21 May - Meares Island and Tofino town

This morning was sunny-cloudy. There were promises of more sunshine, but the temps were still pretty cool. 

We had booked a boat ride with Tofino Water Taxi at 9AM. Neil, the driver, drove an aluminum boat with 10 of us on board across to Meares Island. 

Meares Island offers a unique walking experience on the Big Tree Trail, a well-maintained 1.5 km boardwalk that follows among massive cedar trees. It is stewarded by the Tla-o-qui-aht and Ahousaht First Nations, and is recognized as Canada's first Tribal Park. 

These trees are huge - the largest of which has a circumference of 18.3 meters and a height of 42.7 meters! When I was logging cedar 44 years ago near Williams Lake the largest cedars we cut were about a third of that height! 

The boardwalk was mostly made up of split cedar planks from trees which had naturally fallen. We met some of the guys working at building and maintaining this boardwalk and they told us how they work as locally and less invasively as possible.

In all of the forests we've walked through we've been fascinated at the proliferation and beauty of ferns. I believe they are some of the oldest plants on earth -- dating back to the late Devonian period, around 360 million years ago...before dinasaurs!The famous Meares Island controversy revolved around a planned logging operation by MacMillan Bloedel on Meares Island in Clayoquot Sound, which sparked significant protests and legal challenges in the 1980s. The Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations, along with environmental groups, opposed the logging plans, citing the island's cultural and ecological significance, and the potential impact on Indigenous title. The protests and blockades ultimately led to a court injunction halting logging on Meares Island, effectively ending the logging plans. 

In the afternoon we visited another beach. As we got out of our vehicle we were greeted by this beautiful plant so I had to acknowledge and replicate its beauty with an image.

Despite the cold Mary Lou was determined to dip her toe into the Pacific Ocean. At this same beach there were a group of 3-4 children (and their mother) who were in their swimsuits frolicking and squealing their excitement....and interaction with the cold water! 

As Dave was editing photos, Mary Lou decided to follow a self-guided cultural walking tour through Tofino. There was attention paid to the early settlers in the area -- many of whom came from Scandinavian countries which seemed curious considering they had to traverse a lot of ocean to get there! I wonder how they arrived. There was also some mention made of Japanese people who lived there for several decades before they were shipped off to interment camps during the WWII. 

What was most fascinating, however, were Indigenous related stories. Mary Lou shared about the carver of the totem pole in Anchor Bay in yesterday's post and the meaning of the totem pole that was a gift to the community. Another "modern" piece that was part of the Village Green in the community close to a children's playground is the Weeping Cedar Woman. Her story relates to the activism described above to preserve the trees on Meares Island.

The caption beside the piece reads: Artist Godfrey Stephens was inspired to create Weeping Cedar Woman in 1984 to protect the ancient rainforests of Clayoquot Sound and Meares Island. She was carved on Strawberry Island from a 300-year-old windfall cedar from Meares Island provided by Robert Martin and sons Joe and Carl. The meaning was: "Tears streaming from her eyes represent the sorrow she feels at the destruction. The right hand is upheld to say, 'Stop!' Her left hand points to earth, considering nature."

The evening found me (Dave) back on the beach at our campsite during high tide. And there were a few people surfing (including a couple of people walking on water!).

As I was photographing the surfers, a fellow came to the beach with his dog and 2 balls. They began to do the most energetic (for the dog) run on a beach I've ever seen. Raul (I chatted with him later) threw the ball has hard as he could in one direction and the dog poured on the steam to get that ball and bring it back as fast as he could. Hardly was he back that Raul threw the second ball in the opposite direction. This went on and on. Periodically the dog would run into the ocean and cool down in the water for a minute before he was ready to go for the next round. Raul told me that his dog can do this indefinitely...he does not burn out!"