Broughton Archipelago

Go Bill tries to figure out the night before we leave
how to fit everything into the kayak he'll be using.
Go Randy finished building our double kayak
just a few days before departure
Go At the dock in Port McNeill. This water taxi carried us and our kayaks
20 miles east to the Broughton Archipelago Marine Provincial Park.
Randy and I are wearing dry suits we rented to try out on this trip.
Go Map. We took a water taxi from Port McNeill to Broughton Archipelago
and paddled back to Telegraph Cove six days later.
Go Map of our route and campsites
Go Barren spot where water taxi dropped us off on the north side of Crib Island.
(The spots where these water taxis drop you off are chosen
to accommodate the water taxi not the passengers.)
Go We paddled around to the south side of Crib Island to find
our first campsite. Here we're enjoying lunch.
Go We set out that afternoon (Sunday June 11) to do some exploring northeast of Crib Island
Go Lynn Best paddling her single
Go Randy and Jane inaugurate the new Osprey double that Randy built. Slick!
Go Notice mountains in background
Go Napping and reading were frequent camp "activities"
Go Malcolm and Lynn cook breakfast at Crib Island
while Bill and Randy confab about the route for the day
Go Low tide makes packing the boats or washing dishes a long haul
Go Bill and Mary-Carter in the Eddyline Whisper double.
Note Mary-Carter's excellent form!
Go We had reasonable weather most of the time
Go Malcolm in his roomy but not exactly lithe single
Go On the way from Crib to Owl Island campsite on Monday June 12
Go Owl Island campfire
Go Sunset at Owl Island
Go Randy and Lynn enjoy morning coffee on Owl Island
Go Our Owl Island kitchen
Go A fallen Mamalilaculla totem pole, part of historic
First Nation Settlement on Village Island.
Go View from Mamalilaculla. The village was occupied for
thousands of years by native Americans until the 1960s, when
the government closed the school and residents relocated.
Go Huge poles for a traditional "big house" on Mamalilaculla. Since the 1960s,
when residents left, vegetation has been overtaking houses and other
structures like this. We gathered water here but later found it was brackish
Go Our kayaks at our campsite south of Mound Island. This was our least desirable
campsite -- buggy and dark. We got stuck here for two days because of stormy
weather, but at least we were able to get fresh water from a stream here.
Go A stop on the way to our final camping spot at Hanson Island.
We ate lunch while we waited for tidal currents to let up
Go We approach our take-out at Telegraph Cove
at the base of the mountain Saturday June 17
Go All cleaned up in Port McNeill Saturday night. We had
a surprisingly fine dinner at the motel restaurant.