September 1, 1999

Lazy Sojourn in the Deer Group -- August 1999

My SO Becky and I spent most of the last two weeks touring in the Deer Group -- a chain of islands in the southern part of Barkley Sound on the west coast of Vancouver Island, BC. This assembly of islands is the piece of Barkley Sound which was NOT included in the Pacific Rim National Park. The included archipelago is the well-known Broken Group, which we had visited several times previously.

To access the Deers we drove a killer logging road from Cowichan Lake, some 70 - 80 miles of high standard gravel track spiced with monster log trucks and yarding gear. The other route to the jumpoff point (tiny community of Bamfield) is only 50 miles of similar road, starting from Port Alberni. I think if we go back, we'll take the steamer (way more romantic!) and skip the log truck leapfrog! Bamfield is a prime locus for salmon-seekers, who flock in good years in the hundreds. This being a bad summer for salmon, it was a good one for paddling solitude.

We assembled our Folbot Greenland II next to the boat ramp in Grappler Inlet (aka Port Desire) and stuffed it with gear and food for a week, planning a resupply mid-trip. Stroking past the Bamfield Marine Research Station, the Sound opened out, calm and quiet ... except for a dozen power boaters screaming out to seek salmon! Early afternoon found us on an island some three miles distant, completely owned by the Ohiat Band, which satisfied our needs for a sandy beach, windy bug-free spit, and lots of kelp-infested waters. (Careful readers of Mary Ann Snowden's guide "Island Paddling" will quickly ferret out which island this is.)

The Ohiats have a peripatetic guardian, Doreen, who comes by daily to collect the CDN$10/tent/night tariff, which we gladly surrendered for such a primo site. Other sites on Ohiat lands are similarly administered, although some Ohiat beaches are strictly off-limits. There are a few good tenting spots off Reserve land in the "outside" islands, but the Ohiats definitely have the best ones, albeit at times all Ohiat lands are forbidden.

There commenced days of sloth and paddling activity, in roughly equal numbers, to feed our minds with books to read and our muscles with miles to cover. In mid-trip, we shifted to some islands between Sandford and Fleming, hooking on a venture back to Bamfield to replace our mega-moldy bagels and diminishing water supplies. Two days later, we pursued the results of a recon around Fleming Island to an unnamed cove on the outside of Tzartus Island (the largest of the chain -- some 5-6 miles long and a mile or two across), avoiding a popular island nearby which suffers from too much "use" by folks who do not understand the principle of the intertidal flush.

All of these islands have bipolar coastlines: an "inside" one fairly uniform in contour and having the odd hospitable beach, and an "outside" one well-dissected with surge channels, sea caves, and arches. We did not see any big surf, but winters make the "outside" piece of coastline dichotomy a very sporting proposition.

At the end of our trip, we returned to Doreen's island for another two nights, and circumnavigated the outermost islands, garlanded with a few dozen powerboaters seeking salmon and a short double handful of huge sea lion bulls. The last day, Hayley Shephard dropped by for soup and a PB and J sandwich on the last leg of her solo journey around Vancouver Island (see: http://www.oceanmaid.com/about-hayley-shephard.shtml a couple screens down for excerpts from her paddling Journal).

Finally, Bamfield beckoned, and we tore down the Folbot on a public float, accepting the hospitality of one of the fishing lodges for an overnight stay, courtesy of Mr. VISA. A hot shower and sit-down meal never satisfied so!
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Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR

Copyright 1999 by Dave Kruger.
May not be reproduced or redistributed without author's permission.
Republished here with permission.