Saturna Rhapsody

Pal Judith counts it her favourite place on earth; I feel no impulse to challenge her choice. Yesterday we three – Judith, Jan, and yours-truly – made our annual pilgrimage to her favourite place – Saturna Island's Brown Ridge-Taylor Point area and somehow managed to exceed the great expectations we trundled to the trailhead at Saturna's highest point, Mt. Warburton Pike.

Though it has plenty of competition the Brown Ridge-Taylor Point route is quite simply the most glorious day hike in the entire south Vancouver-southern Gulf Islands region. Starting at an elevation just under 500 metres, we hiked down to sea level at Taylor Point, savouring familiar but no less astounding 180-degree vistas over a feast of magnificent islands south of Saturna: little ones like Blunden, Skipjack and Flattop, mid-sized ones such as Stuart and Waldron, big ones too – Pender, Orcas, Saltspring. Spectacular though it is, the hike is remarkable for the absence of fellow travelers we typically see.

Feral goats frequent the bluffs, black-tailed deer too, and – at this time of year – plenty of woodland birds. Every April we keep a lookout for two migrant species: Townsend's solitaire and mountain bluebird. Yesterday, for the first time ever, we saw both. As for fellow humans, the day was happily, blissfully typical: we had the ridge entirely to ourselves.

In April wildflowers proliferate in these parts: shootingstars, calypso orchids, blue-eyed mary, coralroot, fawn lilies et al. At Taylor Point white-crowned sparrows marked their territory in proprietary song, harbour seals eyed us warily from the littoral, bald eagles patrolled the headland, a garter snake sunned itself at trailside.

We explored new territory, the first few hundred metres of the shoreline trail from Taylor Point to Saturna Vineyards, liked it hugely, and vowed to devour more of it next time.

The long day provided a smorgasbord of nature's finest. We capped the day with a cookout at Winter Cove marine park: smokie-style hotdogs washed down with Blue Buck beer. We relished a fine sunset and savoured the gathering dusk. Sea lions cavorted noisily in the rapids between Saturna and nearby Samuel Island. Under a near-full moon a frog symphony erupted from the Winter Cove marsh. Bats hawked for flying insects. We walked the short distance to Boat Passage and – from a safe distance – appreciated the bright lights of Vancouver, from the Tsawwassen coal terminal to the Grouse Mountain ski hill.

Yes, it was a day to cherish. But, always one to beware sentimental excess, Jan pointed out that the day wasn't quite perfect: after all, not once during our long Saturna day did we see a pod of orcas flying by.