We left the campground just as loads of people were showing up for the weekend and headed to the far north west coast of the island. The plan was to camp the first night on the beach at San Josef Bay and then hike back out, reload and head out on the North Coast Trial. A stop for Timmy Hortons coffee allowed us to check the weather. The forecast was for rain all day on Sunday so we decided to just get to the beach at San Josef and stay put for the next couple of nights. My endurance just isn’t up for hauling heavy packs five and half hours one way for a one night stay then back out the next morning. The drive up was long but fast until we hit the gravel logging roads. Basically from Port Hardy (Cafe Guido has awesome coffee) it is al logging roads to the coast. Given that is was Canada Day today, we didn’t see any trucks but we did find a road side monument. A huge pile of shoes, with some nailed to the tree. I’m not sure the significance, I’ll try googling when we get internet! And the Internet says it was started in 1989 by a local resident for no particular reason!

Once we hit the trailhead the caretakers warned us that the beach was crowded for Canadian standards, 45 people or so were already camped down there. Not sure what to expect, we figured it couldn’t be any worse than the campground at the rim of the Grand Canyon, so away we went! The hike down is really easy and goes through some beautiful coastal rainforests. Some of the trees are giants! We made it to the beach around 6:30 pm and found a spot easily. The other campers are all well spaced and tucked into the tree line so it feels like we have the beach to ourselves! The camp area provides two food caches and one outhouse but no water.

There are actually two beaches for camping down here but the other beach is only accessible during low tides. Today (Sunday) we hiked around the coast during low tide and played with the underwater and microscope features of the camera.

 

Other than some exploring today was an exceptionally relaxing day. The weather was intermittent rain and mist so lots of reading under the tarp and napping in the tent.