Leaving Gilford Island

We hiked through the forest, and after reading articles on bear and cougar attacks posted back at the Lodge, and after hearing stories told by Billy and by Bruce, we were on high alert.  Brad had bear spray on his belt, and I had a bear bell. Plus we would shout every now and then to let any nearby critters know we were on the trail.
The night before we'd had dinner at Bruce and Josee's house, and they'd shown us short video clips from the motion activated trail cameras - one clip showed two cougars on the trail and another was of a bear that just rose up out of the salal and then disappeared.
Our destination was a lake a few kilometers inland, where Bruce had a canoe he said we were welcome to use.

Fortunately we didn't see any wildlife, other than birds, and eventually came out of the forest and saw the lake.  The canoe was a ways away, so Brad navigated the marshy and boggy edge, found the canoe and paddled back to get me. Away we went up the lake, and lo and behold the sun came out!

Sadly our time on Gilford Island was soon over, and the next morning it was time to load our stuff back onto the water taxi. We'd had a great visit with Billy Proctor, a good day of kayaking, a hike, a paddle on the lake, time to read in the lodge, conversations with the other guests, and games of Scrabble and Bogle.  We had a tiny glimpse into a different way of life, where grocery shopping meant a two hour boat ride to the store and two hours back. Where you knew all of your neighbours and relied on them for help.  Propane lights and generators are not things we use in the city...

Tying the kayaks onto the boat