WTD#15 - Island Adventure - Part 2

After a couple of days on the Sunshine Coast we took the ferry from Powell River to Comox, on Vancouver Island.  We drove through Strathcona Park to Gold River, located a few kilometers upriver from the end of Muchalat Inlet, on the west coast of the island.  Gold River was created in 1967 to service a new pulp mill situated at the head of the inlet.  Then the mill shut down in 1998 and a lot of folks had to move out.  Currently the economy is a bit of logging and some tourism.  We spent three nights at a B&B in town.

The evening that we arrived we drove down to the inlet.  There is a dock with some industrial activity - log loading etc.  This is a view from the dock out into the inlet.  The salmon were gathering at the mouth of the river and leaping out of the water - I don't know why.

The next day I back-tracked to Strathcona Park and went for a hike up Crest Mountain.

The bottom half of the trail goes through an amazing old-growth Douglas Fir forest.  These trees are all around four feet or more in diameter.

A photo doesn't really do it justice.

This slug caught my attention - interesting markings

About three-quarters of the way up this Turkey Vulture, perhaps sensing how I was feeling, came to check me out.  After determining that I was not quite ready to expire it flew off.

The long grind finally paid off as I emerged on a lovely alpine highland, where I wandered around for a couple of hours before heading back down.

Still the occasional butterfly and flower up here.

This is one of the Fritillaries, perhaps the Zerene Fritillary (there are a number of very similar looking species)

One of several small ponds in the alpine area

At the summit, one is greeted by an enormous black phallus.

The next day we took a forestry road to Tlupana Inlet, which is between Gold River and Tahsis.

There were some curious harbour seals hanging around a log dump in Nesook Bay, along the way.

A mother and her pup, maybe?

This is the forestry rec site at Cougar Creek.  There were several campers there, fishing for salmon off the dock or in boats.  Apparently it is very popular in the summer.

Further along the road we found the Tupa marina, with not a soul around.  We heard later that it is also busy during the summer, but by now (later in September) it was pretty well abandoned.

When we walked out on to the floats, we found the water teeming with thousands of these small fish, maybe eight to ten inches long.  Apparently they are pilchards and/or mackerel, and particularly abundant this year.

Not far off the end of the floats several California Sea Lions seemed to be playing around and having a good time.

The California Sea Lions breed further south, but after the breeding season groups of males such as these head north to feed before returning to the western US to breed once more.

Apparently very playful by nature, these are the trained "seals" used in circus acts. (Hopefully not so much anymore)

They would make forays into our little bay, probably gorging themselves on all those fish.

On the road to Tahsis we stopped at a bridge over a river where the salmon were congregating and about to start their run.

This is Tahsis, a tiny village in a beautiful setting.  Had a bite in the pub at the marina.  It seems to be mostly sport fishing and tourism that supports this community now.

The end of a great day exploring the west coast inlets of the central island!

Stay tuned for Port McNeill, Sointula, Alert Bay and more ...