Kayaking in the Broughton Archipelago: August 12 2017: Poking Around

We'd decided to camp at Insect Island a second night and take today to just paddle around in the islands. Woke at 7:00 to mist rolling in and the sound of harbour porpoises huffing and blowing in the bay in front of the campsite. After watching them do their slow-motion back-and forth for a while, we set off for a ramble around the archipelago. As we were packing up, we could hear the racket of a bunch of young yahoos kayaking toward us, yelling and singing and making the worst din. Frightened they were going to camp at Insect Island, we arranged with our neighbours to come stay on their side of the campsite tonight if necessary.

We left the shrieking throng behind, paddling with more porpoises down Misty Passage, and topped up our water with some cedar tea from a little lake-fed stream in the unnamed cove west of Joe Cove, then went out to the edge of Queen Charlotte Sound where a panorama awaited: views up Vancouver Island, down to Malcolm Island and all the way to the Polkinghornes.

Exiting Misty Passage

Digital artifacts not present in the original view

It was calm and sunny, just an ideal day. The humpbacks thought so too: they began to blow, to slap tails, and to dive in every direction around us as we skirted the very edge of Queen Charlotte Strait.

After a couple hours watching the show, we noticed a weather front coming in from the north, so we decided to wander back to camp after lunch.

Hauling our boats up onto the rocks at Start Island for lunch, I slipped on some seaweed and took a nice big chunk out of my hand on an ancient barnacle. Which is why you take the first-aid kit even on day trips.

After lunch we picked our way back through the maze of islands and up Arrow Passage, where we got a stunning view of the mountains beyond. Near Mars Island a yacht from Vancouver, WA whipped by us, creating a nice wake to surf, then spun around and crept over to us, donating a nice salmon filet to our meal tonight! The rain caught up with us just as we landed, and we hastily erected tarps to keep our kitchen dry. The yahoos from this morning hadn't decided to camp here, thank god, and we had a fantastic if slightly soggy meal, topped off with slightly too much scotch. After the wonderful whale show and our porpoise companions, wildlife highlights of the evening included a fantastic big warty frog on the trail, and a big dark-brown mink on the beach.

On the Insect Island beach at sundown