At daybreak, Tofino was once again wrapped in thick, wet fog. We have been pretty lucky with lots of sunshine on this trip, so these cool, cloudy days don’t really bother us. And they do not make going to the beach a disappointment when you are there to throw a ball to your dog.
Eli loves his tennis balls, but he also chews them up in short order. So far, no tennis ball on this trip has lasted more than a day. So we decided to invest in some rubber balls, and these came with one of those wands which help you throw it farther and faster. We took the dogs down to Long Beach, part of the Pacific Rim National Park. This is a wonderful beach, several miles long, and at low tide it seemed to stretch out just as far into the ocean. Dogs are not supposed to be off-leash here, but there was nobody around except another couple who were playing with their dog in the surf, too. John and I had a blast tossing the ball and having Eli chase it. Edie joined in by trying her best to distract Eli so he would not find it.
When Edie successfully distracted Eli, I’d run and see if I could get the ball before he finally figured out where it was. He usually got these just before I did, but a couple times I beat him. And then the two dogs knocked me over on their way to get the ball once. I was soaked and covered in sand, as you can see below, but having such a good time that I hardly cared.
Our dogs met up with the other couple’s dogs, and they all had a good time chasing each other.
This Long Beach is not at the edge of condo towers and motels, but juts up against the deep green of the northern rain forest. Walking back to the car, we found some enormous banana slugs.
We returned to the condo so that I could get into some dry clothes, and then we set out on a big adventure of the day, a trip to the hot springs. Vancouver Island is adjacent to the Cascadia Subduction Zone, so geothermal activity is hardly surprising here. The hot springs are about 20 miles north of the town, but there is no way to get there except by boat. Several companies sponsor trips there. Since none of them will take dogs along – a good idea since I do not think that the dogs would understand 100 degree water until it was too late – we picked the one which had kennels and would take your dogs for a walk while you were gone. So, after signing all the usual waivers of liability, we took the dogs down to the basement. Edie immediately sensed that she did not like what was about to happen, and made a valiant bolt for freedom. Eli just happily walked into his cell.
The trip to the hot springs by boat takes a couple hours. As we were leaving the dock, we caught sight of our condos. As Josie, our guide yesterday commented to us, the Eik Landing condos look much better from the water than they do when you’re there.
There were about a dozen of us on a small powerboat. The pilot took us through the sound where he showed us a number of animals. Our favorite was this pair of bald eagles nesting in a cedar on a small island.
We then went out into open water where we saw at least a dozen whales. Of course, it’s hard to get a picture of a whale because by the time you grab your camera they’ve already gone under again. But John did manage to get a bit of gray whale tail in the picture you see below. The bodies encrusted with barnacles – those pictures will only be printed in our memories.
The hot springs are located about a 100 meters from the shore – see, I’m trying to be Canadian here – and the water cools somewhat as it flows over the rocks and into the ocean. This is a picture of the springs we took from the boat.
However, you cannot get off the boat right there at the springs. Instead, you have to dock on the other side of the point and walk about two kilometers to get to the springs. This is just as good, in some ways, as the springs themselves. The path is all set on an elevated boardwalk and the trail leads through the densest, greenest rainforest we have seen.
The springs seemed crowded at first, but we had chosen the last trip of the day to go to the park and after we had been there for only a few minutes our group virtually had the whole place to ourselves. Compared to a lot of hot springs, the water here was pretty clear and did not smell quite as sulfurous as some springs do. I had a good time soaking; John was absolutely in heaven.
The trip home took us through some of the most gorgeous landscape I have ever seen in North America. I understand why many Canadian fought so hard to stop logging in the Cloyoquot Sound and why it is a designated biosphere reserve. The interplay of light and fog and land was amazing. John stayed on the stern for the whole trip back with camera ready.
When we did make it back, the two prisoners in doggie jail were very happy to see us!
We had some takeout from a local fish and chips stand, and I think everybody will go to bed early.
