HOWE SOUND, British Columbia — At the end of a coastal ramble through thickets of madrone, the trail dumped out onto a rocky outcropping where a diminutive lighthouse stood sentry. Bob Turner was hiking the Sea Walk Trail on Bowen Island, a 20-minute ferry ride from West Vancouver.
Turner, once the island's mayor, walked out onto Cape Roger Curtis, where he gestured at the panoramic view of rugged coastline, distant mountains and tree-lined islands set against the tableau of the mesmerizingly calm waters that characterize the Inside Passage. Whales are a frequent sight here, and just below the surface lurk hundreds of starfish and rare glass sponge reefs.
"When you look that way, you ask, 'Where's Vancouver?'" Turner said. "You could be 100 miles up the coast and you'd have the same view."
