Kayaking with the Whales...or Not

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Once on the road, all felt right. No more worrying about getting task X done, or Y crossed off. We were free, and ready to relax. Easier said than done. The first day was occupied with the long drive to Port Angeles, Washington, which was fairly pleasant with the exception of the traffic in Portland, though the views of Mounts Rainier and Hood made it more palatable. After a long, tiring drive (I really need to teach Sara to drive stick!), we rolled into Port Angeles around 8pm, just in time to eat at Bella Italia, the best restaurant in town and one we had visited 7 years earlier. The vegetarian lasagna was just as good as Sara had remembered, and my dish was quite tasty as well. The KOA lived up to expectations (they all seem the same), and provided a good night’s rest, in preparation for yet another day of travel.

We were up at the crack of dawn the next day, as the ferry to Victoria on Vancouver Island left at 8am, and we wanted to make sure we got a spot. Just for future reference, we had plenty of time, so 6am isn’t necessary. Neither is paying $10 more to make a reservation, the main reason we didn’t. Hey, we’re cheap. While waiting at the dock, we added four new species of birds, including two alcids, the penguins of the northern hemisphere. The boat ride was nice, but the weather forecast was proving correct. Just prior to leaving, the ten-day projection for Vancouver Island called for rain. Every single day. As we hit the shore, the sun did peak out for a minute, but the clouds rain would last for the rest of the day. And then some.

Victoria was a very nice city, and since our internal compass was off, we saw quite a bit of the downtown. The wonders of wireless internet got us back on track, and found the bookstore and outdoors store to pick up the last of our purchases. We made a few quick stops as we heading north, picking off a few more bird species, including the Northwestern Crow, which only lives on the coast near Vancouver Island. It looks just like a regular crow, but it’s different! Not too exciting, but it was our 300th bird species in North America. We stopped at a grocery store, mostly because I was tired, but we also need some fresh stuff for the first kayak trip. I fell asleep in the parking lot, but forgot to turn off the engine, which Sara was a little upset about (waste not, want not). The nap was refreshing, and we headed off to the empty north of the island. Two hours later, we reached Campbell River, our stop for the night. We found a simple campground, organized our gear for the next day, and went to bed.

The next day, we had an hour or two of driving to Telegraph Cove. This area is most well known for its high population of Orcas, or killer whales. Unfortunately, the guidebooks only go so far as to say the whales are there in “summer”. Unbeknownst to us, summer here begins in August, not June. We didn’t learn this until after the trip, and so far only 8 of the 200 or so had arrived. But we hit the water worried more about weather than wildlife. The winds were fairly strong and the tides was headed the opposite direction as us. Sara was questioned by one of the locals, wondering if we were headed out. She sheepishly replied in the affirmative, wondering if this was such a good idea. Well, it wasn’t, but at least we got to camp for free! The tide and winds made for slow going, and we took 2 ½ hours to go 2 miles, stopping at the first campsite we came upon.

Unfortunately, the campsite was already occupied. Now, depending upon whom you ask, this could be a good or a bad thing. Most people might not be so keen on camping with a bear, but it was fine with us. Our bear luck usually isn’t very good, so we were hoping it was an omen for the whales, which, of course, we wouldn’t see. Anyway, he was our companion on and off, but didn’t really bother us at all, and we even got some sun late in the day.

The next day, the winds died down, and the sun was out briefly. We saw lots of Bald Eagles and seals fishing, as well as the usually Johnstone Strait traffic, which includes tug boats with large loads, cargo ships, and cruise ships. Not the most friendly company, but they were infrequent enough that we were able to stay out of their way. The rain had returned, but no wind or waves made for pleasant paddling. If fact, later we seemed to notice a correlation between rain and calm water, so we preferred that combination to the windy, cloudy, and dry triumvirate. Our main goal for the day was to reach the Robson Bight Ecological Preserve, where the Orcas beach themselves to scrape barnacles off their underside. No Orcas, of course, but the beach looked nice from the mandatory 1 km watching distance.

We paddled across the water, going in front of a tug boat that had been chasing us unsuccessfully, all day, with two football fields worth of logs floating behind it. In fact, logging is everywhere here. There isn’t a hillside around that has a full set of trees, and they don’t seem to try and hide it much, logging right up to the main roads. I’m not sure how long they can keep it up. Hopefully someone puts thought to those questions.

Anyway, while we were crossing the rain died and the winds took it’s place, making for a longer than expected paddle. Once there, we saw that our first choice campsite was occupied. And our second. When we got around to the third, the campsite didn’t seem to exist, but some careful sleuthing uncovered a spot large enough for a tent. I think if these campsites go unused for a week, the forest takes them back. The best part was that we were set back from the ocean, and the kelp and seaweed smell that goes with them. No bears and few mosquitoes around to bother us, but a few interesting birds, including one of our last ducks, the Harlequin. After 8 miles of paddling, we slept well.

The next day had worried us. Tidal currents create one of the most difficult parts of paddling the protected side of Vancouver Island, especially at the far southern end and the far northern end, where all the water from the other channels must drain. Being toward the far north, even the main channels can reach 4 or 5 miles per hour, which is faster than we can paddle, while constricted channels might reach 15 or 20 miles per hour, which is dangerous. The key is to go when the tide turns, and the water is slack. The Blackney Passage has the added challenge of provide the deep water channel for the largest of the boats. We woke early to catch favorable currents and hopefully limited boat traffic. We were successful on both accounts, and navigated the main channel with no problems, reaching our campsite a little after noon, and set up camp to take a nap and catch up on lost sleep. The plan was to negotiate one of the more dangerous sections in the afternoon during slack tide. Since the currents were so strong in this region, the Plumper Islands, there were supposedly quite a few breeding birds there as the currents discourage predators. We took a two hour tour of the islands and saw a few birds, but mostly just beautiful islands. It was a good, and hard, day’s work.

Since we were almost back to where we started, we only had about four miles to paddle in the morning, but we had to time our paddle with the currents. We got antsy waiting, and decided to see what the currents were like an hour before slack tide. While we had no trouble fighting through them, there were little whirlpools and eddies that would have caused problems if the current were faster. The paddling went a bit slower than we hoped, but finally we pulled into dock a little before lunch. We packed up and, Orcas or not, declared it a successful trip, even with less than three hours of sun.

Driving back to Campbell River, we noticed a little sun poking through. When we got back to town, the local sporting goods store had the weather forecast up, and the later two days were nothing but sun. With any luck, we just have to make it two more days. Let’s hope!

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