the flats out to a spot called Tree Island, in Sandy Island Marine Provincial Park.  Not sure how long the tide would stay out, we did not venture across to the island.  After hiking and photographing on the beach for a while, we made our way back to the staircase.  By the time we got there the tide was well on its way up again.  The stairs were rather steep and narrow and climbing them with my heavy camera pack on my back was no small feat.  The burning in my thighs reminded me that I'm getting too old for this.

We got back to the truck and headed down to the south end of the Island.  We parked at the other end of the road, this time in Boyle Point Provincial Park.  From here there was a short hike through the trees over to Eagle Point.  Here there was no staircase and it was a bit of a scramble down to the beach below.  I understand that the locals call this Betty's Beach.  It is scattered with large eroded boulders, black in color, that have tumbled down into the water and become rounded and worn.  The tide was pretty high by this point and the shooting was a little limited.  

Once we finished up here we scrambled back up to the cliff top and once again my thighs reminded me of the weight that I was packing around.  My phone recorded my steps and indicated that I walked the equivalent of 8.6km on this day, and climbed the equivalent of 16 flights.  It would take a few days for the soreness in my legs to ease off...

After we got back to the truck we took the ferry back across to the main Island and headed back up to Courtenay and our rental house.  After the evening meal we repeated the usual routine... more visiting, beer and guitar playing.

Vancouver Island Trip - Day 5

On Tuesday October 22nd there was a drastic improvement in the weather.  The guys and I were up early... at about 6:30AM.  We had a quick breakfast, loaded our gear, and hit the road by about 7:45AM.  It was a short drive down the old Island Highway to Buckley Bay.  Here we would catch the ferry.  The round trip cost up about a hundred bucks return.  This actually included two ferries... first a cable ferry across to Denman Island.  Then we had to drive across Denman Island and down to the south end to catch a second ferry at Gravelly Bay.  This one was not a cable ferry and traveled across to Shingle Spit on Hornby Island.  The whole process consumed nearly two hours and we would have to repeat the process at the end of the day to get back to Vancouver Island.  The Gulf Islands and the West Coast in general are beautiful, and a wonderful place to visit as a tourist.  But to leave here would be challenging.  Not only are the gloomy, overcast conditions of winter rather depressing, but to be married to the crazy ferry schedules, and saddled with the costs, would drive me insane.

After we left Shingle Spit we crossed Hornby Island and then headed over to Ford Cove.  Here there was a small marina, and a beach with some really interested weathered sandstone.  We photographed here for a while.  Later we stopped and wandered around a bit in an open meadow with some Garry Oaks and an old cedar split rail fence.

By early afternoon we made our way down to the south end of Hornby Island and went for a hike at Helliwell Provincial Park.  There are some open grassy meadows with a scattering of more Garry Oaks and a few Arbutus trees.  These are along some open bluffs exposed to the ocean.  Further inland the forest recedes into the more typical fir, hemlock, cedar and maples so common everywhere else.  We walked for about 4 or 5km on a loop trail around the park and stopped to make a couple of photographs.  By mid-afternoon the light was beginning to fade.  We had to constantly keep in mind the ferry schedule and make sure that we could be on time to make the connections to get back to Vancouver Island.  At this point in the off-season, and being the middle of the week, I think the last ferry of the day was around 6:00PM.

It was early evening by the time we got back to the house and followed what had become our usual routine.    ...Check e-mail messages from work, put something together for supper, relax and have a few beers, and then dig out the guitars.  It was certainly nice to not have any rain on this day as it made things a lot more pleasant and productive than the previous two.

Vancouver Island Trip - Day 4

The weather out on Vancouver Island on Monday October 21st. got worse.  They rain was coming down heavier and harder than it had the day before, and it was rather windy.  We decided to head out scouting around, and hoped that the weather might break later in the day.  It never did, so this ended up just a scouting trip and the big camera never made it out of the truck.  I took a bunch of snapshots with my phone, and we got some ideas where we might shoot if the weather improved. 

Our first stop was at Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park near Parksville.  The tide was fairly high by the time we arrived.  It was windy, cold and raining and there was not much opportunity to shoot.  There were a bunch of little black rabbits running around all over the grassy areas adjacent to the beach.  Not sure if these were wild... or just a bunch of feral ones that had taken up residence.  They were sorta cute so I took a couple snapshots to send home to my rabbit loving daughters.   The areas in the fir trees near the beach were quite visually interesting and we made plans to return in better conditions.

After we had wandered around at Rathtrevor for a bit we moved inland to Englishman River Falls Provincial Park.  Here there was yet more west coast rain forest.  The Englishman River dropped over a rocky ledge into a cleft and made for a rather picturesque cascade.  It remained a little too wet to consider dragging out the big camera but we wandered around for a couple hours and took a few snapsots.  Once we finished here we hit the highway back north to the rental house.

After dinner we repeated what would become our usual drill.... visit, have a few drinks, and play guitar.  Brad is into Bluegrass music and he was patient enough to try and teach me a few things.  It was slow going but by the end of the trip I had picked up a song called Salt Creek.