Sidney Spit

 

Living on an island during a pandemic can feel like both a blessing and a curse. Your world can begin to feel very small. Luckily the travel restrictions did not extend to this little island off the coast of our bigger island. Sidney Island has a few residents on it and a large federal park. The park is on a spit on the northern end of the island. The lovely thing about this park (besides the sandy beaches) is that it is only accessible by boat so there are no car, no motorcycles, no ATVs. There is a small ferry that runs a few times a day between Sidney and Sidney Island. We decided to pop over for a couple of days.

There were lots of opportunities to view wildlife on our trip. We watched several great blue herons fish for their dinner, a mink made it's way through our campsite checking for food, we could hear ravens and A found one of their feathers, there were lots of nesting bald eagles, the kids caught sight of an otter near the lagoon and there were tons of sea creatures both in the surf and on the shore.

The campground is a hike-in and there is no potable water on the island so it was an exercise in stamina for us all to get what we needed to the site. From our bases camp we walked about 6-8 kms per day around the island and down the beaches. The kids wanted to just stay at the site and play with tent caterpillars but I feel like our time to enjoy these beauty natural spaces is running out. BC has changed so much from when I was a kid here. Forest fires, logging, urban sprawl, climate change; they are all changing not just our island but the entire province. I want my children to see and love this world and fight to protect it's natural state.

Juan de Fuca :: Day 2

 

Our second day on the Juan de Fuca trail is an ode to my naivete. You see, I knew it would be strenuous, I knew it would be muddy, I knew there would be logs and roots to avoid but I foolishly thought it would be those things at different times at different spots along the trail. The reality is that it is all those things at one time at any given time on the trail. I grossly overestimated my own body.

Our plan for day 2 had been to pack up and hike the 5kms to Little Kuitshe campground. We woke to rain and clouds. I had almost no sleep the night before and F was down to his last pair of dry socks. After a cup of hot chocolate and some granola, we did as planned and packed up. We trekked along the beach back to West Sombrio where we stopped for snacks. Here we encountered our first suspension bridge (and as it would turn out, our only suspension bridge). I think everyone enjoyed crossing the bridge except me. 

The mud began on the other side of the bridge. It was slippery but doable. We passed several mushrooms and banana slugs (F loves to look out for slugs. He would guard them to make sure they were not stepped on during our hike.). Then it was back on to the beach. I think this was the beginning of my downfall. I have chronic joint issues and inflammation in the tendons of my heels. I wore good supportive boots and used a hiking pole to help steady myself. However it was still raining and the rocks were becoming slick. I frequently slipped and wobbled causing those tendons to ache. We reached a spot where the tide was too high to pass. We stopped for lunch in the hopes we could pass soon. 

After an hour and some crab hunting, the tide was still too high so up and over we went. It was slippery, steep and muddy. The steps of roots and logs to help up the slippery hill were meant for someone taller than me. I really struggled to clamor over them. Surprisingly the children seemed to do better with some help from the adults. I could feel the ache in my ankle worsen. Descending down the other side to the beach again did not help. 

We stopped at the marker for 3kms to Little Kuitshe for water and rest. I was feeling this crushing sense of defeat. I know I am fat and I have joint issues but it has never stopped me from hiking before. I just go slowly and take breaks as needed but I carry on. I was feeling concerned that I may end up pushing my ankle to the point of injury. Little Kuitshe campground is only accessible by foot so I would have to walk out if I walked in. I was determined to carry on. I tried to push the pain to the back of my mind and get on with it. Not more than five minutes into hiking again and the pain turned to weakness. It was becoming harder and harder to bear weight on that ankle. I couldn't keep up with my kids and I was feeling defeated. That was the breaking point. We turned back.

I limped back along the beach and over the bridge to our car. I was crushed. I didn't even complete one section of the Juan de Fuca trail. I kept thinking "what if I had taped my ankle?" and "what if we started at the other end of the trail?". I tortured myself the whole night after we returned. I decided to use my defeat as motivation to strengthen that heel and go back. I see my physiotherapist this week and I'll ask her to help me come up with a plan. Juan de Fuca; this isn't over.

Juan de Fuca :: Day 1

 

About a month ago I made the ambitious plans to take my family to hike part of the Juan de Fuca trail. I knew I wanted to spend Mothers' Day with my family in the wild. I read a lot of blogs, talked with friends who have done the trail, read recent experiences on AllTrails; I felt prepared. We have hiked in to camp before but haven't truly backpacked with our children. I put a lot of time and effort into making our packs light as possible but making sure we would be warm, dry and most importantly not run out of snacks. 

F carried a Deuter Climber 22L pack and A carried a MEC Escapade Youth 32L pack. Finding good sized and appropriate fitting packs for my children was a challenge. I think there is a lack of good fitting backpacking packs for children under 16. Nevertheless, I managed to fit their clothing, sleeping bags, mugs, water bottles, headlamps and snacks in their own packs. They each had a hiking pole as well to help with the muddy conditions.

The Juan de Fuca is well known for it's muddy conditions. That side of the island is wet, windy and unpredictable. We were pleasantly surprised however by a clear and sunny day for our arrival at Sombrio Beach. We parked at Sombrio West and hiked the 1.8kms over to Sombrio East for a night on the beach.

Sombrio itself is a beautiful spot. Tricky terrain as you are walking over basketball sized rocks and washed up kelp but there is a lot of beauty to distract you. We found plenty of sea urchins both alive and deceased, starfish, lipets, slugs, bald eagles, seals, cormorants and even a hummingbird. 

By far my favourite part of the trip was the Hidden Waterfall. It's easy to miss (hence the "hidden" part) but well worth the visit. You follow a small stream up from the beach to a sandstone cave of sorts. The stream is lined with ferns and salmon berry and is lush and green. You can feel the cool mist of the falls before you can actually see them. I think it might be as close to magic as I have ever seen on Earth. I stood by myself in the mist at the base and grounded myself in that place. I could feel it healing my tired soul. 

We watched the sun set and even enjoyed the warmth of a rather smokey fire. We made sure our tent was above the tide line and our food was safely in the bear cache and curled up in our awesome family backpacking tent for the night.  I thought the waves would be a soothing way to fall asleep but even with ear plugs it was more like a constant roar. Sleep was rather elusive that night which made for an even more difficult second day. Day 2 in the next post.

A Weekend Getaway

This past weekend we headed to my favorite place on earth for a family wedding. Although the forecast called for rain, Mother Nature took pity on us and gave us some sunshine for the last morning of our trip.

This place is so beautiful. I always feel calm there. It's like my second home. The deer, squirrel, seals, eagles, ravens, kingfishers, herons and frogs only add to the magic. As I was packing up to head home I noticed a huge dreamcatcher hung in the forest near our room. It was woven with feathers and shells and A called it her treasure. We had sweet dreams indeed.

A weekend seemed all too brief. I was not prepared for the return to the daily grind. I wanted to stay in the healing space. Be there with my children and soak in every moment. Time feels different there. Not slower but sweeter. I will be going there in my dreams tonight.

Ocean Unit

As with the rock unit, this study unit began with a field trip. We were lucky to have a long weekend with Daddy so we took a trip to the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre. It's one of our favorite places. As always, the favorite attraction was the touch pool. On this day the "candy cane" anemone was available for tickling. The pool has all kinds of creatures like urchins, sea cucumbers, anemones, starfish, little crustaceans, etc. I saw this trip as my chance to start talking about ocean life and studying it.

I went home and dug out all my ocean books, ocean stickers, ocean treasures and set up an ocean station. We did a match and identify activity for sharks and whales (yes we do have sharks in our coastal waters). We found a wonderful ocean puzzle from Cobble Hill Toys that is great for identification. Though, I'm so pleased at how much April has absorbed so far. She is able to find and identify the shells of muscles, oysters, and shore crabs.

We finished our unit with a few crafts. We used a dilapidated old egg carton and some pipe cleaners to make some anemones. As we were building them we talked about why anemones are bright colors, what they need their tentacles for and what they eat. We also did some ocean painting; octopus, harbour seal, whales. Watercolors were a wonderful way to illustrate the soft colors of the creatures in our sea. It was a fun and interesting unit for us all.

Hawai'i: Scuba Diving

Jon and I just went scuba diving for the first time last week. We were in Honolulu Hawaii and were out with a company called Rainbow Scuba. Our guide, Ken, was really fun and super patient. I was a little nervous but when I got down (and finally got my ears to pop) it was so relaxing and so interesting. I did my best not to touch anything and simply observe. The reef was not as vibrant as I expected it to be. But the fish swam right up to us and we saw some sea stars. We even saw a white tip reef shark. Here are some pictures that Ken took. They aren't flattering but they are cool.

That's me swimming over to join the group. Ken was a fan of the "hang loose".

Jon and conch shell (with something still living in it so I didn't touch).

Again Jon touching. Here he as some coral and I'm in the background looking at all the little critters on the ocean floor.

Here is Jon, me and Ed. Ed was another tourist who joined us. Ed was really scared of the whole experience and would constantly try to grab me. He almost pulled my mouth piece out. It got a little annoying. But overall it was an amazing experience.