Northern Vancouver Island

[Dave Renfroe]

In early September, I took a 10 day solo truck/camper trip to the northern tip of Vancouver Island.

It is further than you may think - I took the 500km drive in our truck/camper from Sooke (near VIctoria) to Port McNeill. There is a long stretch of hardly anything but forest and mountains between Campbell River and Port McNeill. It's a good highway though. Some say you leave civilization after Campbell River - there is definitely no Starbucks or McDonalds up there. But the area has several interesting towns, super friendly people and lots of wilderness. I just touched on a few easily accessed places - there is much more to see up there (especially if you don't mind gravel roads).

I put together a "jAlbum" page on my website - “Northern Vancouver Island 2025" to share the photos of the trip. Maybe there are some folks who may want to visit there.
Some photos have a "location bubble" icon that will present a map. The first "slide" is a labelled location map.
I find that the best way to view the album is to click on the first photo and then click on the "Full Screen” icon at the top of the photo.
Or …… use the “Slideshow" icon on the right side of the banner photo. Either way, you can step through them with your left/right keys from there.
I hope you enjoy them and I greatly appreciate comments and questions regarding the places, the photos and how the “album” worked for you.

I hope the photos tell the story. Link:

https://wrenbin.ca/dave/North-Island-2025/

Best Regards ……. Dave

 

[AlanLichty]

I like your shot and will take some time later this evening to go through the album you gave us a link to. Maps don't show a lot of roads past Port McNeill so definitely quite a ways off the beaten path. No surprise there aren't a lot of places like Starbuck$$ and McDonalds up there but that's no loss from my perspective

I have never ventured north of the ferry drop-off at Nanaimo and in that instance drove south to Victoria. I have never had a chance to visit the rest of that island but would love to get a chance some day. Sounds like quite the adventure.

 

[AlanLichty]

You saved the best shot for last in your trip photo log. The ports are larger and busier than I was expecting given how remote those areas are. I vaguely had hopes there were parts of the NW where Himalayan Blackberries hadn't invaded but I spotted quite a few in the scenes you showed. Looks like an amazing trip - thanks for sharing it.

 

[JimFox]

Awesome Dave! I sure enjoyed the album, you did get to see some really great sites. I like the image you posted here, it represents the trip well.

It's funny, I have had thoughts of wanting to drive through Canada up to Alaska as that seems like a cool trip. I hadn't thought of Vancouver Island and how far it stretches. I just think of Victoria when I think of Vancouver Island. But a quick look at the map shows just how large Vancouver Island is. Not sure why that hadn't dawned on me before. So thanks for sharing this.

 

[Trent Watts]

Beautiful. Thanks for the link to all your images. Very impressive.

 

[Dave Renfroe]

Awesome Dave! I sure enjoyed the album, you did get to see some really great sites. I like the image you posted here, it represents the trip well.

It's funny, I have had thoughts of wanting to drive through Canada up to Alaska as that seems like a cool trip. I hadn't thought of Vancouver Island and how far it stretches. I just think of Victoria when I think of Vancouver Island. But a quick look at the map shows just how large Vancouver Island is. Not sure why that hadn't dawned on me before. So thanks for sharing this.

Well, Jim. You can include almost all of Vancouver Island to your Alaska trip. Take a short cut - take the ferry from Pt Hardy (north tip of VI) to Prince Rupert BC.

https://www.bcferries.com/trip-plan...qR8UqifPerRpdr6D7bEmw2sroXyy58EhoCr2MQAvD_BwE

 

[Dave Renfroe]

You saved the best shot for last in your trip photo log. The ports are larger and busier than I was expecting given how remote those areas are. I vaguely had hopes there were parts of the NW where Himalayan Blackberries hadn't invaded but I spotted quite a few in the scenes you showed. Looks like an amazing trip - thanks for sharing it.

Yes, the blackberry bushes are making a mess of stuff. IMO, what's worse is the Scotch Broom that has beat out lots of wilderness and wildflower meadows on a huge chunk of the southern half of the island. The drought doesn't help - they love it. At least you can eat the blackberries (yum).