Quadra Island

Getting There

Greetings from Quadra Island, British Columbia, where we’ve been happily camped for the past two weeks. It took us 12 days to get here, beginning with a visit to our daughter Mariel and her family near Cleveland on April 26. We headed straight west from there, camping at Coralville Lake in Iowa, on the Missouri River at Randall Creek Recreation Area in South Dakota, then at Keyhole State Park in Wyoming, and Madison Campground in Yellowstone National Park.

We spent one night camping in Yellowstone National Park before continuing our journey. We visited seveeral areas we'd not seen on earlier trips. We could fill many blog posts just with photos of this awesome place. — We spent one night camping in Yellowstone National Park before continuing our journey. We visited seveeral areas we’d not seen on earlier trips. We could fill many blog posts just with photos of this awesome place.

The next day, we arrived for a pleasant, if too brief, visit with our friends Lee and Ruth Grindinger near Livingston, Montana. They’ve been working hard on their homestead and enjoying their new solar panels and geothermal heat pump system. Lee has been working hard building a wonderful little pond and patio behind the house and caring for their six healthy and happy chickens.

A group shot with Lee and Ruth at their lovely home in rural Livingston, MT.

From there we pushed on to Farragut State Park just north of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho on May 4, and then Larrabee State Park in Bellingham, Washington on May 5. Bellingham is a hip little town that we hated to leave.

In retrospect, of all the cross-country travels we’ve had in the past three years, we enjoyed this one the best. I’d gladly recommend this itinerary for anyone camping across the northern US, as the daily legs were not too long and the parks we stayed at were all excellent. The weather was also extremely cooperative.

On To Canada

The ferry terminal at Horseshoe Bay, west of Vancouver, is the departure point for the BC Ferry to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. We whiled away an hour or so here waiting to board the ferry.

The City of Vancouver, seen from the Nanaimo Ferry.

We crossed into Canada just south of Vancouver on May 6 and took the ferry to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, where we enjoyed a night on a bluff overlooking the Strait of Georgia at the Living Forest Campground before pressing up the coast to Quadra Island the next morning. The road to Quadra, Route 19, runs along the north coastline of Vancouver Island, passing through some beautiful seaside towns. Along the way, we pulled over near the quaintly-named Fanny Bay to take some photos of harbor seals sunning themselves on man-made float near the municipal harbor.

Seals enjoying a sunny day at Fanny Bay.

Destination Quadra

You may be wondering about our reasons for making this (somewhat convoluted) beeline for Quadra Island, in fact, unless you’ve traveled up this way, you may not have even heard of it. Our first encounter happened last August on our way back from Alaska, and it left an indelible impression on us.

Quadra is the largest of the “Discovery Islands” in the channel that separates Vancouver Island from the British Columbia mainland. We spent a night here last year while enroute to nearby Cortes Island, home of the Hollyhock spiritual center. We were smitten by Quadra’s rocky coastline, towering Douglas fir forests, and kicked-back lifestyle. We felt much at home and welcome among this small community of like-minded folks who seemed to be united by their love of nature, art, music and the incredible beauty of the surrounding area. Treat yourself to a Google image search on Quadra Island to get a broader sense of the remarkable scenery up here. Here are just a very few of the shots we’ve taken over the past two weeks…

The BC Ferry takes only about 10 minutes to ferry vehicles and passengers from Campbell River to Quadra Island. Another ferry continues on to Cortes Island, another 45-minute trip.

Open Bay is a phenomenal clam and oyster beach, and the perfect place to play fetch with your dog on a sunny afternoon. — Open Bay is a phenomenal clam and oyster beach, and the perfect place to play fetch with Jasper on a sunny afternoon.

Smooth stones and tons of driftwood line all of Quadra's shorelines. — Smooth stones and tons of driftwood line all of Quadra’s shorelines. Occasionally you’ll see Quasimodo impersonators here as well.

Logging remains big business here and across most of Vancouver Island, so logging trucks and evidence of clear-cutting abound. The logging companies, to their credit, do a fair job of replanting these areas.

The campground we stayed at on Rebecca Spit, run by local First Nations people, wasn’t yet open for the season when we arrrived, so we took up residence at a much smaller RV campground, also First-Nations-run, on the southern end of the island, near the Cape Mudge lighthouse. It is now our favorite.

The Cape Mudge lighthouse is only a half-kilometer walk from our campsite. It guides northbound traffic into the Discovery Channel from the Strait of Georgia.

Our campsite, situated just yards from the waterline, has electricity and running water and a solid Internet connection. The first several nights we were here, we had the extreme good fortune to be camped next to three couples who were avid musicians. Between them, I counted four guitars, two mandolins, a gorgeous custom-made resonator guitar and an electric bass. Our campground hostesses, Leona and M.J., joined in on baritone ukulele and Ovation six-string respectively. Two of the fellows, Bryon and Tom, played in country and old-time music groups near Victoria, the provincial capital at the southernmost tip of Vancouver Island. The third was Gert, a retired businessman from Alberta and a proud D-35 player. His wife Lindie was a budding mandolin player, as was Bryon’s wife Frieda. We spent every night gathered around campfires, hammering out song after song, until they moved out on Friday and Monday. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say I felt right at home. Another campfire regular was our other neighgbor, a charming woman named Chris, who runs Wildcoast Adventures, a sea touring company on the island.

Jammin' around the campfire with new friends from 'down island." — Jammin’ around the campfire with new friends from ‘down island.”

Candy and I also did some hiking on various island trails, including this one that featured giant moss-covered boulders among the tall Douglas fir, red cedar, Sitka spruce, Western hemlock, and bigleaf maple trees indigenous to this area.

Hiking up a trail off Hope Springs road, on Quadra Island.

Candy, looking good among the piles of driftwood that line the shores.

Bald eagles are everywhere up here. I was buzzed by two of them right in our campground. Here are two adult males hanging out near the Tsa_Kwa_Luten Lodge, which also runs this campground. We saw as many as half a dozen cruising a tidal pool at the other side of the island.

The Tsa_Kwa_Luten Lodge is a full service lodge at the southwest tip of Quadra, featuring a fine rrestaurant, nice guesst accommodations and cabins, and the RVV park where we're currently ensconced. — The Tsa_Kwa_Luten Lodge is a full service lodge at the southwest tip of Quadra, featuring a fine rrestaurant, nice guest accommodations and cabins, and the RV park where we’re currently ensconced.

From our campsite, we can watch the sun go down over northern Vancouver Island. In the Channel itself we’ve seen orcas and humpback whales, container barges being tugged to and from the major port of Vancouver, and all the cruise ships heading up the Inside Passage to Prince Rupert and Alaska. Overhead are the cries of lots of bald eagles, ravens and blue herons, and on the water are dozens of small boats catching spring salmon (“king” salmon in the US) out of the deep channel just off our campground. Coho, chinook and sockeye runs begin in a few weeks. There’s definitely no shortage of salmon up here.

Sundown over Vancouver Island, viewed from the Tsa-Kwa_luten campground on Quadra Island. — Sundown over Vancouver Island, viewed from the Tsa-Kwa_Luten campground on Quadra Island. Giant bigleaf maple trees frame the view.

One of many big cruise ships that ply the Discovery Channel enroute to Alaskaand northern BC. — One of many big cruise ships that ply the Discovery Channel enroute to Alaska and northern BC.

Looking for a Home

Our main reasons for coming here were to see how we felt about Quadra after an extended visit and, if we were still enthralled, whether we could find an affordable summer home here on the island. Well, we continue to love the place and we’re trying our best to figure out how to establish a base here. We spent our first week investigating the places we’d seen online over the winter, and scouting out other possibilities as well. We were fortunate to have been corresponding with a local realtor, Bill Bradshaw, whose knowledge of the island and its secrets proved to be invaluable to us.

Bill Bradshaw patiently showed us around the real estate possibilities on the island, including this building lot near Bold Point.

One of the lots we looked at had frontage on a little bay with an oyster farm. The shellfish in this area are beyond belief.

Domestic and "Manila" clams are abundant in the coves and beaches of Quadra Island. — Domestic and “Manila” clams are abundant in the coves and beaches of Quadra Island.

After viewing several homes ranging from cabins to palatial primary residences, we asked Bill to show us a “view lot” overlooking the tiny harbor village of Heriot Bay, where the Cortes ferry terminal is located. One look from this phenominal viewpoint was all we needed.

A view from a prospective homesite overlooking Heriot Bay and Read Island, with the mountains of the BC mainland beyond.

The view from the top bluff of the property, about 80 feet higher than the homesite. The massive granite rocks up here are covered with moss and dwarf spruce trees.

We got clearance from Bill to spend a night or two up on the land to see how we liked the sounds and the views at other times of day. It was a treat to see the view from the kitchen window of our camper.

The view from Onward out to the straits and mountains of BC.

The next morning, arising early as usual, I was pleased to view the sky go from dark to dawn, followed by a spectacular sunrise.

Pre-dawn skies over the Strait of Georgia.

The next evening, we invited our newfound friends from the campground to join us for a glass of wine on the mountainside. They obliged, and a fine time was had by all.

Groucho, Gert, Lindie, Leona, Candy and M.J., enjoying a glass of wine on Parce l#28. — Groucho, Gert, Lindie, Leona, Candy and M.J., enjoying a glass of wine on Parcel #28.

We’re actively pursuing this property, and if we are able to reach an agreement with the current owners, we may move ahead with house planning. There are a lot of “ifs” and “buts” yet to be overcome, but we can easily see spending future summers in this magical place. Stay tuned for the next chapter in this ongoing story.