M stands for moving

Posted on Tuesday, 2022-Mar-15th by ralph
Steamy logging trash 7D2_6900

Not part of the interpretive trail, rather in contrast to it

I was on a nice little day hike that took me to Beaver Lake and an interpretive trail. Plus I had a great camping spot right by the little lake I had found on the aerial photos of the area. Where I was had two lakes to fish, one right by me and one within walking distance. On top of that, there were lots of logging roads around here to explore. So why would I bother to move camping spots? Well, let’s just say the weekend was coming… Continue reading →

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Fishing and boondocking spots found

Posted on Friday, 2022-Mar-11th by ralph

Kidney Lake PXL_20220215_000714386I had decided to move on from Coal Harbour, as my explorations did not reveal any other really good boondocking spots. I could try one of the spots I had scouted if nothing worked out in the new area I was going to check out, near Beaver Lake. Based on what I had seen in the aerial photos of the area, there were a few spots that looked promising, surely one of them would work out for some boondocking.
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Little bit of fishing, little bit of tourism, little bit of fossil hunting

Posted on Friday, 2022-Mar-4th by ralph

Stephens Lake fishing PXL_20220210_234815633 The day dawned with barely a cloud in the sky, unusual weather  on Vancouver Island this time of year. I intended to take advantage of the blue sky day and get some fishing in. The forecast was for more good weather following today. My plan was to walk into Coal Harbour and play tourist, snapping pictures with my tourist camera and gawking at the sites. I also wanted to scout a potential boondocking spot near town – for future potential visits. That ended up with some disappointment, but an unexpected surprise as well. Continue reading →

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I found more snow, but decided to run away from it

Posted on Tuesday, 2022-Mar-1st by ralph

Tree in the way PXL_20220203_191942861The weather at Coal Harbour was about to turn very rainy. I had one more day of better weather to go explore down a road and see if I could get to Ruperts Inlet from my boondocking spot. Would I be able to hack it or would the bush thwart me? Where would I find snow?
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Hiking and hacking the brush roads

Posted on Friday, 2022-Feb-25th by ralph

Dew drops on the brush SR601032My new spot was on the other end of the “time since logged” scale – an area that had been logged 30 odd years ago. It looked like a forest rather than recovering logging scar. I was at one of the few  large clear areas remaining – a former aggregate pit that was behind my rig. But how would hiking be down the roads, I wondered, too much brush to deal with?
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Hacking a spot

Posted on Tuesday, 2022-Feb-22nd by ralph

Coal Harbour branch entrance PXL_20220130_194615610
Remember how I mentioned in a previous post that areas which have not been logged in a while are likely to have over grown roads? Well, it turns out the area I had scouted out was in this category. My time here was to be characterized by hacking back vegetation to get my RV in, and hacking my way through bush to get where I wanted to go!
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Varney hikes in fog and sun

Posted on Friday, 2022-Feb-18th by ralph

Trees lean on SR600982I had already hiked a bit in the area exploring to find my new boondocking spot. There was so much more around here to explore. I was going to have no problem walking a new road everyday for the next few days. The weather was setting up for an unusually clear but chilly at night spell. Good thing I’d been able to fill my propane! The days made those cool nights worth it, lots of pretty pictures with the sun and the fog and blue sky to point my camera at.

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Heading for the hills

Posted on Tuesday, 2022-Feb-15th by ralph

Looking back to RV PXL_20220121_001217821My vision of boondocking in BC when I first contemplated the idea was to head up any logging road and camp somewhere up in the hills. Logging is everywhere in BC, I thought this would be easy. Turns out that it is more difficult than I thought, but certainly possible, if you look hard enough for it. After my re-supply I was planning on heading up my first logging road, to the dizzying height of 100 metres above sea level.

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Popular spot at Rupert Inlet

Posted on Friday, 2022-Feb-11th by ralph

Tree Island in mist PXL_20220114_004113352My spot in Rupert Inlet was really nice for being right on the water, with a great view out of my dining area windows. However, the area attracted a lot of visitors, some just stopping by to look at the scene, others coming to launch their boat, and one group of kids that came for some late night drinking.

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Rupert Inlet – new cell booster and new explorations

Posted on Tuesday, 2022-Feb-8th by ralph
Ruper Inlet hill SR600928

Looking across the inlet

My new spot on Rupert Inlet had been recommended by one of the locals at the bike shop in Port McNeill. It turned out this was a site formerly maintained by the forestry company. Now, it is just a couple of outhouses, a gravel boat launch, and some level spots to park, with informal fire rings. But it is not abandoned due to lack of popularity, even in the winter people come here as I was to find out.

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