Leon Turnbull Photography

From the Klahoose Resort website: The Klahoose First Nation peoples have lived here on the central west coast of British Columbia since time immemorial. Klahoose First Nation territories span from Cortes Island, opposite Quadra Island near Campbell River to Toba Inlet.

There is a trail from the resort going straight up the mountain alongside a creek. Supposedly there is an old growth forest up there somewhere. I wanted to hike up and find it. The security guy at the resort was a bit over the top paranoid. He wanted to know exactly where everyone was going and for how long. I can understand that but he also wanted us all to carry bear spray as well whenever we go out. There are no grizzly bears in this area, only black bears. Bear spray is not necessary for black bears. Here is the problem: most people going out have no idea or experience on how to use bear spray and they literally only received a one minute instruction on it. It is inevitable that someone is going to encounter a black bear on the trail and freak out and spray it when the bear is only minding his own business. I did not want to take the bear spray but took it anyway so I would not get in trouble from him. Then I promptly forgot it in our room and did not realize it until I was 30 minutes up the mountain. (maybe I subconsciously forgot it on purpose?)

It was an incredibly beautiful hike through the forest and a bit eerie. I did not see any wildlife whatsoever on the hike. There were not even any birds or squirrels. Only a banana slug. Also it was straight up. I climbed up the mountain for over an hour, I guess about 1200 ft. in elevation, and then the trail ended when it came close to the creek. I still did not see any old growth forest. The trail became exponentially more difficult now, it was more of a mad scramble. How much further was this old growth forest anyway? I climbed up just a little bit and lo and behold I see a waterfall! This was a complete surprise. I had figured there must be a waterfall on this creek somewhere if I climbed high enough but did not think I would easily be able to find anything. It was too cliffy and not possible to get down to the creek side, but I scrambled through the bushes and found a good viewpoint of it. The creek has no name so I will call it Klahoose Falls. A beautiful 71 ft. high bonus waterfall! I was so happy! I retreated back down the mountain and got back down just in time for lunch (and just in time before the paranoid security guy sent out a search party).

In the afternoon Roger took us to Refuge Cove and Teakerne Arm Provincial Park (which I mentioned on my last post). There is only a very small dock here so he had to drop us all off and then go back out and wait in the harbor. He gave us an hour. I really thought we had this timed out perfectly. My calculations said the waterfall would be in the shade at 4PM. However, it was still in full sun when we arrived. I waited and waited and waited but it was still in sun at 5PM. I had no choice but to take my photo. I was a bit bummed about it. Nekoda was with me and we ran back to the dock as fast as we could. We were five minutes late. They had already left without us! Well, he did come back and get us. (he could not wait at the dock for even five minutes because it is so small and it is a very busy place). My wife gave me the stink eye when we got back on the boat. Gee whiz, darling, I was only five minutes late! Ha ha! It was yet another beautiful day in Desolation Sound.

Every meal we had at the Klahoose Resort was exquisite. Our dinner the first night was salmon. It was the second best salmon I have ever eaten. The best (and it will always be the best) was when we were backpacking the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island. A fisherman came up to us one night and sold us a salmon he had just caught on the ocean. We grilled it over the fire and it was unbelievably delicious. Everyone in our group thought the same (and probably still agrees it was the best ever – I know my sister and brother in law still think so).

Much of the regular staff at Klahoose were out sick with COVID when we were there. Unfortunate, however I think we really lucked out on the replacement staff. The waitress was incredibly nice. The chef was amazing. And Roger the boat driver was above and beyond off the top nice. Here are some examples of what he did: (1) Firstly, he knew I liked waterfalls so he went out of his way to take us to some. He went to Racine Falls twice (on the way there and back – they don’t usually do this). (2) He took Nekoda and Tara out on the boat to check his prawn traps.  (3) On the way home he stopped for 15 minutes at a rock island where seals were hanging out. This almost made us late for the ferry and the German family late for their flight, and their taxi driver to the airport was a bit perturbed about it – ha ha. (4) One day there was a black bear near the resort. It was off at the point in the distance (at the exact spot where my wife and daughter were swimming the day before). We could see it from the dock but it was a bit far away. Roger comes up to us and asks us if we want to go out in the little boat to see it closer. We all jumped at this. I sprinted back to the room to grab my camera, then he took us over to the point and we all saw the bear up close from the water. It was a very special experience. (5) He took us all on a second boat ride (us and the Iowa family) and not just anywhere but to Teakerne Arm Provincial Park where this is a nice waterfall. When I inquired about going here before the trip I was told it would cost an extra $2000 to go to Teakerne Arm. Ahh, no thanks. I do not want to pay $2000 to just see one 50 ft. high waterfall. I decided to skip it. But Roger took us here for no extra charge! I’m fairly certain if the main boat driver was not sick then we would not have been able to go here. We also got ice cream at the store in Refuge Cove and the Iowa family paid for Roger’s ice cream in appreciation (a small but very nice gesture).

On our first full day here we all got to go on a big boat ride to Toba Inlet. The first stop was at Brem River to see grizzly bears (unfortunately it is not the season to see grizzlies and we did not see any). We did not see much wildlife on this trip. Other than the black bear, we saw just a couple eagles and some seals. We really would have liked to see whales and grizzly bears but it was not in the cards. After Brem River, he took us to Racine Falls: An absolutely incredible waterfall dropping into the ocean at magnificent flow. We got soaked as he took us right under the falls and into the spray. I was busy trying to photograph the falls and did not realize we were about to get wet. Nekoda told me we were going under. I said that’s ok. She said, what about your other camera, it is about to get drenched. Oh yeah, I better move it! Thanks girl. It is very difficult to photograph a waterfall from a boat on the ocean. A tripod is useless so all my shots are hand held. Would I even get any decent photo? It was an incredible day in Desolation Sound.

When we arrived on the Sunshine Coast we learned that my mom was in the hospital emergency in Sechelt. It was not a serious thing, she just needed to get some medication. However, she was waiting in the emergency for 5 hours. How ridiculous! She decided to give up. She left and we all went to dinner and then to our lodge in Egmont. The problem was that she really needed those meds. So next day, very early in the morning, Tara and I drove back to Sechelt with my mom and dropped her off again at the hospital.

Tara and I went to Burnett Falls. There was a car at the trailhead already. There was a couple here that apparently slept in their car at the trailhead and were getting ready to leave. Kind of a very weird place to camp. What is up with that?

The hike is very easy to the Burnett Falls overlook. Getting down to the bottom of it is a different story. My brother in law and sister did the hike the day before and got down. If they can get down, surely the madman can get down! It was extremely steep, almost treacherous. I made it though. Burnett Falls is a pretty one, 35 ft. high.

It had only been 1 hour since we dropped my mom off so we went to breakfast at Tim Hortons. (Tara’s favorite breakfast place in Canada – not mine!). We took our time and drank lots of coffee. Then we went back to the hospital. Mom still had not been seen yet so we waited some more and went to a few shops. Finally my mom was seen and she got her drugs (yay!). Now it was lunch time. Guess where we went?

We picked up some COVID tests while we were at the store. Both Nekoda and my niece Hannah were feeling under the weather. We needed to be sure none of us were sick before we went on our boat ride to Desolation Sound. Nekoda tested negative, but the very bad news: Hannah was positive.

This meant that Hannah would not be allowed to go on the boat to Desolation Sound. There would be other people on the boat plus we would be in close quarters with all the resort staff for 4 days. There’s no way she could or should go. So obviously her parents would not be going as well and neither would my mom go (she was traveling with them). I felt especially bad for my mom because this was her dream to go to Desolation Sound. The good news is that they can go next year (the resort allowed them to postpone for another year). My mom also picked up the COVID from Hannah so it’s definitely a good thing she did not go with us.

But as for our family we were all negative and we would be going to Desolation Sound by ourselves. We drove to Lund and picked up our boat ride to the Klahoose Resort in Desolation Sound. Klahoose Resort is a very fancy, very expensive (thanks Mom) resort along the ocean, a 1 hour boat ride from Lund. There were two German families (not together), and a family from Iowa, so 17 of us in total at the resort.  Nekoda was so excited (she thought it was so fancy!). Tara was in Heaven (she is an ocean girl for sure!). It is an amazing place without a doubt.

One day. Just one day. Out of all the days on our trip, I just wanted this one day to be a nice one. And what was the forecast for this one day? Rain all afternoon. And quite a lot of rain to boot. Ugh.

Our boat tour started at 4PM. Our family were the only ones on the boat (nine of us, plus the boat driver). We were also the only ones at the waterfall. I think most people take a morning tour but we specifically asked for an evening tour so the waterfalls would all be in good lighting conditions. Of course with the rain, that point was all moot. But still, we did not know it would rain when we booked it! And it was cool having the tour all to ourselves. Such an incredibly beautiful place and no one else is around. How awesome is that?

Princess Louisa Inlet is often hailed as being THE most beautiful inlet in the ENTIRE world. It would have been nice to see the mountains and the glaciers on the one day we went there. Even though we could not see that part of it, I still agree with that assessment. The waterfalls dropping into this inlet are simply out of this world. It is Rivendell. It is majestic. It is stunning. It is magnificent. You cannot count all the waterfalls. I can try. No I cannot. There are perhaps 8 major ones and many others as well. Thanks to La Nina they were all flowing fantastic even in August. This is literally Heaven on Earth.

Chatterbox Falls is the main attraction of the day, an absolutely spectacular 70 ft. high waterfall on a major creek dropping into the end of the inlet. It was roaring. You cannot get anywhere close to it without getting completely soaked. The only way to photograph it is from way back along the shoreline. It was raining pretty hard, making the photography very difficult. I stood on a rock by the shoreline waiting for the rain to subside a bit and enjoying the immense views. As I waited, the tide started coming in. Before long I found I was stranded on the rock with water all around me. Wait, what just happened? I jumped off the rock back onto the shoreline, moving my backpack further away from the incoming water. I took my photos now from the shoreline, not on the rock. Chatterbox Falls is not the only attraction here. How about the tallest waterfall in all of North America? That’s right folks. James Bruce Falls streams down the mountain in an incredible 2755 ft. high cascade above Chatterbox. It is even bigger than Yosemite Falls. You can see it partially in this photo. I should have some better photos of it also. I would have loved to have hiked up above Chatterbox Falls and closer to it but there was no time. The tour only gave us an hour at the falls, not nearly enough time to hike up there. Plus the rain made it worse. I spent the entire time trying to photograph Chatterbox Falls. I was not even sure that I had one decent photo of the waterfall by the end of it. I was soaking wet and when I got back to the boat everyone was waiting for me. But it was all good and fun. What an incredible day at an incredible place. Princess Louisa Inlet and Chatterbox Falls.

We got up early and drove down the road a short distance to magnificent Shannon Falls. When we drove past here the previous afternoon the park was completely packed. But this morning at sunrise? We were the only ones here. Actually, by the time we were done, quite a few more people had arrived. It was getting busy already, even so early on a weekday morning. This must be a popular waterfall! At least there was no one at the viewpoint when we first arrived. We had it all to ourselves for a short time.

Shannon Falls is indeed spectacular and right beside the highway (no wonder it is popular!) The total height of the falls is about 800 ft. high (only the bottom 495 ft. is visible from the base of the waterfall). After checking out the main viewpoint I went up the trail to find a way to get closer to it. I could not talk any of my family into coming with me. They just wanted to lounge about at the viewpoint. How boring. It was actually fairly easy to get right up to the base of the falls though slightly tricky on the big slippery rocks. As I was taking photos I could hear hollers and whoops from people that were up at the top of it (I could not see them). I assume it must be a pretty darn good view from up there. Why else would they be whooping so much? If I had more time I would have gone up to the top myself but we had a ferry to catch.

We arrived at the ferry terminal 1.5 hours before the sailing and barely made it on the boat. A lot of other people were traveling to the Sunshine Coast. I’m very glad we did not have to wait until the next sailing. That would have sucked.

On the other side we had lunch at Gibsons. At A&W again! More mozza burgers! Yumm! It is sure a good thing the rest of my family also likes A&W. Ha ha! After lunch we drove to Sechelt where we would meet up with my family. From there we all drove to Egmont where we would staying for two nights. It is a very pretty little place beside the harbor. We each had our own little cabin which was small but quite quaint. The only bad thing about it is that the bar closed very early each night. My brother in law was not happy about that. Ha ha! Also, apparently the guy in the cabin next to us played in the NHL, as my wife overheard. I did not recognize him so I decided not to bother him, I figured he must have been a fringe player. I would have felt bad if I had gone up to him and asked his name, and then did not recognize the name. Who are you? Oh that’s nice. I never heard of you!

It was a great day 2 on the Sunshine Coast. The next day would certainly be glorious. Right?