Northern BC trip, July 2008.

Profister · Post by **Profister** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 2:46 pm

This post might help other enthusiasts thinking of or planning a similar trip. I will try to give you a general idea of the trip and provide the link to the full photo album after.
Let’s the story begin. It all started on July 29th with a morning ferry ride from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo where we did some shopping, had a breakfast, waved another Delica and headed West to Ucluelet on Hwy 4.

Profister · Post by **Profister** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 3:01 pm

At the end of the day we arrived to the Surf Junction campground were we made a reservation a month earlier.
The campground was populated with surfing lovers and we even spotted another Delica with 2 young guys staying 2 sites from us.
The next day we went to Ucluelet and spent most of it on Wild Pacific Trail enjoying the ocean views and a salted breeze.

To be continued...

Profister · Post by **Profister** » Thu Aug 07, 2008 3:18 pm

Next day which was July 1st we went to Tofino expecting to join Canada Day celebration but the town was quiet with tourists wandering around and another Delica parked on the street. After visiting a couple of the gift shops we decided to go to the Long Beach. The first stop was Radar Hill where we found nothing but a bunch of people looking at the mountains around covered with low thick clouds. After reading the story about this place we headed to the Long Beach.

Profister · Post by **Profister** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 2:33 pm

It was a low tide so we managed to go pretty far away from the trail spending a few hours exploring tiny islands around.

Profister · Post by **Profister** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 3:30 pm

The next morning, July 2nd we left Ucluelet and headed east on Hwy 4. Destination – Port Hardy. While refueling in Port Alberni we found that diesel was 10 cents cheaper than in Vancouver. After having lunch in Courtney we spent the rest of the day driving to Port Hardy. At the end of the day we arrived to Quatse River Regional Park and Campground http://www.quatsecampground.com/index.htm where we were impressed with the height of Giant Spruce trees and after checking in went to see the town. Unfortunately it was too late and we ended with looking around and taking pictures.
This evening we noticed that the sun went down later as it was not not really dark until 11 pm.

Profister · Post by **Profister** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 3:29 pm

Next morning, July 3 we woke up at 5 am to pack up and go to the ferry terminal. It was a 5-minute drive in the rainy morning and a 2-hour boarding process after. While idling in a long line of cars, campers, RV’s etc. we spotted another Delica far behind us. Later we met the driver and her kids. The departure was scheduled for 7:30 am but we were required to check in 1.5-2 hours prior to the departure. When we finally got on board we could see why it took 2 hours to load the ferry. Unlike ferries sailing between Vancouver and Vancouver Island this one had the doors and the ramp on one-end only, so every single vehicle had to turn around on the deck including big RV’s and trailers. The captain and a dozed of crew members were orchestrating this process.
After leaving the van we checked-in with a chief steward, got the key from the cabin and went to the upper deck. The Northern Adventure started! Actually that was the name of the ferry.

Post by **FalcoColumbarius** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 7:54 pm

Pretty Pictures, Profister... I see you found yet another Chamonix on the ferry, too!

Falco.

Profister · Post by **Profister** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 4:09 pm

Hey Falco, if you take a closer look at the pre-boarding picture you will find this Deli too. The picture of the crew is coming soon!

Profister · Post by **Profister** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 4:29 pm

14.5 hours on a ferry is not that much if you have a place to hide. We had a cabin and enough time to take a shower and a nap and whatever was necessary to fell like we are taking a break because we had a long way to drive ahead.
In Bella Bella we were watching the captain boarding vehicles again and it was a bit scary to see them backing up a long way on a ramp. After that we had mountains on the left, mountains on the right, water ahead of us, water behind us and bikers drinking on the deck for the rest of the trip. The only complain we had was the amount of food offered and the fact that we could not resist.

konadog · Post by **konadog** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 7:47 am

Awesome trip and a great set of pictures - keep em coming ! Thanks

Profister · Post by **Profister** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 10:25 am

The scheduled arrival time to Prince Rupert was 11:30 pm but we were there 30 min earlier wich nobody complained about. The weather was miserable with rain and fog, it was dark but thanks to GPS we found Aleeda Motel where we had a reservation with no problems.
Next morning we got in touch with another Delica operator Cat and met her and her kids for breakfast. I took a picture of them and their Delica and sent it to her later, so hopefully she will introduce herself on the forum. At this occasion I am posting a picture of both our Delica's taken at the same time. After breakfast Cat with kids went to Terrace and we spent some time in Northern BC Museum
On the way to Lakelse campground where we had to meet Docsavage, Josh and Falco we stopped in Port Edward to visit North Pacific Cannery. It was quite interesting and informative. One of the attractions there was an enormous number of hummingbirds flying around and you can see why on the picture. BTW you can rent one of those heritage houses for $75/night.

Profister · Post by **Profister** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 4:20 pm

We arrived to Lakelse campground by the end of the day, checked in and tried to locate the rest of the attendees. After circling the campground we gave up, went back to the booth to get some firewood and we were told that 2 more vehicles like ours passed through and the guys were asking about us. Sure enough it was a piece of paper with their site number waiting for us on our site. We were talking and discussing a lot that evening but the rain wrapped it up finally. Next morning Falco kept everyone busy with packing up his monster tent

, only me and my wife pretended we were busy taking pictures and it worked I think

. The group breakfast in Terrace next morning was good and it was time for us to continue our journey. James, Josh and Rose headed back home and Falco with his son Andrew joined us to go to the Crabfest in Gingolx.
If anyone wants to contribute to the post at this point please do so before I go to the next page, Lava Bed Memorial Park. Falco, I know you have more pictures.

Post by **FalcoColumbarius** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 10:27 pm

Here's a few pictures

: Lakelse I .JPG (154.1 KiB) Viewed 6565 times

A picture of the photographer taking a picture (good shot, Sima).

: Group Shot.JPG (179.93 KiB) Viewed 6519 times

After Everything was packed up we all posed.

: Portrait Of Profister.JPG (190.4 KiB) Viewed 6564 times

Profister taking a portrait.

: Nisga'a House.JPG (151.28 KiB) Viewed 6563 times

A Nisga'a House.

: Miles O'Lava.JPG (103.23 KiB) Viewed 6559 times

It was a very big eruption.

: & Lot's Of Water.JPG (143.81 KiB) Viewed 6558 times

The Lava becomes flood plains.

: In Gingolx.JPG (136.16 KiB) Viewed 6562 times

At The Crab Fest

Profister · Post by **Profister** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 11:58 am

Thanks Falco for the great shots! It is rare that I can see pictures of myself

Anhluut’ukwsim Laxmihl Angwinga’asanskwhl Nisga’a (Nisga’a Memorial Lava Bed Park) was our next destination point. 18,000 hectares (3 km x 2 km) of lava surrounded by mountains looked unreal, you feel like you are on another planet. The picture of the visitor centre provided by Falco is shown above; the campground we stayed on was just behind it. After visiting the Crabfest in Gingolx with Falco where we had a Delica presentation for a group of curious fellows and late lunch in the village park Falco headed back home and we took a self-guided tour to look at tree cast, tree mould, lava tubes and caves. The guided tour to the volcano crater was scheduled for the next morning and although we could stay and spend $60 to see it we decided to save time and money heading north in the morning. Glacier highway and Stewart town were next on the list.

mararmeisto · Post by **mararmeisto** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 12:20 pm

W O W ! Those are spectacular pictures. Be sure to add them to one of your photo albums - that way they can cycle through the thumbnails at the top and bottom of the pages.