Although it’s been a while since we had “a whale of a time” on Cortes Island, it took us forever to edit and upload out video about this trip. But good luck finding fast wifi in the middle of nowhere! By now, we’re full-time travelling with our campervan ‘Billy’ through the Yukon and Alaska and it’s definitely getting more remote up here… So this time, we even have a legid excuse for our delay 😉
Anyways, here’s the video! Enjoy 🙂
As much as we love Quadra Island, we feel that one thing is missing here: “proper” mountains. We started to craaaaaave some higher peaks again and decided to explore BC’s oldest and Vanisland’s biggest provincial park: Strathcona. The first Europeans didn’t get here before the 1860s but way before that, the area was already the traditional territory of the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation.
The region was declared as a Provincial Park in 1911 but that did not prevent the government to allow logging and even mining in some areas! This explains why you come across an active (!) mine deep inside the park. Trust us, the sight of that disturbed us more than the fact that we had to pass through a security checkpoint to reach the trailhead to Mt. Myra… Luckily, further governmental plans to remove more parts from the park for industrial use were stopped by activists so today, Strathcona remains a huge nature conservation area. In fact, they have just recently added parts on to it. Yes!
Except the mine and some remnants of logging, Strathcona looks like the most pristine paradise for outdoor lovers: Year-round glaciers, roaring waterfalls, alpine mountaineering, crystall-clear lakes…
Feeding Fernweh 