Port McNeill and Alice Lake
After the beautiful Elk Falls and Miller Creek, I have also heard good things about Vancouver Island’s remote north. So it’s time to check it out! The inland island highway number 19 significantly quiets down after Campbell River and the landscape changes somewhat with the forest becoming denser in all directions. With less and less cars on the road and no phone signal, I’m more aware of any odd-sounding noises my 1989-built wickedcamper – a campervan brand known for their old models with quirky design – is making. After a couple of hours, I’m arriving at the tourist information in Port McNeill.
Although I had checked out some BC Recreation Sites in the area – remote, basic and inexpensive campsites, very often situated in a beautiful setting – they are even further up north and I have decided I’ve done enough driving for the day. The friendly man in the tourist information informs me about some attractions to see in the area, which I had actually already heard about: the Eternal Fountain, the Devil’s Bath and the Vanishing River. He informs me that the road to the Vanishing River is probably too bad for my car but there is a campsite on the way to the other two sites which is where I’ll be heading next.
As it sometimes happens with the remoter areas of Vancouver Island, the campsite as well as both attractions are situated in the backcountry, some kilometres via gravel roads into the forest. And I can tell you, if you’re on your own in grizzly bear and cougar territory, your car seems like it’s past its best times, and you have no phone signal whatsoever, a 6 kilometre drive on gravel roads through the forest isn’t that much fun. But it’s all worth it when I get to the Link River Regional Park campsite and I snatch up a site right next to the beautiful, clear Lake Agnes for only 16 CAD (9.91 GBP / 10.85 EUR). It is considerably cooler up here than down by Campbell River but that doesn’t prevent me from pulling a camp chair out of my van to sit next to the lake on the beautiful pebbled beach and enjoy the quietness and breath-taking Canadian mountain scenery unfolding around me.
After a very relaxing night’s sleep, I open the curtains and windows of my van in the morning to enjoy the same view again and hear the small waves softly splashing against the pebbles. It’s still early but I’m deciding I’ll head out right away – it’s too cold for a swim and I’m keen to get through the bumpy gravel road, which will take me another 13 kilometres further into the forest and towards the Devil’s Bath. Measuring 359 metres in diameter, which is about the size of a football stadium, the Devil’s Bath is a flooded sinkhole with exposed rocky edges, called a cenote. It’s Canada’s only cenote and at the same time, the country’s largest sinkhole, at 44 metres deep. A truly impressive site, with large rock walls surrounding the dark (and a bit creepy) looking waters, the cenote is connected to the Benson river through a system of cave passages that plummet as deep as 80 metres below the water table. There is a hiking trail from the Devil’s Bath towards the Benson River Cave but it’s marked as dangerous and as I’m in grizzly bear territory without a soul around, I decide to give this one a miss and I drive on towards the Eternal Fountain.
The beautiful Eternal Fountain is a further 5 kilometres into the forest and it is another magical site. Just a few minutes into a seemingly enchanted forest of leafless trees covered by moss, swallowing up any sound, the waterfall appears in front of me. The most visible part of it is fed by an underground stream that reappears just to go underground again and is then visible through smaller windows in the Karst (limestone).
The North of Vancouver Island is also famous for its wild life tours and after my experience, and with only little time, in hindsight I feel that I should have stayed there longer to see e.g. some grizzlies in the wild. But for now, I’m heading back towards Nanaimo and after the remoteness of the north, I’m looking forward to driving in less remote locations again.
Camping in Comox
I spend the night at Kitty Coleman Beach. There are three campsites along the stretch between Campbell River and Cumberland: Miracle Beach is a large provincial park campsite fully equipped with showers and toilets for around 36 CAD (22.31 GBP / 24.40 EUR) whereas Kin Beach and Kitty Coleman Beach are more basic and at 16 CAD (9.91 GBP / 10.85 EUR) a lot cheaper. Kin Beach and Kitty Coleman Beach are both directly situated next to the beach however campers and vans parked up pretty close to each other which not everyone is keen on. Camping spots in Miracle Beach are separated by bushes and hedges and are therefore more private, albeit further away from the beach. It’s quite obvious that most of my fellow campers here are Canadians, as lots of them have massive campers and pickup trucks with huge boat trailers – and they’re really friendly. As soon as I’m parked up, I start chatting to a Canadian family parking next to me about their life on Vancouver Island, and more things to see in the area for next time. Then I drive by the Miracle Beach site to walk in and to take a nice shower on my way to the only general store in the area for some beers. Just in time for the sunset, I go down to the rocky beach to enjoy a free acoustic guitar gig by a fellow camper in front of a red-glowing sky reflecting in the ocean.
