Day 1: Cobble Hill to Ganges

October 20, 2019

Seven years ago we decided impulsively to ride down the Pacific coast, in Winter. It was fun, but we got drenched and frozen. After that I said to Dodie "Only take me on warm dry adventures from here on out!" She turned out to be a bit unreliable on this score, always making a case for the benefits of travel in "shoulder seasons". But we did put away (or maybe we threw away!) our shoe booties, and buried our long rain pants in an obscure drawer.

But this year, having missed the Fall "shoulder season", we prepared to cycle in the Winter, even if only back and forth from Cobble Hill to Victoria. It gave us a whole new reason to visit the Mountain Equipment Co-op, checking on any progress that had been made in cold and wet weather gear in past years. We came away with hopefully improved gloves, socks, booties, and jackets. What fun! Now all we would need is some typical rain and cold, to try out our new toys.

Today came up with a respectably cool (but not extreme) 9 degrees, and a moderately drenching rain. Ok, great. We put on our new stuff and stepped outside. Hey, did the rain stop? Nope, there it was, and soon the gear was put to the test. (When the trip is complete, we will give a review of what we found that was new, and how it worked out.)

Ready for anything (that can be found in the sun room!)

Rain gloves, pants, booties. That rain better be out there!

We did not have to wait long for that view of a long wet cold road, the iconic item that we are trying to pass off as the exciting theme for this ride!

Our road, already looking a bit long, lonely, and wet!

Quite quickly, the road for us descended (at 15%) to the water, and the scenic village of Cowichan Bay. In almost any season, Cowichan Bay is a tourist magnet, with boats and float homes to look at, fish and chips, bakery, and ice cream to sample, a boat building museum, and lots more.

There are also houses perched on the shore.

Cowichan Bay is so named because it is where the Cowichan River enters the salt water, having departed the very large (about 30 km long) Cowichan Lake 50 km inland. Cowichan Lake drains a large area of rain forest, which is the dominant ecological feature of the Island.

As it approaches Cowichan Bay, the river forms a delta, and has many branches. The delta area houses many members of the Cowichan native band. Are you getting the idea that "Cowichan" is an important name in this area?!

One of the fingers of the Cowichan River, in the Delta

The Cowichan tribes long house, with long cedar logs that are burned with smoke coming straight out of the roof.

The tribes unfortunately do not share our idea of landscape architecture. This is a typical scene.

Of course, Cowichan Bay is just one of many along this stretch of the Vancouver Island east coast. Soon we passed signs for Genoa Bay and Maple Bay. But it was the next thing along that was of interest to us. Not strictly in a bay, the Crofton Terminal offers ferry access to Vesuvius Bay, on Saltspring Island.

Crofton to Vesuvius is our hop onto the archipelago.

We were lucky, and found the ferry just unloading and soon ready to carry us across, although we were surprised by the approximately $25 cost for the passage. Actually, the lady managed to sell us on $55, which included a card that gives a 30% discount on future trips. Tourist suckers?

There is a moderate hill leading up and out of Vesuvius, but the total distance to the town of Ganges is no more than 6 km. That meant we were soon at our hotel, the Harbour House. While not imposing in any absolute sense, the front of the hotel looked impressive to me, and I felt a little out of place, clumping around in booties and dripping. However this is not the first time we have dripped on, or otherwise sullied, a hotel!

For this region, this is a pretty impressive entrance.

Our room turned out to be around back and up a flight of stairs - a comfortable position for us, and no doubt, for the hotel. As is generally the case in North America, though, the room was large and featured a coffee maker and refrigerator. (What, no microwave!). Best of all, the beds had fluffy quilts. This is a number one requirement for a good night's sleep.

Our room around back is not fancy, but it has more than enough amenities.

Instead of the harbour view we have the sheep view. Saltspring Island sheep are famous, but more for their culinary than photographic qualities.

While now, at 7:00 p.m., I am just typing away on this blog, Dodie has crawled under the quilt. 38 km of cycling, hilly or not, could not be the reason. It must be the sea air!

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Today's ride: 38 km (24 miles)
Total: 38 km (24 miles)

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Scott AndersonThe Gulf Islands in late October! It hadn’t occurred to me to bike up there this late in the year. Looking forward to following along.
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4 years ago

Rachael AndersonYou guys are tough! Here we are trying to avoid rain and you’re seeking it out. I hope your new rain gear works out and you enjoy your trip.
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4 years ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Rachael AndersonThere is no point in trying to avoid the rain in this region so we just suit up and go for it. With the proper equipment it is actually not too bad.
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4 years ago

Janet Anspach-RickeyWe used to ride up to Saltspring Island each year and stay in Ruckle Provincial Park. Otters, whale pods, and riding over the back road to Ganges...also the bakery in Fulford was always good. Minot (French and I don't know how it is spelled} ran it and kept it well stocked. I wonder if she is still there?
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4 years ago