Powell River

We got packed up and left the fine view of Pender Harbour from the hotel right on schedule. We’re usually not so rigorous but we had a ferry to catch 20km up the road at Earl’s Cove and you never know what can happen. As it turned out nothing untoward happened and we arrived 2 hours early.

There was no one in sight at the terminal and we looked around for the office or someone to pay for the crossing. Evenually a few cars started showing up and in chatting with other passengers we discovered this trip was free as they get you coming back the other direction (which we aren’t doing, so score.)

The 40 minute ferry ride went smoothly but the skies were getting smokier all the time. The smoke is coming straight north from the fires raging along the US west coast. By the time we started riding the remaining 27km from Saltery Bay it was quite obvious both with our eyes and noses. We wondered if having Covid masks along mught be a good idea for another reason.

This part of the road was as hilly as we had seen so far but had other positives such as a consistent decent shoulder and less traffic. Once we got to Powell River we located our Air BnB house for the next two nights which was, of course, up another steep hill.

We had a room in a very nice house owned by two retired women who also lived there. We weren’t quite as keen with the arrangement since we did not have a distinct suite with our own entrance, but rather shared spaces with the hosts. Having said that, they were very welcoming and it worked out fine. One regret is they have a super view from their new deck but with the smoke there wasn’t a view to be had.

Dinner at a nearby oceanfront restaurant brought some unexpected adventure. Just as our food arrived on our lovely outdoor patio table the fire alarm went off in the building the restaurant is in. Quickly we were evacuated to wait in the parking lot and see what would come next. With no smoke or flames it became obvious it was some kind of malfunction or a false alarm but we still hade to wait for the PRFD to show up with lights flashing and pickaxes in hand to investigate. So.. while we waited for fresh hot food to arrive the sun did its ball of fire thing into the sea.

The next day we decided to take a riding break and since the sea walk looked great we went for a long walk to explore the town. We also had shopping to do as I (GG) had blown out of a sandal and my MacGyver glue job had expired. Powell River has a Walmart so off we went. $10 sandals now on foot and clip-clopping noise gone we resumed our exploration. One thing we discovered is that the town stretches a lot farther along the coastline than you might expect and we ended up on a 25km hike and the new sandals were broken in quickly. The trail led through a well sign-posted forest containing artifacts of the town history as well as explanations of the flora and fauna. There was also a, ahem, craft brewery/pub at the far end of the walk.