As we were getting ready to go, I overheard
a woman who had started in the North saying her calves were sore from having
spent the day walking on sand on the beach. I thought I will take sand over mud
right now.
The first thing we had to do was cross
Walbran Creek. I switched into my sandals and walked through calf deep water at
the mouth of the creek. As soon as I got
across Maggie told me I should have taken side steps to go through water in
case the current took out one leg while I was crossing. Next time I guess, but I had undone my back
pack straps in case I needed to take it off quickly. On the other side it was back on with the
boots and gaiters – this time the gaiters were supposed to help prevent sand
from getting into our boots. With the tide low we tried to walk on the hard
packed sand or sandstone, but you still had to watch your step. There were lots
of pockets filed with water. In the holes you could see little crabs, anenomes
and sea plants. It was interesting, but I had to try to walk fast to not be too
far behind. We had a short break at Bonilla waterfalls and it looked to be a
nice campsite. Eventually we came to a
long stretch of sand on Carmanagh beach and another creek crossing. This time
the water was deeper because the tide was coming in. Watching others I saw that I would get wet
all the way to top of my thighs, so following another’s example I decided to carry
my pants across to keep them dry.
A short way down the beach was a group of
large tents and inside was the popular restaurant/store called ‘Chez Monique.’
It was a taste of fresh food at high price. I had thought about getting a fish
burger, but it wasn’t really worth $25 to me.
There were also some hiker ‘share’ boxes on a table where you could take
or leave extra dried food or personal items you didn’t want to carry. My sister picked up some sunscreen.
At the end of the beach there was a trail
up to the light house. We told that we were welcome to visit grounds, but not
to peer in the windows. There was a
bulletin board at the entrance with wildlife reminders, FAQ about the
lighthouse keeper and a photo of a man in a labyrinth. You sort of felt like a trespasser entering
the yard and I didn’t know what to think about the two labyrinth designs cut
into the grass. An older man walked by with a backpack. I thought maybe he was
another hiker, but his backpack was a little small. The young couple from Toronto was there with us and they talked to
him. I guess he was the lighthouse keeper and when they asked about the weather
he said we would have absolutely have no rain for the rest of the trip, but a
little fog. It was strange for a forecast,
but stranger yet was that no sooner had we left the light house grounds was
that a thick fog came down. For the rest of the hike that day the bright sun
disappeared and we were in a big cloud. I thought it might be hard to find the
campsite, but there was a giant cluster of buoys when we arrived. Al was there
carving his name into one of them his son had left last summer.
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