BTW….Vancouver Island also seems to have a very healthy population of mountain lions. I believe if you research this on the web you’ll find they actually been a couple attacks on humans by them in the last 10-15 years. These are critters to keep an eye out for when your mountain biking or hiking, mostly in the areas west of Highway 19.
Adding to the animal challenges up there are the wolves on the west side of the island.IIRC there is even one reported case of a wolf or wolves attacking a couple of tent campers on a remote bit of land north of Tofino.
But in any event, the northern part of Vancouver Island from Campbell River North can provide you with some of the most scenic, uncrowded and primitive backcountry you can experience in Southern British Columbia.
The remote gravel roads that go to Port Alice, Zebellos and Tahsis are definitely worth driving. And when you’re up in the northern part, look for the primitive forest camps that may still be present that used to be managed by timber companies up there, IIRC.
I would recommend skipping the Tofino area because it’s way too expensive and way too crowded there. The small town of Ucluelet south of Tofino is a much better choice if you want to explore the middle southern point of the West Coast of the island.
The comments here about the black bears there are spot on. We’ve been up there many times, up to Cape Scott, Port Hardy, and Port McNeil areas as well as Gold River and west, and camped out in the woods and along the shoreline.
On those trips, we saw some the biggest black bear you could ever possibly imagine seeing in North America. Fortunately, most the time we did so we were watching them from the safety of the cockpit of a double skin on frame kayak while out in the water.
If you camp along the shoreline, be aware when you are out exploring on foot that the big black bears frequently come out at slack tide daily to search the beaches and scavenge in the tidal pools and exposed rocks left uncovered by the low water. It’s quite an eye-opening sight to see a massive 300 pound plus black bear easily and casually flip 100 pound boulders with a flick of its paw, as it hunts to find small crabs hidden underneath the rocks for its dinner.
In some areas, it seems that each bear has claimed a 100 yard long or so section of the beach as its own personal dining territory, and that exclusion zone is generally honored by the other neighboring bears. There are so many of these large bruins that they seem to know they have to do a good job of sharing the turf and getting along with each other for their own safety and survival.
From our kayak, we have been privileged to have seen numerous instances of the blackies walking out of the thick dark forest to the tree line along the beach, then pausing to stick their heads out and carefully scan their claimed section of the shore, and once deeming it safe slowly meander out into the waters’ edge of the tidal zone to start harvesting clams and sea weed and crabs.
They do have some coastal salmon runs up there and it can be an amazing site to see the fish schooled up at the entrance of an estuary, impatiently leaping out of the water while waiting for the rivers to rise high enough to allow them to swim up stream to spawn.
Be aware of those areas though when you’re looking for a campsite, because while you might get some awesome pictures and amazing experiences watching the salmon, you also will camping in an area where bear encounters are more likely.
cheknews.ca
