August 5, 2025
Day 14 — Powell River to Shelter Bay, Texada Island
Marilee here.
After a not very restful night listening to the trucks and motorcycles on the highway we were eager to get back to the peace and quiet of the gulf islands. But we weren’t moving very fast, and packing up seemed to take even longer than usual that morning. We made it to the ferry terminal with just three minutes to spare before the ferry left for Texada Island.
We’d been debating for days about whether to go to Texada at all; our weather apps were predicting rain and colder temperatures for the two days we’d planned to spend there. Four years earlier we’d done a similar (but shorter) Gulf Islands cycle tour, and Texada had been a real highlight for me. It was one of the island I knew the least about, and it seemed one of the more sparsely developed, with old-timey cottages that were a real contrast to the deluxe summer homes that crowd the waterfront on some of the other gulf islands. And it had a great campground and beach at Shelter Point. So returning to Texada had been one of the things I’d looked forward to most about this trip — but would I be disappointed to visit in the rain, after all the sun-drenched island frolics of the last two week?
In the end, driven more by a sense of duty to finish what we’d started than anything else, we decided to go to Texada, but to spend only one night there rather than the two we’d originally planned.
And right on cue, the rain started just a few minutes into the ferry ride.
Thankfully it stopped by the time we reached our destination, the evocatively named Blubber Bay. And so under threatening but not actively raining skies we set off to explore Texada. The north end of the island where the ferry docks is dominated by the scar of an old mining operation— it’s one of the only islands with an industrial past (except for logging of course). Once past mines, the rest of the island is peaceful and forested with very few signs of habitation until close to Gillies Bay, the town by Shelter Point park.
We found a memorial to Tex, a grizzly bear that had apparently swum to the island earlier this year and whose presence caused quite a bit of controversy, with some islanders wanting it shot and others opposed. In the end it was tracked and shot.
The distance to cover was short but the hills were steep and the wind was in our faces the whole way. It started raining as we rolled into Gillies Bay so we took shelter in the general store — which was pervaded by a delicious odor. Fresh hot tandoori chicken in the deli!
We bought ourselves a magnificent lunch and continued the last couple of kms to the campground as fast as we could pedal.
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Shelter Point was a quiet haven after the more quasi-urban camping of the previous night. It wasn’t swimming weather so we spent the remainder of the afternoon reading on the beach and taking an amble along the shore before dinner.
Today's ride: 25 km (16 miles)
Total: 561 km (348 miles)
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