Pt Roberts

Kayaking from Tofino to Hot Springs Cove, BC.  August 2014

We left Tofino on an overcast morning and found a remote secluded beach to camp on Meare’s Island. Spent a lovely afternoon on the expansive low tide beach.

I called for a departure at first light to catch the ebb, and we awoke to pea soup fog and bear tracks in the sand. We had an amazing paddle through the dense grayness. If I took my eyes off my compass, my rudderless kayak turned circles and there was no reference point of any kind. At least it was calm. We hopped from island to island, struggling to navigate while paddling. Islands emerged out of the gloom with rocks and bays and we traced the contours of the coastline on our charts. I kept my foghorn in my pocket, as motorboats would occasionally appear, zooming along through the dense fog.

Then we jumped off to cross the channel and paddled for an hour following the course I set and finally a surf line emerged just a few feet ahead. We landed on the beach and discovered that we had reached our destination exactly. Miracle! And I am asking Santa for a deck mounted GPS.

A beautiful hike on the wild side of Flores island and then guests for dinner as we met fellow kayakers who were so freaked out from a cougar encounter that they wanted to be close to fellow humans. Wolf tracks on the beach.

Fog the next morning and a long slog with waves on the quarter and a following breeze as we made our long hard squirmy way up Millar Passage with the flood. We went through Sulphur Passage on the ebb- perfect timing- and gratefully found a tiny place to camp on the other side of Shelter Inlet.

Another early start and we went against the tide, but before the wind could rise, and made good time in the foggy morning following the shore of Shelter Inlet. We vowed to stop several times and regroup unlike the long endless slog the day before. We filled our water containers with water running down a rock wall into the sea and stopped to stretch at every available haul out. Finally came to the moment of truth- we had to cross Sydney Inlet and round Sharp Point to enter Hot Springs Cove and we decided to do it, although conditions were not perfect, because the weather was predicted to deteriorate. The rolling ocean swells made for confused seas crashing around the rocks off the point, and it was a sweet relief to finally slip into the calm water of the inlet.

Two nights camping at the primitive camp ground in the cove and hours spent soaking in the hot springs at the edge of the ocean restored the body after so many hours in the cockpit. The 2 mile long boardwalk from the dock and campground to the hot springs was a work of art. Thankfully, we had organized a boat ride back to Tofino and the day was clear- it was amazing to see how far we had come and to drink in the scenery that we had passed in a fog. We thought maybe it was better that we hadn’t seen how far we had to go!  How great to know that we could do it.  Great trip, wonderful destination, and no, I won’t be doing that again any time soon.