americas '10/11

 

02

Canada | Vancouver Island

09. - 22. June 2010

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Island Hiking Tour

Vancouver and surroundings are blessed with a very comprehensive public transport network. To get from Vancouver's busy Cambie Street to Nanaimo on the island will make the inclined traveler familiar with its variety and its efficiency alike, he or she will be required to take two trains, one bus and one ferry to get there in but few hours time.
I have to admit, traveling without the burdens of a vehicle and excessive luggage appeals more and more to me, as it provides a maximum of overall flexibility and freedom most of the time. The only reason to get myself some wheels again is my passion for remote, dry and barren and preferably mostly uninhabited landscapes, where on foot I couldn't carry sufficient water and supplies, required to travel the long distances.

But Vancouver Island is no such place, there'd be plenty of good fresh water everywhere, it should be ideal for hiking. And a huge island it is, covering about or over 100 by 400 km at its widest and longest, so it should be easy to get lost for a couple of days.
Some still active eBay auctions required internet access for a few more days, so instead of directly heading into the wild I camped in some woods on little Gabriola Island, just off Nanaimo beach, where I found a good compromise of peaceful nature enjoyment and having a library in walking distance.
Those were quiet, relaxing days, spent exploring forest paths and shores around Descanso Bay and making the acquaintance of local deer, bird and squirrel until I got rid of my unwanted possessions and could return to Nanaimo.

The start into this hiking adventure was a fairly easy task, as signposted hiking trails led the way through and out of town. Neither the over 20 kg backpack nor my aging knees caused me any trouble, so it was pleasant walking all right.

The trails lasted only up to Nanaimo River, but I found a former railroad to be their formidable extension upriver.
The tracks had been removed long time ago, so in fact it had turned into a pretty little forest path. I followed it until I reached the area of some logging companies, who owned the land, regarded the forests as commercial tree farms and thus tried to keep the public out, by barricading road entries and posting signs, threatening trespassers with high fines.



To avoid trouble I bypassed using the shoulder of the parallel running main-road. There was but little traffic and it was easy walking, but that wasn't what I had come for and I soon got tired of it. Whenever I tried to take a turn back into the forest and towards the river, soon a barrier or a sign would block me off my desired direction, which according to my map required crossing the Nanaimo and following some gravel roads south-west, very frustrating indeed!

Thus being forced to change plans, I decided to stay off the roads and to disappear into the woods, following the more and more overgrown railroad path again, the return to a silent world.

Light-flooded clearings in full wild flower bloom changed with the cool, shady twilight under the green leaf-roof of maple groves. The sound of little streams and creeks mixed with the songs of bird and bug and from time to time some little path led down to an idyllic spot by the river. There wasn't much wildlife to be seen, squirrels and few hares and deer, I kept looking for bear or wolf tracks, but there weren't any to be found.

Where the river enters the First Nanaimo Lake, the railroad path merged into the main road. Its surface had turned from tar to gravel and frequently passing logging trucks threw up dust clouds that kept lingering in the air long after they had passed. There wasn't any alternative way, the brush along the lake was too dense to pass through and the land around was owned privately or by logging companies. I continued to the end of the lake without much enjoyment.
After a nights's rest and some consideration of the state of roads ahead and my slowly diminishing supplies, I decided it was time to turn around.

Once more I dived into the peaceful woods along the Nanaimo. I followed the river in his flowing direction now and beyond the point where I first had met it. Downstream the land got more rugged, the waters hat cut deep into the ground to create impressive gorges and abstract rock formations. I found narrow trails or paths to follow and sometimes I had to climb a bit, it was nature hiking at its best.
When I neared the coast and the land became inhabited again, I left the river and – skirting the city limits of Nanaimo – payed a visit to the lakes up in the hills north of town before returning to civilization after a not perfect but nevertheless good 9-day expedition into Canadian semi-wilderness.

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