Cape Scott Part II
The Ranger cabin is left unlocked as an emergency shelter in the off-season, which is from September 30th to April 30th, I think. However, I believe the cabin becomes more like a posh hotel for whoever claims it first. If you are lucky enough to get it, make sure to leave the cabin in better shape than you found it. Anyway, back to the story. After sitting down for a couple of minutes, Matt and I decided to get water before totally relaxing. There’s a creek with sufficient water flowing about 75 yards from the cabin, and in between the cabin and creek are campsites just inside the tree line off the beach. Make sure to use some kind of water purification tool before drinking the water.
Knowing we were set for the night, Matt and I decided to walk to the far end of Nel’s Bight and build a fire while the sun went down. It’s about a 1.5 km walk along a pure sand beach, very relaxing. The sunsets at Cape Scott are unreal. A massive ball of burning beauty seams to fall off the table as there are no trees or hills for it to go down behind. It just disappears into the ocean. Once back at the cabin, we noticed a small blue light in the trees, telling us another group of people had arrived and set up camp.
The weather report for our time at Cape Scott called for sunshine, but when Sunday morning arrived, so did the clouds. Matt started a fire in the woodstove, another plus about the cabin, and we made some oatmeal with papaya along with coffee. Our plan today was to go explore Experiment Bight, Guise Bay and the area around the lighthouse. The walk from Nel’s Bight to the lighthouse is around 5-6 km, so we packed lightly and hit the trail.
Twenty minutes later, we arrived on another amazing sand beach with rock formations bursting out of the ground. The walk along Experiment Bight can be a very risky one if a person decides to walk along the beach the whole way. Surge channels cleave the shoreline and you can get caught in these areas when the tide is not in your favor. There’s a trail along the shoreline for a safer alternative.
Once we made it to the far end of Experiment Bight, a crazy looking desert greeted us. It was unreal, from the waves battering the beach and massive rock formations to the mini Sahara. While walking through the sandy wasteland we found fresh wolf prints along with very fresh cougar prints. I have to admit, the feeling of a spider crawling up my spine, shot through my body. As a photographer, I would love to get a great shot of a cougar, but I’m not really sure I want to run into one. After trudging through the sand we came to Guise Bay.
What an amazing spot Guise Bay is. It’s more guarded from the wind and almost seems tropical. There was no better place to sit down and have lunch. After topping our bellies up, we headed back into the woods to explore the area heading out to the lighthouse.
The first thing we noticed on the trail, were fresh wolf droppings. We continued to encounter the droppings and lots of tracks in the mud. This led me to believe we were actually following a pack of wolves. There’s a few different jump off points leading down to the beach along this trail. We took one Matt recognized and arrived on a rocky beach with crazy looking bluffs, which had been beaten by the wind over the years.
Matt grabbed the fishing rod and looked for a spot to catch some cod. However, you are exposed to strong waves and wind, making the feat of fishing risky. We enjoyed the beach for about an hour and then started the hike back.
Upon reaching Experimental Bight again, the last day and a half of trekking began to take its toll on us. The 5 km hike back, became a mission as our legs begged for relief. At about 3:30pm we arrived back at the ranger cabin, and decided we would do the same as the previous night, start a fire and watch the sun go down. To be continued…
