16.07.2016
Well, there were thunderstorms and rain forecasts for all over the coast except for Vancouver, so decided to go on an adventure to Gambier Island on the Mount Artaban trail. We took the Mercury Water Taxi to the island from Horseshoe Bay, it was only $25 per person each way if you book online beforehand (online booking was very easy), which I thought was pretty reasonable, and the ride only took around 20 minutes. We wanted to get an early start so we could take our time, so we took the 8:00 am taxi and were at Camp Fircom and on the trail by 8:30.
First 30-45 minutes are on gravel roads, signage is pretty good (One of the pictures shows the blue signs which provide direction). Once on the actual trail, the trail is in very good condition and easy to follow, with some minimal windfall here and there. Last few hundred meters of elevation gain are pretty steep but overall the hike is not too strenuous. Unfortunately, it was pretty misty around us up top so the views weren't exactly spectacular, but it cleared up a bit by the time we got back to the bottom so we had some views of the surrounding islands and towards the mainland when we were exploring around the shore. I will say that we were expecting to be 5-6 hours on the trail and it only took us just over 4 going at a pretty leisurely pace, so we had over 4 hours to wait for the taxi and somebody doing this hike could probably wait and take the 10:00 ferry and be ok.
While we weren't looking forward to the hours of waiting, the time actually passed by pretty quickly as there is a decent amount of shoreline to explore around Camp Fircom, the beach is nice to swim off of, and there is a gazebo with a pretty good view that can be reached by a small trail that is accessed as you are walking from the dock up to Camp Fircom. So even though it could have been clearer and we had an excessive amount of time on the island, it was a great island adventure with a nice trail, and anybody could definitely find enough activities and area to roam to take up a full day!
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