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Thursday, October 30, 2003
Short Trips: Pristine coastline is just a hop from Victoria
By JEFF LARSEN
SPECIAL TO THE SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
PORT RENFREW, B.C. -- Some publications call the 60-mile stretch of coastline on Vancouver Island, between Sooke and Port Renfrew, the "Undiscovered Coast."
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Undiscovered might be stretching the truth, but the southwest coast of the island along the Strait of Juan de Fuca is one of the most extraordinary, rugged stretches of Pacific Northwest pristine coastlines easily accessible to the public. The "undiscovered" tag might refer to how few people visit there, even though it's easy to reach and relatively close to downtown Victoria.
From Sooke -- an easy half-hour drive west of Victoria -- the paved Highway 14, often called the West Coast Road, winds and twists its way west along the rugged coast, past landmarks and public access beaches like Otter Point, French Beach, Point-No-Point, Sandcut Beach, Jordan River, China Beach, Mystic Beach, Magdalona Point, Sombrio Beach and Loss Creek.
The end of the road -- literally -- is the quaint fishing village of Port Renfrew and memorable Botanical Beach, part of Juan de Fuca Provincial Park.
Geographically, the coast from Sooke to Port Renfrew parallels perfectly the Strait of Juan de Fuca shoreline between Port Angeles and Neah Bay in Washington state. Being parallel to each other is about the only similarity.
On the Washington state side, the once magnificent forests have been clearcut, in places, all the way to the Strait of Juan de Fuca shoreline. There's also very little public access along state Route 112 -- Highway 14's American counterpart. The end of the road on the Washington side is Cape Flattery, which is on the Pacific Ocean side of the Makah Indian Reservation. To be fair, the Cape Flattery viewpoint is open to the public. Cell phone coverage for Americans is even better on the Vancouver Island side of the Strait than on the Washington side.
Clearcut logging also has been a nagging issue for years on Vancouver Island. But with much diligence, the provincial and local governments, in association with private landowners over the years, have been able to preserve most of the southern portion of the west coast for recreation purposes.
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 | Jeff Larsen / Special to the P-I | |
| A mother black bear and her two cubs make their way along the road near Port Renfrew on the west coast of Vancouver Island. | ||
Most of the energy for the effort, however, was generated by the Commonwealth Games in Victoria in 1994. The games provided much of the impetus for the formation of the Commonwealth Nature legacy, which organized the effort to preserve the coast for generations to come.
Two major trails -- the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail from China Beach west to Port Renfrew, and the much more rugged and physically demanding West Coast Trail from Port Renfrew west to Bamfield -- are Vancouver Island's main conduits for serious coastal exploration by avid and amateur hikers alike. Both draw thousands of hikers during the spring and summer months.
The 35-mile-long, much more accessible Juan de Fuca trail -- part of the larger Juan de Fuca Provincial Park developed shortly after the Commonwealth Games -- has been open only since 1995. Besides its China Beach starting point, the trail can be accessed year-round from three other points west from there to Port Renfrew: Parkinson Creek, Sombrio Beach, and Botanical Beach, which is just west of Port Renfrew.
Parking and pit toilets are available at all four access points. Beach camping is OK at Mystic Beach, China Beach, Bear Beach and Sombrio Beach. Visitors can tailor a hike or beach walk to fit their day.
One of the more expensive hikes in Canada (fee: $98 Canadian; $73.50 U.S.), the West Coast Trail starts across Port San Juan from the village of Port Renfrew and is officially open from May 1 to Sept. 30. Only 52 hikers per day are allowed to start and hikers need to make reservations months in advance especially for July or August dates. Not for the timid, the 47-mile hike can take more than a week and is fraught with difficult terrain, ladders, treacherous bridges, difficult tides and fickle weather at best.
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| Jeff Larsen / Special to the P-I | |
| Tide pools carved out by surf action at Botanical Beach are alive with sea urchins, mussels, sea stars, gooseneck barnacles and sea cucumbers. | ||
I arrived at Port Renfrew earlier this month on the same day as the first big Pacific storm of the fall. The wave surge from the storm roared unexpectedly high into the cove adjacent to the town while I was there and dismantled the dock where a number of private boats had been moored.
Luckily the owners were able to move their boats out into Port San Juan away from the dock before it went to pieces. The dock, which became operational just last year, was designed to be portable and was scheduled to be moved to a quieter place on a nearby river to be stored for the winter.
As the storm grew more intense, I found a good vantage point on a beach across the bay near the West Coast trailhead to shoot photographs. That's when the surfers arrived. Frantically they scoped out the action, stripped, climbed into their wet suits, grabbed their boards and headed into the crashing surf even in the middle of a lightning storm.
As the weather got worse and the waves grew bigger, more surfers showed up, some from Victoria who knew the spot, had watched the storm forecast closely that day and were willing to drive the 70 miles to get there.
Even if you aren't a surfer, the 70-mile drive to Port Renfrew and Botanical Beach from Victoria is probably one of the most worthwhile day trips in the region. The closer you get to Port Renfrew, watch for black bears alongside the road or, as in my case, in the middle of the road.
Botanical Beach, another part of the extraordinary Juan de Fuca Provincial Park, is the most environmentally interesting and visually stunning year-round destination I've visited on Vancouver Island. And I didn't need a wet suit to get the full impact of the experience. The beach is a leisurely 12-minute walk from the parking lot which is a couple of miles west of Port Renfrew.
To see the full scope of the beach's environment park, officials recommend planning a visit when low tide will be less than plus 4 feet -- a minus tide is even better. At that level, most of the interesting rock formations and marine life are exposed. During my visit, the low tide was plus 3.3 feet. From Victoria, allow at least two hours to reach the beach, and try to arrive when the water level is still receding.
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| Jeff Larsen / Special to the P-I | |
| A storm surge hits the rocks near the tide pools at Botanical Beach with an explosion of sound. | ||
Even during a relatively high low tide, I was able to walk safely among the different shapes and sizes of tidal pools carved over millions of years by tidal action on the sandstone and granite rock outcrops. Driftwood from the storm the previous day was stacked up like Tinker Toys near the beach entrance.
Each tide pool was its own little world. Some were alive with sea urchins and mussels, while gooseneck barnacles lorded over others. Sea cucumbers and sea stars inhabited other pools. Huge waves generated by the earlier storm roared like loud music in the background as they crashed against the sheer cliffs toward the east end of the beach.
The environment is so striking that a University of Minnesota research team in 1900 set up a research facility at the beach that operated for seven years. The tidal creatures are interesting to study because they have had to adapt over the years to an environment that changes almost day to day.
An easy but exquisite side trip is the botanical loop trail that connects Botany Bay and Botanical Beach, two different types of environment just minutes from each other.
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Port Renfrew facilities are limited, so it's smart to gas up either before you leave Victoria or in Sooke. After a morning or afternoon at Botanical Beach, consider eating lunch or dinner at either the Lighthouse Pug & Restaurant or the Coastal Kitchen. Both restaurants have excellent food and reputations in Port Renfrew.
 Day in Pictures Bears on trial and more |
 David Horsey Speaking of appeasement... |
 The week's best photos Great shots from the P-I staff |
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