Just ask anyone who's been there, and they'll tell you that Cortes Island is a truly magical place.
One of the Discovery Islands, Cortes lies at the northern limits of the Salish Sea in the territories of the Klahoose, Homalco, and Tla'amin First Nations.
This past spring, I hiked to Sutil Point, the south end of the island.
Beginning and ending at the paradisiacal Hollyhock retreat centre, our counterclockwise loop covered seven kilometres and lasted three hours.
Smelt Bay Provincial Park. Photo: Stephen Hui.
To start, we followed Smelt Bay Road to the sandy beach at Smelt Bay Provincial Park.
Heading south along the shore — there's no trail — the surface changed to cobbles and boulders and remained that way around Sutil Point.
Fortunately, the point rewarded our stumbling with plenty of bald-eagle sightings.
Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) at Sutil Point. Photo: Stephen Hui.
After baking in the hot sun, we were glad to see the stunning beach at Hollyhock again.
Using B.C. Ferries, getting to Cortes Island involves taking a Campbell River-Quathiaski Cove sailing from Vancouver Island to Quadra Island, followed by the Heriot Bay-Whaletown run.
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