Kayaking the Johnstone Strait

2005-07-17 to 2005-07-21

One day, at Cynthia and Michael's housewarming, Justin and I were chatting about kayaking in the Johnstone Strait area (near Telegraph Cove on Vancouver Island). Justin was describing his efforts to organize a trip to the area, and I was absent-mindedly admitting how very cool the whole idea sounded, and how I respected his being a Man of Action given that I'd been interested in visiting the area for some time but had been too much of a chicken to do anything about it.

Little did I know that within a month of that discussion I would find myself on my way to Telegraph Cove with Justin, Michael, and Jason... Off to conquer gale force winds, killer whales, various inhibitions regarding personal hygiene, and just the slightest bit of dehydration and sunstroke.

Many thanks to Justin for spearheading a successful trip in difficult conditions, and for including those who let their enthusiasm get the better of them. :)

The Plan:

The plan for our five day trip was to paddle down the coast of Vancouver Island toward the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve, cross the Johnstone Strait to West Cracroft Island, paddle the currents of Blackney Passage at slack tide, make our way up to Owl Island, then out to Village Island, finally to return to Telegraph Cove via a slack tide attemp at Weynton Passage. Ranging from 6-18 km/day, this plan seemed manageable and flexible, until we realized just how long we would spend windbound on the Vancouver Island side of the strait...

Proposed (red) and Actual (white) Paddling Routes

Day 1:
Vancouver to Telegraph Cove and onto the Water

Paddling Route for Day 1:
Telegraph Cove to a pocket beach between Kaikash and Robson Bight

Highlights:

"Anyone know the buzzer number?"
making our ferry
"Anybody seen the tent poles?"
feeling the swells on the ferry and wondering if we'll be able to launch
marvelling at the nickel-and-diming of Telegraph Cove
launching into surprisingly calm seas
learning to surf following seas once the wind comes up
varying theories on fire building
barbeque steak dinner accompanied by 10yr single malt
northern lights
Justin making the ultimate sacrifice for our bear bagging
"Erica doesn't object when I do that"

Our ferry departure was optimized (a bit of a close call)	Cherries for breakfast	Not the most scenic Howe Sound photo ever...	What to pack next?
More packing and reorganizing	Packing the holds	There seems to be an infinite supply of food	Hitting the water at long last
All systems are go	Rest stop en route	Becoming one with the surroundings	Better photographer at work
Approaching camp	Fab camping fashions	Michael bravely models his unique fashion selection... luckily for him the exposure on my camera is pretty lame	Tight fit
Plenty of room for entering and exiting the WalMart Special (certain Tarn3 poles may have been left at home...)	We should not put our heads at that end of our tent	An accident waiting to happen?	Not satisfied with the rope, Justin continues into the tree
Heading back from the scouting mission	Dinner fire, step one	"What are these guys doing?"	Justin buys in now that there is flame
Success!	Finding some larger firewood (sadly I missed the action shot)	Justin slices onions faster than the eye can see	These guys don't fool around when it comes to camp food! :)
Steak à la Campfire... Yummmmm!	The escapee is forced to rejoin its bretheren

Day 2:
Aborted Crossing and Backtrack to Kaikash

Paddling Route for Day 2:
Crossing to Pig Ranch aborted due to high winds, a bit closer to the Bight, back to Kaikash to set up camp, and a loop upwind to play in the waves and look for whales

Highlights:

"Gale warning continued for Johnstone Strait. Winds NW 35-45 knots."
making 3km of headway against a 35 knot headwind
force-feeding bagel sandwiches
luxury forest service site camping with composting outhouse
whales!
force-feeding spaghetti
rock-hopping Kaikash Creek
building a bear pinata

Braving the gale force winds... can you find all three kayaks?	Justin not only braves the gale force winds, he takes his SLR with him	Kaikash Forest Service Site	Looking for whales
Reasonably large boat passing by	Drying laundry... 35 knot winds make for wet launches, wet landings, and a lot of spray while padlding	Another look at the laundry	A stirring moment
Mmmm... dinner	"I have to eat how much spagghetti?"	Watching the tide	That's a lot of stuff
Evening approaches	Not exactly alone in the wilderness	Portrait of a photographer	A pause after conquering Kaikash Creek
To draw Jason onward, or to all head back?	Peaceful sunset

Day 3:
Two Aborted Crossings and Onward to Robson Bight and Back Again

Paddling Route for Day 3:
Attempted crossing to Hanson Island aborted due to high winds, moving camp as close to the Bight as possible, aborting yet another attempt at crossing to Pig Ranch after feeling the urge to paddle some more following a long beached whale imitation, and heading back upwind to Kaikash to camp in the trees in anticipation of a high high tide

Highlights:

"Gale warning continued for Johnstone Strait. Winds NW 25-35 knots."
waking up at 5am and discovering the wind is already up
fun rocketing downwind to a less crowded campsite
nappy time
the shitput rock: "Look, it's the world's smallest starfish!" "And he's going to get a nutritious surprise!"
intertidal flush or intertidal toilet paper?
waterfall hunting
returning 6km to Kaikash against 30 knot winds
hiding the boats and the tents in the woods to avoid high-high tide
breaking a rope, almost breaking a tree, for an even funnier bear pinata
chilling around an excellent campfire

For once it's calm enough to snap a photo while paddling	The Coughlin brothers	Caught snacking	Justin goes for a walk
Looking for whales	Off to join the search?	Considering the objective	Found a nice ledge
To each their own perch	Nice log bridge... We found a watch here, but never did find the man from Kelowna whom we believe lost it	Nappy time	Beached whales all around
I can't remember exactly why Jason needed to clean his lower body in the ocean after a trip to the woods...	Rock skipping, the classic follow-up to rock chucking	Already rethinking the swimming idea	It's warmer on the hippo rock
We hunted a waterfall... the creek was fun to scramble up	It was hard to stand still to take pictures in the low light	Don't stand under this while taking photos	Checking out the cruise ship
Nap time, round two	A pride of kayaks

Day 4:
Across the Strait, Through Blackney, Across Blackfish Sound, Around Some Islands, and Back Again

Paddling Route for Day 4:
Successful crossing to Hanson Island after our repeated 5am wake up calls finally pay off with a moderate wind, through Blackney Passage (still interesting even at slack tide), across Blackfish Sound, through Whitebeach Passage into Indian Channel, up to Village Channel, back out across Blackfish, along the north side of Hanson Island, through Weynton Passage (also quite interesting even at slack tide), and back across the Strait to Telegraph Cove (via a not-so-brief mid-channel whale watching interlude). We came close to completing the entire original trip itinerary in this single happy day of nonwindboundness, but not quite. ;)

Highlights:

"Small craft warning for Johnstone Strait. Winds NW 15-20 knots, rising to gales later today."
waking up at 5am and discovering the wind is moderate
ferrying the 4km crossing in 35 minutes
greeted by whales!
being tickled by a crab while trying to whizz
shooting the whirlpools in Blackney Passage
Dino Egg, Small Rock, and Unidentifiable Object Oatmeal
Gummy Bear Theatre
exploring cute islets in calm, protected waters... so many islands deserving of a good romping...
pictographs
more intertidal flush humour
enjoying the tidal oddness of Weynton Passage
a little dehydration, perhaps some sunstroke, and just the slightest bit of towage
"Whales! Whales! Whales!"
getting healthy again in Telegraph Cove
nothing open in Port McNeill

We were greeted by a whale on our successful crossing of the strait... Too bad I couldn't hold still, though	The Coughlin brothers paddle off into the distance	Calm waters at long last	Dino eggs and small rocks in our oatmeal, gummy bear theatre, trying not to lose our kayaks to the flood tide, and an amazingly cold crosswind
Ahhh, they're so cute! (Okay, actually they're just rafting up so Justin can remove his jacket...)	Some brothers I know, a cute tree, and a fish farm	A closer look at the fish farm	Playing follow the leader through the islets
Such nice islets... too many to stop and frolic on each one	Traffic jam	Justin and some pretty mountains	Pictograph on Berry Island, with context
A closer look, though it's rather faded	Such a nice spot, easy shallow landing, warm water, pleasant rocks, nice view... seemed wrong somehow that it was intended as a potty stop	Equipment at hand	Justin
Not Justin	Justin worked admirably hard to get us to sequence, but we were unruly	"Paddle forward, no, wait, okay now... uhh, too far..."	That's a lot of logs!
Jason saw a whale, and it was this close	"Whale! Whale! Whale!"	I saw a whale and it was this close	"Fwoosh!"
Michael also saw the whales, but they were this far away before I got a photo of them together (Justin Whalespotter definitely saw whales, but he was too far away for me to manage a tourist snapshot)	Three teeny, tiny dorsal fins by the Blinkhorn light	Returning to Telegraph Cove	Attempting to squish everything into the car
Yes, yes, it fits!