July
29th – August 1st: We are the only boat anchored in Matilda Inlet. The
locals tell us there were six to ten boats up until yesterday. Ahouset
General store, restaurant, hotel, fuel dock, showers, laundry and boat
works is owned by Hugh Clarke. Hugh grew up in Hot Springs cove and his
dad Ivan generously donated the property that allowed Canada to
establish the Maquinna Provincial Park and preserve the hot springs and
rock pools in their natural state.
While anchored we dinghy ashore for numerous meals at the restaurant, a hot shower and clean laundry. Tami from Novia Scotia found her way to Ahouset and stayed. She now runs the restaurant and is chief cook, dishwasher and baker. She does quite a nice job. She introduced us to Mark, University of Victoria researcher who told us how to find the local hiking trails. Taking our trusty ET dinghy we find the warm springs ‘pool’ and venture onto the trail Mark sent us to. Wearing the boots he recommended is good as the trail takes us up and over a lowland old growth tree studded muddy bog to a beautiful deserted beach known as Third Beach. As we tie up ET we notice fresh wolf tracks just under the incoming tide water. Mark had advised us about wolf, bear and cougar so we each take an oar with us to fend off any that we come upon. Thankfully it is only cougar and wolf tracks that we see. The hike is well worth it, the sandy beach is beautifully situated against the old growth trees and the only person we see is a lone kayaker at the far end of the sweeping beach.
Our next dinghy adventure is just across the way to the native Ahousat tribal town of Marktosis. We hike the town and most noticeably there is a total lack of any kind of community store or enterprise. We had talked with one of the locals over breakfast and he said people sometimes gather and have community meals each sharing their fish catch, their fresh baked goods or fresh produce which makes us think there is no need really for a store. Our walk about takes us past the school which has some wonderful native paintings on part of the building. We know that there is a Wild Side Heritage Trail which is a joint venture between the tribal community and other government groups but with a $25 fee we decided not to take the trail. We did stop at the boat shed to see if any canoes were still being carved but a local man told us that the carver had passed on last year and no one is carving anymore. We talked a while longer. He says they are laying new cable across the sound so they will have better communications. We return to ET passing dozens of Ahouset tribal people of all ages enjoying the water and lounging on the docks.
While anchored we dinghy ashore for numerous meals at the restaurant, a hot shower and clean laundry. Tami from Novia Scotia found her way to Ahouset and stayed. She now runs the restaurant and is chief cook, dishwasher and baker. She does quite a nice job. She introduced us to Mark, University of Victoria researcher who told us how to find the local hiking trails. Taking our trusty ET dinghy we find the warm springs ‘pool’ and venture onto the trail Mark sent us to. Wearing the boots he recommended is good as the trail takes us up and over a lowland old growth tree studded muddy bog to a beautiful deserted beach known as Third Beach. As we tie up ET we notice fresh wolf tracks just under the incoming tide water. Mark had advised us about wolf, bear and cougar so we each take an oar with us to fend off any that we come upon. Thankfully it is only cougar and wolf tracks that we see. The hike is well worth it, the sandy beach is beautifully situated against the old growth trees and the only person we see is a lone kayaker at the far end of the sweeping beach.
Our next dinghy adventure is just across the way to the native Ahousat tribal town of Marktosis. We hike the town and most noticeably there is a total lack of any kind of community store or enterprise. We had talked with one of the locals over breakfast and he said people sometimes gather and have community meals each sharing their fish catch, their fresh baked goods or fresh produce which makes us think there is no need really for a store. Our walk about takes us past the school which has some wonderful native paintings on part of the building. We know that there is a Wild Side Heritage Trail which is a joint venture between the tribal community and other government groups but with a $25 fee we decided not to take the trail. We did stop at the boat shed to see if any canoes were still being carved but a local man told us that the carver had passed on last year and no one is carving anymore. We talked a while longer. He says they are laying new cable across the sound so they will have better communications. We return to ET passing dozens of Ahouset tribal people of all ages enjoying the water and lounging on the docks.
August 1st – 4th: Anchors up
and underway to Quaite Bay. This peaceful bay seems a good time to just
relax and read more books. We don’t swim as there seem to be numerous
jelly fish about. We do take ET to the dock of an obviously closed
floating hotel. We had read that you can get permission from the
caretaker to hike the trail to the lake and waterfall. We hike all
around the lavish grounds in search of the caretaker but never find him.
We have read that the now closed resort at one time had dinners
costing $100 and people flew in from all over to come. Perhaps the cost
of dinner just go too high (?). Out of curiosity I will look up
Pinkerton or Clayoquot Wilderness lodge sometime and see what happened
to the lodge. It is a beautiful floating structure with ‘state of the
art self contained sewer and hydro powerplant’, full spa, restaurant and
long house, now vacant!
August 4th-5th: We have some
wind in the right direction for a change so we sail most of the way up
Bedwell Inlet. There are a number of fish culture growing pens along
the way as well as a very large sea lion. We notice numerous small
boats heading up the inlet and are surprised to find what appears to be a
bustling small community at the head of the inlet. We see a horse
drawn wagon that comes to the dock to pick up visitors and many kayaks,
white canvas tents and A frames. The wind is gusting to 20 knots so we
did not tie up and explore this trip but I will research the settlement
of Oinimitis and Quortsowe (one inlet over) to see if we can venture in
next season. Perhaps another hiking opportunity! Bedwell Inlet is
fiord like with steep sides, dramatic mountains as a backdrop and solid
granite walls in places. We also see many gravel and grass patches and
watching these pays off as we finally see another couple of bears at
water’s edge.
We anchor two nights in Ritchie Bay. Still too many jelly fish to swim but crabbing is quite good. Carl drops Pam on shore and she reads while Carl takes the dinghy out and ‘fishes’ for crabs using a very small folding crab trap on the end of his fishing pole. We have so many crab that we sort them all out in the cockpit and send the smaller ones back to the sea. This evening we dine on fresh crab and wash it all down with the last of Craig’s home brew beers.
We anchor two nights in Ritchie Bay. Still too many jelly fish to swim but crabbing is quite good. Carl drops Pam on shore and she reads while Carl takes the dinghy out and ‘fishes’ for crabs using a very small folding crab trap on the end of his fishing pole. We have so many crab that we sort them all out in the cockpit and send the smaller ones back to the sea. This evening we dine on fresh crab and wash it all down with the last of Craig’s home brew beers.
August 5th- 8th: We have made it back to the land of cell phones and
internet. We motored into the wind for three hours off the coast from
Clayoquot Sound back to Ucluelet. Here we will anchor out, catch up
with family and friends via internet, and change the transmission fluid.
Today we hiked to town, had showers, did laundry and picked wonderful
raspberries and fresh tomatoes at Cam and Laura’s backyard garden.
Tomorrow we are off to Barklay Sound for ten plus days before we top
off our tanks and head home. Will get back in touch when we come in
for fuel.
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