All the Senses(ations)

Waterfall at Mystic Beach

China Beach Collections

My own digital light show

Juan de Fuca Trail, Vancouver Island, BC

Exploring onto new pathways finds family time with my son from Vancouver, driving from Victoria towards Port Renfrew to the trail head of the Juan de Fuca Trail (BC Provincial Park) - China Beach and Mystic Beach to be exact. The morning was shadowed in a light mist and dark sky horizons.

Food and Charm: Sooke was our first community visit, seeking coffee, finding the Vienna Bakery and the coffee hunt morphed into treats and lunch, sitting in the sun - no rain, no mist, only ocean views and flowers.

Little communities named Otter Point and Shirley peppered the shoreline drive until we arrived at the trail head. That rainforest experience instantly created a hood, blocking out the daylight in a heavy, rich, dense and damp air. It is reminiscent of the coast line of inside passage of Alaska, on the trails around Skagway and Haines.

Trails were so so muddy, making a short 2 km hike feel like 10. China Beach stretched at the south end of the Juan de Fuca trail, sun-filled, covered with huge drift wood logs, white clam shell remnants, and purple and fuchsia seaweed.

Light and Sound: There is a digital light show in the waves making the ocean’s horizon dazzle. The air is filled with the sound of birds of the rainforest, groaning cedars swaying in wind, waterfalls pounding the beach at low tide, children screeching as they run through the freezing pacific tide pools – to be still and listen was like a place in surround-sound.

With my eyes, ears and heart open, the greens of the forest floor, the reds, pinks and oranges or the beach and the light in the waves… An all senses overload! JOY

#connectingcanada #forglowinghearts #T’Sou-ke #coastalsalish