Volume 1 Updates

Chapter 1, God's Pocket

Page 56, Shushartie Bay - This is now the trailhead for the North Coast Trail on the Port Hardy side. As such there is now a waterside campsite located near the trailhead on the north side of the cove. As of late 2007 the entrance to the campsite was next to an old abandoned camper at the waterfront; it will likely be removed and hopefully signs put in place to direct people to the correct location. Also, expect a dock of some sort here soon. Plans for this area were fluid in late 2007 due to a directive to move the trail from crossing a block of private property at Shushartie Bay (yes, there are still some parcels of private land in the park, though most were bought out in about 2005). Even with the campsite, Shushartie Bay is not a good kayaking campsite. The beach is grubby, it is a bear estuary and the sites are set back in the forest. A better kayak campsite is the cove immediately south of Shushartie Bay. It has a good but small beach and trails into the upland that include to an old collapsed homestead. Much more pleasant! GPS waypoint: N50°51.23' W127°51.23'. For more on the North Coast Trail, see the inaugural issue of Wild Coast Magazine.

Page 59, Nahwitti River - The North Coast Trail crosses the Nahwitti River by cable car. It skirts the shore here, turning inland to Shushartie Bay at Skinner Creek, another designated campsite.

Page 60, Cape Sutil - Any of the cape's various beaches can be used for camping, with the best kayak camping on the northernmost beach. If you are hiking you'll reach a prominent headland that splits the two main east-facing beaches. In the tree cover is a clear area for camping and an outhouse at the trailhead west. If you look carefully at the base of the headland you'll find a rough trail that crosses the headland. From there various other trails lead from the northern beach into the interior of the cape. This portion of the North Coast Trail is extremely rough.

Chapter 3, Quatsino Sound

Page 116, Marble River Provincial Park - The park was closed indefinitely in 2007 due to the previous winter's windstorms. Check the BC Parks website for updates.

Chapter 4, Brooks Peninsula

Page 130, Side Bay: I finally made the trip by car to Side Bay this summer, which has a launch site I was unable to find from the water while paddling through the area. The route by car is via Port Alice. Continue south past the Neucel pulp mill and round the south end of Neroutsos Inlet via Marine Drive. This will connect with a number of mains: Teeta, K Main, I Main, J Main and finally B Main. Watch for the signs to Mahatta River to direct you. Watch for the turnoff to Yreka - don't take that! You'll want to head up over the ridge. At the Mahatta River recreation site (a possible camping spot), take the Restless Main west to an unsigned main that heads south; the junction is N50°26.11' W127°51.50'. (The main is probably the Side Bay Main, though most maps are incorrect about this area, showing the Side Bay Main coming off the Klaskino Main. It doesn't.) The route heads along the east side of Le Mare Lake - no access, then becomes steadily more overgrown. It is deactivated and has a short lifespan, so don't expect to do this route by vehicle in more than two years. It is ditched twice. The second has a creek running through it. Four-wheel drive is recommended. If not, it's a 10-minute walk to the beautiful beach - a wonderful camping area. If you can drive to the beach it's a beautiful launch site to Brooks Peninsula - just a short hop to Lawn Point Provincial Park. You might also be able to walk there, but there is no established route and a rough rock headland must be crossed somehow.

Page 131, Klaskino Inlet - I have it on good authority (Glenn Lewis) that the launch at Klaskino Inlet is still very accessible. To get here, follow B Main south from the Mahatta River Recreation Site. It eventually turns into the Klaskino Main that skirts Klaskino Inlet. The launch is near the east end of the inlet. It is rocky and trailer boats will have a tough time here, but it should be okay for kayakers and car-toppers. It is a longer paddle to the good areas, though, but has the advantage over Side Bay of being an accessible route. This is probably due to the unfortunate logging of the area including East Creek - a formerly virgin watershed now destined for logging. Glenn checked out the area and found the lower valley intact. The Sierra Club has been oddly silent on this issue after having formed the Save East Creek campaign in 2003. Their website hasn't been updated since that time. For more on Glenn's most recent trip to this area, visit here.

Page 134, Aster Bay - I've been notified by numerous people that one of the better beaches for camping while rounding Brooks Peninsula is southwest of Aster Bay, and is unmarked in The Wild Coast. These are the beaches behind two islets, and my calculation by electronic chart is the GPS waypoint would be approximately N50.187/W127.825 (N50°11.14/W127°49.5). They're a bit more convenient for a trip around the peninsula than Aster Bay.

This was offered by Glenn Lewis of the Nanaimo Paddlers, who had this to say about it:

"I refer you to page 134 where one finds an indication that Aster Bay is a suitable camping place located just to the north east of the entrance to Cape Cook lagoon. As part of the research that I have done I obtained copies of the 1-20,000 terrestrial maps. These are sometimes more useful for things like place names than the marine charts. The big beach to the northeast of the entrance to Cape Cook lagoon is named Drift Whale Bay.  I have not landed on this beach.  It is about one nautical long and at the times that I have been near to the place the surf is big and there did not appear to be any protected corner. In my mind this is probably the most exposed beach (to the prevailing summer northwesterly) on the whole coast. An option is to land on the beach to the southwest of Drift Whale Bay, which is the beach that extends for several hundred metres from the entrance to the lagoon toward the southwest.  In my experience it can be difficult to get into or out of the lagoon without about six feet of water. Even then if you don't want to deal with the surf that breaks over a bar just offshore... If there isn't enough water to get into the lagoon there is a small rock in the shallow water a little to the southwest of mid beach which provides modest protection from the incoming waves. As an aside if you ever get the chance to paddle up the creek that flows into the lagoon at a high tide do take the time. I got about a kilometre up stream without too much difficulty. As one moves southwest from the beach that fronts the lagoon the next beach is Aster Bay. I have not landed at this place. I think the more popular and safest place to land is at an unnamed beach between the Crabapple Islets.  This beach is to the southwest of Ambrosia bay and to the northeast of Hackett Bay.  The more southerly of the crabapple islets is marked as "145" on the chart. While it is quite feasible to land in either Ambrosia (in the south west corner) or Hackett (in the north east corner) I think that the beach between the two islets is the best protected. If one avoids the boomer on the south side about half- way in the kelp then knocks down much of the surf for an easy landing in just about anything that you would want to be out in. The next bay to the southwest is Gilliams Bay and I have walked that beach and concluded that there is no good reason to try and land anywhere along it."

Page 134, Amos Creek - The mouth of the creek is now Maa-Nulth territory.

Page 139, Johnson Lagoon - From a reader: "You must have been at Johnson Lagoon in neap tides, because I had to wait until 20-30 minutes before slack current in the narrows to get out of the lagoon. I got back to the narrows after paddling in the lagoon one hour after high tide slack outside the lagoon, and there was a difference in water height at the boulder in the narrows of about 1 meter between inside and outside the lagoon, and it was running probably 5-6 knots. I played in the current and eddies, but there's no way I could paddle right up to the narrowest part of the channel, let alone up over the cascade of water at the narrowest part of the channel. So your caution of "just about impossible to paddle against when in full flow" seemed like quite an understatement."

Page 141, Acous Peninsula - The same reader as above offered another campsite I didn't find: spots on two of the Cuttle Islets off Acous Peninsula. "The outermost of the two has a really nice gravel tombolo joining up some interesting rock formations, and is a great place to camp." Sounds wonderful! I'll be sure to visit it on my next trip.

Chapter 5, Kyuquot Sound

Page 151, Mission Group - This area went under a tranformation with the Maa-Nulth treaty, handing all of the remaining non-reserve islands with the exception of the southeast side of Spring Island, the main recreation island. The north side, a popular camping area used by Western Pacific Expeditions, is now no longer private land, though WPE will likely continue on with a permit. The camping area at the south end is a bit odd. The division between Maa-Nulth land appears to cross through the middle of the campsite. It will be interesting to see how the use changes with the new owners. Various other parcels in the area are also now Maa-Nulth, including around Clanninick Cove, McKay Cove and Amos Island. Lookout Island is now also Maa-Nulth.

Page 164, Artlish River - This popular boat launch into Kyuquot Sound is also now Maa-Nulth territory. No word yet on access.

Page 166, Fair Harbour - The launch at Fair Harbour and the campsite now appear to be part of the Maa-Nulth settlement. This hands over the only two launch sites in Kyuquot to private interests. No word yet on access changes. Personally, I wouldn't expect any - just the fees to a new landlord.

The Maa-Nulth treaty also hands over various other parcels of land in Kyuquot Sound. For more information, visit here.

Chapter 8, North Clayoquot Sound

Page 226, North Clayoquot map: The point marked Rondeault Point on the east entrance to Hesquiat Harbour should be marked Hesquiat Point.

Page 232, Escalante: There is a good campsite with tables just to the left of the icon for the tent site shown southeast of Escalante Point on Hesquiat Peninsula.

Page 234, Hesquiat Harbour: I received this feedback: " I looked at the beach represented by the blue tent in Hesquiat Harbour but it was very shallow.  I tented halfway between the blue tent and the edge of Teahmit reserve.  I still had a long carry at low tide but I have to think the one at the blue tent would be longer." I did actually camp where the blue tent icon is located, and had no difficulty and found it had better sand than farther south. But the different opinion is acknowledged.

Page 239, Hot Springs Cove: I marked a tent on the outside of Mate Islands. It was marked because as I passed by I saw the strip of sand and a tent at the top above the high tide line. How perfect it seemed! Too perfect, apparently, as visitors since have been unable to find it and offered alternatives, such as this: "I could not find an outer beach on Mate Island; but there is a good beach on the right side of the channel which is right of the tent symbol." So be warned it is difficult to find, but there is a good campsite there, or at least nearby alternatives.

Chapter 9, South Kyuquot Sound

Page 263, Vargas Island: I avoided colloquial names for the beaches as they tend to be hit and miss, though the ones for Vargas seem to be fairly established. On the map on page 263 the campsite at Dick and Jane's Beach (north side, east of Burgess Islet) is marked, but Mel's beach (south of Burgess Islet) is not marked as a campsite. Both are established camping areas, divided by a headland and private property.

Page 270, Meares Island: For those looking for the Big Cedar Trail trailhead, it is located in the channel facing Morpheus Island. Keep your eyes open for a bit of a boardwalk bridge leading from a tiny rock outcrop with some elements that may resemble a beach at lower tide. Not ideal for kayak landings. GPS waypoint: N49°09.41' W125°52.50'

Chapter 10, Barkley Sound

Page 293, Ucluth Peninsula: The run down the coast between Clayoquot and Barkley Sound has always been a bugbear because it is such a long stretch of open ocean with no all-weather stops. I recommended Florencia Islet as one possible stop along the way. However, it is prone to rocks at mid-tide levels. However, I received this report of a run down this portion of Pacific Rim National Park that might prove useful: "I received permission from The Ucluelet First Nation to camp at Wya Reserve; it's a great site.  Ucluth (north side) would also be good.  Wya had some surf, Ucluth at the northernmost edge had none.  Google Earth shows a small beach between these two; I checked it out, and while it is inferior to Wya & Ucluth, it would certainly do as a camp spot for anyone wanting a shorter day than the full Vargas - Francis run but did not have permission for the reserves.  It is well enclosed by rocks and had no swell.  It does have several basketball size rocks on the approach (at the tide level I went in on), but the lack of swell would make this manageable. " The problem with recommending any stop along this stretch is the conditions be vastly different depending on the weather. So what works for one person may not work for another.

Page 298, Salmon Beach - The Maa-Nulth treaty has changed the landscape here, with the Maa-Nulth gaining control of a large package of the shoreline facing Macoah Passage as well as most islands that border Macoah Passage, with the exception of the private Stopper Islands.

Page 300, Toquart Bay - The Maa-Nulth now have control over Toquart Bay, apparently including the campground and launch site (the main launch site into the Broken Group). Again, I wouldn't expect a change in service, just who your fees go to.

The Maa-Nulth treaty also includes various other parcels in Barkley Cove. For more information visit here.

Chapter 11, Juan de Fuca Strait

Page 347, Jordan River - The recreation site and campground here was the site of an uproar in fall 2007 as TimberWest sold off a large parcel of forestry land for development. The Capital Regional District then put through a bylaw amendment limiting lot size to no less than 120 hectares, a move to forestall development. Keep up to date at the Coastal News site.

Page 331, photograph - The caption for the photograph indicates San Juan River. It should be Pachena River. This should be corrected on newer editions.

Page 337, inset locator map - It may be slightly misplaced. The first edition indicates coverage for Pachena Bay, when in fact it is meant to cover the area southeast from Pachena Bay to Port San Juan. It has been corrected in the second printing.

Page 354, Race Rocks - A reader questioned whether it was correct in stating public access to Race Rocks is not allowed. "I didn't know there was no public access permitted on land at Race Rocks. I looked at the website and it discusses time frames for minimal impact by visitors, and that permission must be obtained from the caretakers, but I didn't find anywhere that said no access is allowed." To clarify, the Ministry of Environment is very specific: "Landing on islands including Great Race Rock within Race Rocks Ecological Reserve, Marine Protected Area is restricted to scientific and educational purposes and matters related to ecological reserve management only. Do not land without prior permission. The marine area of the ecological reserve has dual designation as a Federal Oceans Act Marine Protected Area. Federal fisheries restrictions specific to Race Rocks Marine Protected Area are in effect."