2009-06-06 49 -123

Location

In Howe Sound near Britannia Beach.

Participants

Juventas and no one else to his dismay.

Planning

I printed driving directions from Surrey to Britannia Beach. I hoped to meet some kayak-experienced geohashers once there. Either way, the Sea-to-Sky Corridor is very popular, it's mid-summer, and the place has "Beach" in the title. It should be easy to find a variety of watercraft to rent or charter.

Expedition

City Driving

The directions led me down a slow highway (instead of the freeway) to a bridge that was closed. I didn't have directions for another route. I knew Vancouver normally has congested bridges, so with one closed, and being a weekend, I just vaguely drove around until I hit gridlock. Ah, the next bridge must be near!

It had estimated my driving time to be 1 hour, 10 minutes. It took me 3 hours. I was just happy to have arrived at all.

Britannia Beach

To my surprise, it was an old mining town turned into a museum as the sole attraction. Even worse there were no sandy beaches, just rocks and fences. There was a tiny dock, and nearby a circle of older men talking. I approached and asked if there were any boats or kayaks to rent. They confirmed that there wasn't, so I thanked them and turned to leave. One of them shouted, "want to go for a boat ride?" The others chuckled. For a minute there was a glimmer of hope, but they had been drinking. I did not know how much--enough that they thought such a thing was funny.

Exploring the Shore

It was still early, so I relaxed near the shore, enjoying the ocean breeze I rarely experience. I leisurely walked down the railroad tracks that followed the shore, realizing I could get a few hundred meters closer to the coordinates.

I came across a camp hidden in the trees, which seemed very strange. It actually belonged to some men fishing from the shore. I walked out to the tip, close enough to get my shoes wet. I marked it on my GPS, I was 1.63km away. Thinking that other geohashers might of been out on the water, I gazed out, but there were no boats heading to or from the coordinates.