Chewing sounds made me turn and come in for a better look and the dark stump became this guy. While investigating its shores I passed by what I thought was just a black stump or boulder on the shore – my vision being restricted by the setting sun. Nootka Island is a short distance across the channel from Esperanza. Most of my paddle to Esperanza was with fabulous mill pond-like conditions. Its nearest stop was at Esperanza, a mission camp about 20 kilometres from Zeballos. That plan changed when I learned of the ‘Uchuck’, a coastal freight vessel that also takes passengers. When I arrived in Zeballos I intended to paddle south through the inside waters of Nootka Sound to Gold River harbour. It’s not only trucks that haul logs on northern Vancouver Island. The morning following a very wet and thunderstormy night. Best I could find for a campsite on the outskirts of Zeballos. I knew the rain was coming and expected to be spending three days in Zeballos waiting for the sun to shine. The dry spell ended that night though and the tent was thoroughly tested with a deluge that lasted all night. I was looking for drinking water when I reached the valley bottom and crossed numerous dry creeks before finally being able to fill my water bottles. Zeballos like Bella Coola gets plenty of rain, but like Bella Coola when I arrived there, Zeballos was overdue for some wet. Braking on downhills is never a concern on pavement. There were a couple of dicey moments had me wishing I had made a tree drag as on the Bella Coola hill. If loose gravel were to cause a skid that had me putting a foot down to keep my balance, I likely wouldn’t be able to control the push from the canoe, except to try to immediately maneuver cross slope. My weight on the back tire provides all the braking traction on gravel roads. Once over the top, I was lucky to make it down the steep downhills without having a ‘train wreck’. I was happy to oblige him and used his camera to take pictures. The other fellow was keen to try pedalling the bike with the canoe in tow. After their shift, they’d driven out just to see how I was doing. It was a logging truck driver I’d spoken to earlier and his friend. Late in the day, a passing pick-up stopped. It was a warm day with plenty of dust but they’d slow when they saw me. The drag on a gravel road is much greater than on pavement which made it necessary to constantly get off and push. I don’t recall the elevation gain in crossing the divide from east coast to west but the effort expended that day was greater than either of the days crossing Rogers Pass or the Blueberry Paulson. Shortly after leaving the highway that road became gravel and was in heavy logging truck use. Wanting to have a look at Nootka Sound I decided to bike to Zeballos. Paddle and Cycle Fort Frances to New Lowell.Paddle and Cycle Saskatoon to Fort Frances.Paddle and Cycle Hudson Hope to Hay River.Cycle and Paddle Kitimat to Hudson Hope. The West Coast – Zeballos, Nootka Sound, Kyuquot.Port Hardy, Port Alice, Coal Harbour, Telegraph Cove.The Chilcotin – 108 Mile Ranch to Bella Coola.Columbia River – Invermere to Kinbasket Lake.Castlegar to Revelstoke via Arrow Lakes.
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