The West Coast III

The forest trails leading to these spectacular West Coast beaches are very lush and beautiful. Here are a couple of wild flowers I noticed during our visit. On the left is a Dwarf Dogwood or Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis) and on the right is a Common Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris)

The West Coast II - Botany Bay

Yesterday's photos were taken on the trail that leads to Botanical Beach, our intended destination. However, we ended up on this beach, which I believe is Botany Bay, the northern end of the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail (47 km). To the left we are looking southeast towards Victoria, about 75 km distant. To the right we are looking further up the west coast of Vancouver Island to where the famous West Coast Trail begins.

These beaches are beautiful, there are some sandy areas and there are large waves, but the main attraction here is the tidal pools, many small pools among the rocks that are filled with crystal clear water and a wide variety of shore life such as sea urchins, snails, crabs, anemones, sculpins and millions of mussels. Below are some of the tide pools.

The West Coast

A few hours drive along the coast west and north of Victoria brings one to the true west coast, where the rollers sweep in from the Pacific with only thousands of miles of ocean between here and Japan. It's an incredibly rich, green environment that provides views such as these around every corner of the trail. Tomorrow I'll show you what it's like when you come out of the forest onto the beach.