Hunkering Down In Winter With Work, Wine, And Food At Bodega Ridge

Last winter some of the Scout crew went on a staff retreat to a log cabin at Bodega Ridge on Galiano Island, a 22 acre getaway owned and operated by a really down to earth guy named Jesse Keefer. It was very much a work trip and much had to get done.

The goal was to – among other things – have some fun breaking the back of the Vancouver Lexicon, our dictionary of local terms, and generally prep out what we could of the 4th version of Scout (we recently finished the 5th, and are now working on the 6th), the idea being that when physical isolation meets a strong wireless signal, shit gets done.

It’s nevertheless hard to spend time at Bodega Ridge and not chill the hell out. As I remember it, the work would get done early every day and we’d be glad of it, as it’s a particularly awesome place to plant oneself in winter, with the fires every night, the mists every morning, and all the magical places to explore.

Sunrises and sunsets are equally spectacular on Galiano, and there are shorelines and easily accessed elevated spots on both sides of the island to await and enjoy them. It feels like a world away, yet – as the crow flies – it’s the same distance from the city as Squamish.

So why write about it now, a year after the fact? Because we miss it — the isolation, the smell of wood fires, the crisp cold and clarity of empty beaches, the camaraderie that comes when you’re gettin’ shit done. It’s a hard combo to replicate in the city, and after experiencing it at Bodega Ridge, we don’t even bother to try.