QCT: Day Two

After a wonderful night’s rest, I arose to the waking dream that is DeBrett’s. I was excited for my second day on the track, but it was really hard to leave this scenery behind.

The sun was shining and the day was full of promise.

Of course, I had to say goodbye to the resident cat before hitting the trail.

I made my way up the steep winding road out of Portage to pick up the Queen Charlotte again, just outside of “town.”

That’s what those mirrors are for, right?

I purposely planned my second day on the track to be a shorter hike, since I had booked a room at Lochmara Lodge and wanted to spend some time there exploring. Lochmara is located on the shores of a secluded cove and is also home to a wildlife recovery center. I’ll be covering my time there in my next post, so more on that later.

The walk to Lochmara from Portage was only a few miles and ended up taking about three hours. Just because it was short doesn’t mean it was lacking in views, however.

The day was turning out to be pretty warm, and the first part of the track was the steepest section yet. It’s hard to complain at all, though, when you know what awaits you at the top of each ridge.

I passed more people along the track than I had on my first day, but still had it mostly to myself. I think that since I didn’t start at the very beginning, I was on a different schedule than most people doing the trek. Works for me, as I didn’t want any pesky humans in my shots anyway (well, besides me).

My shadow had to make an appearance, as it usually does with my wide-angle lens.

That’s the cove where Lochmara Lodge is, peeking out to the left of the ridge line.

The rest was all downhill.

The Queen Charlotte Track is really easy to follow, but there are still plenty of signs to ensure you don’t wander off into the forest.

Since a lot of the track cuts through private land, many of the spots have their own unique names, too.

A couple hours in to the hike, a path diverged to the left, heading in the direction of Lochmara Lodge. I said farewell to the Queen Charlotte for the time being and headed further downhill.

Lochmara is just on the other side of those pines on the far right.

I’ll leave you with this lovely palm tree and the promise of more to come.