Home»Photo Galleries»Canadian Northwest»Vancouver Island (2018 & 2019)»Broughton Archipelago 2019

The photos in this gallery are from our Kayaking Expedition in Broughton Archipelago & Johnston Strait during July 2019. The trip was offered by Spirit of the West outfitters, located on Quadra Island, off the coast of Vancouver island in British Columbia, Canada. We were members of a special group, The Magnificent Seven, consisting of Michelle, Steve, Aileen, Marianne, Genevieve, Bliss, and Benjamin, expertly guided by the amazing team of Kevin and Estelle, to whom we will be forever indebted for their patience, knowledge of the sea, cooking skills, good humor, and willingness to carry the boombox on the back of their kayaks….

Our journey took us on six wonderful days paddling through the network of forested islands and protected passages of the Broughton Archipelago, and across both the Blackfish Sound and the Johnstone Strait. We started our trip from Telegraph Cove, ferried by Bruce McMorran to Paddler's Inn, his personal creation and life-long project with his partner Josee, where we stayed our first night. From there we paddled to Eco Bay, visiting the museum and bookshop of Billy Proctor, who grew up along Blackfish Sound and lived most of his adult life in the Broughton Islands. Our voyage took us over the next several days to camping spots on Island 66, Owl Island, Freshwater Bay on Swanson Island, and to a secluded spot on the northwest side of Hanson Island. We paddled one day against a brisk wind and strong currents, another day along glassy-smooth waters, another day through treacherous whitecaps, and another day through a steady rain. Fortunately, we crossed both Blackfish Sound and Johnstone Strait on relatively calm waters, although we had to make our way across a particularly turbulent patch of Johnstone Strait. Kevin and Estelle kept us safe and on course through all types of conditions. Along the way, we had cloudy skies, mist, rain, and sunny periods, giving us a typical NW coastal variety of weather. Thankfully, no big storms!

Since this was my first multi-day kayaking trip, I had enough to learn while on the water, and I couldn’t give attention to the camera while in the kayak. Once or twice I tried to stop and get out the camera from my drybag that was stored safely between my legs, but in both cases I found myself holding up the group, so I decided to only take photos when we were on land, while on snack and lunch breaks and after setting up camp in the late afternoons. It was a painful choice, as there were many, many photos I wanted to take while in the kayak, but this will have to wait for another trip. It’s definitely a different approach I’ll need to take in order to photograph from a moving vessel -- my experiences on the hiking trail have not prepared me very well for getting images from a kayak that is getting pushed and pulled along with sea currents! In any case, we camped in some beautiful places, and the evening sky gave us a couple of nice sunsets. Of course, the clouds are almost always interesting, and they framed nicely the bays where we camped or took our breaks during the day. The initial dozen or so images in the gallery were taken during our ride to Paddler’s Inn on the first afternoon. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring a tripod with me (mistake), one consequence being that I don’t have many group photos, and only one where I could slip in myself the picture.

Hopefully, I’ll have more chances in the future to post photos from this magnificent part of the world. It’s a special place that is being looked after by many dedicated people, and hopefully our expedition contributes in a small way to helping protect for the enjoyment of future travelers, as well as the residents who depend on this area for their livelihood. Like us, I’m sure that everyone who has the opportunity to experience the area will come away as better stewards of the planet.