From the Rainforest: Classic Clayoquot

Summer 2007

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.
To download a pdf copy of the magazine click here: > DOWNLOAD

by Dan Lewis

There are days when the blue skies spread from Tofino northward over emerald islands and rounded humps of rainforest, rolling back as far as the eye can see, to the snow-capped rocky peaks on the backbone of Vancouver Island. Those are the days when it is hard to do anything except head off paddling. I call those days “Classic Clayoquot.”

Clayoquot Sound is located on the west coast of Vancouver Island, just north of Barkley Sound. There are five sounds in total on the west coast of the Island, and each one is quite different. Clayoquot is characterized by long fjord-like inlets, with fairly major river valleys at the head of each one.

These inlets are protected from the open Pacific by three major islands: Meares, Vargas, and Flores. The outer shores of Vargas and Flores feature long white sand beaches, with combers from across the Pacific rolling in on their shores.

Vargas Island is quite flat; the coastal plains on the outer edges of Flores and Meares Island sweep up in dramatic curves to heights of three thousand feet. These mountains are blanketed in ancient rainforests of cedar, hemlock and spruce.

Walking into this forest can be quite a chore, especially for the uninitiated. Fortunately there are a number of trails and boardwalks which provide easier access.

Strolling along the forest floor at the feet of these giant trees, one feels a sense of awe at their sheer size. The massive base of the red cedar tapers quickly and spirals heavenward, while the massive girth of the Sitka spruce just plows skyward like a column from the Parthenon.

One is humbled by their age. Red cedars can live to be two thousand years old and many are over one thousand. You can stand at the base of such a tree, and rest your hand on a living creature which grew from a seed which sprouted five centuries before Columbus came to America, a seed which dropped from a tree that was alive in the time of Christ.

Whether you look at these forested landscapes from a distance, or get right in on the ground, they are a joy to gaze upon and the rich air they generate smells sweet and cool.

This kind of natural habitat is home to many wild creatures. Black bears roam the hills eating berries and gather in fall to feast on the salmon spawning in the river valleys. Timber wolves cruise the outer beaches looking for black-tailed deer, raccoons, mink and other small mammals.

Grey whales swim right by every spring, heading north to the Bering Sea around March, and returning to the Baja Peninsula around October, usually a bit further offshore, thus harder to observe.

Every year a number of grey whales decide to swim no further than Clayoquot Sound, and spend their summer here. They plough up the shallow sand and mud bottoms, squeezing tons of water and sand through their baleen with each mouthful, eating the amphipods that are left behind. Such a mammoth creature, subsisting on such tiny critters!

Transient orcas arrive unpredictably pretty much every month of the year, and swim quietly through the inlets hunting for seals and other marine mammals.

Humpback whales have made a comeback with the return of the pilchards, a greasy fish described in Steinbeck’s Cannery Row that was harvested heavily back in the 1930s and 1940s. Few marine mammal sightings are more spectacular from a sea kayak—humpbacks will blow a net of bubbles around a school of small fish, then swim right up through them all, exploding through the surface of the ocean and falling back on their side with a resounding splash!

Sea otters have made a comeback as well. They like to dive and feed voraciously on clams and urchins. Kayakers may spot them floating on their backs amongst kelp patches, using a rock to smash open the delicacies that compose their diet.

The original inhabitants of this region are the Nuu-chah-nulth tribes, many of whose names end with the sound “aht,” which means “people of.” The word Clayoquot comes from the local indigenous word Tla-o-qui-aht, which means “people who are different, or have changed.”

The Nuu-chah-nulth people are an ocean-going people. They travel by boat, traditionally huge cedar dugouts, and used to move their villages several times a year by spreading huge cedar planks across several canoes and piling everything on top. Seasonal village sites are now Indian Reserves, which are off limits to kayakers without permission. Please respect this.

There is something in Clayoquot for all levels of paddlers. If you’ve never paddled before, I would suggest a guided day trip. It is a bit tricky launching here, as the tide runs like a river right off the end of the wharf in downtown Tofino. Luckily there are a number of outfitters located on the waterfront who can guide novices through the swirly waters to places like the Meares Island Big Trees Boardwalk. You can even travel in a traditional dugout canoe with Tla-ook Cultural Adventures (www.tlaook.com)

Beginners with a bit of training and experience might want to try launching at Grice Bay to explore, or paddling up Lemmen’s Inlet from Tofino.

For intermediate paddlers there is the trip around Meares Island, or an adventure up Vargas Island way. Surf training is needed to land safely on the outer beaches. Long Beach in the Pacific Rim National Park south of Tofino is an excellent place to learn and practice surf landing and launching skills.

Advanced paddlers may want to kayak to Hot Springs Cove at the northern end of Clayoquot Sound. Coming back down the outside of Flores Island should only to be attempted when conditions are ideal.

No doubt Clayoquot Sound is an amazing place to paddle sea kayaks. The tough part always comes when it is time to leave. Maybe that’s why Tofino is known as “Tuff City.”