Does anyone know how to arrange to take this new trail? It’s supposed to be great. Does a person check in at the band office, or phone ahead or just show up? Is there a fee involved? Could a person kayak over and tie up at the dock, and take the trail and kayak back to Rupert? I think it’s about an hour and a half to some tower, one way, so a three hour walk so far. When it’s finished, I think it’s supposed to go all the way to Port Simpson.
Has anybody tried it yet?
It’s supposed to open to the public in 3 weeks. Hopefully they tell us how to utilize it then because I was wondering the same thing myself.
If we don’t hear in three weeks, we’ll have to phone the Band to see if we can use it.
isn’t kayaking that kinda risky?.. I don’t know, I never tried kayaking but going across the ocean in a kayak…?
Ocean kayaking is a very fun thing to do. Went across to Mc Nickel creek for a day trip. (Spelling might be a bit off)
You pick your day and your tide and it’s a very nice trip. There’s a little island just past the village where someone has posted a sign, calling it ‘Ryan’s Island’ that is nice to picnic on. And in the little bay on Pike Island, it gets warm enough to swim in.
In fact, there are a lot of places that are nice to visit by kayak in this harbour. And if you feel adventurous, it’s a nice trip to a little island outside of Port Ed. Can’t think of the name right now but what a fabulous beach!
If you’re just staring to kayak, the best place is Kloiya Bay. You can rent a kayak and everything you need from Joe and paddle to your heart’s content in that sheltered bay. It can get iffy at the far end where you turn off into Denise Inlet sometimes but you’ll soon get the hang of it. I recommend it.
The exact process of gaining access is still being worked out, I am confident that some sort of announcement will be made when the trail is open to the general public.
No way! Not risky at all. AS long as you’re not silly and go out during really choppy waters, you’re fine. And the sights you can see! Wow!!! The man who fell from heaven comes to mind. And yea, Ridley beach can be accessed if you paddle from Port Ed. Mcnickel creek is awesome. There are also some natural hot springs you can get to, although I’ve never been there myself. Keep in mind, if you’re going across the harbour, you’ll likely be in an ocean kayak, which have rudders, and are a little bit more stable than river boats.
We wanted to take some visiting children and teenagers over on the ferry to hike the new trail, take a picnic lunch etc. It costs $25.00. per person regardless of age to hike the trail, the ferry is reasonable at $6 for adult and $3 for kids. It was unaffordable for us for an afternoon, unfortunate for the kids. How about $10 or $15 for kids, a lot more people could enjoy it then. … . . And it wouldn’t be such a huge waste of money!
I agree with you goodness $100 to walk a trail is a huge money grab, give me a break. great idea having the trail but WTF… I guess one can go over and just not walk the trail, but again give me a break…
[quote=“jamesbrown”]
I agree with you goodness $100 to walk a trail is a huge money grab, give me a break. great idea having the trail but WTF… I guess one can go over and just not walk the trail, but again give me a break…[/quote]
I agree, it is ridiculous especially for a family who would like to take their children out for a beautiful day for some family fun. Why are they charging to walk a trail anyway? I went over to Metlakatla once when I first moved here in '99, a friend came up from Vic that I hadn’t seen in years so I suggested the harbor cruise, Dodge Cove and Metlakatla, was nice but when we arrived there, we were actually told by the Capt. of the boat to stay on the beach! I couldn’t believe it so we wandered around,threw stones , it started to rain, got soaked and waited for the crew to return from wherever they went. Horrible! Nice beach though, saw it up close and personal !!Paid $60. per person for THAT !!
I would be interested to learn why a fee exsists at all. I won’t be taking my family over at that price! Butze is still free folks:) Seriously though. Does anyone know what those fees are for?
I have a problem with any fee, but, if there has to be one it shouldn’t be anything more than the cost of access to a National Park like Jasper.
As someone else said, Butzee is free, people still do tall tree, there’s Mount Hays, a trail by Prudhomme… - who needs to pay unrealistic fees to walk in the woods??
Would this be a “forever” fee or just until the Metlakatla Band paid off the loan they must have borrowed to build the trail? Or, perhaps, did the money come from the federal gov’t in the form of a grant? Hmmmm, so many questions, so few answers!
Here is a good article on the trail:
northword.ca/june-2012/metlakatl … ness-trail
Sounds intriguing.
This article explains who donated:
thenorthernview.com/news/142553825.html
I wonder if RTI employees get a discount after there donation…
to be fair though they explain it takes 50K per year to maintain:
So, if 2 couples wanted to travel over and spend the day, would cost almost $200 ! I am sure it is a beautiful trail but we have awesome FREE ones here and had Rushbrook ever been completed, we would have had that beautiful one also. Wasn’t the reported cost for the completion of Rushbrook almost the same and would have been an ideal tourist attraction for when the cruise ship passengers were coming in. I can’t understand how they figure a family would ever be able to spend the day over there even if they offer some kind of family rate. If there were these funds available to donate, wouldn’t it have been better spent elsewhere in their community. $800K is a hell of a lot of money for a trail ! How will they pay the salaries for the two employees they will need to maintain the trail? Lots of questions for sure !
I love that in all the articles it does not give a cost to hike the trail, in the second artical it says camping …lol… No camping aloud when I phoned. Also there is no local discount, they may offer a season pass next year but they restrict the flow of people who can walk the trail. Like many I have better ways to spend 125.00 dollars for a few hours of hiking with my family, we can go to ferry island for the weekend for the same amount.
Wish them luck but until the prices come down we will not be walking your trails when we have so many free ones to enjoy…
I definitely understand the confusion and disappointment around the details of this trail.
The fee was designed to limit the amount of random people in the community and to help with the maintenance. Very early on a group of younger men rented some kayaks from a local company and really did not respect the posted rules of the trail. Community members were rightfully upset and concerned, the result was a fee to help limit numbers, and attract the type of person who would respect the rules and the features which make it this trail unique.
I still think that the details of how the trail is utilized will be fine tuned, as for who to contact about the trail, I would start at the Economic Development Office rather than the Band Office;)
[quote=“chiefdave”]I definitely understand the confusion and disappointment around the details of this trail.
The fee was designed to limit the amount of random people in the community and to help with the maintenance. Very early on a group of younger men rented some kayaks from a local company and really did not respect the posted rules of the trail. Community members were rightfully upset and concerned, the result was a fee to help limit numbers, and attract the type of person who would respect the rules and the features which make it this trail unique.
I still think that the details of how the trail is utilized will be fine tuned, as for who to contact about the trail, I would start at the Economic Development Office rather than the Band Office;)[/quote]
So, unless they have security guarding the trail, how do they propose to stop the “no-gooders” from accessing it? I don’t understand any logical reason for charging a fee to go for a walk unless it is in a National Park where they are paying for Park employees etc. Rules and/or fees are not going to stop anyone who hasn’t any respect for something to begin with.