A beautiful sunset in Von Donop Inlet thanks to the hundreds of fires burning in the interior.
We're running low on provisions and need to make a run down to Campbell River to buy groceries so, after returning to Shoal Bay on Thursday, we said our good-byes and were off Friday afternoon to time our arrival at Dent and Yuculta Rapids for slack tide. We plan to be back on Wednesday to get ready for the Shoal Bay Music Festival – an event which started with one guy playing some music and, over the years, has taken on a life of its own.
We stopped in Von Donop Inlet on Cortes Island near Desolation Sound, a busy destination during the summer months, for a couple of nights. It's an extremely well-protected anchorage and there's no breeze making it very, very HOT. It's also crowded with fourteen boats anchored in a small bay – the most we've seen in one place, excepting marinas, all season. But we'd never been here before and I was eager to try out a few of the trails at the head of the inlet as well as being a convenient stop on the way to Campbell River, so here we are.
Unfortunately, there are signs posted by BC Parks warning of wolves in the area – just when we were rid of bears! Normally wolves steer clear of humans and are quite timid, so I didn't worry too much about them and used the trails to walk Sally and hike across the island over to Squirrel Cove. I never did see any wolves but I did see a naked guy – a close second! Like most habituated wildlife, he didn't seem concerned about my presence (as I didn't have any food) and eventually stepped aside to get dressed so I could pass. When I got to the trail head, he wasn't far behind and offered me a ride to and from the store which, come to find out, was another mile or so down the road.
Brent's been camping on the island for a few weeks and explained that he had spent some time at Hague Lake where they have a clothing optional area which got him started swimming in the buff. I'm too modest for the naturist thing myself but am happy to support others in their endeavours, especially when they look as good as Brent. And besides, it was too hot to walk along the concrete road in the sun and I appreciated his kindness, so I accepted his offer and off we went.
By the time I got back to the boat, it was already 80 degrees on board and hotter outside with the temperature climbing throughout the day maxing out at 89 degrees inside and 95 out leaving us with no other option than to sit below and sweat. It finally began to cool off around 8 o'clock, but it never got down to a reasonable sleeping temperature. Ironically, there were several days during our time in The Broughtons that we would have killed for a taste of summer and, now that it's here, we're eager to get back to a more civilized temperatures. So tomorrow we'll go to Campbell River, tie up for the night, get our chores done and go back to the Discovery Islands as quickly as possible.
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