September 11-17, 2024

By Tim Briese

Teresa and I flew into Seattle and the excitement we would experience on the trip kicked off immediately as we flew past Mt. Rainier.

view of mt. rainier as we flew past

From there we drove to Port Angeles and the next morning took a ferry across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Victoria, BC on Vancouver Island. We spent most of the next week exploring this beautiful island. We drove toward the north end of the island and along the way stopped to do a 2 mile roundtrip hike to see Elk Falls near Campbell River.

on the hike to elk falls

elk falls

The northern end of the island is wild and remote country with few roads and limited access. We reached Port McNeill that evening and the next morning went on a wildlife adventure tour on a boat into the fjords of British Columbia to see grizzly bears, whales, and otters. Interestingly, the tour company, Seawolf Adventures, was run by First Nation people and our captain and guide was a chief in his tribe.

the harbor at port mcneill

the boat we took on the tour

on our way into the fjords

We saw a number of grizzlies, which come down to the shore to feed on barnacles and seaweed at low tide.

We saw several whales and sea otters too. 

When we headed back south the next day it was rainy but that didn’t stop us from taking an interesting 5 mile hike on the Ripple Rock Trail.

near the start of the ripple rock trail

logs in the bay below awaiting a trip to a sawmill

The following day we took the remote Pacific Marine Road across to the Pacific side of the island at Port Renfrew.

on a short walk in the rainforest along the road

This area is so remote that the road has only recently been paved, and Port Renfrew just got cell service in the last few years. We hiked the Botanical Beach loop hike that afternoon before settling in for the night.

on the botanical beach trail

an interesting look into a tidepool

the bay at port renfrew

on the dock at the port renfrew harbor

sunset at port renfrew

The following day we drove down the coast a few miles and hiked a couple of miles on the Mystic Beach Trail to see a small waterfall that drops right onto the beach.

on the trail to mystic beach

a very dense forest

the waterfall at mystic beach

That night we stayed at the Point No Point Resort on the coast with gorgeous views of the ocean and the Strait of Juan de Fuca from our cabin.

sunset from our cabin

the view at dusk across the strait. washington state is visible on the other side.

the full moon shining across the water later that night

We hiked around on some scenic trails on the resort property with beautiful forest and ocean views.

Then we headed for the internationally famous Butchart Gardens north of Victoria and strolled around there for a few hours taking photos.

at the butchart gardens

The following morning we took another ferry across to Vancouver and drove south to Seattle and headed for home.