Wednesday, August 14, 2013

The Road to Cape Scott


During our trip to British Columbia we also visited beautiful Vancouver Island, the very north in particular. We had read about Cape Scott Provincial Park and had planned to hike out to San Josef Bay (that will be another post). But first you actually have to get close to Cape Scott which is only possible via a 63 km long gravel road from Port Hardy. It is a road through complete wilderness - a lumber road in the first place.

The shoe tree is what we first saw after we had started out.


It's right at the side of the road and marks all the hikers through Cape Scott. There is a trail through the park, mainly along its coast on the north side, that takes several days to hike.

The next we saw was this - it set the tone for the drive!


Yellow signs warned us of the dangers of the road - with an optimistic "Good luck" which I appreciated.


Friendly signs reminded us to share the road with whoever was out there - unfortunately we didn't meet any dwarfs or elves or fairies.


But we came upon this "little" guy whom you have already seen in an earlier post.


That was quite exciting. However, the bear wasn't too impressed with our presence and jumped quickly into the bushes and disappeared.

At the end of the road we arrived in the Cape Scott parking lot where all the other cars were just as dirty as ours. From here, it is another 2.5 km hike through the rain forest - but as I mentioned above, that will be a post for another time.


12 comments:

Sally H said...

The scenery looks amazing Carola, and so does the bear! There is something so awe-inspiring about that sort of wilderness. Wonderful photos

Jeanne said...

What an awesome road this is and the signs are wonderful. Especially had a chuckle at the be prepared for the unexpected with a tree and flat car underneath. Great shots and loved your post

Kay L. Davies said...

Wonderful, Carola, and I admire your determination. I've never been that far up-island myself, although I've driven on many of BC's gravel roads, and seen quite a few bears.
Looking forward to the rest of the Cape Scott story.
K

Elephant's Child said...

Love it. The signs, the shoe tree (there must be a story there), the bear and the beautiful countryside. Thank you so much.

Art and Sand said...

What a fun vacation you must have had in that beautiful area.

I love the photo in your header.

Erika said...

Das sieht fantastisch aus, liebe Carola! Einfach traumhaft auch die Schilder und Impressionen, die Du mit der Kamera eingefangen hast :)
Viele liebe Grüße und Hugs
Erika

PS: Der Titel von Jojo Moyes Roman im Englischen heißt "Me Before You"
by Penguin Books, London

Cheri said...

Between the signs and the bear, I'd have probably turned around and headed the other way!

KB said...

The shoe tree is truly wacky and fun! As a bear lover, I'm thrilled that you saw one. He/she does look smallish - perhaps a young one.

Sorry about the dwarves. Maybe next time! :)

Your description of yourself and photography sounds a lot like me. I love learning about my previously unknown artistic side. You are definitely innately artistic.

Anonymous said...

What an interesting adventure!

MeeganZ said...

Love those signs! Looks like you had a great excursion. I have never seen a bear in the wild on any of my many national park visits so I'm a little jealous, lol.

Maria Ontiveros said...

Thanks for taking us along on the ride! I think the shoe tree is definitely something or someone not where it is expected!
Rinda

Unknown said...

I was just up there this morning on a trip for victoria. We only made it to km 26 in our little elantra we plane on trying again with a larger vehicle