South Pender Island

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Geo: 48.7496, -123.219

It poured down rain last night, so our swimsuits, towels and everything else we had hung outside on the boat to dry are sopping wet. I feel like I must be growing moss...

During breakfast Jeff mentioned that he was actually getting used to sleeping in an MRI machine. LOL. After a breakfast of scrambled eggs and peppers, toast and juice, courtesy of John, the four of us (sans Al) decide to hike to the top of Mount Norman here on South Pender Island. According to Al, we just walk up the hill past the cafe we were in last night and turn left to the trail. The hike should take about an hour and a half.

After we gather backpacks, water bottles, snacks and put on our life jackets the five of us climb into the dinghy. It becomes immediately clear that we should have BAILED the dinghy before getting in. My hiking boots are wet, as are my socks. Jeff has his feet up on the side of the inflatable to keep his sneakers dry while he tries not to tip backwards into the water. John and Janet's feet are wet - Al climbs out, and returns with a kitchen pot to use to bail out the water. This takes a little while with a pot and a large sponge. I am using the sponge so now my pants are wet too.

Eventually we get to the dock. I insist on stopping in the hotel for directions and, hopefully, an island or trail map. Excellent! They have one! (Al is going hiking but taking a different route.) I tell the woman at the front desk that we want to hike up Mt. Norman. "Oh, that trailhead's on the other side of the island. Do you have a car?"
ACK!! Janet and I conspire...we could wait until Al is out of sight on his hike and take another hot shower and hang out in the cafe drinking and using the free wi-fi all afternoon. Jeff points out that not only do we not have towels, if we did, they would be dripping wet from last night's rain. Alas!
We rally ourselves...the solar orb has finally made an appearance and it is with joy that I put on my sunglasses for the first time this week! John, Janet, Jeff and I, being fit, though perhaps not really of sound mind, decide to walk to the trailhead. We have a map, the roads have street signs...we set off. It was a long way. But along the way there were blackberries to munch and we came upon a little "honor" vegetable stand. Super cute! And we loved the fact that people would buy the vegies and leave money in the little box.

We found the trail and started up it. At first it was very steep but soon levelled out into a long flat logging road. Then the trail would veer away from the road, then back to the road, away, return... John had gotten quite a bit ahead of us and was drawing arrows on the ground at these crossings to show which way he had gone. Eventually we caught up to him at a "Y" where the trail went down and the road continued up. Since the trail and road had so consistently criss-crossed one another, he wasn't willing to walk DOWN on the trail just to walk back UP the trail. He figured that the two would meet again further up. There was no dissuading him (my brother and I are both stubborn!) Janet said she would hike with John so the four of us split into 2 parties and separated. Jeff and I hiked down, and yes, then hiked back up, up, up, up. Steep but very pretty. The road never crossed the trail again.

When we got to the top of Mount Norman (about 900 feet!), we were hot and sweaty. Off came our top two layers. There was a beautiful view and a free telescopy thing to look through.

Being worried about John and Janet, I got out my phone to see if I could get a cell signal. I walked all around with my phone high in the air and suddenly caught a signal. I texted Janet, who responded immediately that the road had petered out about 50 feet after we separated and she and John were not far behind us. Soon we were reunited on the mountain top.

The hike down was a little steep/tricky in several places, but some well placed trees and tree limbs served as "Ack! Grab hold of something" points. I fell on my butt (actually onto my water bottle) once and about 2 minutes later Jeff went down. No harm done. It was a long, windy, slippery hike down. FINALLY, we arrived at a small beach which is where we had arranged for Al to bring the dinghy to pick us up. Whew. This was a pretty little area. Janet hung up the phone, announced that we needed to be 1/4 mile down the beach, we collectively groaned and slowly lumbered along. Al called back to say he would pick us up where we were but we were already on the move.

Instead of the 1-1/2 hour hike, we had spent over 5 HOURS hiking! Because our shoes and socks were wet at the start, Janet and I both got a couple of blisters. Below is a photo of her soaking her feet off the back of the Ibis.

We were sooo tired! We had planned to sail to Saturna Island this afternoon, but it was too late in the day and we were all exhausted.
Al made us a wonderful dinner while we sat above and looked at the stars.

Because we are anchored, the boat gently sways and rocks, it circles the anchor and the lapping of the water against the hull is a comforting sound. We were in bed by 9pm

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Photos

A little market garden!
Notice the payment box on the right

Comments

[John - still the brother]

Two things to know here, folks. First, Captain Al's version of the hike was to start where he picked us up, and to return the same way. As he said, about an hour and a half of hiking for most people (not me). Second, the long way around t
hat we went took five (or more) hours only because it included someone who is unlike most people... me.

[mjanesmith]

My brother John and I are very similar. We walk slowly, but we are pretty much unstoppable! You did GREAT, bro!

[jkutzik]

Hiking in wet socks is the pits. Always.

[jkutzik]

super cute, is right! And colorful.

[jkutzik]

That is a very good universal sign. I get the message immediately! Oh, hey -- we saw the movie "A Walk in the Woods" last week. They could have used this sign!