I began January 2015 in the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve enjoying the surprisingly warm and sunny weather. (Nine degrees on January 2!) The Pacific Ocean lapped gently at my feet while I watched surfers in wetsuits further out. From Ucluelet, I walked along Wickaninnish Beach, Long Beach, and Chesterman Beach on the way to Tofino.
My first forest visit took me through the Bog Forest where stunted trunks and limbs struggle upward from their humid roots. Against the blue skies, some parched dead trees soared in contrast to the lush dense sphagnum moss below.
My second National Park Forest wander was along the Rainforest Trail, an awe of green. Here ancient cedars and hemlocks grew from a maze of roots, branches were pulled down by lichen’s weight, and clumps of moss grew on trees’ bark from bottom to top. What a jewel in humidity! As I walked along the raw-milled boardwalk, the only sound I heard was from my Dayton boots.
I ate in two recommended restaurants: Shelter and The Wolf in the Fog. Both were great.
Wolf in the Fog earned one of enRoute Magazine’s top 10 new restaurants in Canada 2014. Pine-infused gin mixed with lime and garden mint, crowned with frothy egg white in an antique cocktail glass made up my White Pine Cove cocktail. Delicious! For my appetizer, I enjoyed a potato-crusted oyster garnished with apple and truffle.
At Shelter I ordered fresh lingcod fish and chips, crisp and light, served with a yummy homemade tartar sauce. A cold craft beer was a perfect pairing. I dined at dusk, enjoying the view of Meares Island in Grice Bay from the heated deck.
T’was a happy New Year start for me.
