For the last several days we’ve been staying at a campground
right outside of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, but hadn’t ventured into
the park until today. Since the day
started out foggy, we decided to try the Rainforest Trail first – an
interesting boardwalk trail highlighting Pacific Northwest rainforest features.
Lots of huge trees, fern, lichen, and moss, with fallen trees becoming “nurse
logs” to the next generation of trees.
Then we headed for Schooner Cove Trail, a boardwalk trail that
leads to Long Beach. We chanced upon an Interpretive Program on
First Nations and Cedars given by a Parks Canada Native American, who explained
how connected her people are with the land. They use cedar bark for clothes,
but only harvest it during specific seasons from a tree of a specific size so
the tree survives. And by observing the wildlife, they predict the weather
better than the national forecasts.
We spent a little time at Long Beach.
After an afternoon rest we ventured out on Halfmoon Bay
Trail and Willowbrae Trail. By then the
skies had cleared. Both led to beautiful
coves where we had the beach to ourselves at first.
Bill caught the sunset at the campground’s beach.
