The north end of Vancouver island tends to the vertical. Rocky cliffs spring straight up from the shore, as if we were halfway up the mountainsides already. Which, if you consider the height from the nearby sea floor, up to a kilometre underwater, we are.
Even Campbell River, with its rushing rivers bringing down silt to lay out beaches along our shore, is mostly built on the hillside. The lower highway runs close to the beach; streets leading off it climb steeply. From a couple of blocks inland, we can see (on sunny days) across the low islands of the Discovery Passage to the mountains of the mainland.
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| Typical street view.Two blocks up. |
I live on the first block above the highway, so that coming home at the end of the day, I'm usually curving down a side hill, watching the sweep of the strait below me. It's a good feeling, even when sea and sky are grey. And when the sun is shining, I almost hate to get home.
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| Looking across the Georgia Strait towards Powell River on the mainland. Mitlenatch Island dead centre ahead. |
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| Lighthouse, Quadra Island |
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| The opposite shore, and the mountains of the mainland. (With fresh snow.) |
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Wikipedia map might be helpful here. We are at the junction of Discovery Passage and the Georgia Strait, which stretches on down to the Lower Mainland, and the beaches we used to frequent on the border.
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| Discovery Passage is 1.7 km wide between Campbell River and Quadra Island. (The view in the photo above.) |
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Skywatch post.
The golden leaves and green makes for a dramatic photo.
ReplyDeleteWith such a narrow funnel, the currents during the new moon must be wild.
ReplyDeleteYes, they are; wild and dangerous. It used to be worse, before they blew up Ripple Rock. (Old history; I remember it, but maybe I should write about it.)
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