Travelogue

Combers BeachOur next destination was two nights in Ucluelet, about a half hour south of Tofino, also on the western coast of Vancouver Island.

It was too early to check into our hotel, so on the drive south we stopped at Combers Beach, located within the boundaries of the Pacific Rim National Park. From the parking lot, we strolled along a boardwalk through a rather enchanting Sitka Spruce Forest before arriving at a driftwood-strewn beach.

View from from our balconyOnce at the beach, we turned left and followed Sandhill Creek, which flowed into the sea. It’s one of the less visited beaches along the coast, so if you want peace and quiet, it’s a great place to stop. The whole time we were there, we didn’t see another soul.

We continued on to the Canadian Princess hotel in Ucluelet, located right on the Ucluelet Harbor. So, this time rather than an ocean view, we had a wonderful view of the harbor right from our balcony. It was nice to change up the view.

Ucluelet HarborWe went for an early dinner at the Floathouse Bar and Grill, a restaurant literally floating in the harbor, just a short walk from our hotel. Herb had the Blackened Rockfish and I had the Pad Thai Noodle Salad. Mine was good, but not sure why I didn’t order fish in a primarily seafood restaurant. Herb’s looked awfully good.

A real gem in Ucluelet is the Wild Pacific Trail, a system of trails that carves through old-growth thickets of twisted trunks and ferns and mosses of the temperate coastal rainforest, as it hugs the wild coastline of the Ucluth Peninsula.

Along the Lighthouse LoopThe trail system is being developed from private, business and government donations to the Wild Pacific Trail Society. The trail is divided into three sections: Lighthouse Loop, Big Beach Section, and Brown's Beach to Ancient Cedars Section.

This evening we close to walk the Lighthouse Loop section during sunset. The trail starts at the Whale parking lot midway along Coast Guard Road. From there we took the Wild Pacific Coast Trail l in a clockwise direction.

Amphitrite LighthouseI loved photographing the rocks jutting out into the sea, with the slow motion feature of my Google Pixel to soften the movement of the water.

One of the first interesting things we encountered was the amazing array of twisted, weather beaten trees along the trail. I wish I knew what kind of trees they were.

Sunset along the Lighthouse LoopEventually we caught a glimpse through the trees of the iconic Amphitrite Lighthouse keeping watch over Barkley Sound and the Broken Group Islands. This lighthouse was originally built in 1906 in response to the shipwreck of the Pass of Melfort, but it was replaced in 1915 with the current building to better withstand hurricane force storms.

I was anxious to get to a sport along the trail called Inspiration Point in time for sunset. We did and were able to capture a lovely sunset via stairs cut artistically into the headlands.

Artists Loop along the Wild Pacific TrailIt took us just under an hour to do the 2.3 mile loop, but that was because we stopped so often to take photos of the beautiful scenery.

The next morning we set out to explore the Big Beach Section of the Wild Pacific Trail. We parked at the Brown’s Beach section in a parking lot north of the Black Rock Oceanfront Resort on Marine Drive. After a short section of trail following the road, we reached the wilderness coastal trail.

Scouting out the wave for sunsetA little less than a mile from Brown’s Beach we came to the extremely picturesque Artists Loop, which begins in the forest canopy but quickly opens up onto wind-swept cliffs where the wild coastline becomes more and more dramatic with each step. It was by far the most photogenic section of the Wild Pacific Trail.

All along the way there were side trails leading to storm-watching decks and platforms called “Painter’s Perches” with unique views and vistas of the wild coastline.

Ucluelet Catch-and-Release AquariumWe knew this would be a great place to come back for sunset photography, so Herb began marking various places along the way on Gaia. One place in particular attracted us, and we named it “the Wave,” because it looked like a large wave made of stone frozen in time.

We turned around at 2.7 miles at a place called Rocky Bluffs and walked back from whence we came, with the intent of repeating this hike at sunset.

Residents of the Ucluelet AquariumIn the meantime, we had the whole afternoon to explore the tiny village of Ucluelet. So, as I often do, I looked on Trip Advisor for things to do in the nearby area. The #1 thing to do in Ucluelet was unsurprisingly the Wild Pacific Trail. Okay, good. Done that and would repeat tonight. Coming in second was the Ucluelet Aquarium.

At first I balked at the admission price - $14 Canadian dollars for seniors (around $10.30 U.S.), but based on the positive reviews, we figured we’d give it a try.

The aquarium is rather unique in that it is a collect-and-release aquarium, meaning its residents are not permanent, but literally just passing through.

Residents of the Ucluelet AquariumAll of the specimens in the exhibits are collected from nearby Barkley Sound and Clayoquot Sound, and are seasonally released back into the ocean. Most specimens are collected either by scuba divers, by hand at low tide, or by hand seining beaches, whereby specific target animals are removed from the net and the rest are returned to the water.

Despite its smallness, there were a lot of interesting animals on display: rockfish, crabs, bivalves, feather duster worms, bay pipefish, sea anemones, sea pen, and many more. There were even a few touch tanks including one where I got to pet a large sea cucumber.

Then at the end of the season, the staff says goodbye and the animals are returned to their natural habitats.

Lolo scrambling over the sharp rocks to get the shotThe aquarium was definitely worth a visit.

Afterwards we had some very good pizza at nearby Shipwreck Pizza before heading back out to the Wild Pacific Trail for sunset. They had three TV sets going, two with sports and oddly enough, one with Bob Ross doing one of his rapid paintings. The man is amazing. He painted an entire landscape in the time it took for us to eat a pizza.

This time we pretty much focused (no pun intended) on the Artists Loop section of the trail as that was by far the most dramatic.

"The Wave" at sunsetWe revisited the spots Herb had marked on Gaia, but by far my favorite was still the rock formation down on the beach that we had named the “Wave” because of its obvious resemblance to a large wave fixed in position just as it was about to crest.

I tried to get up a bit too close and personal, but the rocks I had to clamber over almost tore my pants and I did scratch my phone.

Not sure if we got any good photos, but it certainly was a beautiful walk. Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn’t just put the camera away and look.

Tomorrow we would head to Victoria for a night.