Riding the Tide at Skookumchuck Narrows
Sense Memory from the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia in September 2018
When: September 2018
Where: Skookumchuck Narrows on the Sunshine Coast
Road Trip: Sunshine Coast
What: hike and photography
Accompaniment: Nighttalk by Giant Party
The rapids at Skookumchuck Narrows are formed by the changing of the tide. We'd planned to camp at Saltery Bay on the north side of the water, but the ferry schedule and the tide chart weren't lining up: if we wanted to see the show at the Narrows, we needed to be on the far side in the morning.
We took the ferry south, and pulled up in Egmont late on Friday afternoon. A beautiful hotel that looked too expensive was fully booked with a wedding, so we headed down the road to what seemed like the town. There wasn't much to it: a handful of buildings, a small general store. Beside the general store, a few rooms served as a small hotel. A phone number was taped to the locked door.
We called, tired and hopeful. One wedding guest hadn't been able to make it, and his room was available! The owner of both hotel and general store took us up, explaining how happy the cancelled guest would be that he didn't have to pay for it.
We woke up to a misty morning. I didn't really feel like going for a hike, but we'd changed our plans to see the Narrows, so to the Narrows we would go. We hopped in the car and drove maybe a quarter of a mile, looking for the trailhead, before we realized there was no parking lot and we should just go from here.
The trail wound through a lush, mossy Pacific Northwest forest. A fair number of people were headed out, some moving so slow we weren't sure they'd make it in time to see the rapids.
When we reached the narrows, a small crowd was gathered on a rocky outcropping overlooking the wide strait. Photographers pointed expensive lenses at kayakers playing in the rapids created by the tide just offshore. Mostly little whitewater kayaks, but a couple longer sea kayaks. One at a time, they danced in and out of the lead rapid, surfing a smooth patch at the center and delving into whitewater to either side.
While I took photos, my husband befriended a young couple who'd come from Squamish to ride the rapids. The woman had cold feet. Her partner and my husband gave her a pep talk — she'd do awesome! At last, she decided to go for it. We cheered her on as she took her place on the rapids. And she did awesome.
Sunshine Coast Road Trip
I booked a cabin on the water in Lund, where we saw Desolation Sound. It's really out there, with only a handful of places to eat. But what a spectacular place. Desolation Sound was incredibly calm — there's a marine park that's only accessible by kayak. Desolation Sound is also the start of a rugged backpacking trail. We didn't make it all the way out the drive to the tip of the land, which we found out later the locals joked about how many people needed a tow to get out of.
I'd left our itinerary loose for the last couple days, which turned out to be a bit of a mistake — the Sunshine Coast is apparently a getaway for folks from Vancouver, so we were competing with weekend travelers taking a last-of-summer trip. I would recommend reservations, especially on weekends.
We stopped in Powell's River for lunch but there didn't seem to be much to it, so we headed down to Saltery Bay and then across the ferry to Egmont. From Egmont we headed down to Sechelt, which I wouldn't recommend, at least on a weekend — everything closed down early and we stayed at the worst hotel of my life (though we did get a tasty dinner). We spent forty-five minutes in the local traveler's center using their phone to call every hotel and BnB they had the contact info for, and everyone required a two-night stay on weekends even though it was Saturday night. We probably should have taken the gamble and driven on to Roberts Creek or Gibsons to see if we could find anything there.
Fortunately, we checked the ferry for our return to Vancouver the evening before, and discovered every ferry between 9am and 9pm was booked, so we made last-minute reservations for an early morning ferry and skipped our final day planned to explore Roberts Creek, Gibsons and Langdale.
See our trip report for the entire Vancouver Island - Sunshine Coast road trip. For more research, check out the "Coastal Circle Route" promoted by B.C.
Been to the Sunshine Coast or Vancouver Island? Share your suggestions!