The Mystical Shore of Ucluelet

The coast at Ucluelet is storm battered. Many ships have been wrecked along these shores, some as recently as the mid 20th century. In 1905 the English windjammer Pass of Melfort foundered here, with the loss of all 29 people on board. The next year the Amphitrite Lighthouse was built. High waves washed it away in 1914, and this current structure was built in 1915; it's now automated.

The weather is frequently cloudy and foggy here, but to me, that adds to the serenity of the place. From this spot on the Wild Pacific Trail I could here a foghorn moaning, a buoy clanging, and the soft rush of the gentle summer surf. It must be quite a spectacle during a winter storm! I need to come back and check it out...a lot of people do, making Ucluclet a year round destination.

Relentless onshore winds sculpt the vegetation into surreal forms. Add fog, and a sense of mysticism prevails. Indigenous First Nations people have lived here for over four thousand years...it's a spiritual place.

Rows of trees disappear into the gloaming. I love scenes like this...it's thoroughly enjoyable to just soak up the beauty and tranquility, and be at peace.

These trees have been pruned as well as sculpted by the wind. What's behind them, land, water? I've forgotten...all was lost in the fog.

Fine Vancouver Island Forests

Some people say Vancouver Island is just a big tree farm. This is at least 50 percent correct...it seems that half or more of the island is regularly logged. Trees grow everywhere, and with abundant rain and long growing seasons new crops can be harvested every 35-50 years. However, there are fairly large areas preserved in provincial and national parks, and in these areas majestic old growth forests can still be found. This is the biggest tree in McMillan Provincial Park, in the center of the island; the Douglas fir is over 800 years old and 76 metres tall...about 250 feet. This grove is named after its donor, HR Macmillan, who ironically was one of the biggest lumbermen on the island during the middle of the 20th century.

The exact date on which these trees fell is known. It was January 1, 1997, during a massive storm that affected a vast area. High winds downed dozens of trees in the grove...I first visited in September 1998 and the park was still being repaired after the storm. The tempest was a classic Pineapple Express. While devastating the forests on Vancouver Island, it brought torrential rain and major flooding to Northern California; there was a big flood on the Russian River. Monterey was in the warm sector of the storm; at the stroke of the new year of 1997 the temperature in Monterey was 70 degrees, which is uncommon on a summer afternoon!

Notice that the tree in the foreground, down only 13 1/2 years, is already well into its nurse log career, nurturing many young firs.

Not far from MacMillan grove, but a thousand metres higher, is a boreal forest. This is in Strathcona Provincial Park, in the center of the island. Here winter snows are heavy and the growing season is short. On July 25 there were still patches of snow only a little above 3000 feet elevation. The marshy ground of the Forbidden Plateau, as the area is called, further inhibits growth. Thus, the trees here, though abundant, are not very tall and are slender, with short branches. Go 300 miles north from here, in the interior of BC and Alberta, and the forests look like this.

Now we're in the rainforest at Pacific Rim National Park, between Tofino and Ucluelet on the Vancouver Island coast. Here, just a short distance from the ocean, the temperature is usually between 30 and 70 degrees year round and 120 inches of rain drench the land every year. The forest floor shows that Van Gogh's got nothing on Ma Nature...she does impressionism well!

In the park there are many neat boardwalk trails. This one goes right past a quintessential nurse log! Go down the line and you can see four good sized trees growing from the nutrients in the one old log. Yeah, I know...I take tons of nurse log pictures. But nurse logs are cool! This forest was better lit than many, and this was a particularly prolific nurse log.

Cam River Dreamtime

I'm currently staying in Campbell River, midway up the east coast of Vancouver Island. It's a comfy city of about 32,000, with nice neighborhoods and all the modcons. But it's on the very edge of the wilderness. To the west and north, and east on the BC mainland, there is almost nothing but wilderness. To me, Cam River has a bit of a surrealistic vibe, like it's perched on the edge of civilization. I'm staying at the Best Western, and I don't need a GPS to tell me my latitude...I'm a few steps south of the 50th parallel! I've always had the idea in my head that this particular line of latitude is where the Wild North begins...at least in North America. And on Vancouver Island, virtually all the population lives in Cam River or south of latitude 50.

Sitting on my deck at the Best Western, all of a sudden the Love Boat passes by! This is the Island Princess. Cam River lies at the northern end of the Strait of Georgia. From here on north, instead of a broad strait between mainland BC and Vancouver Island, there are numerous narrow passages separated by islands. The ship is transiting Discovery Passage, separating Vancouver Island from Quadra Island, which lies beyond the ship. I haven't been to Quadra, but it sounds similar to Pender Island, except it's so close to Cam River that many people commute by ferry. I reckon it would be a nice commute, riding by ship every day.

Moonrise last night over the shoreline across the street from the motel. Very tranquil, even with moderate traffic behind. The weather has been perfect...high 70s, sunny...and some folks have bonfires on the beach at sunset.

OK OK, Bald Eagles are not a novelty anymore. They're quite common in these parts. But they're cool! They hang in the treetops, scoping out the scene, then fly majestically away. Crows, seagulls, and vultures look like wimps when the ol' Bald Eagle is cruisin' the hood. This one (blow the pic up and check the treetop) is at the top of a tree right at the entrance to the Best Western. This was last night...tonight he was in a tree just behind the motel.

Full moon rising tonight.

The strait is tranquil.

920 PM in Cam River.

Evening coming on.

Another perfect day tomorrow.

Headed for the Pacific Coast.

Chemainus Murals

Two nights ago I stayed in Chemainus, a town on Vancouver Island between Victoria and Nanaimo. The town has a long logging history, and a multicultural one as well. When timber jobs were lost in the 1980s, Chemainus residents put their heads together and tried to devise a new look for the town. They came up with a program to paint murals all over the sides of buildings...there are about 40 in all. Chemainus is now a major tourist destination, with motels and latte joints all round, and tourists snapping pictures of the beautifully done murals. It's a fine place. This is a signature mural depicting the three tribes of Native Canadians that live in the area.

Like many other places on the west coast, Chemainus saw an influx of Chinese and Japanese during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Chinese were active in logging and retail; the Japanese were also involved in commercial enterprises until WW II, when the Canadian government did the same thing as the Americans; they deported most west coast Japanese inland, and many did not return. This mural, painted by a Chinese Canadian, honors the town's Chinese heritage. Blow up the pic and you can read the narrative.

The Solara is parked in front of a mural depicting stevedores at the town dock in the late 1800s.

The Hong Hing waterfront store, in operation 1915-1950.

This is part of a montage showing typical street scenes in the town from the late 19th to mid 20th centuries. Here a mountie band is playing in the 1930s.

Fabulous Pender Island Sunset

I'm wrapping up my week on North Pender Island. Every day has been beautiful, but last night featured the best sunset of all! Incoming high clouds caught the gold and purple colors to perfection. These pix are in chronological order, starting just before 9 PM.

At 9:15, after the sun dropped below the horizon, the purples started to take over.

9:45 PM...still a good bit of light...a month after the summer solstice! Latitude is almost 49 North here. In the distance is Ganges, on Salt Spring Island.

Plumper Sound

Mt Norman Panorama

Pender Scenes

I've been hiking on the Penders the past three days. The hikes tend to be short but serious, with a lot of steep stretches. Not a bad workout for the Venerable Pinniped, who needs climbing to keep him honest but really can't handle prolonged vertical treks anymore. Yesterday I hiked to a viewpoint on the east side of North Pender, with a view of Mayne Island across Plumper Sound. There were a lot of nice flat spots conducive to slotation, watching the boat traffic in the sound and checking out a particularly handsome Bald Eagle cruising the trees below.

This is one of our neighborhood deer checking out brekky just a few blocks from my rental house. Several of his friends enjoy hanging out in my driveway...they've been there most times when I've returned from an excursion in mid afternoon.

I hiked up to the summit of Mount Norman the other day. It's the highest point in the Penders, about 800 feet above the sea. While loafing there, a Bald Eagle cruised by and just by chance I got this shot of him...blow the pic up for better detail.

This is the shoreline at the eastern tip of South Pender. A couple houses are visible if you blow up the pic, and it must be really nice to have one of them, in a peaceful, secluded area, wedded to nature, but only about five miles from a supermarket and liquor store.

Every day on the Penders I encounter scenes of beauty and tranquillity. However, it's rather lively; ships of all types ply the waters, and the land and air teem with wildlife. The scene is one of a landscape in balance, with a nice blend of human activity and nature.

Peaceful Pender Islands

I'm spending a week on North Pender Island, in the Canadian Gulf Islands between Vancouver and Victoria. I've wanted to stay here for years, since I took one of the big ferries from Tsawassen to Swartz Bay, saw all the houses on the islands overlooking the water, and thought it would be cool to stay in one of them for awhile. And, it is! The two Penders, North and South, total only 14 square miles, with a permanent population of about 2400. Now, on a summer weekend, it's probably double that. There's enough activity to keep things interesting, but it's not crowded. In the winter, under gray, rainy skies, it must be VERY quiet. Pender is diverse; this pic shows Roe Lake, a fairly large lake on a fairly small island. There are many hiking trails on the island.

This is the type of ferry we took to the island...it's a pleasant 40 minute cruise through the archipelago. The ferry is docking at Otter Bay, Pender's main port.

North and South Pender were actually one island until 1903, when the government dredged this channel to facilitate boat traffic between the two sides of the island. (South Island is on the right). Oddly, the bridge wasn't built until the 1950s. It's a one laner, similar to the spans near Haena on the north shore of Kauai.

We were hanging on the deck of the house yesterday afternoon when a pod of orcas swam by, right near the shore! They came in three groups, and they were big and swimming fast! The orcas spy hopped, jumped and belly flopped, and generally put on a show. The pod was acccompanied by a posse of whale watching boats, but I think we were at least as close to the orcas as the folks on the boats. Blow the pic up for a better view of the orcas. This was the first time I had ever seen orcas in the wild. The day before, a bald eagle was hanging out right near the house.

Sunset from the deck. I enjoy just soaking up the beauty here. During the day, it's constantly interesting watching the sailboats and ferries go by. Now, at sunset, well, aaaahhhhh.

Juan de Fuca Ramblings

I've been hanging around the Strait of Juan de Fuca for the past two days. The air has been clear, fresh, and clean, except for some fog over the strait each morning. The scenery has been spectacular, with lush forests backed by the snowcapped Olympic Mountains. There are nice cities on each side of the water...Port Angeles in Washington, and Victoria on Vancouver Island. You can't beat this area for a summer getaway...it's an ideal blend of urban amenities and natural beauty.

Lake Crescent, in Olympic National Park right on US 101. I have been captivated by this lake for forty years. Its setting, surrounded by mountains, is majestic. Its waters project tranquillity. On an overcast day, it has a brooding peace. And it's a mirror when the wind is dead calm. There is a fine lodge right on its shore...I would love to stay there but it's booked months in advance...I couldn't get a room for this time frame when I tried in early May. Next year I think I'll book right after the first of the year for nights in September.

This is one of the cool murals in Port Angeles...they're all over town. This one depicts the raising of the city in 1914. Prior to that year, the downtown area was on tidal flats and was frequently flooded by high tides. So the city sluiced mud off a nearby hill, as shown on the mural, and pumped it onto the flats and raised the level of downtown by several feet, ending the flood problem.

There are many steel sculptures in Port Angeles. This one depicts a railroad worker, fronting a real life freighter and a distant fog bank.

On the other side of the strait, Queen Victoria still reigns over her namesake city, with the parliament building in the rear. Victoria has influences from Canada, Britain, Native Americans, and lots of tourons. But, a few blocks from the waterfront, it's a charming city, with numerous uh, Victorian homes and fine water views everywhere.

To the west of Victoria, the highway runs along the Strait. 60 km along is French Beach, a peaceful spot where the forest meets the sea. A trail runs along the coast and piles of driftwood attest to the fury of the winter storms. I had a nice sloatation on the beach here. There are many miles of trails along the shoreline and inland. You could spend a whole summer intensely exploring Vancouver Island and not see nearly all the neat spots.

Squashed Frog in Victoria

Washington Coast Vistas

I've been hanging on the Washington coast for the past three days. It's fairly quiet in most places; there are small resort towns, and some of the most scenic spots are within Olympic National Park. Some beaches are vast and wide; you can drive on them. (though I didn't risk my Solara, obviously; this shot was taken on hard sand at the landward edge of Ocean City beach, near Hoquiam).

The beach here is huge at low tide. The sand surface is undulating in the tidal zone, and water lingers until the next high tide. The morning light accentuated the coutours.

This is a small scale shot...from the top to the bottom of the pic is only about ten feet.

Farther north, in Olympic National Park, the beaches are black sand, the scene is wild, and the ocean pounds majestically against the offshore rocks.

Inland in the park, the Hoh River runs strongly through the Olympics, turquoise with glacial melt. The large tree trunks on the gravel bars have been uprooted by previous floods. Eventually, more floods will carry them to the sea where they will join the vast piles of driftwood on the beaches. This was a beautiful spot. I engaged in horizontal slotation here and achieved Advanced Vegetative State. Wonderful!