We got to the parking lot and started down the
trail. The trail was short and pleasant,
and before we knew it, we were at the Surge Narrows lookout.
 |
| Trail to Surge Narrows |
 |
| Surge Narrows |
Surge Narrows is located just off Hoskyn Channel. They are tidal currents, and from what Dave
told us, they are quite spectacular when the tide is coming in. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a strong “spring
tide” that day, meaning the difference between low and high tides that day was
moderate, so the tidal currents were likewise moderate. Spring tides produce more impressive currents
at this location. It was still a very
nice spot, and we spent several hours relaxing on the rocky lookout, enjoying
the scenery.
Almost immediately after the peak of the tidal flood, the
current reversed as the tide began to ebb again, and we headed back up the
trail to the parking lot. On our way
back to the We Wai Kai Campground, we stopped at Village Bay Lake and did the
short trail there. We spent a bit more
time there than the length of the trail required, as we were ambushed by some
very aggressive huckleberries.
 |
| Village Bay Lake |
The next day, we got up early, ready for what was going
to be our toughest hike of the trip. We would
be climbing Mount Seymour, the highest mountain on Quadra Island. The trail gained over 600 metres in
elevation, so we knew it would not be easy to make it to the top.
The first bit of trail ascended fairly steeply on an old
logging road. I found myself huffing and
puffing more than on the other days of the trip. After hiking for awhile, we got to the
junction where the final ascent to the summit began. We were getting close to the summit, but it
still felt so far away.
As we ascended more and more, we started to get some
views, teasing us of what was to come at the summit. We got a view of one of the Nugedzi Lakes,
our destination after we summited the mountain.
 |
| One of the Nugedzi Lakes |
As we continued hiking, I kept thinking that we were on
the last push, only to see the trail stretch on further. Every time I thought we were at the top, the
trail moved downhill, losing elevation, only to climb up again. It began to feel like we were on a roller
coaster.
Eventually we made it to the top, where there were two
viewpoints. From one, we could see
Vancouver Island; from the other, we got views of the Coast Mountains on the
mainland. The view was quite stunning,
and I would say that climbing Mount Seymour was the highlight of Quadra Island
for me.
 |
| Looking towards Vancouver Island |
 |
| The Coast Mountains |
After a lengthy break, we headed back down the trail, and
then we turned onto the trail to the Nugedzi Lakes. We would be doing the hike as a loop rather
than a linear trail, and I am very glad we did it that way. The Nugedzi Lakes and the summit of Mount
Seymour are both worth seeing, and I think it would be a shame to see one and
miss out on the other.
The first lake we came to was Little Nugedzi Lake. It was a nice lake and I enjoyed the hike
along its edge very much.
 |
| Little Nugedzi Lake |
After we got beyond the first lake, we took a side trail
to a lookout of Seymour Narrows. This short
detour was well worth doing, as we ended up getting a very nice view.
 |
| Seymour Narrows |
Back on the main trail, we soon reached Nugedzi Lake. I was tempted to go swimming, as it didn’t
feel too cold, but I decided against it, as my hiking pants don’t feel nice
when they are wet (and I had neglected to bring my swimming trunks).
 |
| Nugedzi Lake |
Continuing on, we came to another side trail that went to
the Lily Pond and a lookout of the Chinese Mountains. Again, this was a side trip that was worth
making, as both the pond and the lookout were very nice. Dave pointed out an ancient beaver dam that
was overgrown with vegetation. He also
pointed out some sundews, which are carnivorous plants. Bending down to touch one, he pretended to
become stuck. As Dave is vegetarian, I
noted the irony of a plant consuming a plant-eater.
 |
| Lily Pond |
 |
| View of Rebecca Spit |
We were soon on the main trail again, and the descent
that followed was very steep and rocky.
As I struggled down the trail, I couldn’t help but be glad we hiked the
trail in the direction we did. Going up
this side would have been twice as exhausting.
We made it back to our vehicle and headed back to our
campground. I was quite happy that we
had succeeded at completing the most difficult hike of our trip. It had been a tiring day, but it was easily
one of my favourite days of the trip.
The next day was the last of our trip. We made our way to the village of Cape Mudge,
where we would be doing our last hike on Quadra Island: the hike to the Cape
Mudge Lighthouse.
 |
| The trail to the lighthouse |
We were delayed quite a bit as we hiked the trail, as
there was an abundance of perfectly ripe salmonberries on both sides of the
trail. The salmonberries were one of the
best parts of the trip for me, as we had access to them just about every. We really went to town on them on this last trail,
as we knew it would be awhile before we would have them again.
 |
| Salmonberries |
 |
| View of Campbell River |
It wasn’t long before we had reached the lighthouse. We stopped for awhile and enjoyed the views
of Campbell River to the west. Once we
had gotten our fill, we turned around and headed back to the vehicle.
 |
| Cape Mudge Lighthouse |
We had lunch and got on the ferry to Campbell River. It was sad to be leaving Quadra Island, but I
knew I would be back sometime. Both
islands that we visited were what I would consider to be paradises, and I know
I will never tire of them.
On our way back to Victoria, we made one final stop at
Miracle Beach Provincial Park. It felt
nice to have a stop to break up the drive, and I enjoyed seeing the beach at
low tide.
 |
| Miracle Beach |
We were soon in Victoria and saying goodbye to Dave. After a visit with my sister and her family,
we would be on the road heading back to Princeton the next day. I couldn’t believe how fast the vacation had
passed.
No comments:
Post a Comment