I had made my way through British Columbia and jumped on a ferry to Vancouver Island. I was chasing the warmth as I hadn’t installed heating in my van yet and also was excited to explore Vancouver Island and possibly see some interesting landscapes and sea life, little did I know what was ahead of me! I really was blown away by Vancouver Island, travelling around in a van is a great way to see the sights and all the amazing free camping sites made it very easy to find remote places to stay, enabling me to fully immerse myself in nature.
The ferry landed at Nanaimo and I spent some time travelling north along the east coast of island (that is for another post), after this I headed down and inland towards Port Renfrew. At this stage, I wasn’t an avid hiker and didn’t realise you could hike the length of the west coast, called the Juan De Fuca Trail, and this is something I would love to attempt in future years. So I did a short 2-hour hike in this upper region before driving down towards Sooke. I spent around 2 hours walking down the coastline, I walked a short loop and was in awe, taking photos of the twisting rainforests and windswept coast.
Itinerary
01. Port Renfrew
After driving across the island to Port Renfrew, I stopped at a campground called Pacheedaht Campground just before Port Renfrew. This was a lovely campsite on first nations land right on Pacheedaht Beach. Unfortunately upon arrival I backed up a bit too far not realising how quickly the sand became soft and got stuck within minutes of arriving! I called BCAA who called a tow truck to get me out but they couldn’t come until the next morning, so it was there that I stayed.
The view was so beautiful I really didn’t mind, not a bad place to be stuck honestly.
The campground was great, it had lovely warm showers, full hookups and water at each campsite, I believe it cost around $25CAD at the time. I made a fire on the beach overlooking the ocean and watched the sunset. I’d definitely recommend as a place to stay if you’re on your way to the west coast.
Click here for the Google Maps link to the campground
02. Juan De Fuca Trail (Northwest)
The next morning I headed towards San Juan and the beginning of the Juan De Fuca Trail. I had read amazing things about this trail and wasn’t prepared obviously to do the whole trail, which runs from San Juan to near Jordan. You can trek it either way but I just set off to just do a few hours worth of hiking down the trail. It was a stunning walk, there were many areas to go out to the rocky coastline and see the amazing rugged coast.
All along the coastline the rocks sprouted wind-blown trees, they looked almost like Bonsai trees and I learned that due to the stress they undergo from the wind of the coastline they have stunted growth, some of these trees stand only 30cm tall and yet the fact that a lot of them are over 100 years old is just astonishing!
It goes to show that nature will find a way even in very tough conditions. The wind has shaped these trees to be unique and interesting, which I find a lovely analogy for life. The hard times really do shape us, as long as you can embrace the changes you see within yourself you can come out the other side as a unique individual with something great to share with the world.
As I walked through the twisted rainforests I witnessed trees that were climbing and curling around each other, the conditions are so tough in these rainforests but they are so interesting, I spotted many mushrooms and at one point got a little lost along the trail. Luckily knowing the coast was on one side of me means getting lost is a little difficult, eventually after walking back and forth a few times I spotted the hidden pathway leading back to the main trail.
Picturesque coastline
Seaweed, shapes mimicking the twisted forests behind
These twisted trees are shaped by the ever changing wind patterns
100+ year old tree with stunted growth from the harsh conditions
03. Gordon’s Beach and Sooke
After spending some time along the Juan De Fuca Trail, I headed south along highway 14. I absolutely loved this part of the island. It was here I encountered huge pods of seals, swimming and sleeping just off the shore of Gordon’s Beach. I discovered seals sleep with one fin up to feel changes in the wind, some stay awake to keep watch whilst others sleep. There were times I was capturing them that the male aggressively started barking to warn me to stay away, it was the first time I’d seen so many seals in one place so I found it mesmerising. I flew my drone above to capture the size of the pod and got some wonderful footage which I will upload here in the near future.
I also found so many mushrooms and chatted with a mushroom enthusiast one morning at one of the free camping spots I had found. He showed me a book and said I must read it if I’m interested in foraging in the future. I enquired why the manon the cover has a trombone in his hands? The answer, well because he likes trombones AND mushrooms… of course.
Hey there, thanks for stopping by! I’m Lauren, a travel enthusiast, a freelance graphic designer, an adventure lover and a thinker about life.
Thanks for reading
I’m really enjoying recapping my travels and I hope it helps someone to plan their next adventure. I’ve lived in 3 countries and travelled all over the world, most recently Canada and USA and am excited to share some experiences I’ve had. I hope you come back for future articles or subscribe to my newsletter where I will send an email with updates and new locations.
Lauren — A Roaming Mind
