June 16, Naka Creek to Alder Bay

Early in the morning on the 16th, I woke up to very strong winds from the Northwest. Although Northwesterlies had been predicted, the winds that arrived were probably strong enough to keep us ashore another day. And they were definitely strong enough to get me out of my sleeping bag to tighten up our tent guys and take our tarp down, which was in danger of shredding in the strong gusts. I spent an hour awake wondering if the 16th would be another stationary day, eventually drifting off again around 3.

Morning dawned, however, overcast and calm. The last forecast we had received predicted Northwesterlies that would slow our progress, but wouldn't keep us from making some progress. In fact, those winds never really materialized. We received a push from an ebbing tide, and made good progress all day long.

By this time, we were running low on food from our resupply in Sidney, so we were able to stop in a small community called Telegraph Cove, where we found very limited supplies which would nevertheless get us though to Port Hardy. We also found, as Emily would say, young kids with guitars. That is, the summer tourist season is gearing up and most of the people we saw where 20-somethings evidently working summer jobs. Lots of apathy and not a lot of good information.

Nevertheless, we got a coffee and ate pancakes and were off again. A nearby RV park was one possibility for camping for the night, but we hoped to go farther and the camping did not look especially inviting.

So we pushed on, aiming for the "Alder Bay Resort," where we knew there to be RV camping. We also saw any number of good camping beaches in this section; the landscape of Northern Vancouver Island is truly well suited for kayaking. Just before Alder bay, we saw our first bear of the trip, a Black bear (which Carl remarked, with surprise, "was actually black!")

At Alder bay, we discussed continuing, but were unsure of further camping options and the tide was by this time running strongly against us and we were finally facing a bit of a headwind. On top of it all, we could see dedicated tent sits which looked vey comfortable. We decided to cruise in for a look.

We found the "resort" to ve a very relaxed campground with a nice tenting area, a kayak launch, friendly and helpful owners, laundry, showers, running water, and a food truck operated by a hilarious older couple. Just about exactly what we needed. We managed to shower, do a load of laundry, and eat two restaurant meals--three meals in a row, after our Telegraph Cove second lunch--before leaving the following morning.

Beautiful sunset that night as well.

And, to top it off, we had finally put in a solid mileage day during which we were not afraid of taking a swim.