Long Weekend Camping at Cape Scott
San Josef Bay
I decided when I came back to the west coast that I would spend one long weekend camping at San Josef Bay on the island. I’d been once before when I’d hiked part of the Cape Scott Trail but that was a long time ago. Ever since I’d wanted to return and now seemed like the ideal time.
Cape Scott is a pretty rugged and exposed part of the coast that is frequently covered in fog or rain. The best time to visit is usually August at the height of summer but this year’s been pretty hot already so it seemed like the July weekend would be okay.
I wanted to go earlier than later so that I could also pick up my bike at my Dad’s place. Going on the July long weekend would give me an extra month of summer with the bike than if I waited until August. The downside was that July long-weekend is probably the buisest for BC Ferries, a shitty crown corporation that doesn’t have enough crew for the very few ships they have. It’s pretty disgusting that the CEO, making millions every year, has accepted that having 2 or even 3 sailing waits (4–6 hours) is normal on a weekend.
It’s possible to buy a reservation in advance but they sell out really quick and then you’re stuck gambling on what ferry you’ll take. Being in North Vancouver, I’m about a 20 minute drive from Horseshoe bay but BC ferries decided to shift more ferries out of Tsawwassen instead. So at noon on friday I looked online and Horsehoebay was backed up three sailings to an 8:30 ferry. Tsawwassen was looking like a a 2 sailing wait but because they were more frequent, I could get on a 4:30 or 5:45. So I cut my day short and drove through Vancouver just so that I could take a longer ferry and drive further on the island to go North but arriver 3 hours earlier. It was dumb, but not the worst to come.
Cape Scott is the northern point of Vancouver Island and fairly remote but not difficult to access. From Port Hardy it’s about 1.5 hours driving on well graded gravel roads to the parking lot, which was full for the weekend. I decided to camp at San Josef because it’s easy to get to — just 2.5km that takes about 45 minutes to hike. In comparison, the next closest beach, Nissen Bight is 16.8km from the trailhead at about 6 hours. Of the beaches, San Josef might also be the prettiest because of the sea stacks, some rock formations at one end.
On the first day I decided to hike Mt. St. Patrick. It was a pretty good hike, although not too long, but I was delighted at the views from the top. I’d expected the peak to be just trees but it’s actually exposed so there are views all around.
I didn’t take many photos on my trip and I wasn’t all that excited about any of them either. I think my photography is really languishing and I’m in a bit of a rut. That said, I did get some okay photos at sunset with the tide going out and the sun setting, casting a warm volume of golden light into the next bay.
I spent two nights at Cape Scott and on the second day I mostly just hung out on the beach reading. There wasn’t really anywhere else to hike that wouldn’t be short so I tried my best just to relax and enjoy being out in the woods.
It’s probably a good thing because on the return trip I made good time to Nanaimo and then sat in the ferry terminal for some 7–8 hours waiting for the ferry. Even though I got there at 4pm, there was a medial delay and just not enough boats so the 10:40 ferry I was scheduled to take didn’t leave till well after 11. By the time I got into vancouver it was 1:30 and I didn’t go to bed till 2:30AM. That made for a rough following morning but I consuled myself that I’d atleast had a good time on the island.
