Canada Part 2: Beaches

As mentioned in the last post, before Campbell River, we stayed in Port Renfrew on the southwest coast of Vancouver Island, also for four nights. A big scenic draw in that area is the abundance of beaches. We visited Botanical Beach, China Beach, and Mystic Beach, all of which are located on or near the long Juan de Fuca Trail, which we saw a few people backpacking. We visited Botanical Beach first, and continued hiking along the Juan de Fuca Trail that day. Conditions were surprisingly rough, with thick brush, roots, broken staircases in steep sections, and other obstacles. We tired of this rather quickly and turned around before lunchtime. Following this experience, we hiked to China and Mystic Beaches as out-and-back hikes without any additional exploring on the Juan de Fuca Trail.

First, a view of Botanical Beach, which has wide stretches of sand, rocks, tidepools, and other interesting features. It's a lovely place, and was surprisingly empty early in the morning. F/14.

Next, China Beach, surrounded by lush and colorful bluffs. F/16.

At Mystic Beach, there was a mini-waterfall coming off one of the bluffs. This shot was tricky; it was hard to avoid the waterfall getting lost against the rather bright background of the bluff. F/18, 0.4 seconds.

Here's a view of China Beach with more of the water visible. As always with shots like this one, I was thankful for the capabilities of digital photography - I was able to take numerous exposures at different points of wave motion and choose the best after the fact. I liked the one below because the water was covering a large portion of the beach. F/18, 0.4 seconds.

Next, some interesting rocks from one of the beaches along the Juan de Fuca Trail, a bit past Botanical Beach. F/16.

Even though the beaches were the scenic highlight of the area, there were some nice woods as well, including a handful of old-growth trees. Below, a scene from the Juan de Fuca trail past Botanical Beach. F/16.

Finally, a Sitka spruce along China Beach. F/14.

That's all for the Vancouver Island trip. I've been sticking closer to home to rest and avoid the heat, but hopefully will be back to posting Washington pictures soon!