438 replies to this topic

[lanforod]

Heh. There's a difference between those old etc. ones being discarded and the age old use of travel trailers and motorhomes by families and couples for 'glamping' or what have you. Anyways, some keep trying to divert this conversation away from where it started and make it about what real camping is. Whatever, thats fine.

 

ASE example is just one of many that shows there is a need for more. 

 

Still looking forward to your resources on where there are new private campgrounds coming, Mike. I love some of them, if taken care of well. Living Forest for example is huge, and well managed (and typically, except for a handful of small tent sites - which if that's what you're doing, I agree, go off road) fully booked up to a year in advance!

Edited by lanforod, 07 June 2022 - 12:32 PM.

[Mike K.]

I don't foresee new RV campgrounds any time soon within a few hours of Victoria. The regulatory hurdles are too complex and land is just too expensive for the low incomes generated through accommodating RVs. If anything, I expect RV campgrounds to decrease in prevalence as redevelopment into hotels and resorts becomes far too tempting.

 

Maybe the golden age of RVing has come and gone. We see it all the time when much of what's out on the roads today is vintage stock barely holding on.

[lanforod]

So, other types of campgrounds then? Otherwise its the opposite of what you wrote earlier today! I guess if you're referring to 'tent campgrounds by jordan river'? 

Edited by lanforod, 07 June 2022 - 01:16 PM.

[Mike K.]

Yes, I did say tenting campgrounds, not RV campgrounds. You can do a lot with half an acre if you're renting out space for a car and tent. If you're renting out RV spaces, you'll need all sorts of complicated amenities to attract desirable visitors, permitting, infrastructure, etc. It gets expensive and complicated very fast.

[Sparky]

Two along Highway 14. No RVs though, just tenting.

The RV thing really soured on communities since COVID. There are broken down rigs all over the place as bright eyed 20-somethings suddenly wanted to become explorers but didn’t think about the logistics of maintaining 40 year old vehicles. There are trailer and camper remains all over the place, and broken down RVs with occupants stuck because they can’t locate parts.

Too bad these guys don't know about Young Farts used RV parts located in Alberta.

I just ordered a used torsion assembly for a roll up awning from them online and it arrived a couple of days later for less than $100. Saved me $1K

 

These young farts know what they are doing.

 

https://youngfartsrv...ning-arms-parts

[Mike K.]

I don’t think these guys have the $100 to buy the $1000 part for cheap, after filling up their gas tank for $800.

[Sparky]

^ Good point.

[Sparky]

On that note..... further to my "they are swarming the ferry terminal" rant....my latest thought was perhaps a financial assurance deposit to ensure that they buy a return ticket.

 

....and like it is in Mexico.....you can't leave your vehicle here.

 

OK let me have it.

[Mike K.]

It’s too convenient to just ditch it currently. Unless there are legitimate repercussions I would assume some of the ditched vehicles I’ve seen arrived from off-Island.

People who normally head south in whatever manner of RV during COVID heard Victoria/the Island is mild in the winter, so they came out here. Then they realized their RV had 50 leaks, and mild doesn’t mean comfortable like Arizona comfortable.

Some of the camps I’ve seen in the woods are also not very welcoming. You’re not appreciated to be driving past. I had one guy even whip out a rifle when I approached.

[Victoria Watcher]

Campers can also expect to pay more at private campgrounds this year, said Cox, with prices ranging from $50 to $80 a night, depending on the site and services. Yearly increases on average are at about 2.5%, he said.

 

“It’s the cost of living, inflation,” he said. “Operators are looking at increasing costs for staff, upgrades and other operating costs, and seeing where their net profits are … it’s not a dramatic increase.”

 

B.C. Parks campsites are generally less expensive at about $10 to $30 per party a night. Of the 10,700 campsites under provincial management, 55% are reservable and 45% are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

 

Shane Richards, who operates Surf Grove Campground on Cox Bay near Tofino, said the peak months of July and August are nearly sold out, with campers coming from all over B.C. and Alberta as well as some international bookings.

 

“Gas prices are on our radar,” said Richards. “But I think people being cooped up and having minimal travel the past two years is outweighing the price of gas.”

 

Nightly rates for the 200 sites at Surf Grove can range up to $170, depending on services and proximity to the beach. Entering its third full season, Surf Grove has brought much-needed campsites to the popular area, said Richards.

 

 

https://www.timescol...to-home-5454762

[lanforod]

Yikes.
https://www.cheknews...family-1050028/

[Victoria Watcher]

Long article on the West Coast Trail.

 

 

 

I'm a bit surprised it only has 7,000 users per year.

 

 

https://www.capitald...trail-guardians

 

 

 

 

The West Coast Trail runs along a rugged 75-kilometre stretch of coastline between Port Renfrew and Bamfield on the southwest corner of Vancouver Island. It’s one of the world’s most iconic treks, among the likes of Peru’s Inca Trail or Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro, attracting upwards of 7,000 hikers and adventure-seekers from around the world each year. 

[dasmo]

Juan de Fuca Trail is good too! Ends where the WC trail begins. 

[Mike K.]

Keep in mind the WC is closed for quite a while each year. You can hike it in the off season for free, but you’re not supposed to, and if you need rescue the bill’s on you.

[Sparky]

^ How do you cross the Nitnat Narrows during the closed period?

[Daveyboy]

^ How do you cross the Nitnat Narrows during the closed period?

Twenty years ago when I did the West Coast Trail, while we waited for the shuttle boat we watched 2 guys swim it with their packs on air mattresses.  Ridiculously dumb......even though it was at a slack tide.

[Mike K.]

^there you go.

 

Here's some fascinating history on logging in that area: https://www.nauticap...Nitinat_Bar.php

 

It's crazy how uninhabited and de-industrialized this island is today, compared to a century ago. Anyone who says our footprint on Vancouver Island is larger than ever, remind them of the fact that throughout the last half of the 1800s and first half of the 1900s there was more towns, resource operations and people out and about across the entire wilderness of this place than we could possibly fathom today.

[Sparky]

^ That is a cool piece. I am going to print that out and save it.

We were just over on the Olympic Peninsula on the weekend and the same over there.

Pioneer industrial endeavours flourished at the turn of the last century. Thank you for that Mike.

Back on topic, it was the early eighties when we walked the West Coast Trail. 7 days with everything you needed to stay alive packed neatly on your back. An evening fire by a creek mouth with a cup of hot chocolate, an ounce of Glava and a spliff was heaven on earth.

I learned about myself that week. Priceless!

[AllseeingEye]

Twenty years ago when I did the West Coast Trail, while we waited for the shuttle boat we watched 2 guys swim it with their packs on air mattresses.  Ridiculously dumb......even though it was at a slack tide.

 

Yup unbelievably so; we came through the narrows about ten years ago on a buddy's 12.5 m commercial dive boat, with the intention of mooring just inside of the narrows in a small cove immediately to starboard as you enter from the salt chuck. We tied off mooring lines from bow and stern to the shore and still had to abandon that plan due to the 2-3 kt current right at the mouth, which threatened to spin and drag us around like a rubber duck. Even on a slack tide to attempt what you describe above would not be the smartest idea. 

[Mike K.]

The campfire ban will lift today at noon.