planetrumsey: West Coast Travels: Day 4

The time finally came to say farewell to Vancouver Island as we continue our travels around British Columbia. We had a full day ahead of us as we had a 3:30 pm ferry in Nanaimo to catch on our way to our next destination of Squamish.

Our day started by packing the car back up and leaving the cabin we had called home for the past three days. Before starting our long journey towards the Cowichan Valley along the Pacific Marine Circle Route we squeezed in one last beach visit. Sandcut Beach was only a few minutes away and only involved a very short hike to the water. In addition there was also the promise of another waterfall. After arriving on the beach the view was amazing again but we never ended up finding the waterfall.

The drive along the Pacific Marine Circle route becomes even more remote once leaving Port Renfrew. This former winding logging road was only recently paved over as it winds its way by more old growth forests on the way to Lake Cowichan. From there the road opens up and was only a quick hop to Duncan where we finally caught back up with the Trans Canada highway which we last saw four days ago. Once on the highway we arrive at departure bay in Nanaimo in no time where we waiting for our ferry back to the mainland.

After another enjoyable ferry crossing we left horseshoe by and immediately started to head north on the famed Sea to Sky highway There are few roads that are able to pack so much awe inspiring scenery than the legendary sea to sky highway does. Our first leg of the journey only took us 40 mins towards Squamish where the mighty Stawamus Chief lingers over the town. The Stawamus Chief is one of the largest granite monoliths in the world. Another very famous granite monolith I have also had the pleasure of visiting is El Capitan in Yosemite.

With our arrival in Squamish it had been a very long day so we grabbed some delicious Mexican food from Mags99 and then enjoyed the pool (including a water slide!) at our hotel.