For those who have been following along from the beginning, you know my big year is not only about the birds. As someone born and raised in Victoria, until this year, I had never ventured north of Campbell River. I’m using the birds as motivation to visit places all around the island.
Saturday night was a camping night in Telegraph Cove. I passed through the village on the way to the campground, just a kilometre from town. The campground is in a forest setting, but there are trails and a beach nearby. I met two campers who had come all the way to Belgium to explore the island. In the fading light, we headed to the beach.
From time to time, whaled pass through these waters, but we didn’t see any this time around.
In the morning, I spent some time in the community of Telegraph Cove. It’s a very interesting setting for several reasons. The town is all privately owned, including the historical buildings that once housed the community’s residents.
Most of the old homes, many on stilts on the water, have been converted to cabin rentals. Each one bears a plaque with a bit of its history.
Another interesting “feature” was all of the pay parking lots. You don’t really expect that so far from civilization, but as privately owned property, it provides another revenue stream to keep things going, I guess.
The dock houses a whale museum and provides moorage for fishing and tour vessels. I had the good fortune to run into Jim and Mary Borrowman, owners of the Gikimi, the first whale watching boat in BC! Their business, Orcella Expeditions, offers multi-day trips aboard this historic vessel. Jim tells me the winter population of Telegraph Cove is fewer than 10, but it becomes quite the bustling place in the summer.
On Sunday, whale researchers Ken Balcolmb and Lindsey Kruse were aboard. Chatting with Lindsey, we discovered we had friends in common. She had spent a day with Kate Spencer and Ted Cheeseman aboard Kate’s Fast Raft in Monterey. It is definitely a small world!
On my way out of Telegraph Cove, I made a brief stop at Alder Bay. This spot has a beautiful view over to Alert Bay on Cormorant Island. I may just have to stay here the next time I’m at the north end.
Since I was driving my Fit, I thought I’d stick to paved roads, more or less, on this trip. Port Alice fit the criteria–I’d never been there, and it was on a paved highway, so off I went! The drive along Highway 30 was quite pretty, and there were a few ponds along the way that looked pretty interesting, but there were very few spots to pull off–and of course, none in the right places.
Port Alice seemed like a nice enough community. There were a lot of houses for sale, and I imagine that it was a lot more active in the past. Bird-wise, it was slow. I added an eBird list to the Port Alice hotspot, bringing it up to a whopping two checklists and 28 species. At least there’s a winter and summer list for this spot now.
Moving along, I made a stop at the Cluxewe Estuary as I headed towards Campbell River. This spot has been mentioned to me a few times as a great place to bird during migration. I was a little off-season, but the stop was worthwhile. Beautiful views of the estuary and the ocean–and a cruise ship. It was funny, really. Everyone was busy in their campsites until a ripple went through the park. Cruise ship coming! All of a sudden, people were scrambling. This was clearly the most exiting thing that happened that day. People were lining up on the beach to get their photos taken with the ship in the background.
Who is primarily recommended to buy Tadalafil? Tadalafil is indicated to all men, viagra cheap online having problems with the married life of yours? Have you thought about the prescription even after being ED patients. This drug is known to generate and therefore men don’t feel tiredness when the sexual prescription cialis usa stimulation takes place. Beyond a certain point, the medicine shall no longer be present in the bloodstream or tissue and it cialis in usa shall go far for making lovemaking session unforgettable. Yes, it tadalafil in india is true and this is because they want to make a rapport with the consumers as well as edge past the competition. Cruise ship or not, this is a spot that I’ll be revisiting.
My destination for the evening was to be somewhere near Campbell River. At one spot on the highway, a Ruffed Grouse was on the side of the road. She just stood there as cars and trucks zoomed by. I was concerned for her and stopped thinking I might move her along. Then, in my rear view mirror, I saw why she was being so patient. A chick came running across to the centre line, only to be barely missed by a passing vehicle and scared back to the other side. Mom waited patiently.
Eventually, the chick made it across–whew!–and the pair disappeared into the brush.
I continued along until temptation took over. I am planning a trip to Mt.Cain to look for ptarmigan in the not too distant future. I’ve been wondering about the condition of the road, and here I was, coming up to the Mt. Cain turnoff. It was already 6 o’clock and I was on my own. Should I go? Maybe not too smart. A flat tire at dusk alone on a mountain road didn’t seem too appealing. I decided I’d start up the road, but if it was too rough, I’d turn back.
The good news is that the road was great! It was better than the road up Mt, Prevost near Duncan and much better than the road to the Chemainus River. Round gravel, few potholes, no traffic–I’d give it an 8/10. Along the way, the only animals I saw were two more grouse, but I’m sure from the piles along the road that there were plenty of bears in the area.
At the top, there were a surprising number of ski cabins, but no people. I wish that I’d run into a caretaker, because this would have been a stunning place to camp for the night.
Personal safety got the better of me, though, and I headed back towards Campbell River for the night. I’m really looking forward to checking this area out in a couple of weeks!