Every journey should have an ultimate destination. On this trip, ours was Cape Scott. While we didn’t opt to hike the 29.8-mile out-and-back trail to the lighthouse, it was an adventure none the less.
We had heard the road could be quite rough and that we should ensure we have a spare tire (or two).
Not long before we reached the Trail Head for Cape Scott, there was Ronnings Garden covering about 5 acres. The garden was planted by Norwegian Bernt Ronning at the beginning of the 1900’s. A visit here not only provided a very pleasant walk about but also a view many species of trees, shrubs and flowers collected from all over the world.
The picture below shows how big the tree is. If you look very closely at the bottom of the tree, you will see … me!
The San Josef campground was nice enough with a good number of camp spots available. The excitement and anticipation of what lies ahead was only exceeded by the amount of rain that fell over the next days. I had the forethought to download the tide table before we left Port Hardy. Our goal was to get down to San Josef Bay (approx 9 km there and back) at low tide to see the ‘Sea Stacks’. The next morning low tide would be at 8 am so we would want to head out by about 7 am. We awoke to the sound of torrential rains and decided to go the next day.
Since we didn’t want to waste the day sitting around in the rain, we decided to explore. So we drove to Grant Bay Rec Site and Winter Harbour.
The pictures below are of Grant Bay. We met a family camping in a tent on the beach. The boys who looked to be about 8 and 11 were huddled around a fire and did not look like happy campers. We met another couple, also camping in a tent, but who didn’t care because it was their weekend away from the kids.
This is Grant Bay.
The low tide at San Josef Bay was one hour later than the day before so we had plenty of time. However, it was still absolutely pouring with rain. (Note to self: invest in proper rain gear). We figured going on this hike was just not in the cards for us this trip and decided to pack up and head out to another adventure.
As we pulled out of the campsite, we decided that a bit of rain won’t kill us and so we went anyway. By this time, we have missed low tide but we will still got to do the hike.
The path was so muddy making it like a obstacle course climbing our way around them. But all in all, it was well worth it!
The first photo (above) is the start of the trail. One might feel a bit optimistic. However, while some of the paths are built above the mud (middle photo), most of the way is pure mud. The good news, besides the fact it was a great hike, is that I now know that my boots are not waterproof.
You can imagine what a beautiful beach this would be without the rain.