The second week in October, we boarded the tiny ferry in Crofton to spend a few days on Salt Spring Island, the largest isle in the clutch of Gulf Islands. This was the smallest ferry we’ve been on with our trailer. Note: Do not trust the ferry workers to know how much room you need to maneuver your rig. Because you might, hypothetically speaking, rip the end cap off of your slide cover roller.
The little ferry to Salt Spring Island from the Crofton ferry landing
Other than that hypothetical end cap getting ripped off and having to borrow a rickety ladder to extend our slide (and retract it), we thoroughly enjoyed our stay on Salt Spring Island.
Colorful Ganges Harbour on Salt Spring Island
Magical Island Hiking
We spent our days trekking the beautiful shoreline at Ruckle Provincial Park and the rugged trails on Mt. Erskine, one of the most fun trails we’ve hiked. It offers not only spectacular views, but also a treasure hunt of fairy doors hidden in moss-covered rocks along the way.
Historic farm at Ruckle Provincial Park
Hiking the shoreline trails at Ruckle Provincial Park
On the rugged trails at Mt. Erskine Provincial Park
A treasure hunt for fairy doors
A raven door! (Well, maybe it’s a crow door)
At the top of Mt. Erskine
It’s A Whimsical, Colorful Island
Whimsy is most definitely a defining characteristic of Salt Spring Island.
Strolling the streets of downtown Ganges
Café Talia is a cozy place for coffee
A colorful garden shop on the island
The delightful Vesuvius Café, with wonderful coffee, soups, and baked goodies
A seaside home in Vesuvius Village
The Food Scene Is Fantastic
I’m looking over my shoulder from West Texas right now, wistfully longing for the farmers’ markets of the Pacific Northwest. The Saturday Market on Salt Spring Island is especially fine.
The colorful Saturday Market on Salt Spring Island
Heyday Farm, offering an abundance of organic veggies
Eco-friendly packaging for organic tomatoes at the market
An excellent taco stand at the market. Apparently we have a thing for tacos.
Yummy pork tacos with local greens, pickled red onions, and chipotle aoili
Those pear almond tarts were wickedly good. I wish I had one now.
Salt Spring goat cheese, offering all kinds of flavors (lemon was our favorite)
A shopping bag’s Philosophy of Life
At lovely Salt Spring Vineyard and tasting room
Blackberry wine in the garden (and a brownie, because of course wine + chocolate is best)
Beer tasting at Salt Spring Island Ales; the Earl Grey IPA was excellent
Where We Stayed
We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Mowhinna Creek Campground. Our site was large and private, with full hookups and internet. Best of all, it’s just a few miles from Ganges, the central happening place on the island (including the Saturday Market).
Fall colors at Mowhinna Creek Campground
Our site at the campground was spacious, private, and beautiful. And they loaned us a ladder.
We too loved Salt Spring and the artist coops that included not only painters,sculptors, weavers and potters but bakers and cheese makers! Toured many studios and home “art” centers during a late summer visit. Missed the Earl Grey IPA so we’ll have to go back…maybe with you two…can’t think of anything more delightful! Sorry we’ll be missing you in Texas tho my sister Donna in Fulton says give you her number so I’ll call with that. We miss you both but as always travel with you in blog and spirit!
Diana, we want to return for the studio tours. It would be a fun trip with you and John! That Earl Grey IPA would be excellent with your Earl Grey chocolate cake. :-)
Wonderful. As always, you have captured the charm of what looks like a very charming place! And, I once spent a day on one of those “rocky crag” Gulf Islands. A business trip, believe it or not. Got there by float plane.😀 Thanks for another nice wakeup, and thanks for the memories. I hope you don’t have any more hypothetical problems…
Glad our post brought back some good memories of the islands for you, Dick. Sounds like a fun adventure for you by float plane!
Love those artsy PNW towns! The fairy door trail looks like fun.
I know you appreciate the artsy charm of so many PNW towns, Lisa. The fairy door trail was fun and a first for us!
I once sold beads at the farmers market on Saltspring. A memorable adventure! And now I need to go make a fairy door… :o)
Salt Spring seems like your kind of place, Kim! I can’t wait to see the fairy doors you create. :-)
I cringed at your story about the end cap. A couple times when we have pulled into a campground or repair facility, someone has offered to help us park, but we always decline. As much as we appreciate the offer, we trust each other and our system and we haven’t crashed into anything yet. Sadly, your story validates that practice. Glad it didn’t cause too much damage.
LOVE the little doors along the trail! What a neat idea! And I am right there with you on the farmers markets. Between the time of year and our current location, the options for fresh fruits and vegetables have been pretty limited. That market is positively dreamy!
Laura, fortunately the end cap was a minor boo-boo. But it was a pain to have to use a ladder for a couple of months until we returned to Ashland and could get the part and make the repair. We’re still really happy we made the trip to Salt Spring Island. We just won’t let anyone direct us ever again!
You’re killing me with all these incredible places to explore on and near Vancouver Island. I want to pack up and leave right now. I do miss all the wonderful farmers’ markets found in the northwestern part of the country and this one looks so sweet. Goat cheese is one of my favorites. I made some preserved lemons recently and now am going to try to make lemon goat cheese. It sounds so yummy. Your photos are great Laurel. And that fairy door trail looks so fun! When we lived in Sedona a wannabe psychic told me I had the ability to sit quietly in my garden and see fairies so I’m sure I could have found those other fairy doors for you (haha)! Hypothetically speaking, if I had snagged the end cap of my slide roller cover when on a small ferry, I might have freaked out, just a little bit. I’m sure if this had happened to you, you would have been very calm about the whole affair. ;)Happy New Year to you and Eric. We wish you much joy, laughter, great adventures and the best of health. Love you guys!
Haha, oh I definitely freaked out a bit when we snagged our roller cover, LuAnn! I had visions of being stuck on a little island, not being able to extend our slide. ;-( I wish you had been there with us on our hunt for the fairy doors, because somehow there were a few that eluded us!
We wish you and Terry all the best in this new year, and hope we’ll be seeing you. Save us some of your lemon goat cheese! oxoxo
Awesome except for the trailer damage.
Brenda, it was kind of a bummer to start off our adventure on Salt Spring by ripping off a part of our trailer, but it all turned out well. It was an inexpensive fix once we returned to Ashland. (Eric fixed it once he had the part.)
The fairy doors remind me of some geocaches. Very cute. The other ferry incident,not so cute. Another great story.
Debbie, we had a lot of fun searching for the fairy doors. If we had coordinates we could have found all of them (maybe!).
Lovely post and photos! Artsy Salt Spring Island has been on our list for a visit, maybe this spring as we head north. Thanks for such a wonderful series of posts on Vancouver Island area!
Denise, I’m so glad our posts on Vancouver Island are helpful for you. :-) You’ll enjoy Salt Spring — it’s filled with creative souls! And there are lots of great photo opportunities.
What absolutely gorgeous pictures of this wonderful place. I’m convinced I would love to live there. It seems so happy and alive, bright and joyful. AND national health care. But I don’t suppose the Canadians will take us permanently. Sigh…. Just a terrific post Laurel. So sorry about the mishap. We just had a rock hit a crack in our windshield and sadly we weren’t even on our way to Alaska.
Sherry, we met several Canadians during our Vancouver Island sojourn who tried to entice us to move there. The combination of natural beauty, creativity, and quality of life is pretty seductive! But as you said, I’m not so sure the Canadian government would make it easy. Still, it’s a wonderful place to visit. We’ll return, for sure! So sorry to hear about your windshield. :-(
Oh those farmer’s market goodies. We are in the Southwest now and poblano peppers, avocado, and citrus will just have to do. Safe travels.
Yum…poblano peppers, avocados, and citrus sound good! But I agree, there’s nothing quite like the outrageous abundance and variety available in the Pacific Northwest farmer’s markets. Enjoy your Southwest travels!
I love the artist community and farmers market on Salt Spring Island. There are quite a few fiber artists there!
Thalia, I wish we had visited the artist’s studios on the island! We need to return for more exploring. Hope you and Raul have a wonderful New Year, filled with creativity and adventures in your Casita!
This post took me away from the overcrowded city for a few minutes as I pretended we weren’t surrounded by way too many people, cars, and noise. What a fantastic island! Sorry about your ferry issue:( Was that a big MH behind you at the campground in one of the photos? I love that hike and locating the fairy doors. What a cute idea! And that produce has me drooling!!! Cooking with all those vibrant colors and freshness is so much fun. I so need that shopping bag! I love the saying. I’ll have to see about getting a plain cloth bag and creating that bag for myself. Lovely, lovely photos:)
Pam, I’m so glad you enjoyed the photos. And yes, that was a big MH in the campground on Salt Spring. We thought of you two often while we were on the island — I was always saying to Eric, “Don’t you think Pam and John could fit in here?” Our consensus is that you could fit in every campground we stayed in.
Hope you’ve had a delightful holiday! I know you’re excited about getting back out into nature. Happy New Year!
looks fun and inviting as all of your adventures! Happy New Year❤️
Happy New Year to you, darlin’! We’ll be seeing you before too long and we’ll have some adventures together! oxoxo
Beautiful places as always. Happy New Year.
Happy New Year to you, too, Christine! Thanks for following along with our travels. :-)