Tiny worlds

Saturday, July 19, 2008

SOOKE — Our destination today was Port Renfrew, the end of the road on the southwest tip of Vancouver Island. It would bring us along the same road we took to meet up with Al and Peggy last night, but then we continued on as far as we could go — on decently paved roads, at least. Hardy folks could go on from there, but on much rougher gravel roads not suitable for rented equipment.
Just before the Point No Point resort was the entrance to French Beach Provincial Park, another stopping spot we had considered for this area, before we lucked out with the full service park where we are now and tomorrow night again. The French Beach campground, while devoid of services such as water and electricity, was nevertheless absolutely gorgeous. Every site was generous and secluded, with a sturdy concrete and wood picnic table and ample parking for one or even two vehicles. Between and around the sites were huge fronds of fern and tall, straight pine trees. It was probably the most beautiful campground we have ever seen.
We took the hiking path from the day-use parking lot to the beach and found a rugged shoreline with rounded stones and rocks shifting in a pounding surf. It was downright cold, although the sun was shining! There was a strong wind off the water that made us glad we had donned several layers of clothing. We covered a kilometer or so before we got back to the camper, where we climbed aboard for a bite of lunch.
Then on we went in a northerly direction towards Port Renfrew, with the ocean to our left and forest and rocks to our right. The highway became narrower and rougher the further we went, with more twists and turns than a bag of pretzels. We passed a number of beaches, and signs almost the whole way for Juan de Fuca Provincial Park. We figured the park consisted chiefly of the entire coastline from Sooke to Port Renfrew, with different beach sections along the way.
The twists and turns were combined with plenty of ups and downs as the highway wended its way through the rough coastal terrain. We seemed to pass through more than one weather system as well. The sun was shining brightly for a while, then it clouded over and then for one short spell we thought we might be plunged into fog as the clouds began to obscure some of the taller treetops. Then, a few kilometers further, it was sunny again!
We weren’t able to go very fast with this challenging roadway, so although the distance (about 50 km) didn’t seem great, the time it took to cover it was quite a bit longer than if we had been on straight highways. Finally we arrived at Port Renfrew, and we found the signs for Botanical Beach and Botany Bay — both features of Juan de Fuca Park.
We changed into our hiking boots for this trek, and it was a good thing we did. There were some very steep sections of path, and when we got to the beach, the rocky surface gave our footwear a workout. Botanical Beach boasts a large number of tidal pools of various sizes where ocean creatures are trapped when the tide recedes. It’s a great place to look at marine microcosms filled with crabs, urchins, seaweed, anemones and tiny flitting minnows. The pools have been carved into huge flat rocks that resemble the Canadian Shield in Ontario, only pock-marked by the erosion of the water. Closer to the forest edge of the beach were stacks of bleached driftwood logs, some with white splayed roots reaching up toward the sky.
The path down to and back from the beach took us through thick rainforest, sometimes so thick it felt like a leafy tunnel! There were some sections that looked like haunted forests with twisted tree branches that looked like so many skinny arms and fingers. Other parts had felled trees that had rotted into soft, moist habitats for miniature new saplings and delicate wildflowers that looked like tiny pink bells. Soft tufts of lichens were clinging to the rough bark of the Douglas firs, and drippy moss hung down from other branches to add to the spooky look.
Underfoot we had spongy needles for some of the way, but there were rocky sections as well, and some parts that were covered with boardwalks to make the path a bit easier to navigate. We were huffing and puffing in the final leg back up to the parking lot about two hours later. It was a good workout!
We rewarded ourselves with an ice cream cone in the village before retracing our steps back to our campground. On the way back, we came up to an RCMP car with its lights flashing, and had to stop and sit for about 10 minutes. Someone had taken the twists and turns too quickly and almost went over the edge. Fortunately the concrete barrier held them back, but we had to wait for the tow truck to clear the road. We were glad to learn that no one had been hurt.