Canada 2025

Wednesday24September

Wake up at Arrowvale campsite. We pack up the tent to get back on the road and reach the opposite coast of the island on the west side.

And hop. Here we are already on the west coast, in the small town of Ucluelet.

Ucluelet is a coastal town whose name comes from an indigenous term meaning "people of the safe harbor".

We are in Pacific Rim National Park, where ancient forests meet the Pacific. We will be able to discover the coast by strolling along the paths of the "Wild Pacific Trail".

A thick mist envelops the wooded islets.

Perched on the rocks of the Ucluelet peninsula, the Amphitrite Point lighthouse has been watching over the Pacific waters since 1915. Amphitrite Point was named after the warship H.M.S. Amphitrite in 1859 by Captain George H. Richards of the Royal Navy. Captain Richards was tasked with mapping a vast part of the Vancouver Island coastline during that era.

The lighthouse was built to replace a wooden structure destroyed by waves after the shipwreck of the Pass of Melfort.

This metal buoy oscillates on the waters, acting as a sentinel for ships. The beacon is equipped with a whistle system activated by the movement of the swell; it emits a sound signal that guides sailors when visibility is reduced.

Rocky Beach.

The tides have deposited massive piles of brown algae. Here, bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana, recognizable by their long tubular stipes and bulb-shaped floats, have been torn from the underwater forests of the Pacific Ocean by the power of the swell.

In the stagnant waters of the rocks, mosquito larvae splash happily while waiting for their metamorphosis...  

Access officially restricted to wolves, bears, cougars, and raccoons only.  

A dense carpet of green tubular algae (Ulva intestinalis) flirts with a small sea sponge.  

Off the rugged coast, a solitary fishing boat sails, perhaps unknowingly, through the old ghosts of ancestral ships wrecked here.  

We take the car from time to time. Here we are a little further north, on "Big Beach", where driftwood bleached by salt serves as benches for walkers who are not just solitary.  

We are now moving on to the "Artist Loops" trail, another walking path that runs along the coast of Pacific Rim.

Small platforms are there to gain a little bit of height.

A colony of Laetiporus conifericola thrives on the trunk of a dead tree. This fungus, often called sulfur shelf, is distinguished by its colors ranging from yellow to orange. It plays an ecological role by decomposing woody fibers and releasing essential nutrients into the soil.

Viewpoint from the top of the cliffs, from the promontory named The Crow's Nest...  

The Ancient Cedars Loop Trail passes by imposing giant thujas, Thuja plicata...  

This trunk is marked by an imposing burl, a woody outgrowth usually caused by environmental stress, bacteria, or fungus.

Conifers develop very shallow rooting due to a water-logged water table. Unable to anchor deeply, they eventually give way under the force of powerful gusts from the Pacific. These uprootings participate in the regeneration cycle of this coastal ecosystem.

The Sun is approaching its sunset!  

A brave vessel attempts to approach the solar disk...  

And there you go, the sun has gone. The Earth will continue its rotation, and tomorrow the star will return from the other side. As for us, we will continue the exploration of the Pacific Rim by going higher towards the small town of Tofino.