Tofino, Canada

On Sunday I left the working town of Uclulet and appeared at the Pacific Rim National Park campground to see if there were any cancellations. They are booked through August and you have to check the day of to see if you are lucky. Well, I was lucky and pulled into site 23. It is right on the coast, but in the cypress and cedar groves similar to our redwood area, but more rainforest like. The beach along the whole rim is called Long Beach and that is just what it is; long, hard packed sand, unless a big wind comes up and blow the wind sideways faster than a sidewinder. I checked out the interpretive center and managed to hike 6 of their 10 trails to the beach, through the bog area, deep into the rain forest and to the top of Radar Hill overlooking the whole Clayquot Sound. After exploring the town of Tofino, a hippie town,(there were a lot of draft dodgers during the Vietnam War, who holed up on these islands) but now filled with galleries, fish fry restaurants, and whale, bear and orca boating companies They also have some gorgeous resorts, just to walk through to see their view of the ocean. I staggered back to the campsite, legs and knees aching from all the hikes and just from being old and compromised, to walk on the windy beach. They had a very cute park interpretor, Carl, who was the Pirate of the Intertidal talk show. He was like an actor and is followed by his wife tonight with The Wreck of the Florencia.
This morning I got up bright and early for my boat ride. It wasn't a Zodiak boat, but a regular cruiser with Troy as our guide. Of course, I got his story and all I need to know about Salt Spring Island, a Gulf Island I will visit next for a day and night. Back to the story... We headed out on a very windy sea in search of wildlife. Well, he provided. First we saw a black bear foraging through the low tide for creatures. Next came the bald eagle being chased by a crow for food he had in his mouth. Lounging on some rocks were the sea lions with their young. Across the sound we encountered some sea otters, just brown dots in my camera. We finally arrived at the hot springs area and boat dock. After walking through 1.2 miles of forest up and down stairs over the marsh/bog land below. we arrived, changed and sidled down the rocks to the pools below the falls. It was wonderfully warm and I met so many people from so many countries "just visiting". It makes my trip sound not so far, but I have clocked over 2,000 miles to this point and people think I am so brave to come alone, all that distance to BC. Isn't that what you do when you retire - HAVE AN ADVENTURE!
After another 1.2 miles back to the dock, Troy came back to pick us up, thank God. We are about 45 miles up the sound. Check out the map. Now off to find whales. There are Humpback, CA gray whales and orcas, but it was VERY windy today, so we didn't venture all the way out in the ocean, too choppy with 2-3 foot swells. But we did go out to the entrance of the ocean, where the Zodiak whale watching boats were and found two California Gray Whales. No pictures as they are very fast, but I saw some gray skin and a spout. Then back to Tofino riding the waves all the way. Well,now back to the beach by the campground to enjoy the rays in a protected place.