Day three was my travels home; I chose to take the mid-morning ‘milk run’ ferry to the main island rather than wait until well into the afternoon for the direct ferry to Tsawwassen because I’d be getting home after dark on the latter. Besides, being carried around on ferries all day isn’t so bad!
First off, here’s a view of camp around 7am with the morning sun coming through the trees.
I made coffee and subsequently oatmeal and was packing up before 8am, but I did take the time to wander over to my favourite nearby viewpoint to enjoy the coffee.
Then it was packing up time. I am happy to say I finally got the food rations right – I ate through most of my food bag, leaving enough for the ride home without much extra. Other than beer I had only bought two bananas on the trip at this point; usually that’s where I go wrong: I bring enough food to not need to buy anything, then I buy a bunch of stuff anyway.
On the way out of the bay I pulled off to get a nice photo of the rig in the moss, below. Thanks to a few recent changes to the camp setup, I can comfortably fit everything I need in the pair of Fab’s Chests I have. Most notably it was a recent change from my bulky MSR stove system to the compact and ultralight, but discontinued, Simmershield setup that all nests into its little pot, including the fuel canister. I also left the Aeropress at home in favour of a more compact pourover setup.
I stopped at the general store on the way out since I was early for the ferry.
Below are two of the three ferries I would be on this day. First was the small boat just to Mayne Island, where I transferred to one of the Coast Salish mid-size models which took me to Swartz Bay – after an additional stop on Pender Island.
Back on the mainland, I noodled through Tsawwassen and then onto the Boundary Bay gravel trail, where views of Baker were omnipresent:
I chose to hop off the gravel trail and onto the farm roads that took me up to Barnside Brewing so I could get a potato salad and a lager. I consumed both very quickly.
Barnside was 17km into the ride from the ferry, and by the time I reached Queensborough I was another 20km along, so I stopped for more food: this time an A&W burger.
I didn’t take any photos on the remaining ~15km to home, as it was nothing new or interesting. The trip was a great success though – I felt pretty good, the weather was perfect, and I saw everything I’d hoped to see. My camp setup felt pretty dialled – there’s a few small things I’ve noted for next time, but no complaints.
The tally was 177km and 2150m elevation for the trip, a good balance between plentiful riding while not wearing myself out too much. My next planned trip is in just two weeks, an overnighter to Pender Island. My setup will be basically unchanged from this trip, as it will again be a rustic spot without available water, but being only one night will ease the burden.
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