Happy Trails on Pender

Pender is blessed with an abundance of public ocean accesses and hiking trails that lead, like a network of delicate veins, into every corner of our little island. You can wander through dusky forests and along rocky shorelines, sit at a viewpoint watching eagles soar and orcas passing or just relax to the soothing sound of wind in the trees or waves gently splashing on the shore. There is no better way to enjoy our island.

There are over 80 trails or accesses to choose from, and they’re easy to find as almost all are marked by 4-foot cedar posts with the trail name on them.

Here are the most popular ones, where I take visitors when I really want to impress them.

• George Hill: This uphill hike leads to a summit with Garry Oak habitat, wildflowers and great views onto Port Washington.

• Mount Norman: a vigorous hike to a sweeping panorama over the Gulf Islands.

• Roesland: My personal favourite. The museum is here, and the trail along the narrow islet leads to two benches offering superb vistas onto the Salish Sea. Enjoy a glass of wine as the sun sets.

• Brooks Point Park and Gowlland Point at the end of south island offer views onto towering Mount Baker while enormous ocean ships plough past in Haro Strait.

• Medicine Beach is a treasure with a millennia-old midden, an enormous crescent of driftwood and a wetland.

• Enchanted Forest is a must with its primordial forest, sword ferns and the feeling a pterodactyl might emerge any moment. In winter, a waterfall tumbles at the west end.

There are, of course, many other excellent trails and ocean accesses. My favourites include:

• The beach at the bottom of Craddock Road. In spring, the area is bright yellow with gorse.

• A bench at the south end of Plumper Way. Gaze south to the San Juan Islands. Last year, I watched an enormous school of sockeye salmon jumping and splashing during the record-setting return to the Fraser River.

• The beach at the north end of Bridge Road, which yields views of ferries in Navy Channel. The contorted geologic strata tell a tale of an ancient underwater avalanche.

I’ve almost completed my personal goal of hiking each one of the 80+ trails and ocean accesses. When done, I guess I’ll just have to start again.

Information

- Most trails are maintained by the Pender Island Parks Commission. For a map and info:    http://penderislandweb.com/guide/parks.htm

- Chamber of Commerce: http://www.penderislandchamber.com/

 

Trolling for Pinks

The alarm buzzed at 5:30 am, and groggily I remembered that David had invited me fishing, something I rarely did. Soon I was at Thieves Bay Marina and Captain David was steering Aquila past the breakwater into the quiet expanse of Swanson Channel on the west side of Pender Island.

A long scallop-edged tide line crossed the water and, in the invisible depths, pink salmon were running. It was calm and a soft rosy mist swathed the eastern horizon. In the distance, over a dozen boats sat below Oaks Bluff, lines dangling hopefully. Farther out, a commercial fishing boat was surrounded by gulls.

David prepared two fishing rods, each with a hook, a lure called a hoochie, a flasher and a lead weight and dropped the works to a depth of about 60 feet. He trolled slowly while I sipped a coffee. It was peaceful and serene.

I remembered my father-in-law describing fishing 25 years ago. “Some days,” he said, “the sea was so alive with fish you could practically knock them into the boat with an oar.” Now, alas, salmon are scarce and elusive.

Today we weren’t having any luck. Suddenly, one fishing pole bent into an elegant arc. We had a bite! His face contorted in a mixture of grim determination and pure exhilaration, David reeled and reeled until I saw a flash of silver beside the boat, a five-pound pink thrashing, fighting for freedom. I reached with a net, reached … but the pink escaped. “That’s the problem with barbless hooks,” moaned a disappointed David. We trolled for another hour, and watched the sun inch up the eastern sky, ferries chugging back and forth in Navy Channel and an eagle soaring high above. A few other fishermen trolled past waving languidly.

Just as David was about to turn Aquila homeward, the fishing rod snapped into a tight curve, the line running out in a whir. David grabbed the rod and reeled. Then the water on the port side was splashing and silver with the fish. Luck was with us, and soon the pink — eight pounds, if an ounce! — was in the boat.

Puttering back to the harbour, we elatedly explored the myriad ways that a salmon can be prepared. David decided he wanted his share barbequed with a Cajun dry rub. I wanted my half smoked with apple wood.

Soon we were back in the marina, my mouth salivating with the thought of dinner and, at the back of my mind, a creeping realization that perhaps fishing wasn’t so bad.

For information about Pender Island:   www.penderislandchamber.com