We triple checked the tides this morning for Skookumchuck Narrows and held that against the 30-40 minute drive up to Egmont, and the 4km hike into the park to the narrows, and planned our day around that….the peak ebb tide for the day is at 5:16pm.
So…a lazy start, a morning fire, coffee, breakfast, some reading…and I grabbed the computer to catch up on some papers that need marking, and got about a third of them done. And then we drove up to Egmont, parked just outside of the community, and walked to the trailhead.
We’d expected some rain on this trip, but it pretty much all fell at night. Today was no different. It rained hard overnight, but the sky was clear for our hike into the narrows and the forest was quiet. Everything smelled fresh.
Given that today is Easter Monday, we mostly encountered locals on the trail, and not many of those. Most people are probably travelling home today. We chose well.
We arrived at the narrows with about a half hour until peak ebb and it was impressive to watch the flow build. As much as 200 billion gallons of water flow in and out of this narrow passage on a big tide. By the time the tide peaked, the water in front of us was boiling, with whirlpools forming and disappearing across the narrow stretch of water. Pictures simply can’t do it justice. I’ve seen some overhead drone footage and that gives a better feel for the power. A sea lion was having a good time in the currents a little further up.
As the rapids started to settle down, the sound decreased and the whirlpools were reducing in size and frequency, and we enjoyed a quiet 4km hike back out…..passing the old truck at the bakery once more, and appreciating that….given a chance…nature will reclaim everything.
And then it was back to our temporary home, for our last night here in Garden Bay, and the calm of the evening sunset wrapped up the day for us.
