Kayak into the land that only the animals recall
Care for a touch of adventure, B.C.-style? Then come stand in a place that time forgot (or at least overlooked): the Brooks Peninsula. Mention the name to most Vancouver Islanders, let alone Lower Mainland residents, and be prepared for them to draw a blank. Where?
Pinpoint a familiar place like Tofino, midway up the west side of Vancouver Island. Head north along the shore past reefs, shoals, and clusters of islands large and small in Clayoquot, Nootka, and Kyuquot sounds. Just before you reach Vancouver Island's northern tip, out pops the Brooks, roughly 10 by 15 kilometres of brick-shaped peninsula known as one of the wildest, wettest, and stormiest places on the West Coast. Small wonder this region is ignored by all but a few hundred explorers each year, most of whom journey around Kyuquot Sound in sea kayaks during the summer months. That suits the astoundingly plentiful wildlife just fine, particularly the 400 or more sea otters, which European sailors hunted to extinction in the 1700s and scientists successfully recolonized here starting in 1969.
During the most recent ice age, which ended roughly 10,000 years ago, glaciers locked most of Vancouver Island in a cryogenic vault. The Brooks Peninsula somehow sidestepped the ice. Its steep slopes remained as green as they are now. As a result, rare plant species found refuge among its unique geological formations. And that's why landing on one of the Brooks's rangy, surf-thumped beaches feels like entering a lost world. For starters, there's no one else in sight along the sandy expanses spread between rocky headlands and dotted with sea stacks. As well, just try to penetrate the rain-forest perimeter that walls the strands. Good luck hacking your way through the impenetrable morass of mosses, ferns, and deadfall cloaked with thickets of waist-high salal bushes. One look will convince you of the utter impossibility.
Hidden beneath a jumble of driftwood logs flung inland by winter storms, water gathers on the forest floor, then flows out to the ocean in small creeks. In places, cold springs seep out of the rock face and pool near the tide line. When it's warmed by the sun, bathing in the soft spring water provides a welcome relief from the briny Pacific, whose swells may have doused you as you nosed your kayak ashore.
Centuries-old Sitka spruce vainly struggle to reach heights that match their enormous girth. The Brooks's forests routinely withstand pummellings from winds on a scale that makes the microbursts that recently struck Stanley Park look like playground pinches. Despite this fierce reputation, pick a week when wind, waves, and weather harmonize and you'll find the welcome mat spread out not just along the south side of the peninsula but around almost all of Kyuquot Sound, which includes the Checleset Bay Ecological Reserve, where sea otters thrive among sheltering kelp beds.
In order to reach the Brooks Peninsula—most of which is now protected as a 51,631-hectare provincial park—you must pass through several groups of islands. Paddlers with campsites in mind will find the most appealing ones in Big Bunsby Marine Park. In fact, if you're only exploring for a few days, the Bunsby group of five major islands constitutes a fine destination in itself. The one drawback is a lack of fresh water. The nearest source is an hour's paddle away at Battle Bay on Vancouver Island. The Brooks Peninsula lies a three-hour paddle north of the Bunsbys.
If you're pressed for time, the best option for reaching the heart of Kyuquot Sound is to arrange for a ride on the local water taxi. Skipper Leo Jack operates the Voyager Water Taxi from his base in the village of Kyuquot, which he explained to the Straight during a visit there last summer is pronounced "ky-oo-cut". Jack started his business 12 years ago because "there was no work. The mining, fishing, and logging jobs are all gone." Now his days are spent ferrying groups of kayakers between drop-off points just about anywhere in the sound, with the exception of several islands that you need advance permission from the Kyuquot First Nation band office to visit.
Jack provides more than just simple transportation. With his guidance, you may well find yourself being steered toward a special place to camp, such as Island 195 in the Bunsbys or a cluster of beaches around Jackobson Point on the Brooks Peninsula's south coast.
Island 195 is so named because of its maximum elevation in feet above sea level. The diminutive island is the most westerly in the Bunsby group, and its white-shell beach faces the open ocean. There's hardly room for more than two tents above the tide line, which makes for an intimate setting from which to survey the nearby kelp beds. Above the roar of the surf can be heard the mewing of sea otter kits, which paddle back and forth along a watery highway with their mothers. Sea otters are surprisingly large, as much as 45 kilograms in weight and 150 centimetres long, and are covered in a soft thick coat that made them a prized catch centuries ago. Easily spotted, they play, preen, and munch on shellfish as they float lazily on their backs. At night, they wrap themselves in bull-kelp tendrils, which are anchored to the ocean floor, thus keeping them in place while they sleep.
Kyuquot Sound boasts an abundance of wildlife that would be the envy of any national park. Sleek river otters and black bandit-masked raccoons, bald eagles and Pacific loons, oystercatchers and belted kingfishers, as well as the occasional black bear, all work the shorelines in search of food. Come prepared with good lengths of rope and a pulley so you can hang your supplies well away from beaks and paws.
From the vantage point of a sea kayak gently rocking in the swells, all of this natural activity is gradually revealed as one hour fades into the next, a pace perfectly suited to a place that time forgot.
ACCESS: There are several launch points for an exploration of Kyuquot Sound, including the federal wharves at both Fair Harbour and the village of Kyuquot. To reach Fair Harbour, travel north from Nanaimo on Highway 19 to Nimpkish, a distance of about 300 kilometres. From there, head 35 kilometres southwest across the island to the village of Zeballos. Fair Harbour, which offers little more than a parking lot, a boat ramp, and a convenience store, is another hour's drive from there. The MV Uchuck III sails to Kyuquot from Gold River. To reach Gold River, travel from Nanaimo 150 kilometres north to Campbell River on Highway 19, then 90 kilometres west on Highway 28 to Gold River. The Uchuck III sails to Kyuquot on Thursdays and returns on Fridays. For rates and schedules, visit www.mvuchuck.com/ or call (250) 283-2325. For water taxi service in Kyuquot Sound, contact Voyager Water Taxi at (250) 332-5301 or visit www.voyagerwatertaxi.com/ .
A detailed description of kayaking Kyuquot Sound can be found in Kayak Routes of the Pacific Northwest Coast , by Peter McGee (Greystone Books, $22.95). Indispensable marine charts of the Bunsby Islands and Brooks Peninsula region are 3623 Kyuquot to Cape Cook and 3683 Checleset Bay, available from Ecomarine Ocean Kayak Centre (1668 Duranleau Street, Granville Island, 604-689-7575) and the Geological Survey of Canada (605 Robson Street). Kayak rental locations on Vancouver Island include Courtenay and Campbell River ( www.comoxvalleykayaks.com/ ), as well as Zeballos ( www.zeballoskayaks.com/ ). Tourism Vancouver Island's Web site, vancouverisland.travel/ , is another valuable resource. For information on ferry rates and schedules between Vancouver and Nanaimo, visit bcferries.com/ . To learn more about Brooks Peninsula Park and Big Bunsby Marine Park, visit www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/ .
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