We stayed a few nights at Sproat Lake Provincial Park upper campground at the beginning of September. Again, we were lucky to book one of the few sites available. We stayed in site #36 and like most of the sites in the upper campground, it was large and well treed providing some privacy and quiet. Shortly after arriving we were warned of a bear lurking near our site – we didn’t see it, but we think Miko must have smelled it because she seemed wary being outside. A trail leads from the upper camp, under the highway, and into the lower campground where there is a large day use area & boat launch, the beach, picnic areas and a trail to petroglyphs. There are also large grassy areas near the beach which would be perfect for bocce or frisbee, etc…. Sproat Lake is a fairly large lake and popular for all kinds of water sports, although, like most lakes on the island it can get very windy. We brought our bikes and enjoyed a nice afternoon bike ride along the lake and scouted out the Teodoro hiking trail which we will return to at a later date. The campground has a large sandy beach area and in August the water is warm enough to enjoy a good dip, which we fully enjoyed after our bike ride. A cool sight to see from the beach is one of 2 Martin Mars waterbombers – The massive Martin Mars water bomber was built as a transport plane for the U.S. Navy in 1946 and is one of the largest fixed-wing water bombers in the world, with a capacity of more than 27,000 litres. They were purchased by B.C. Gov’t in the 60’s to fight wildfires and did so up until 2013.
A couple dog-sitting bookings mid month kept us home for a bit but on Sep 20 we were on the road again. This time, a trip to the south-west part of the island to do the ‘Marine Circle route’ from Lake Cowichan to Port Renfrew, Sooke, and back home via the Malahat hwy. with amazing views of Saanich Inlet. The entire route can be done in a day and is a popular drive for tourists staying in Victoria – but with so much to see on-route it is much better to take a few days to see it all. Most camping places on the island become first-come after Sep 16 which gave us the flexibility to stay or go wherever and whenever we chose.
Our marine circle route started at Lake Cowichan, one of the more popular lakes on VI and great for canoe or kayak. We will definitely be back with our canoe to check our one of the many campgrounds. Onward toward Port Renfrew, we stopped at Lizard Lake rec. site to check out the camping. It is a rustic and basic campground on a small lake which would be a nice quiet spot to do some fishing. Our next stop was The Harris Creek spruce where a short trail leads to a giant Sitka Spruce which is about 4m (13ft) in diameter. We then drove a short distance to Fairy Lake Rec site, our first overnight on the route. We chose a nice site beside the lake with a small sandy beach area and great lake and mountain views. Before leaving in the morning we met a camp host and were told that Fairy Lake, being so close to Port Renfrew, is often noisy with groups and partyers and that Lizard Lake is a much quieter campground (good to know).
Port Renfrew and area is unofficially known as the “tall trees capital of Canada”, there are many protected individual ‘tall tress’ and the famous Avatar Grove which contains Canada’s gnarliest tree and many other large burled trees. The Ancient Forest Alliance were instumental in gaining protection for Avatar Grove – their web site contains a map and directions to visit many of these magnificient trees. We arrived at Avatar grove early and had the forest to ourselves – it was magical and we both felt a special energy surging through this ancient forest, the kind that makes you want to whisper when you speak so as not to disturb the “Ents”.
We drove on to Port Renfrew, a very small town on the south pacific coast with a lot going on. It is the start of the West Coast trail and start/end of the Juan de Fuca trail with much to offer for wilderness and marine enthusiasts – including it’s own Elk herd which we were told can often be seen on the highway between Lake Cowichan and Port Renfrew. Continuing onward along Hwy 14 which parallels the Juan de Fuca strait, this portion of the route is winding and not as well maintained. We passed Botanical Beach (closed for months now for a resident bear), Parkinson creek, and Sombrio which are all part of the Juan de Fuca trail – if we had more time we would have stopped at each. We ended our day’s drive at China Beach Campground. After arriving and picking a site, we did a short 20 minute hike (each way) from the campground, through a mature forest of Sitka spruce, Douglas fir and Western red cedar to Second Beach – a rocky beach with nice breakers rolling in – we had the place to ourselves. Next day we got an early start and biked a short distance back down the Hwy to China Beach which is the start/end of the Juan de Fuca trail. We locked our bikes and hiked 2 km (each way) to Mystic Beach – a trail with interesting terrain, a suspension bridge, and eventually stairs leading down to the beach with salal lining the path on either side. The sandy beach offers campsites, a loo, and bear cache for those hiking the trail. At one end of the beach is a picturesque waterfall cascading from the cliffs above – I stepped under the falls and enjoyed the cool, mineral soft-water which I thought would be perfect for a campers shower. At the other end of the beach are a series of small caves hollowed out by the powerful crashing surf and dotted with hundreds of inukshuks and a rope swing.
Back at China Beach we walked to the left side of the parking lot and took a short trail to China Beach. A quiet pebble beach and the perfect spot to spend a day whale watching.
The next day a very short drive brought us to Jordan River Regional park which turned out to be a real treat. It is a very small park situated right on the hwy. and a very popular surf spot. We were entertained watching the surfers and then treated to a double rainbow as the sun began its descent. Although right on the hwy. there is little traffic at night and listening to the surf breaking was great for sleep.
After leaving Jordan River the next day we checked out Sandcut Beach with it’s unique waterfall.
Our next destination was French Beach Provincial Park. We arrived at the almost empty campground and found a nice site – there are many nice ones to choose from. With a light misty rain falling we walked down to the beach and day use area which has large open areas with a great playground, picnic spots, and walking paths. At the beach we were mesmerized by the powerful surf that sounds almost musical as it drags the beach pebbles when it crashes to shore and then retreats.
On our way home the next day we stopped briefly at the Sheringham Point Lighthouse. Built in 1912 it stands 20 metres high above the coastline and has served as a beacon for more than 100 years.
We had family come to visit for Thanksgiving this year. Their Old English Sheepdog had a ball on the beach. Dinner as usual was awesome – Chris cooked up a great big turkey with all the usual trimmings; mash potatoes, brussel sprouts, gravy, cranberry sauce, …. and it was all delish.
