Everybody's Gone Camping

And we have been camping this summer too.

Driftwood Structures on the Lake Shore

Our Public Health Officer for the Province of BC, Dr Bonnie Henry, has encouraged British Columbians to get outside and enjoy the summer. Of course, to keep the infection rate of COVID-19 low, she reminds us to limit our contacts to (the same) small group, maintain a physical distance of 2 meters (six feet), wash hands frequently with soap and water or use hand sanitizer, and wear face masks in small enclosed spaces or indoors where physical distancing is not possible.

Sandy Beaches and Wildflowers

Our first camping trip of the year was to beautiful Strathcona Park, a huge wilderness in the interior of Vancouver Island. Established in 1911, it was the first provincial park to be designated in BC. A portion of the park lies within the Clayquot Sound Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO environmental reserve.

In the 1980's, the government of the day wanted to make the park smaller in order to expand industry into the area (mining and logging). Many people came out and protested, setting up road blockades. As a result, the park was saved and even expanded. A park management plan was set up.

It contains a number of tall mountain peaks, including the Golden Hinde at 2,198 meters (7,211 feet), the tallest mountain on the Island. The park also contains Della Falls, the highest waterfall in Canada. Della Falls is not easy to get to. There is no road access. People can get to it by canoeing down a lake, and then doing a challenging hike.

We did not go to Della Falls, but we did visit several other spectacular waterfalls in the area, which I will write about in a separate post.

A Windy Afternoon at the Lake

Strathcona Park has two large provincial campgrounds that can be accessed from Campbell River via the Gold River highway. They are the Buttle Lake and Ralph River campgrounds, both situated on Buttle Lake.

As it turns out, everybody in BC has decided to go camping this year. What better time than a pandemic to enjoy the beautiful outdoors? The provincial parks and most of the regional parks as well are giving priority to BC residents for camping reservations. It is almost impossible to get a reservation at many parks. And, whereas in years past, we were usually able to get a non-reservable campsite via the  "first-come-first-served" system, now many of the campgrounds are reservation-only.

So we felt very lucky to get a site for four nights at Buttle Lake. We were also lucky that our trip there was earlier in July when the weather was cloudy and cool; therefore the hiking trails and beaches were not crowded.

Although we had brought our belly boats and fly fishing gear, we ended up not taking our boats out on the water as it was quite windy most days. However, we did fish from shore (spin casting) and I caught and released a small one.

Environmental Restoration

A Beautiful Hike Through a Hemlock, Cedar, and Douglas Fir Forest

Along the shores of the lake, we saw environmental restoration of the sandy banks in progress. According to the informational sign, parks staff are exploring various methods of reclaiming damaged areas. What you are looking at in the photo above are segments of branches, or withies, that have been stuck in the ground and allowed to root. They used native plants such as willow, red osier dogwood, and cottonwood.

Site of Historic Battle

We did a lot of hiking on our short camping holiday. We explored most of the trails in the park that were within walking distance of our campsite. Our hikes included walks all along the lake shore and out to a marine campground, a hike to a lovely stream, and the Darkis Lake loop.

We also some side trips. including a hike to Lady Falls, a hike to lower Myra Falls, and a hike to Upper Myra Falls.

On one of the days there, we did a road trip to Gold River, an area of the Island I had never seen before. The highway curved around Upper Campbell Lake, then followed the Elk River to Gold River, a small community situated near t

he head of an inlet on the west side of the Island.

High above the river, we stopped at a historic site. According to the information sign, it was at this location the the Muchalaht and Mowachaht people met and had a battle.  Since that time, the two First Nations have combined.

This is an area I would be happy to visit again. There are so many areas to explore, and many lakes that are great for fishing.

But, during the summer of 2020, I predict that the competition for camping sites will continue to be fierce.