When people visit us up here on the Sunshine Coast of B.C., we often take them on a hike to the Skookumchuck. It is almost an hour’s drive up the Coast from Sechelt, but well worth it. Once you park, it is a bit of a walk in before the trail starts, so you want to wear your most comfy shoes. One good thing is that there is a portable washroom both at the start and the end of this trail – many up here only have them at the beginning, so this is a real bonus. ( important stuff to know when you are drinking lots of water …;)
The Obligatory Sign
One of our favourite parts of the hike was seeing what my Husband called “The Skookumtruck”, which for the longest time, was parked at the side of the road into the trail. It has been moved a bit – I’m sure you’ll spot it when you go.
Skookumtruck
If you are looking for a nice, easy hike, this is the trail for you. It takes a while to get in, but it is one of the most wide and flat trails we have encountered on the Coast so far. You can see this in the next picture.
Lovely People Hiking
There are a lot of great photo opportunities while going throught the forest in here – the trees are gigantic, and many are covered in moss.
Trees at Skookumchuck
Part way along the trail, you go past Brown Lake, which is always a good place to get a picture, no matter what the season. I have probably taken a couple hundred pictures in this area, and they always look a little different each time.
Brown Lake
As with most of the hikes up here, the end is always the best part. (You are once again rewarded with a fabulous view.) This one is a little different than most others, though, as it is all about the tides. Depending on what time of day you go, you’ll either see the Ebb ( outgoing ) – which brings swirling whirlpools – or the Flood ( incoming ) which creates a standing wave. The following sign explains a bit about it:
Skookumchuck Rapids Sign
Pretty much every time we’ve hiked the Skookumchuck, we’ve been there during the Ebb tide. It is very cool to watch the water churning and swirling around like crazy. The last time we went, in July, my Brother-In-Law was visiting, so we wanted to show him something different. It started with some waves …
Flood Tide Waves
… and then came the Kayakers, who always draw a crowd of eager photographers from all over the world. This is what most people come to see. Theses kayaks are very small, and are made specifically for doing “tricks”.
Photographer at Skookumchuck
My camera isn’t the greatest, but I managed to get 40 – 50 decent shots of these guys riding the standing waves. It was really cool to watch.
Trick Kayak - Red
Trick Kayak - Yellow
The 3 of us must have sat and watched these guys take turns riding the waves for well over an hour, with a bunch of other people. It was absolutely amazing, and we were so glad we got to finally see the Flood tide for the first time – so different from the Ebb we’d always seen before.
It was a great day, and after stopping for some dinner on the way home ( at the Back Eddy Pub ) we could see the sun going down by Ruby Lake. We just had to stop for a couple of minutes so I could snap a couple more pictures. This is one of my favourites:
Sunset at Ruby Lake
So, if you’re up here on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast, and looking for a great ( but not too difficult ) hike, pack a lunch, and check this place out. We locals think it’s pretty skookum. 🙂
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