We spent last week on a cycling trip across the southern Gulf Islands. These lie in the stretch of sea between Vancouver Island and the US state of Washington. Around a hundred islands belong to the group in total. Only the five largest, though, are served by the BC Ferries.
For our round trip across the islands we got hold of two mountain bikes. At that point, though, we had no idea how literally we would come to feel their mountain-worthiness.
One of the two bikes was lent to us by Dan. Along with two panniers and cycle helmets, which are compulsory in British Columbia. The other bike we acquired through the local classifieds. With new brakes, grips and a bell we got it into shape for our trip.
With no plan as to which of the Gulf Islands we would visit exactly, or how many kilometres we wanted to cover each day, we cycled 30 km towards Swartz Bay. That is where the ferries to the Gulf Islands leave from. And even though we had slept in beforehand, let Dan spoil us with homemade pancakes and only packed our things afterwards, we were standing at the harbour shortly after 1 pm waiting for the ferry. We decided to cross first to Saturna Island, the most remote and, with 300 permanent residents, the least populated of the larger Gulf Islands.
When we arrived on Saturna Island, we headed for the island’s general store to stock up for our dinner. Our chosen campsite, you see, was at the other end of the island. And apart from the aforementioned general store and a pub at the harbour, there are not many food options on the island. Above all it meant limiting ourselves to the essentials, since there was not much room left in our panniers. My end-of-day cider counted among those absolutely essential purchases, of course.
From the general store it is 10 kilometres to the other end of the island. Although none of the Gulf Islands has a reputation for being particularly flat, the route was astonishingly easy. Happily we started our cycling trip on the last day of a long weekend. So all the other holidaymakers were already on their way home when we arrived at the small Narvaez Bay campsite. The campsite is beautifully idyllic, set in a sea bay that we explored first of all.
The lovely thing about the Gulf Islands is that there are no bears (let alone wolves), so you can sleep in the tent with peace of mind. Since it was low tide the next morning, we abandoned our plan to swim in the sea and cycled back along the island to the general store instead. Everybody apparently meets there in the morning to enjoy their morning coffee on the shop terrace. So that is what we did too, and let the rest of the morning drift by.
Soon it was time to head back to the harbour to board the next ferry. Destination: Galiano Island. The island stretches 26 km in length but is only up to 6 km wide - and has a reputation as the hilliest of the hilly Gulf Islands.
Yeeees, we could definitely confirm that on the ride to the campsite at Montague Harbour. Although the stretch we enjoy going downhill always seems ominously longer to me than the stretch we had to grind uphill for it. Especially with the return journey in mind… One decision at least was quickly made: we will not be exploring Galiano Island along its full length!
And something else suddenly dawned on us: the Expect deer at all times signs are all the more justified when you are on a bike. A deer ran across the road right in front of Jan and the two of them very nearly collided. I do not know which of them would have come off worse…
Sadly all the official campsites at Montague Harbour were already taken when we arrived in the evening. Happily there is an overflow area, though, for when the rush of campers is particularly heavy. The overflow area is not quite as lovely as the proper spots, but even these pitches have their own camping table.
At night a gang of raccoons ran riot around the campsite, stealing anything that was not nailed down. It is rather astonishing how many things Canadians leave lying outside overnight. They are evidently a nation of campers and should know what stirs the desires of the local wildlife… When there was still rustling in the bushes at dawn, I looked out of the tent. I expected the raccoons to show themselves again. But then it was a deer creeping out of the bushes across the campsite!
Even though we were in the middle of a multi-day cycling trip, by this third day we were already hoping to spend as little time as possible in the saddle. On the spur of the moment we rode to the Mount Galiano Trail to walk up the island’s highest mountain. No false modesty - the mountain is all of 341 m high, but the view in return is breathtaking! Somewhat restricted, sadly, since the air is rather hazy from the smoke of the forest fires on the mainland.
In the evening we headed to the Hummingbird Pub. Luckily for us we did not have to get on our bikes for that, but could fall back on the Hummingbird Bus. Alright, let us put it this way: if that bus did not run, we would definitely have preferred a round of ramen noodles on our camping stove to cycling the 2 km climb towards the pub.
The Hummingbird Bus, mind you, is not just any shuttle bus! As they board, the driver presses an instrument from his colourful collection into every passenger’s hands. During the ride everybody plays along together to the driver’s favourite songs for all they are worth. Sounds… deafening.
The next island we headed for was Salt Spring Island – with over 10,000 inhabitants the largest of the Gulf Islands. Although it lies right next to Galiano Island, the crossing took a full 1.5 hours. On the way you call at Mayne Island and Pender Island, which we left out of our trip. Salt Spring Island has not only three ferry terminals but also two settlements, of which the larger one, Ganges, even has a supermarket. Just as well that Ganges lay on our route between the ferry and the campsite.
What we were sadly not quite aware of: our campsite at Ruckle Park at the southern tip of the island lies a laborious 17 km from Ganges. Very, very laborious 17 km. That does not sound like much, but with the constant up and down it feels wretchedly long!!! The effort is worth it, though, because the campsite sits right in the dunes with a view of the surrounding islands. What is wonderful about Canadian campsites: you always have your own picnic table and plenty of space, so you never have to worry about your camping neighbour’s habits.
Since our ride to the campsite had been more than strenuous, one thing was clear for Salt Spring Island as well: there would be no let us explore the whole island tour. Instead we thought: why not ride up the island’s second highest mountain – Mount Tuam. A 10 kilometre road leads the 600 metres of elevation gain to the summit. Does not sound hard, does it? After 90 minutes we had the first 5 kilometres behind us. The last 500 m of those had already been appallingly steep. Do we want to, and can we, really put ourselves through the rest? What is there to see up there anyway? Is the view worth it? We ground out another 500 m uphill and then it happened for the first time in my life: I gave up.
At least it felt as though it were the first time. But: it felt good! Above all because the 3 minutes of downhill mountain biking in no way justified the 90-minute battle uphill!
The next morning we visited the famous Saturday Market in Ganges. Luckily we did not have to cycle but could hop straight onto the bus. I would have thought I would miss the South American markets irreplaceably. But: this market could definitely keep up in terms of colour and irresistible temptations!
At midday we headed back to Victoria on Vancouver Island. I would have assumed that on a multi-day cycling trip we would easily cover around 80 km a day. In fact our average was a mere 35 km! We will see whether we can improve on that on our next cycling trip.
