Ucluelet, continued

This fishing village is experiencing a building boom, but I'm happy to say that the town seems to have a handle on things. The south end of the peninsula is seeing the most growth, but the property owners are not just clear-cutting all these magnificent trees. Some of these trees are 700 years old! Our hosts at the Copperstone Inn have taken out a few trees damaged by storms, but worked hard to keep the old trees. The stairs being built down to the beach are require the hiker to duck very low to avoid an 800 year old tree that is nursing a couple of other trees...not a problem! It does appear that most every house is renting a room or apartment, an indication that this village is not going to be a quiet place forever. Fortunately, getting here is not easy, and that will temper crazy growth.

Yesterday, we hiked the Wild Pacific Trail, a point of pride for the town. It is a 2.5km loop that includes the Amphitrite Point (named after a British warship) Lighthouse. From our beautiful lodging, we can hear the fog buoy and the bell buoy, even though we can't see the light. Such a peaceful sound, in its regularity. The trail led us past the old plant road built in the early 1900's to help supply the lighthouse keeper. That road is almost gone now. The trail also includes some very steep stairs down to the beach that we can see from our deck. Funny, the beach seems so close from the house, but the house seems so far away from the beach. The rest of the trail is a documentary on the coastal forests, and the Graveyard of the Pacific. I read that a tsunami wiped out a good portion of the trail in the 1960's. It's hard to imagine, the trail is pretty far above the tide line.

Last night, we ate a piece of halibut we bought at Fishful Thinking, and it was good. Tonight, Gary, our host, brought us a piece of Ling Cod he'd just caught this afternoon. A HUGE piece of fish. I had some olive oil, garlic, lemon and salt and pepper...some rice left over from last night, and some fresh spinach. Oh, a loaf of bread we bought today at a local bakery. We're set! I made some breadcrumbs with some chopped breakfast oats and the bread, sauted some garlic and pan fried the breaded fish. Then, stir-fried the rice and wilted the spinach. A glass of wine, it was a good meal. The temps were strange tonight: it got warmer after the sun set, so we enjoyed our dinner outside.

Today, we went to the Wickaninnish Visitor Center, at Long Beach, and spent some time on the beach inspecting the tide pools. The waves are ferocious, even when the ocean is calm. Very dramatic. We hiked in the old-growth forest down to the shore, and were reminded of the control we have over our own backyard. One section of this National Park have never been disturbed by human development. The First Nation people still have a very tiny allotment of land on the coast. They've been living here for 9000 years. Yep, that's thousand. Let's hope that humans can realize how important the land is, and stop the clear-cutting of the forests. I know, we're supporting the industry just by being here and renting a place to stay. There are many ways to build and live without totally destroying everything in sight.

We had lunch in Tofino...I'm glad we're staying in Ucluelet! Tofino is another tiny fishing village, but has more tourist appeal than Ucluelet. The major industry here is tourism: surfing/kayaking/hiking/fishing/storm watching. There are a surprising number of older people, too, making a day trip from Nanaimo, I guess. Or, maybe staying for a couple of days to enjoy the 'quaint' western coast. Tomorrow morning, we'll get out early to explore the tide pools from the 9am low tide, at Combers Beach.