I had some friends interested in going out to the Brooks Peninsula and I was happy to return after my exciting trip back in 2022. Instead of boating in from Fair Harbour, we opted to fly in from Gold River. This saved us both a lot of time on the road, but also quite a bit of time and variability with potential weather on the water. This came at a cost, but in the end it was well worth it.
We arrived in Gold River Without issue. Unfortunately, we learned our flight would not go because of the high winds on Brooks Peninsula. We found a campsite in the town of Gold River and set up. It was still early so we went bar hopping with limited options, first at the golf club, tried the pub (closed), then at a nice little Bistro. Good food was had.
The next day after some delay due to fog, we prepared to fly. It was a blue bird day, and this was easily the most scenic flight I have ever taken. We flew with Air Nootka, departing from Gold River, flying over Nootka Island, looking down upon the Nuchatlitz Marine Provincial Park and all the little islands, over Catala Island, crossing Yellow Bluff, the south end of the Tatchu Trail where I would hike the following week, Rugged Point, Thornton Island, Spring Island, Kyuquot, Thomas Island, The Bunsby’s, and eventually nosing down at Jacobsen Point. It was an amazing view all along this northern coast of the island and I was dreaming of more exploration, kayaking trips, and how fortunate we were to be seeing all of this in one short flight.
The landing was easy and we got off the plane and to shore without trouble, the plane basically beaches on shoreline. We made our way through the headland and on to the first beach and onwards along the shoreline to Cladothamus. We explored the sea caves along the way. Arriving at Cladothamus we discovered we would be sharing the beach with another hiking party of six.
The following day we travelled from Cladothamus Creek to Amos Creek under sunny skies. We setup camp on the west side of Amos. I had a swim in the creek, enjoyed some sun, and had some rest. We discovered another group of three hikers heading to Nordstrom. We had a nice bear sighting just outside our camp before bed, she was enjoying her evening meal digging in the sea grass.
On day three, Rishi and I decided to go onwards to Nordstrom and beyond to gain sight of Solander Island. We left our gear and Mat at Amos Creek. It was a great feeling to round the point at Nordstrom, as this was as far as I got on the previous trip. On that trip we had a pretty strong rain and wind storm upon us by Nordstom and were battened down. At that time, I recall seeing a little trail up into the woods from our little campsite in the rain. We did not explore as it was so wet and we were doing all that we could to stay warm and keep a fire going. This time, I was going to see what was up that trail. Turns out, it was a giant cave, one that could have easily kept us dry and even tented inside last time, yikes! Unbelievable that we did not discover this in 2022.
Rounding the corner at Nordstrom involved some bush bashing through a salal covered headland. Once around the corner the winds became more fierce. It was a perfect high pressure day, but this really speaks to the unique and volatile conditions at Cape Cook.
On we went, to discover that cliffs rise up out of the sea a couple kilometres after Nordstrom on the way to Cape Cook. We did not see a possibility of going through and we had our base camp back at Amos. There was talk off a North Brooks trip next year, we’ll see.
On the way back we discovered a headland trail avoiding the salal bash for a very pleasant return through the old growth and lush forest. Back at camp, dip in the river, dinner, sunset. Bear appears again but is now on the other side of the river near the camp of six who had joined us again as neighbours.
The following day, we turned around and travelled from Amos Creek to the kayak campers Beach. This was a long day of travel under clear skies, and it was hot hot hot. We had a long stop at Cladothamus to collect the unique rocks and explore the river. Arriving at kayak camp beach was beautiful. This is a beautiful beach and tombolo with a protected lagoon very close to Jacobsen point. I collected water, set camp, plunged in the ocean, took a nap, had dinner. Sunset is behind the mountain here, so we lost sun early and head for an early bed.
We decided to stay at kayak camp beach for a second night and would walk to meet the float plane the following day. We did have a cache at Jacobsen point to enjoy for our last night that we needed to pick up. It was a short walk over the headland to
Jacobsen point. We collected the cache and returned to camp for another amazing swim in the ocean among schools of fish and larger fish hunting the smalls. We enjoyed river cooled beers before dinner (thanks to Mat for sharing), filtered by campfire and single malt whiskies as the sun set. Note to self, next time bring a better cache, more backpacking food is not the answer. Mat brought beer and canned goods, sharing his beer, he ate well.
Morning of our flight out, wake, slightly hung over, quick pack and hike to meet float plane at 11am. Perfect skies for flying, great views along the West coast route before heading inland over Nootka.
Perfect trip, if I had to identify one complaint, maybe too hot. Hard to believe on the Brooks Peninsula.
Trip Map
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