Historically, it is a fascinating place as much of the trail is an ancient native Indian path, and Yuquot (or Friendly Cove) was nearly the source of a war between Spain and Britain. The Spanish had discovered it and begun trading with the tribes there. Enter Captain James Cook who was the first to actually land and claimed the shores for England. As you can imagine, the Spaniards were not impressed.
For Andrew and I, our adventure began with the insanity of BC Ferries on a long weekend. Nootka Island lies to the West of Vancouver Island (not so very far from Gold River, for those of you who know the Island intimately), so we had to follow the glorious ferry ride up with a three-hour drive. The scenery through Strathcona Park would have been spectacular, had we been able to see past the rain that was pummelling the windshield.
We had a 3 person float plane booked to fly us out to the trailhead at 2:30pm. But when we arrived at the airport, it was to news of 64 km/hour winds out on the coast. There was no way they were flying. We had a whole day to kill in Gold River. It would appear that the only thing to do there is use their aquatic centre as that was the recommendation that came from each and every person we asked. Having no desire to get any wetter than we already were, we opted for the public library (free internet access) followed by dinner at a surprisingly trendy pub. We also decided to splurge on a B&B rather than the tent - why start a trip with a wet tent if you don't have to?!
So, Saturday, June 29th, we finally got underway. The floatplane left at 7:00 am. It was a beautiful 30 minute ride over the route that we would soon be hiking. Taking a plane to the trailhead somehow made it psychologically easier to be excited about the prospect of starting in the rain.
And raining it was. The first stretch of the trail was through the forest, though, so we were somewhat protected. What we missed out in rainfall, however, was more than made up for in mud and dampness collected by climbing over, under, and around logs. It was technical, acrobatic hiking to say the least.
But worth the effort. After an hour, we were at Third Beach, a huge expanse of sand and surf. Unfortunately, the rain meant that we didn't want to linger too long. So, it was back into the forest for a bit more up, down, over, under, through, and then smooth beach walking for the rest of the day. The last ordeal was crossing Calvin Creek. High tide times were such that it was advantageous for us to cross that evening to be able to get an early start the following day. But the tide was not at it;s lowest and the previous days of heavy rain meant that the creek was up to mid thigh. No option but to put on the sandals, roll up the shorts and slog through. Brrrrrr, it was cold!!!!!
The evening was spent huddled under the tarp, eating half cooked tortellini, and trying to keep very bold mice out of our food. Let's just say the trip could only get better from here on in!
Sunday, was an early start (much to Andrew's chagrin). A bit more rain as we were packing up, but then the sun came out for the rest of the day. We knew we would have several creek crossings, so we set off in our sandals. Ended up hiking the whole day on beaches, sandstone shelves, and through seaweed beds, so the sandals were a good call. And they allowed us to splash through the millions of tidal pools where there were little crabs, hermit crabs, tiny fish, iridescent seaweeds, sea anenomnes, etc. It was most entertaining, especially when the little crabs got hostile: they would stand on their hind legs, front claws held menecingly in the air and scuttle about at our feet.
The highlight of the day was the bear, though. He was pretty far away when we spotted him. He was just going about his business of foraging on the beach. We made lots of noise to alert him to our presence, but he didn't seem to care. We ended up going around him, giving him as wide a berth as the low tide would allow. Eventually, he lumbered off into the woods.
Another stream crossing awaited us at the end of the day: Beano Creek. This one was even deeper than Calvin � almost waist deep. And I almost went in! Thank goodness for my ski poles.
We had naps in the sun, enjoyed a tasty dinner and ended the evening with a campfire on the beach.
Day 3 was pretty lazy. Pancakes were on the menu for breakfast. I knew they would take awhile to do, but hadn't counted on 3 hours! In the end it all worked out though. We were able to do more beach walking than the groups who had left earlier due to tides. Plus, we caught a group backtracking around a point that was impassable by the beach. They'd done our reconnaissance work for us and probably saved us a good hour!
We arrived at our chosen beach around 2:00pm and watched happily as the other groups kept right on going. It was what we had hoped the whole trip would be like: our own private beach. Spent the afternoon napping, and bathing in one of the sun warmed tidal pools. That evening was the only real sunset we got the whole trip. Sipping Baileys and hot chocolate, watching the sun slip behind the trees and turn everything an orangey-rosy colour; it felt like paradise.
Tuesday was also a relaxed day. We only had about 5km to go, but had to be across the tidal lagoon by noonish. So, we took our time detouring to Maquinna Point for a picnic lunch. And took the long route down around a series of sea caves.
When we arrived at the tidal lagoon, it seemed pretty insignificant. The water wasn't even up to our knees. But by high tide, you could swim underwater. Which is what we did that afternoon. It was gorgeous! Our last night was spent with one of the groups that we had been on the trail with, sitting around their giant bonfire, swapping stories and favourite moments from the past 4 days.
Our last morning dawned cloudy, and eventually began to rain. We had a very short way to go, but it was over a loose pebbly beach, the type of terrain that sucks the energy out of you since you are sliding back with each step you take.
The trail ends in Yuquot, or Friendly Cove. It's a native Indian reserve and you know you've arrived as you're greeted by a sullen woman who announces without any pleasantries that you have to pay $5 to cross their land. Hmmmm.
There isn't much to do in Friendly Cove and we had a couple of hours before the boat arrived. We pored over the carvings in the little church, turned quasi-museum. Interestingly, while the Spanish eventually lost their claim to the land, they did manage to get some stained glass windows put in the church. We had a pleasant chat with the lighthouse keeper, a retired security guard from Victoria. Walked a bit on the beach, used the composting toilets, and poked around for ripe raspberries.
The boat ride back took about 2 hours, winding through spectacular scenery. I must confess, though, the hot, hearty chilli held our attention for the first part of the ride. And to top off the trip, we had the luck to spot a friendly whale who came very close to play with the boat.
Back to Gold River where we weighed our packs (31 down from 42 lbs!), put on clean car clothes and took off in an attempt to make the last ferry home. Which we did!
As usual, there are lots of photos so feel free to check them out.