Day 12: Halfmoon Bay
From Colin:
Mercifully, there was no rain when we awoke and broke down camp! We enjoyed breakfast under the tarp, then set off.
We found the tracks of a lone wolf on the beach but none of us we up early enough to see it. The (a) bear was visible on the next beach when we rounded the reef as we left bay.
It wasn't long before we saw whales blows. And, once down wind, we could smell their breath (it's hard to catch whales in photos, its a relief that you don't get the smell of their breath). Then we upset a colony of sealions.
Tom landed on this beach on a previous trip, but there was no hope of stopping here today.
So it was about 15 miles of paddling around reefs whales, sealions and the (ugly) lighthouse at Hesquiat Point before we reached our planned lunch spot. Alas, we couldn't land there either so we ate lunch afloat then sailed hopefully east towards the next landfall.
We found a very dumpy but manageable beach, but thought the better of landing there. Luckily we rounded some very substantial rocks and found this bay...
...where we had, perhaps, the easiest landing of the entire trip.
When we set off again, we paddled along some of the most spectacular coastline I've ever seen. We didn't have time to stop in the caves, but there were lots of them, and they were impressive.
There was also an impressive, and recent, cave collapse, which makes me think twice about entering any of the caves.
Having covered almost 22 Nm, we reached Halfmoon Bay Bay. It's within easy reach of Hot Springs Cove so we plan a visit and a layover day.
We are relieved (pun intended) to find some facilities here...
From Tom:
I write to install the virtues of my tent: a Tarptent, StratosSpire 1.
Like most tarptents, the fly pitches first and the interior tent hooks onto it. I set up the fly first and take it down last. Everything with the inter tent, my sanctum of human comfort, happens under the shelter of the fly. through all the rain of the Terrible Prince Rupert trip, my inner sanctum remained dry.
The fly held up by two poles. They could be tracking poles, but on kayak trips, I carry aluminum poles. The fly is hexagonal in shape. There are two doors with large vestibules.
I can store most of my gear in the rear vestibule. it’s cramped, but I can takeoff my rain gear in the vestibule before entering the inner tent. With the inner tent removed, the fly becomes a one person, tarp, large enough for me to sit in my chair and manage gear or cook a meal
The inner floor is 30 inches wide, space for a wide pad and modest amount of gear in the tent with me.
There are a few downsides. The footprint is modesty large, but this comes the benefit of significant usable pace. I’ve been able to fit it into many places. There may be more effort to set up this tent. The stakes have to be positioned just right to get a good shape. With practice, I have become efficient. In good weather, the effort of this tent may not be worth it. But then any tent perform as well in good weather.
Unfortunately, Tarptent no longer sells this tent. Replacement seems to be the dipole tent.
