Bunsby's 2014 (Part 2 July 16th & 17th)

Welcome back! I'm glad you returned to read more about our trip to the Bunsby's so here we go ......

Wednesday - July 16th

We started the day without setting the alarm clock but we were up by around 6:30 am anyway. OK .. we slept in! LOL The evening before we decided that we would spend the day touring the Bunsby Island group and locate a water source to top up our drinking water and shower bag. It was another OMG moment as the sun rose over the mountains of Vancouver Island and bathed our little islet in its warmth.

I wake up and look out my side of the tent .... Oh darn! Another beautiful day! :-)

Nobody was moving fast this morning and there didn't seem to be any urgency of getting on the water. There was a bit of a wind warning for later in the afternoon (what's new) but we would be back at camp by the time it would show itself in our neighborhood. I think we were more interested in watching the tour group across from us head out on the water by 7:00 am. Some people are such keeners! LOL

The view from the low water line at the beach looking east towards Spring Island (our next destination)

Raring to go ... looks like it huh? Stay on the beach or go paddling? We went paddling

Some would consider this a late start but we managed to get on the water by 8:30 am and headed along the west side of the Bunsby Island group towards a little passage known locally as Little Hollywood. Apparently there was a Hollywood movie filmed on location a while back and the nickname of "Little Hollywood" has stuck since then.  Out first point of interest was a sea stack known as Green Head. It was pretty obvious why it was named as such because of it's thick foliage covering the top. It's kind of like a natural Chia Pet :-)

Green Head located just off Checkaklis Island (IR)

Morley with Green Head in the background

We continued on our way around Mahope Point and headed north towards Vancouver Island that can be seen in the picture above. This is were I found using my charts very helpful as the elevation is marked on all of the land masses including the islands and islets. Even now I can look at the picture above and tell you that the peak on the ridge above Green Head is on the west side of Ououkinsh Inlet and the highest point is 2660 feet. So not only do you need to be able to read what is under the water in terms of reefs or potential hazards but identifying what is above the water is just as important.







As we crossed Gay Passage we heard a boat getting closer and as expected it was Leo of Voyager Water Taxi taking another group of kayakers west. In a way it was nice to know that Leo was in the area just in case the weather turned bad and we would need his services to get back to Fair Harbour. Thankfully on this trip that wouldn't be the case.

Leo of Voyager Water Taxi taking kayakers out on their adventure.

Entering "Little Hollywood" the view of the islets in the passage with the mountains of Vancouver Island in the background was spectacular. As much as the pictures only give you a little bit of what we were experiencing, you really needed to be there in person to see, hear and smell what nature was giving us at that particular moment. Looking back now, the thing that I appreciated the most was how quiet it was. The sounds of insects and birds became magnified because there wasn't any unnatural background noise. Even the slight breeze could be heard as it flowed through the islets towards us. Think about it for a moment ...when was the last time your senses were cleansed like this?

Entering "Little Hollywood" we go searching for stars of a different type.

Gary had told us that there were hundreds of Bat Stars in the shallow end of Little Hollywood and sure enough they were there in every color imaginable.

There were other sea stars in the area as well including one of my favorites known as the Leather Star.

After our visit to Little Hollywood it was time to start thinking about finding a water source and head back to camp as we were always conscious of the afternoon wind warnings. Crossing Malksope Inlet we headed towards a beach that looked to be at the base of a ravine running from the top of a nearby mountain ridge. Checking our map it indicated a creek or river with a gravel beach at that location so maybe we would be lucky at this site.

Looking north up Malksope Inlet as we cross in search of fresh water.

Arriving at the beach we found a babbling brook flowing into the ocean but it would be a little trek across the barnacle covered rocks to the tree line to find where the water was coming from. Sure enough we found a good flow of water coming from a higher elevation that made filling our (2) 10 liter Dromedary's and the 20 liter shower bag full of water. It's a good thing that our (my) Delta can haul so much since it became a water tanker for the paddle back to camp :-)

Trekking across the barnacles in search of the source of the fresh water.

After our chores were completed it was time to head back across Malksope Inlet and follow the east shoreline of the Bunsby Island group to camp. The nice thing about our day paddles on the trip was that the low tides were generally around mid day which meant that we got to see a lot of the inter-tidal life of the area.

Back to the Bunsby Islands after filling up with water.

The bad thing about low tide was the huge kelp beds that we had to navigate through from time to time. They seemed to go on as far as the eye could see and when our kayaks were fully loaded it made the paddling a bit of a slog.

Kelp .... and more kelp as we come around Upsowis Point.

On the way back to camp we explored Gay Passage a bit and some of the small islets on the east side of the central Bunsby Island. Every once and a while we would come across white shell beaches with lagoons full of turquoise water that was very tropical.

Leaving the protected waters of the islets we started paddling back to camp facing a rapidly rising NW wind that was right on schedule. It was a long day (10.38 nm) on the water when we finally reached camp just around 2:00 pm. I went to work rigging the shower which allowed all of us to have a quick refreshing rinse before we settled in for happy hour.

Arriving back at our little islet Robyn, Jane and Lynn are loving the west coast life!

Another amazing sunset looking east towards Spring Island. Photo courtesy of Morley Eldridge

Tomorrow would be moving day so while we relaxed around camp we put our paddle plan together for our second big crossing of the trip. That meant that the alarm clocks would be set for 5:00 am ..... again :-)


Thursday - July 17th

It sure does get light early on west coast in the middle of July and as usual we were awake before the 5:00 am alarm went off. After a quick breakfast we checked the VHF radio for the marine report which called for SW winds gradually increasing later in the morning to 10-15 kts. Our paddle plan for the day was to be on the water by 7:30 am and head towards Spring Island 8.5 nm east of our location with a stop at Thomas Island.

Another great start to the day

Thankfully the fog didn't materialize this morning as we launched on time and confirmed our course to Thomas Island. This would be our first off shore open water crossing of the trip and even though we had three GPS's operating the thought of paddling in the fog 1.5 nm from land was something that we all didn't want to do. We were surprised how fast that we reached Thomas Island considering that there was an ebb flow happening which we thought would work against us.

Robyn passes the smaller of the two connected islands that make up Thomas Island

Thomas Island is actually comprised of two islands joined by a tombolo which could be used as a refuge area in case of bad weather. Whether or not you could actually land and find a camp area is another matter as most of the shoreline is very rocky.  

After a brief stop on the sheltered side of the islands we plotted our next course to Spring Island 4.5 nm in the distance. Just as we were getting underway the wind started to increase from the NW and not as predicted from the SW. At about the same time we noticed that the off shore swells starting to increase and white caps were starting to show themselves further off shore. One thing for sure was that it wasn't going to be a flat water paddle the rest of the way. On the positive side though, the wind and waves were coming from the same direction although they were quartering us from behind pushing us along nicely.

Although the Barrier Islands provided some protection from the swells we still needed to make our way between Cole Rock and McLean Island to reach Spring Island. Paddling closer to the shore was out of the question as the 2 meter waves were crashing on the rocky islets all around us so we just pressed on straight through the gap towards Trapp Bluff on Spring Island.  Looking back on this particular crossing I wish that I had my GoPro mounted on the kayak and not in the kayak. Note to self for next time ;-)

Aktis Island (IR) on the left, Spring Island on the right

I did manage to get the picture above just as we were entering the passage between Aktis and Spring Islands. Compared to what we had just paddled through I would consider the sea state in the above picture to be flat calm. :-) Looking at my watch it was pretty clear that not only did we have the wind and waves at our back but we also had the ebb current pushing us along too. We had just completed the 7.5 nm crossing, in fully loaded kayaks in just under 2.5 hours which was amazing considering the conditions we had to paddle in.

Actually why got my camera out was that I saw something in the distance bobbing up and down on the rolling swells. Any guesses??

If you guessed a sea otter raft you are absolutely right! How many? Maybe 50 or 60 in total! 

Now that we were in the safe confined waters of the Mission Group it was time to find our next base camp. Our goal was to see if we could make camp on the south end of Spring Island even though it might be more exposed to the wind. As we made our way through the islets we spotted a few kayak camps on the inside of Spring Island including the West Coast Expeditions base camp.

Almost at our destination with one last shallow passage to go through and then turn right to see ..........

Our Spring Island base camp

This would be our base camp for the next couple of days. The picture above is actually composed of three that I took from the top of a rocky outcrop across the bay after we set up camp. Our tents are situated on a protected bench of sand and shells high above the water line. If you look very closely you can see them nestled in between the two groups of trees that sheltered us from the off shore winds.

A nice high campsite with a kitchen area inside the trees just beyond our kayaks

And our view from the camp at low tide. The village of Kyuquot is left of the mountain 3 nm north of here.

The camp at high tide. Photo courtesy of Gary Jacek

Velella velella. Photo courtesy of Morley Eldridge

After lunch we decided to go on a hike to look for a Geocache that was on the trail that runs through the middle of the island to the West Coast Expeditions base camp. As we started walking along the shoreline behind our camp to the start of the trail we came across thousands of strange but beautiful blue creatures at the high water tide line.

It turns out that these little creatures are known as Velella velella that have been washing up on the exposed beaches all over the west coast. They are also commonly known by the names sea raft, by-the-wind sailor, purple sail, little sail because they have a sail like membrane that catches the wind while they ride on the surface of the ocean.

Jane at the basketball court. Photo courtesy of Gary Jacek

Our quest was a cache known as Brooks or Bust (GC1YV68) that was placed on the island in 2009 and which has only been found once (2011) since then. After doing the projection from the basketball court which was the site of the equipment building for the LORAN A Station "V", we went in search for the cache.

As it turns out a couple other Geocachers located the cache earlier in the month but still it was cool to find it and by kayak too!

BINGO! Once again Brooks or Bust is found

We continued on our hike through the middle of the island finding old relics that were left behind by the inhabitants of the LORAN station. The forest over time is gradually reclaiming any trace of human activity and we were surprised to see this Foxglove plant all alone in the forest reaching high up towards the sun through the canopy of evergreen trees.















It wasn't long before we reached the base camp of  West Coast Expeditions and were greeted by Jane who is one of the staff there. I think we were all very impressed by the attention to detail that the camp has to offer to their clients. If I didn't kayak I would go here to experience what we were doing.

Morley checks out the main cook shack and supply house 

And the accommodations were so enticing. Like a hotel room in the forest! 

As were we checking out some of the kayaks that the company uses I recognized one P&H Cetus in particular that belongs to Michael Pardy. As soon as I said his name a young fellow climbed out of his tent nearby and it turned out to be Rowan Jones-Pardy who is Michael's son. We had a little chat with him and it turns out that he was leading the tour of kayaks that we saw while we at the Bunsby Islands.

Before leaving the camp Jane recommended that we take the Big Tree Trail back to our side of the island and we sure are glad that we did. Although the trail was a maze through the forest, the giants that we found there were stunning. We have seen some really big old growth trees before but some of these have to be the largest that we have ever seen. The amazing thing is that they are on this tiny little island and they can't be seen from the water and have been here for hundreds of years!

Robyn checks out the base of one of the trees.

Words can't describe the sight of these giants on Spring Island

The Big Tree Tail exited onto the west side of Spring Island about a 1/4 nm from our camp so we just followed the high water line beach-combing in search for the elusive glass floats that can be found on the exposed beaches. We never did see any but found a few more plastic ones like we saw at Paradise Beach.

Lookout Island about 1 nm off shore

Just as we came out of the forest we came across this very fresh wolf track in the sand. This confirmed our suspicion that there was a wolf in the area because we found wolf scat on the Big Tree Trail. We never did see or hear the wolf but I have no doubt that it knew we were in the area.

Arriving back at camp we noticed that there was a change in the weather coming. The hot temperatures that we had been blessed with over the past couple of days quickly changed to a cool and overcast evening.

Sitting around camp after dinner it was time to get out the warm jackets and pants for the first time as I went to work preparing desert. Now what is Robyn chuckling at?

Yes! I did my homework before coming out on the trip. I figured out how to bake a chocolate chip cake in a non stick fry pan complete with cream cheese frosting. I think it was a hit and Morley enjoyed finishing off the leftover cream cheese frosting too!









Tomorrow would be our day paddle to the village of Kyuquot but the weather forecast was for possible showers developing later in the day. We would worry about that later but for now it was time to relax around the fire and roast marshmallows. LOL

Jane and Gary roasting the biggest marshmallows that I have ever seen.  Boy everything is big on the west coast!

Thanks for taking the time to read Part 2 of our Bunsby 2014 trip blog. There's more to come in a few days.

Bunsby's 2014 (Part 1 July 11-15th)

Were we ready for a great adventure to the west coast of Vancouver Island? Had we done enough time on the water to develop our skills to take on possible "big" conditions that are famous on the outside open waters? Were our camping skills ready to sustain ourselves for a long period of time and could our gear fit neatly into our Delta 15.5 Expeditions? We sure were going to find out as we embarked on a 9 night / 11 day trip between Brooks Peninsula and Fair Harbour with two other couples July 11th-21st.

Friday - July 11th
Our starting point would be at Fair Harbour some 500 km from home so Robyn and I decided to head to Miracle Beach Provincial Park south of Campbell River on Friday evening to shorten the drive the following day. As a kid my family used to stay at the Miracle Beach Resort that is no longer in operation so it brought back many happy memories to be camping in the park again.

Our first night of camping was not at a  kayak destination. It was weird not having the RV with us.

Looking north, Salmon Point on the left and Quadra Island beyond.

Saturday - July 12th
After a lazy sleep in (6:00 am) we started the day with a healthy mushroom omelette with bacon on the side. Heading out in the kayaks the following day we figured we should get our last full breakfast as a treat since the next 11 days we planned to be starting our days with oatmeal or bannock with coffee.

Hitting the road we continued on our way towards Fair Harbour via Woss and Zeballos. Turning off onto Atluck road it soon became a pot hole ridden forest service road that we would have to follow for the next 74km. The maximum posted speed limit is 60kph  but seriously that was totally impossible in some sections due to the washboard conditions on many of the hills. The only concern I had was how the kayak racks would hold up from the constant shaking but they held up great.

Along the way we did a little Geocaching which also served as rest stops us. Robyn reached a milestone with her 2500th find at Mansons Falls (GC2W88Q) which was really cool. Crossing the rugged backbone of Vancouver Island the geology of the area was magnificent with towering mountains that descended steeply into the the inlets as we got closer to our destination.

Fair Harbour ... our starting point on this adventure.

Arriving in Fair Harbour we located the Fair Harbour Store that looks after the marina and the old forest service campground down the road. There was lots of activity at the dock with fishing charters coming and going and lots of salmon being cleaned. The store is just a Britco trailer with a few essential supplies, fishing gear and even internet access for a fee of $10 or $5 if you like their Facebook page. It was tempting but we had decided that once we lost cell coverage just outside Campbell River we would stay off the grid for the duration of the trip.

Our group of six decided to use only one camping site for our three tents so it was a great deal at $17.50 for the night since we would be heading out on the water taxi the next morning. Vehicle parking for the time we would be away came was $57.86 per vehicle which was very reasonable knowing that our ground transportation was secure. I had previously arranged the camping and parking space months in advance and it is highly recommended to make reservations if you are planning on using Fair Harbour as your starting point for a trip. Gwen and her staff were great to deal with and they can be reached through the contact information on the their website.

Just as we were checking in Gary and Jane Jacek arrived and not long after we picked a campsite Lynn Baier and Morley Eldridge arrived so our paddling team was complete.

The 2014 Bunsby expedition camp set up at the Fair Harbour Campground.

Sitting around the fire after dinner contemplating the upcoming trip. Myself, Robyn, Gary, Jane, Morley and Lynn.

On the way into Fair Harbour we thought we spotted bears in the river estuary so after dinner we went for a walk to have a look. Sure enough we spotted 3 of them about 1/4 mile away foraging in the marshlands. It was going to be a busy morning the next day so we climbed into our tents around 10:00 pm while it was still light outside and set the alarm clock.

An eagle that we spotted on a stroll around the estuary at Fair Harbour

And our first bear(s) sighting ..... just close enough for us.

Ready and eager to get going

Sunday - July 13th
We're on vacation! What's with the 05:00 am alarm?? Time to get ready for Leo Jack and his Voyager Water Taxi service that would be picking us up at 8:00 am. Our gear needed to be doubled checked and ready for him as there was no coming back if anything was left behind. Everyone knows that "What did we forget" feeling when embarking on an adventure right?

As it turns out we were about an hour early in getting our gear down to the dock but it was better not to be rushed at the last minute and forget something. Robyn and I couldn't believe this was finally happening .... our first big trip and what a destination!


















Right on time Leo arrived through the fog that had started to settle into the harbour. The loading process began and were soon on our way to our primary drop location at Jackobson Point on Brooks Peninsula.

We heard him coming before we saw him. Here comes Leo out of the fog.

Loaded and ready to head out on a great adventure.

Leaving the dock it wasn't long before we entered the fog that would be with us all the way to Jackobson Point. Leo has taken this route so may times I'm sure he could do it blind folded but he relied upon his Garmin navigation system to guide his way.

And into the fog we went. Very eerie but magical at the same time.

Along the way to Jackobson Point we got our first glimpse of sea otters along the misty shoreline and even a humpback whale surfacing in the distance. What was behind the fog would have to wait until later in the day as it kept us in suspense the whole way to Jackobson Point. We arrived at our destination about 1 hr and 45 minutes later it was well worth the fare ($700 plus a tip) to get to our first base camp location.

With a low tide Leo had to drop us off in a couple feet of water so we quickly transferred our gear and kayaks to the beach. Leo had mentioned a couple of really nice sandy beaches that kayakers use just around the point but they are exposed to the swells coming in from the Pacific. There was one called Paradise Beach which we decided to head towards to see if we could safely land at and so the process began of loading our kayaks for the first time. It looked like everyone did their preparation work before leaving home. Nice!

Loading for the first time. Hey ... everything fit into the kayaks!

The fog was just starting to burn off as we left Jackobson Point and headed toward Paradise Beach which is protected by some islets just off shore. Coming into the protected waters we got our first look at the beautiful sandy beach that would be our home for the next couple of days.

Just after high noon Robyn arrives at Paradise Beach

To our surprise there was a small kitchen area established and we took full advantage of it as the sun was really starting to get hot. Lynn's son actually helped in building the structure when he visited the area a few years before. Morley went to work putting up a tarp on the kitchen so that we could get some shade from the heat and the sand that was actually too hot to walk on. When does that ever happen in BC?

Paradise Beach ..... all ours and free!

The one thing that I was disappointed in seeing at Paradise Beach was not something that was natural. Everywhere you looked above the high water line there was plastic debris such as fishing floats from 2 inches in length right up to a few the size of 45 gallon drums. There was also water bottles, plastic toys, rope and even fully inflated tires on aluminum rims which were covered with Gooseneck barnacles.

Were we looking at Japanese tsunami debris? Who knows? It seemed that this beautiful half crescent beach had the perfect tidal conditions to act as collection zone for some of the debris that is known to exist on the Pacific ocean. Surprisingly there was a lot more plastic debris deep into the forest behind our camp that was probably deposited there during the winter storms over the years.

One of the fishing floats that came ashore. The perfect anchor for my beer fridge.

Pulleys and a lot of muscle means no food for bears!

Wilderness camping means no supplied food caches and with the possibility of bears or wolves in the area we needed to make our own. The forest behind our camp had pretty dense undergrowth so finding a suitable tree to make our own cache was limited. Morley located one tree but getting our heavy food bags up in the air was another story. After several attempts we did manage to get what seemed like a couple hundred pounds (just kidding) out of critter reach.















Monday - July 14th
We were all early to rise (6:00 am) and were greeted by a thick blanket of fog and not a breath of wind. Leo had mentioned that these conditions had been around for the past couple of days so our thoughts were that it would probably burn off around noon like the day before. We decided to head NW along the coastline in the fog with our GPS's towards the tip of Brooks Peninsula in hopes that it would burn off early and we would get to see the landscape. After a couple of hours navigating through some of the islets that were getting surge waves from the off shore swells we decided to head back to base camp. We were so close to the tip of Brooks Peninsula but the fog just didn't cooperate with us on this paddle to see it.

Into the fog we head out for an early morning paddle.

Just as we were arriving back at camp the sun started to burn through the fog layer so we decided to explore the beach to the north of camp. Just around the point a couple hundred yards away I found babbling brook that was perfect for getting fresh drinking water as well as filling our portable shower that we brought with us. We thought it was hot the day we arrived but today was going to be even hotter. With no wind to cool us down we had the ocean to swim in and that wonderful shower! Awesomeness!

Exploring the rugged shoreline north of our camp. The fog was still hanging around the tree tops.

We didn't see any bears or wolves at Paradise Beach but we did find this very fresh bear track leading down to the surf on the beach north of our camp. Like in most cases if the animals know you are there, you probably won't see them and in our case this was true.

I tried an interesting experiment with the float that I used for my beer fridge later in the day during the receding tide. I wanted to see if the float could escape from our little bay on its own? The rest of the evening I watched its progress and just before bed time I noticed that it was starting to head back towards the beach with the incoming tide. It was an amazing first full day out on the west coast with nothing but a great group of friends and nature to keep us company. Being off the grid never felt so good!

Sunset at Paradise Beach 

Tuesday - July 19th
One of the things I absolutely love about kayak camping is getting up before sunrise to witness nature waking up. It was just after 5:30 am when I crawled out our tent with my camera in hopes of seeing some of the nocturnal activities of the creatures around camp as well as the sun peaking over the mountains to the east.

Today would be moving day and the best news of all was that there was no fog. Typically the fog would start to form around 8:00 am so we decided that it would be best to be on the water by 7:30 am to make our first open water crossing towards the Cuttle Islets and the Bunsby Islands beyond.

Sunrise and moon set at Paradise Beach

During my early morning exploration of the shoreline I came across thousands of sand shrimp that were busy burrowing holes near the high water line. Nearly 1.5 inches in length, I was amazed how busy they were and that they were the creators of the holes in the sand that we saw during the daytime.








Another nocturnal creature was also heading back towards the surf in the hundreds. Know as a shore crab (Hemigrapsus nudus) these little 2 inch crabs were heading back to the water after spending the night scavenging the sea weed at the high water line. Oddly enough I didn't see any crabs near the sand shrimp.

And there was my big float back on the beach almost exactly where I found it a few days earlier along with some new arrivals. I guess in a way Paradise Beach is a natural net that captures anything that enters its calm waters which explains all of the debris we found here. Out of all the beaches we visited on the trip Paradise Beach had greatest amount of debris which was sad to see.

Looking SE towards the Cuttle Islets. If there was going to be fog it would form in the distance and head our way.

Right on schedule we were on the water by 7:30 am heading across Nasparti Inlet towards the Cuttle Islets. I was keeping a close eye on the horizon looking for any indication of fog forming but we were in luck as the fog didn't get a chance to form because the morning temperature was rising fast.

Leaving Paradise Beach heading towards the Cuttle Islets with Brooks Peninsula in the background.

On any of the open water crossings that we would be doing there was a concern of the swells coming in from off shore and if the wind were to increase it would make the crossing let's just say .... interesting. But like the fog that didn't form, the wave height remained under 1 meter and the wind was barely noticeable.

Passing Yule Rock on our way into the Cuttle Islets it was perfect conditions to be moving base camp to the Bunsby Islands.

One of our paddling partners is a professional archaeologist (Morley) and he was very interested in many of the islands that we visited on the trip. On this particular paddle Morley located a burial sea cave and saw the resting place of a couple of First Nations people. With respect to site no photographs were taken nor were any artifacts touched and Morley was the only person to witness the site.

Entering the Cuttle Islets, Morley was busy with his GPS identifying potential sites of interest. 

The Cuttle Islets were an alternate starting point of our adventure had the sea conditions been too big for Leo to take us to Jackobson Point. There are many islets to explore in this tiny group and we would like to visit them again and spend a few days here on another trip.

The primary camping location in the Cuttle Islets. We must come back here again. 

The view looking west to Brooks Peninsula from one of the Cuttle Islets that is used as a kayak camping location.

While on a rest stop we explored the islet a bit and the girls found a dead sea otter that had washed up in the tiny bay at low tide. It was a stark reminder that the cycle of life occurs even in such a beautiful setting.

Robyn and Jane examine a dead sea otter on the beach. Our destination of the Bunsby Islands are in the distance.

After leaving the Cuttle Islets we decided to head to Battle Bay just around Accous Peninsula to top up our water supply. We spotted Leo heading towards Brooks Peninsula with a couple of kayakers and in fact we spotted him a few times on our trip making runs up and down the coast. Other than Leo we really didn't see or hear any other boats while on the trip other than our visit to Kyuquot a few days later.

On the way Morley located a possible fish trap that was just up a river close to Battle Bay. He did manage to paddle a bit up stream and find what could have been the foundation of the trap and possible grounds where buildings might have been. While Morley was busy with his site, Gary and Jane went looking for a known downed totem further towards Battle Bay. However with the passing of time the land continues to reclaim artifacts that have been left behind by the First Nations peoples. It is unfortunate that we were unable to locate the totem as the forest and undergrowth have eliminated any indication as to where the giant may be resting.

Upstream Morley surveys the river banks for archaeological possibilities while Lynn watches from the gravel bar.

Stopping at the river on the way to Battle Bay

After finding the water source in Battle Bay we started the last crossing of Ououkinsh Inlet on our way to the Bunsby Islands. From a distance it is hard to tell that there are a couple of passages running between the Bunsby Islands but that is where having a chart available to navigate making it relatively easy to find.

Finding the passage at the Bunsby Islands we began looking for a place to make base camp.

Our goal was to locate the campsite on the outside island known as Cautious Point but when we arrived we noticed a number of tents already established at the site. Looking at a few other options close by Robyn located a little islet that we called Middle Islet because it is between the (IR) Checkaklis Island and Cautious Point. It was absolutely perfect with a white shell and sand beach that was protected from the open water swells and wind. There was a small kitchen area already established and a grassy ridge that was the perfect place to put our tents.

It was just reaching noon when we landed and started to set up our camp but first it was time to take a dip to cool down. Today would be the hottest day so far that we experienced and it wasn't long before a tarp was set up over the kitchen area to provide a little shade.

Morley and Lynn commented that the conditions were almost like Mexico. Hot, great beach and amazing views.

The panoramic 360 degree views were spectacular. From our tent, the front vestibule had the view of the beach while the rear vestibule had a view of the Bunsby Islands. Does it get any better than this?

Looking the opposite direction from the grassy ridge. Enough room for at least 6 tents at this location.

The beach above the high water line had plenty of space to leave our kayaks on the driftwood while a huge log acted like a breakwater when the tide came in. Because we were on a small islet our food would be kept in the kayaks overnight since the risk of bears or wolves coming to visit us was very low. We spent the rest of the day just lounging around absorbing what nature was giving us.

Kayaks unloaded and the tarp set up to get relief from the sun.

The planning for the paddle the following day usually started just before dinner and it was a good time to listen to the weather forecast on the VHF radio to determine the best OTW time. Like most of the other days on the trip so far we were up early (5:30 am ish) to be ready to go by 8:00 am at the latest. The plan was always to try and be at our destination or be back at camp before the expected winds came up in the middle of the afternoon.

The kitchen area also served as Gary's planning session for tomorrow's day paddle around the Bunsby Islands.

The tide goes out a far way on these little islets as you can see below compared to our arrival picture. It also allowed us to walk around the the waterline and explore the inter-tidal zone. The beach on Cautious Point island across from us is where a group of about 8 paddlers came back to later in the day and we figured that they must be part of a kayak tour that frequents the area.

The end of another great day as everyone chips in with the dishes after dinner.

The track of our adventure so far. The grey track is Leo's water taxi from Fair Harbour to Jackobson Point 28 nm away.

Tomorrow would be another great adventure as we circumnavigated around the Bunsby Island group but you'll have to check back in a few days for part 2 of the Bunsby 2014 trip. Thanks for stopping by to read the blog. If you have any comments please feel free to share them with us.