Our world then was both wide and narrow—wide in the immensity of sea and mountain; narrow in that the boat was very small, and we lived and camped, explored and swam in a little realm of our own making.
M. Wylie (Capi) Blanchet: The Curve of Time
If you’ve read The Curve of Time, and you certainly should have, you will know about Melanie Cove.
Every summer Capi, her five children, and their dog headed north from Sidney, BC on their 25 foot boat. They would always stop at Melanie Cove to visit their friend Old Mike who lived at the head of the cove.
A trail ran from Mike’s cabin to the home of a Frenchman, Old Phil, on neighboring Laura Cove. It’s still there, but sometimes takes a bit of “trail yoga” to negotiate.
After about a mile and a few hundred feet of elevation gain, we came to beautiful Laura Cove.
And now, the Stupid Steve story…
We first visited Melanie Cove aboard Fiona Bean not long after we took an interest in boating. We had each read The Curve of Time once but didn’t fully understand the profound changes that have taken place in this area over the past hundred years; how quickly trees grow and how quickly structures decay.
We had read about the Blanchet family’s visits to Old Mike at Melanie Cove. Our guidebook said that traces of the cabin could still be seen. So, having found the trailhead, off we went looking for the remains of a cabin.
We had no idea where we were headed, how long the trail was, or even if we were on the right path. All we knew was that there were a lot of fallen trees to climb over or squeeze under. And that there were no signs of a cabin.
After about a mile or so, we gave up and turned around. As we approached the shoreline, it suddenly became clear. Mike would never build a cabin a mile from the water since water was his highway. Who would build their home a mile into dense forest when there were supplies to be unloaded and carried?
Looking around with new eyes, it was easy to see where a clearing was made and the ground leveled. The eroding outlines of terraces and gardens were faintly visible. Then the clincher: old, moss-covered apple trees still hanging on in the overgrown orchard.
All of this less than a five minute walk from where we beached our dinghy!
Thanks for the pointer to “The Curve Of Time”. Will pick it up soon. Sounds completely delightful to a landlocked Montana boy with a love of green and wild things.
Talk about beautiful.
Thanks for the journey, the admission, and the “Curve of Time” recommendation. From the title I might have guessed it was a story about the “maturation” of my paunch. Thankfully, not. BTW, although your theory is likely correct, one should not rule out the possibility that one who sought refuge from people might well have placed it a mile into a pristine forest full of deer for meat, edible bulbs and plants, and refuge from direct wind. A quick hike to tend a garden and pick apples would have been nothing to people who stood on beams to cut through old growth trees 12 feet in diameter. My father did that early in his youth.
Beautiful photos! Especially the first one! Are those “moon” jellyfish so near the shore?
Will check out The Curve of Time! I actually do finish books!
Especially the small ones!
Just finished (in the LadyBird Series, and from a British perspective) Kings and Queens of England I and 2, Captain Cook, Sir Walter Raleigh, Queen Victoria, Robert Livingston, The Vikings.
Also on the last story in Dorothy Sayer’s collection “The Short Stories of Lord Peter Wimsey”.
I know I’ve read this before, but where is the evidence?
Lastly–did you recommend?–Zeb Beck’s “The Melancholy Strumpet Master.” Both author and book are interesting and entertaining. In case you, like, needed reading material after a long day of forest yoga and cruising!! Love you posts!