September 2, 2025
We went down to the beach about 7:30 for the views, sounds and 1-2 bars. I wanted to see if I could get in one or two blogs posted, but one bar isn’t enough. It’s enough to get messages and emails, but not to upload pictures. I got one posted and then got stuck.
It was another beautiful day, sunny and 70 degrees. We felt we should do a hike, and we at least ought to experience the Kabeyun Trail. We packed a lunch, filled the water bottles and set out for the trailhead parking lot. On Labor Day Monday it was overflowing with people parking on the street for a mile. Today it was a quarter filled.
We set out for Tee Harbor, about 7km one way or 14 round trip, or about 7.35 miles. That’s the most we have hiked the whole trip. I know, Karen would have run the whole 75km trail, which at least on this part is a dirt and gravel road. People use trail bikes to ride it, or take them to side trails, of which there are many.
Having been sick for a while, we were proud to have made it. Tee Harbor is a pretty spot with 7 campsites, each with a fire pit. the harbor was calm with a nice beach. We passed a young man with three daughters walking slowly while talking to them. He was carrying a huge pack. It is quite enough to carry your own stuff – tent, sleeping bag, food, pots, plates, but he had to carry their bags too. A bit behind was his wife and another girl. It was quite an outing, but it is only an hour and a half to two-hour walk to a great campsite with a beach. How can you beat that?
We sat on a big boulder and ate our lunch, looking at the harbor. There were five moorings for boats. I can imagine having a nice boat and tying up in this pretty cove for the night. How many more coves are like this?
Walking back, we passed several other hikers, some serious, some day-hikers like us. We stopped at the Sea Lion trailhead, sitting on a bench to rest before tackling the last mile uphill. A lady paused to say hi before going up the Sea Lion trail. She was from Saskatchewan, headed for Nova Scotia.
Back at the parking lot, we noticed a StarLink antenna and a sign saying there was WIFI here! I’ll be back in the morning! To reward ourselves, we drove 1km down the road to Silver Islet to get another piece of blueberry pie. It looked pretty quiet, but it was open. The lunchtime ordering was over, so we got a soda and a pumpkin muffin and went out on the back deck for a great view of the harbor. I sat there trying to decide which boat I would rather have.
Walking back into the store, a lady sat in a comfortable chair working on her computer. Assuming she was the owner, I asked her where she finds such nice young people to work the store. She said they were all local, and wanted part-time jobs. She felt very fortunate to have such great kids. Martha asked about the blueberry pie and where she got the blueberries. She said she has a variety of sources who pick wild blueberries, and then they freeze them.
She asked where we were going, and we said Thunder Bay. She gave us a suggestion of a place to go for blueberries and also candied salmon. “Have you ever been here before?” I said 12 years ago on a fish across Canada trip for four months. She said, “You have to talk to my husband, Jeff. He loves to fish, and he would love to do something like that.”
Jeff and Sandy were their names, and they own the store. Once Jeff was finished helping a customer, he comes over asking where we fished. “Did you go to Terrace, BC?” Yes, we did. “Did you fish the Skeena?” “I think we watched,” I said. “We didn’t have the right gear.” Then he starts showing me pictures of Steelhead he catches on the Skeena with his old roommate, who runs a lodge out there. He goes every other year. Sandy showed a picture of a huge steelhead she caught a few years ago.
He asked if I liked Brook Trout. “My dream is to catch so many Brook Trout that I have to quit. I don’t care what size they are.”