Late depar
ture from Victoria meant that we were still a ways away from our intended destination (campsite at Jordan River) when the tiredness hit. So we stopped sooner, at the Sunny Shores Campground near Sooke, where the list of rules was extensive and draconian, and the woman in the office looked commensurately sour. Apparently she was actually entirely personable, but I decided not to like her based on that initial view from the van in through the office window*.
ture from Victoria meant that we were still a ways away from our intended destination (campsite at Jordan River) when the tiredness hit. So we stopped sooner, at the Sunny Shores Campground near Sooke, where the list of rules was extensive and draconian, and the woman in the office looked commensurately sour. Apparently she was actually entirely personable, but I decided not to like her based on that initial view from the van in through the office window*.We rode next morning at Broom Hill. I'm guessing it takes its name from the extensive coverage of what I once thought was a South Island variant of kowhai**. The place was a mass of flowers, with blue and white wildflowers and the bright yellow broom blooms. We were heartene
d by being able to ride more of the trails than was the case in North Vancouver, and we didn`t get lost in the first 90 minutes. Then I took over navigating. Eventually, I rounded a corner, clipped the stump end of a branch on a fallen tree, and fell off into a broom bush. Exactly the same way I did it the first time we rode the trail, 2 hours earlier. Not how I'd planned to fix our position, but effective. We spied a lizard sunning itself on a rock near the summit, and a wonderfully-camouflaged bird resting on a disused wooden trestle (we only penetrated its disguise because we were stopped there for so long trying to figure out where the heck we were).
Quick stop back at Sunny Shores (Nene showered while I broke camp) and we were off! Passed Jordan River, and although it looked pleasant enough, we were pleased we'd not pushed on the night before. Hit our first less-than-excellent road surface en route to Port Renfrew (which we bypassed) then hooked inland to our first semi-official camping spot, as outlined by our 'Camp Free in BC' handbook;
Lizard Lake. Hard to tell how deep the lake actually was, as it was incredibly clear - the axolotl (salamander, for folks from El Norte) we saw swam straight down for a LONG time before it disappeared from view. People were fishing from jetty and canoes. We walked around the lake, saw our first chipmunk, were investigated by an inquisitive jay, 
and generally had a fantastic time. The couple who were there when we arrived were nice, as were the family and other couple who arrived later. The group of three half-pissed guys in the souped-up Chrysler 300 weren`t quite so appealing, but they must've recognised how completely boring everyone else there was, as they moved on pretty quickly.
Next morning we were away early. Camp-making and -breaking routines starting to bed in, efficiency improving. We stopped at The Harris Spruc
e, which was a big tree, then Janine drove us to Mesachie Lake (very pretty) and on to Skutz Falls (via a long and circuitous route, thanks to some awesome navigating from the co-pilot). Someone in the area is VERY keen to recover their three-legged dog, judging from the number of `Lost Dog` posters we saw. And the $1000 reward.
Either Skutz Falls should be called Skutz Minor Rapids, or we never actually found the place. Lunch was good though, despite someone (me) losing half the ingredients on the way from the van to the river. Saw our first snake and a bunch of kayakers, one of whom was wearing a face-guard which looked like Hannibal Lecter's muzzle. There were walkers with puppies, and once again we saw fisherpeople, including a young chap who, in order to not scare the fish away, removed his shining white t-shirt. Unfortunately for him, under his shining white t-shirt was a bunch of shining white skin. I don`t think the fish cared, though, as from our vantage point above him we could see them chasing his lure. Thought about telling him to wind in slower so they could catch it. Decided not to.
On our way back to the van we found our food. Hoorah!
* = Laziness + not wearing pants = Janine on 'dealing with humans' duty
** = I dragged a piece of the stuff with me for 4 hours before presenting it to Janine when I proposed to her, about 10 minutes before we reached a huge field full of it. She then told me was called broom, and was very common, but that it had been a truly lovely thought.
d by being able to ride more of the trails than was the case in North Vancouver, and we didn`t get lost in the first 90 minutes. Then I took over navigating. Eventually, I rounded a corner, clipped the stump end of a branch on a fallen tree, and fell off into a broom bush. Exactly the same way I did it the first time we rode the trail, 2 hours earlier. Not how I'd planned to fix our position, but effective. We spied a lizard sunning itself on a rock near the summit, and a wonderfully-camouflaged bird resting on a disused wooden trestle (we only penetrated its disguise because we were stopped there for so long trying to figure out where the heck we were).Quick stop back at Sunny Shores (Nene showered while I broke camp) and we were off! Passed Jordan River, and although it looked pleasant enough, we were pleased we'd not pushed on the night before. Hit our first less-than-excellent road surface en route to Port Renfrew (which we bypassed) then hooked inland to our first semi-official camping spot, as outlined by our 'Camp Free in BC' handbook;
Lizard Lake. Hard to tell how deep the lake actually was, as it was incredibly clear - the axolotl (salamander, for folks from El Norte) we saw swam straight down for a LONG time before it disappeared from view. People were fishing from jetty and canoes. We walked around the lake, saw our first chipmunk, were investigated by an inquisitive jay, 
and generally had a fantastic time. The couple who were there when we arrived were nice, as were the family and other couple who arrived later. The group of three half-pissed guys in the souped-up Chrysler 300 weren`t quite so appealing, but they must've recognised how completely boring everyone else there was, as they moved on pretty quickly.
Next morning we were away early. Camp-making and -breaking routines starting to bed in, efficiency improving. We stopped at The Harris Spruc
e, which was a big tree, then Janine drove us to Mesachie Lake (very pretty) and on to Skutz Falls (via a long and circuitous route, thanks to some awesome navigating from the co-pilot). Someone in the area is VERY keen to recover their three-legged dog, judging from the number of `Lost Dog` posters we saw. And the $1000 reward.Either Skutz Falls should be called Skutz Minor Rapids, or we never actually found the place. Lunch was good though, despite someone (me) losing half the ingredients on the way from the van to the river. Saw our first snake and a bunch of kayakers, one of whom was wearing a face-guard which looked like Hannibal Lecter's muzzle. There were walkers with puppies, and once again we saw fisherpeople, including a young chap who, in order to not scare the fish away, removed his shining white t-shirt. Unfortunately for him, under his shining white t-shirt was a bunch of shining white skin. I don`t think the fish cared, though, as from our vantage point above him we could see them chasing his lure. Thought about telling him to wind in slower so they could catch it. Decided not to.
On our way back to the van we found our food. Hoorah!
* = Laziness + not wearing pants = Janine on 'dealing with humans' duty
** = I dragged a piece of the stuff with me for 4 hours before presenting it to Janine when I proposed to her, about 10 minutes before we reached a huge field full of it. She then told me was called broom, and was very common, but that it had been a truly lovely thought.
Must be time you got a GPS or map or sometning!
ReplyDeleteAnd now I am learning how to opertate this comment thing!